Reader Zach’s Xbox 360 just suffered its second Red Ring of Death. He dutifully called up Microsoft customer support to get a shipping box to mail his Xbox in for repairs, and instead was told he’d need to find his own box and ship it himself.
My Xbox red-ringed for the second time this weekend. Which is almost a relief after hearing how bad my disc drive was sounding, but not so much after hearing the new policy. I was told that Xbox no longer ships out a box to you and you must find a box to ship it out in. Yeah I guess its not a big deal, but I think it gives them another thing to hold over your head; “We are sorry, Sir, but you didn’t back it well enough and it appears the damage was due to shipping, we cannot help you.”
This might not seem like a big problem-it’s just a box, right? Yes, but the problem that Zach had, the Red Ring of Death, is such a notorious failure in the Xbox 360 that Microsoft extended its warranty three years for RROD repairs. It’s enough of an inconvenience that Zach’s console broke from a design flaw and will be inoperable for several weeks; now he needs to track down a box and packing supplies for it?
Perhaps more importantly, as Zach notes, by making customers use their own packing materials, Microsoft is (depending on your level of cynicism) exposing its customers to further damage on their consoles or giving itself an irrefutable reason to deny a repair. The boxes that electronics companies use for repairs are uniform, sturdy things. In our experience, we’ve had anti-static wrap, form-fitting foam padding, and a solid box. That would probably cost about $20 for a customer to purchase; instead, he’ll probably stuff a box full of crumpled newspaper and hope that his broken Xbox doesn’t break any more in transit.
(Photo: Tengaport)
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This same thing happened to my roommate. After some haggling with a supervisor, they gave in. We’re hanging on to the box now that we’ve got the machine back.
Yea this policy has been around for awhile. Kudos for Microsoft for owning up to the RROD. The first time I sent my console in (2006) I got a box. However the repair process took 3+ weeks. The second time (Nov 2008) I did not get a box, but I was able to print out my own shipping label and send out the xbox same day and get a refurbished xbox back a week later.
I can see how this COULD be a problem, but in my experience whatever new process Microsoft is using works well.
Hey i have an idea. Lets complain about companies that send small things in over sized boxes so that they feel bad about how they are destroying the environment. Then as soon as the stop the practice ridicule them for not sending us empty boxes…yeah that will get them…
[consumerist.com]
FYI: I know its not a microsoft story (link) but it was the first one I found
Wow I guess I was lucky then. Mine red ringed 11 days ago and i got the box the day after I requested the repair. And I should get my 360 back this wednesday. M$ did pretty good in my book if i do get it back wednesday.
If you report your RROD on Microsoft’s website instead of calling tech support, you get a box – no questions asked.
Of course, the easier thing to do (if this isn’t your first RROD) is save the box from the previous time.
This story is a load of bull. My console just RRoD’ed last Thursday. When you register the console online and request a repair, there’s a pull down menu that you choose to say “SEND ME A BOX” and boom… MS sends you a box. I just got it today and packed up the broken XBOX. I will take it to UPS tomorrow.
If you use the website to schedule your repair it gives you the option of printing your own label or waiting for a box to be shipped.
Old news. However, when I took mine in to the mailboxes etc, the girl working there saw me walking in with my xbox, reached over and grabbed a perfect sized box and said “we get a few of these every day.” Now that is funny to me.
I don’t know why they wouldn’t send him one, I literally just requested on my Xbox 360 yesterday and requested that a box be shipped to me and it is on the way free of charge. I have the UPS tracking number of it and it will be here on Wednesday. Maybe it is because it is his second repair?
I’ve had my 360 in for repairs about five times now. First time it was replaced with a new console, then the replacement had to be sent into repairs four times. The first few times, Microsoft never sent me any packaging material, instead they told me to use any old cardboard box and cushion it with old newspapers. Around the third time when I asked about it (after having checked various Xbox forums online) they sent me a box which was to small and didn’t have any space for the power supply brick (which they’d told me to send in along with the Xbox).
