Hawty McBloggy Invites You to Play

Finally. A step in the right direction. This is Microsoft’s official statement followed by a letter from Peter Moore. More than anything I am thankful they have finally publicly acknowledged that their failure rate is unacceptable (although I am still interested in hearing a specific number) and that they are willing to do something to correct their mistakes. I only hope the issues they have found to be causing the large amount of failures are truly fixed at this point. Their accepting responsibility is a small step forward, and whether or not they live up to what they are saying will determine whether they can repair the damage they have done to their loyal customer base. Actions speak louder than words. Now that we have heard the words, let’s see what their actions tell us.

From Microsoft.com :

REDMOND, Wash. — July 5, 2007 —Microsoft Corp. today announced that it will expand its global Xbox 360™ warranty coverage. Any Xbox 360 customer who experiences a general hardware failure indicated by three flashing red lights will now be covered by a three year warranty from date of purchase. All other existing Xbox 360 warranty policies remain in place.

As a result of what Microsoft views as an unacceptable number of repairs to Xbox 360 consoles, the company conducted extensive investigations into potential sources of general hardware failures. Having identified a number of factors which can cause general hardware failures indicated by three red flashing lights on the console, Microsoft has made improvements to the console and is enhancing its Xbox 360 warranty policy for existing and new customers.

Microsoft stands behind its products and is taking responsibility to repair or replace any Xbox 360 console that experiences the “three flashing red lights” error message within three years from time of purchase free of charge, including shipping costs. Microsoft will take a $1.05 billion to $1.15 billion pre-tax charge to earnings for the quarter ended June 30, 2007 for anticipated costs under its current and enhanced Xbox 360 policies.

read the complete article here

From Xbox.com :

Open Letter From Peter Moore

To our Xbox Community:

You’ve spoken, and we’ve heard you. Good service and a good customer experience are areas of the business that we care deeply about. And frankly, we’ve not been doing a good enough job.

Some of you have expressed frustration with the customer experiences you have had with Xbox 360; frustration with having to return your console for service after receiving the general hardware error message on the console.

The majority of customers who own Xbox 360 consoles have had a terrific experience from their first day, and continue to, day in and day out. But when anyone questions the reliability of our product, or our commitment to our customers, it’s something I take very seriously.

read the complete article here