Whats wrong with this picture:
So, its been less than a month since the second 360 was purchased and now the first one has passed on;- passed on to Microsoft, that is - for repair (or replacement). It seems that Xbox 360's have had a higher-than-usual-according-to-a-recent-survey malfunction rate and until recently I was able to laugh / poke and generally not care about the people affected.
It didn't suddenly stop working either, it was the recent update from Microsoft that killed it. I come home from work and I turn on "Panda" (thats the newer Xbox 360). It tells me to update (and I mean, it tells you - this is not optional if you wanna continue using XBL). So, I update and no problem. Next up I turn on the other to get the update outta the way. It downloads, it installs, its resets and now its dead. The console was not modded.
I went to Xbox support online and did all the various checks. Next I rang their support line. It took 45 minutes to get an operator (and I had to listen to some awful music). When I did get an answer the gentleman was...not english. I'm not being racist but I couldn't make out much of what he was saying. There was a lot of "Pardon", "Sorry", "Can you repeat that?" and "WHAT?" before the end. By the end of the phone call I'd gotten a number and a guarantee of a free repair / replacement.
The number I was given is to be written on a sticker that I should receieve within four days of the call (I made the call four days ago - still waiting). Said sticker is then to be put on the box that I'll return the 360 in and I'm not to use the box the console came in. The sticker will have a numer for UPS who will pickup the console and subsequently deliver it again.
Besides the sticker being overdue my experience with customer support has been overall a fine experience. Expect another blog entry within a month to update this situation.
In other news:
I recently bought Lost Planet. First impressions are very good. I'll probably do a review on it soon.
My girlfriend recently bought Viva Pinata and well, she says its pretty good. Haven't played it much myself yet.
(Click the links for a better scale of the pictures).
