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Xbox 360 locking up

post #1 of 30
7/17/06 at 10:59am
Thread Starter 
Well, after hearing all of the horror stories about the "bad" 360 consoles, I can now say that I'm one of those stories. I bought by 360 on 3/28 and it started freezing up on my a few weeks ago. I'm now at the point to where it rarely even gets past the 360 logo when you first turn it on.

I called Microsoft last night, and they're sending me a box to ship my unit to their repair center in. I hope this process isn't too frustrating. It's already pretty darn annoying not being able to play something I spent $400 on. Actually, with accessories and games it's almost $1000.

Any other HTF members have 360 console problems? Any experience with Microsoft support?
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post #2 of 30
7/17/06 at 11:34am

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

the support at Microsoft was actually pretty good, i had the same problem and i got the box to send to them via fedex, i had a new xbox within a week, they'll prolly just send you a refurbished one
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post #3 of 30
7/17/06 at 1:27pm

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

so it didn't start acting up until 3 months+ after you bought it? weird...
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post #4 of 30
7/18/06 at 11:02am
Thread Starter 

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

Yes, I didn't have a single crash until a few weeks ago, and it's been all downhill after that. Over at the xbox forums there are many folks who got 360 at launch and are just now starting to see it crash.

Thanks Bill. I'm hoping my transaction goes as smoothly as yours. Did you receive emails from Microsoft providing a status throughout the process? I heard they were very good with this for a while, but lately the emails haven't been coming.

I haven't received an email yet telling me my box has shipped, but I only called on Sunday.

Any problems with the refurb? I heard of people that are on the 5th or 6th refurb. Ridiculous if you ask me.
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post #5 of 30
7/28/06 at 5:32am

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

Jerry, may I ask how did your problems start? I bought/ Santa brought a 360 to my house for my son this past Christmas. I personally purchased it from CC online somewhere around Dec. 18th. Up until this last week there has not been one problem with it. My son is only 8 so the 360 stays hooked up to by HT in my living room. He has taken very good care of it and I don't understand why all of a sudden we are now having problems. I do not have it hooked up to Xbox live but I am a subscriber to OXM so I get monthly updates with their demo disc. The unit has always been horizontal and has never been turned vertical. Now games are constantly freezing up and the unit must be completely turned off and restarted.
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post #6 of 30
8/1/06 at 7:15am
Thread Starter 

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

There's really not that much to tell, and my story is similar to yours.

It started crashing randomly during different games. At first this led me to believe that it may be an overheating issue. However, then certain games wouldn't even load. Then no games, then it wouldn't even get past the 360 logo. This whole process took about a month.

I took excellent care of my 360 as well, kept it horizontal, and I'm not a hard core gamer so I wasn't putting a lot of hours on it.

I was in the same state of disbelief that you are. It made no sense that it would just stop working. If you have a chance, go to the xbox forums. You'll see that there are many people who just started having problems out of no where.

While I hope your issue turns out differently, I think your 360 will progressivly get worse.

Here's a Linkto the Microsoft troublshooting page. Maybe you'll have some luck, most don't.

Update to anyone who cares. My replacement unit should be delivered today.
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post #7 of 30
8/11/06 at 10:37am

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

Jerry,
You replied while I was on vacation and then I had some family issues come up. Point of all of this is I do care because I had to call Microsoft Monday 8th to let them know about my problem. After a short talk they told me that my system was dead and that I needed to send it back in for repair. I bought the extended warranty so they told me that my repair would be free but that if not for that I would have been charged $129. Did you get charged or did you get yours fixed for free? I learned my lesson on the extended warranty after being burned on the PS2. I bought on launch day and had a failure within 6 months and had to pay out of pocket. Lastly did it arrive on when it was suppose to?
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post #8 of 30
8/11/06 at 3:24pm

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

I have a question for those who have bought the extended warranty for the 360? How long did it take to get any information back on the warranty after you sent in the money and paper work? It has been almost four months for me and I still haven't seen a thing from Microsoft. Thanks
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post #9 of 30
8/14/06 at 6:23am

