Towards the end of June my Xbox 360 decided it didn’t like me, or the weather, or just life in general and died with the ever maligned red ring of death (RROD). This was most annoying, as I use it for both gaming and as my DVD player. I suseqently filled in the form on the Microsoft site and got my return stuff. For me this was a pre-paid UPS label to print myself, and then had to sort out a box and whatnot to ship it back in.
A month later I actually got round to having the console collected, and off it went on a jaunt to Germany. Procrastination is seemingly still rife for me when it comes to some things, despite having a job that should supposedly make me get stuff done.
Still, just over a week later and it was returned to me – complete with a month’s free XBL gold and a sheet explaining that not only had they replaced the motherboard (which was expected given the RROD) but also the DVD drive, which was unexpected. This has seemingly caused my Xbox to get quieter, as the DVD drive was never particularly subtle and the fans make one hell of a noise, and I’m certainly not going to complain about that.
All in all, excepting the fact that some shoddy design has been involved and has lead to it failing, I’m quite happy with how the process has worked. I’d have probably had it back working within 10 days had I been more efficient with getting it sent off, and Microsoft have been quite good with the communications as to the repair status. Of course, I know people who have had multiple failures, and I’m going to be wary of that happening again – but touch wood I’ll avoid that problem.