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

Harry, I did not receive anything from Microsoft about my extended warranty. I bank online so I just printed out a copy of the cleared check that Microsoft had cashed. However this was not needed because when I called them to inform them of my problem they quickly pulled up my unit by serial number. With this information they were able to verify my name, address, and my extended warranty.
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post #10 of 30
8/23/06 at 5:42pm

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

Mine just starting locking up out of nowhere. I babied that unit so much. I had it 9 months, and had no problems prior to this. I didn't have the extended warranty, and microsoft told me it would be 129 bucks. I said ok, but man am I mad. Even after I get it fixed, I only get a 90 day warranty with a option to purchase a longer one. I'm so frustrated. I can't believe I spent so much on something that only lasts 9 months. Anyways, I had two xbox's and numerous other microsoft merchandise. I guess it is buyer beware, but I thought 129 bucks was ridiculous. My buddy had a problem with his original xbox long after the warranty was up, and they fixed it for free. I was hoping that would be the case. Oh well
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post #11 of 30
8/24/06 at 8:57am

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

Scott I feel your pain. I bought a launch PS2 about 6 years ago now. I sat in line for 6 hours the night before they came out just so I could buy one at midnight. The sad part is I was not a boy but a grown man with a wife and children at home. Haha. Anyway six months later my $329 PS2 was broken and my disc that was inside was burned up. Really it looked like the lazer had scratched it. Now here is where things get funny. Sony made me pay to repair the PS2 for $110 but replaced the disc for free because of hardware failure. WTF? Up until that point I had been a Playstation Fanboy but that left a little bit of a bad taste in my mouth.

I learned a hard lesson on that experience and when I bought my 360 I got the extended warranty. After checking the forums I would advise you to buy the extended warranty now because I have read of multiple failures so do not expect this to be your only one.
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post #12 of 30
8/24/06 at 11:48am
Thread Starter 

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

Quote:
Did you get charged or did you get yours fixed for free?

I apologize for not responding to this sooner. Let's just say xbox hasn't been a priority in my life lately.

I did not purchase the extended warranty, and my repair was still free. I originally purchased the unit on 3/8.


A follow up to the story . . .

The replacement was delivered to my house via UPS. They did not require signature, so it was sitting on the front porch. Well when I opened the box the unit was physically damaged. The front right corner was smashed it. The unit still worked, although my Battlefield II disc didn't work anymore. I didn't try any other games for fear of damaging more games. I'm not sure if the replacement unit damaged the disc or not.

I called Microsoft the same day, and the process started over again. At least this time they offered me a free game, and that was delivered to my home in a matter of days. I actually never got around to sending the second unit back until a couple of days ago. We'll see what happens.
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post #13 of 30
8/24/06 at 1:23pm

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

Just to add to this I have a friend from work who had to return three units before he finally got one that works. I haven't heard any complaints so far on the last unit which he's had for 3 or 4 months now.

I just received mine this week and I'll definitely be buying the warranty for the peace of mind. $60 should get you 3 years instead of 2 though. I can't believe that the original warranty is only 3 months. What, no confidence in your product Microsoft?
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post #14 of 30
8/25/06 at 3:39am
Thread Starter 

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

I don't know where you purchased yours Brian, but I regret not buying mine at Best Buy and getting their service plan. That would eliminate all the shipping back and forth. I could just swap it BB whenever I have problems.
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post #15 of 30
8/25/06 at 6:02am

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

I would like to keep this thread alive for two reasons.

1. Update - I received my refurbished unit yesterday. It is not the original unit I sent to Microsoft and they sent a letter stating this and they did not repair mine so that I could get a unit back quicker.

2. I find the people on this forum to be honest where as the gaming sites have a lot of kids spaming and making up stories. Hopefully Microsoft isn't really having that many problems with the 360 but I am starting to believe that the number is much higher then they are letting on.
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post #16 of 30
8/27/06 at 10:05am

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

Matt,

I run a forum of my own dedicated to mature gaming discussion where a large group of the membership are Xbox 360 owners. We recently did a poll and out of the 50+ members that voted, we discovered that almost 22% have had to have had thier 360's sent in for either service or replacement. That's a small test group of course and is not 100% indicative of the 5 million plus Xbox 360 owners out there at the moment, but it's an astonishing number of failures really. I'm mystified that Microsoft does not warranty this $300-$400 dollar device for at least a year. We, as consumers, should not be forced into extended warranties or extra money to ensure that an electronics device lasts for more than 8 months after launch. Even worse most of these machines that do fail do so via no other action than simply regular use! That's absolutely atrocious customer service IMHO.

I've got a launch unit myself that has worked flawlessly (knock on wood). If it does happen to fail within the first year of use, I'll be kicking up a serious shit storm before I ever lay down the $129.99 Microsoft is asking to get the console repaired.
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post #17 of 30
8/27/06 at 12:13pm

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

Quote:
Originally Posted by Romier S
I've got a launch unit myself that has worked flawlessly (knock on wood). If it does happen to fail within the first year of use, I'll be kicking up a serious shit storm before I ever lay down the $129.99 Microsoft is asking to get the console repaired.

Despite the fact that my original X Box failed years after the manufacturers warranty expired they fixed it for free. That was a good move on their part because before I would have paid for a repair I would have bought a Playstation 2. No need to kick up a shit storm, just take your business elsewhere. Anybody who willingly writes Microsoft a check for repairs nine months after their initial purchase is in no position to complain about having been ripped off.
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post #18 of 30
8/27/06 at 6:25pm

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

Quote:
Despite the fact that my original X Box failed years after the manufacturers warranty expired they fixed it for free.
An absolutely isolated incident as you well know.

Quote:
Anybody who willingly writes Microsoft a check for repairs nine months after their initial purchase is in no position to complain about having been ripped off.
Isn't that what I just said? You seem to have misunderstood what I wrote. Let me restate: I /WILL/ completely escalate my situation to whatever representative or supervisor under the sun at Microsoft support until they repair my Xbox 360 at no charge. I absolutely refuse to pay $129.99 for the repair of a console 8 months after launch.
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post #19 of 30
8/28/06 at 5:45am

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

Quote:
Originally Posted by Carl Johnson
Despite the fact that my original X Box failed years after the manufacturers warranty expired they fixed it for free. That was a good move on their part because before I would have paid for a repair I would have bought a Playstation 2. No need to kick up a shit storm, just take your business elsewhere. Anybody who willingly writes Microsoft a check for repairs nine months after their initial purchase is in no position to complain about having been ripped off.

Carl I have to politely disagree with you on this one. Most of us with a 360 have $1000 or more invested once you consider controllers and games so just taking your business elsewhere is not that easy. That is a lot of money to me and I can't just walk away from that and throw another $1000 or more at the PS3 when it comes out in another 3 to 6 months.

As I stated in my earlier thread my PS2 broke 8 months after launch and I was forced to pay for the repair. Look over the internet and you will see where there were many problems with the PS2 as well. If I am correct a class action lawsuit was just won against Sony this past year for faulty units and for forcing people to pay for the repairs.
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post #20 of 30
9/8/06 at 10:42pm

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

I have been playing dead rising for the 360, and all of a sudden the game locks up, and a message appears DISC IS DIRTY, OR DAMAGED. So I take the disc out, and presto!! No smudges, no scratches or anything. Is this a software, or hardware problem ? Does anyone know?
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post #21 of 30
9/21/06 at 6:00am

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

I thought I would mention that I received my brand new 360 on August 22, red ring dead on August 31. Received a definitely not new refurbed crap unit (even the disc tray was dirty) on September 20. Why is it that I send them a unit that is a week old and I get some used piece o' crap back? If I wanted that I would have bought a used unit in the first place.

When the disc actually loads on the new unit it plays fine but sometimes I have to open and close the tray 4 or 5 times before it will actually recognize that there is a disc in the drive.

I'll be calling Microsoft again today. It looks like it will be another three weeks before I'll be playing again.
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post #22 of 30
10/4/06 at 10:47am

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

My 360 locked up last night after a PGR3 update over Live. It restarted and froze, so I turned it off and on again. Got the 3 red lights flashing. Did all of the recommended reboot hocus-pocus (detaching harddrive, etc.) nothing worked. Called 1-800-4MY-XBOX, and spoke to a very nice woman in India who couldn't help me any further. They are sending a me a box for my return.

I purchased mine in Dec 2005, and have had no problems until now. I did not buy an extended warranty, nor had I bothered to register my unit. The woman at the call center was nice enough to register my unit for me on the phone, and stated that my warranty was good until Jan 2007. It would seem that perhaps the manufacturer's warranty is being extended to a year--maybe only for this problem? I dunno--either way, I'm not complaining…

So, my question is this--if they repair or send a refurbished unit, will I lose all of my save games, downloaded content, and anything on my hard drive? Or will they transfer everything? Anyone know? Also, what's the turnaround time looking like? 2-3 weeks? 2-3 months?

Andy
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post #23 of 30
10/4/06 at 1:48pm

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

DONT SEND THEM YOUR HARD DRIVE! Just the console should be satisfactory.
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post #24 of 30
10/4/06 at 3:53pm

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

Ah--that would make sense, wouldn't it?

Actually, I was thinking about that, but after reading so much about disconnecting the HDD and restarting helping some folks, it made me wonder whether or not the HDD was the problem.

Thanks though.

Andy
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post #25 of 30
10/5/06 at 10:22am
Thread Starter 

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

Quote:
Also, what's the turnaround time looking like? 2-3 weeks? 2-3 months?

For me it was less than 2-3 weeks . . . both times I had to send a unit back!!!

Odds are they won't repair it, just send you a refurb as soon as they receive your unit. You should actually get it back in under two weeks.
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post #26 of 30
10/6/06 at 6:19am

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy Anderson
Also, what's the turnaround time looking like? 2-3 weeks? 2-3 months?

The first one that I had to return came back 2 and a half weeks after I called. I'm hoping the second one that I've had to return takes around the same amount of time.
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post #27 of 30
10/6/06 at 8:14am

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

Well, that's good to hear. Playing through Call of Duty again, and I'm jonesin' to get back up and running!

A side note that adds to my frustration. I just got back from Europe, (Oktoberfest in Munich, Prague, London, Paris), and one of the great things about my 360, is that I have it linked to my computer using Windows Media Connect. I can show digital pics on my HDTV while streaming mp3's from my machine too. I was actually getting set to show off some photos. This is after I had bragged to my friends about this cool fringe benefit of having a 360. Nothing like the impression that the 3 red rings leaves, eh? Nothing like it. No matter how much I talk up the 360, I now have 3 friends that will *never* buy one, as they were there to witness this whole thing. Two of them are former MS employees (developers) and all 3 own original Xboxes…
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post #28 of 30
10/9/06 at 9:22am

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

Just a small update, as I've had to look into this myself. Microsoft has indeed extended the manufacturers warranty to one year any unit which was manufactured in 2005. For instance, I bought my 360 in February of this year, but since the system was manufactured in December of 2005, my original warranty is good until next February. I have not purchased an extended warranty. Check the back of your 360 to find the date the system was assembled, or it's "birth date."

Now I just have to wait for the box to arrive so I can send it out for repair. It's gonna be tough living without my 360 for 2-3 weeks.
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post #29 of 30
10/20/06 at 8:26am

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

Well--my Xbox arrived last night. So far, everything is great on the gaming and XBLive side. The only problem I'm having is getting Windows Media Connect to work and get my Xbox to find my computer. It may be because I upgraded to WMP11 Beta, which takes over for Windows Media Connect. It doesn't work well at all. Sharing just doesn't work. I really wish I hadn't gone with WMP11. Ah, well. I'll keep trying.

But, all in all, I really have no complaints about the MS return/repair process. I really got my box back very quickly. My support call was on the night of 10/3, and they sent me a postage paid box, I returned it, and they got my repaired box back by 10/19. No hassles about warranties, etc. Not bad at all.
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post #30 of 30
10/22/06 at 1:35pm

Re: Xbox 360 locking up

FYI, I rolled back to WMP10, and re-installed Windows Media Connect, and everything's working perfectly.

Back up and happily playing again though COD2.

Cheers!
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