Not the brightest bulbs in the box over there…
Weird. A couple of weeks ago I requested a box from them and they sent me two.
Go to Fed Ex. They sell a kid specifically for mailing electronics. It was only like $5 when I had to mail my dad’s cellphone and bits. The bigger one was like $10.
I just did my service request but online not through the phone. they had 3 options. One of them being sending a prepaid box out to my address. I just got it yesterday 3-2-09. So they still send the boxes out but maybe only to those who do it online. I hate calling in to CS lines cause its always a different company that does the call center so you never talk directly with anyone that is involved with microsoft itself.
The Xbox 360′s unacceptable failure rate is the only thing IMO that has kept the PS3 alive.
I would buy an Xbox 360 IF they solved the RROD failures. They obviously have not.
I would buy a PS3 IF the price dropped to under $300. It has not.
I’m not interested in a Wii. Crappy graphics, silly interface.
So — I’ll continue supporting the PSP until something gives — or the next generation of consoles arrives…
It is the same procedure with Seagate and defective hard drives, only they expect you to find precut foam in exactly the same shape as the drive…
In their defense? They do offer a $20 deal where they send you a replacement drive and then you reuse its packaging to return the old one. Perhaps Microsoft could do the same? $25 bucks and they send a new(refurbished…) 360 with packaging, then you send the old one in its box?
Wrap the newspaper in tape and make your own shock absorbent forms for cheap.
When my 2nd Xbox red-ringed, Microsoft gave me prepaid shipping to them through UPS, but I had to pay for the box. UPS however, offered a box that fit the Xbox for $10CAD. While I hated paying, it could have been worse. Plus, the way I see it, since MS paid for the shipping with one courier, they are responsible for it, including the packaging the courier provides.
As far as I know, they’ve never given you boxes. Luckily I still had my original box. I just turned it inside out and wrapped in some shipping tape.
Were they supposed to give me one?
I am on my 4th 360 and the last one was send in your own box. They said it would be faster as I would not have to wait for them to send me a box which normally could take up to 3 days (I am in Canada). I was told not to send it back in the original box as there is a theft issue which is pretty sad. I was lucky to have a box handy so it wasn’t an issue and I also have an issue with Purolator as they lost my first 2 boxes in the past but that is another story. Also to my knowledge and maybe this is only Canada they have never “repaired” my 360, they only sent me back a refurbished one as they were all different. I do want to thank the Consumerist, I used the EECB and got a callback in 2 days. I got 2 controllers and a 20 gig HD and now I can call the escalation line instead of their normal helpdesk. Consumerist ROCKS!
Not really “news”, in fact, it was on Consumerist just over 2 years ago. Are our memories really that short?
[consumerist.com]
@chemicalpink: I guess They had changed it back to free shipping a few months later ([consumerist.com]) but it looks like it’s gone back to their money-grubbing policy.
Ok I had this same issue. Microsoft had me print a UPS label to ship it with. What I did was go to a UPS authorized dealer and pay $5 to have THEM pack and ship it. This way if there was any damage due to shipping then it would fall on UPS’s authorized dealer to repair or replace. Sure it cost me a little but to eliminated the responsibility from me for shipping was great!
That’s interesting because my Xbox suffered from the RROD about three weeks ago. I went on Xbox.com, filled out some necessary information and they sent me a shipping box within four days. I just picked up my replacement console yesterday. No problems.
I’ll keep the box they shipped it in, just in case.
My 2 repairs were in May 07 and May 08, each time I got a box from Microsoft. In 08 I had read they were starting to do not do boxes, but my friend had issues back in Nov. 08 and Jan. 09 and both times he got boxes as well.
Everyone should do themselves a favor and do all the repair process through service.xbox.com instead of calling India, you’ll save a lot of headaches.
Look on Ebay and buy an Xbox Box. Now that they are a hot commodity, I’m going to start a business.
Recession my ass.
I got a RROD and Microsoft told me they would send an empty box followed 2 days later by a UPS worker to collect my Xbox, neither showed up so i rang again to complain, eventually i gave up and swapped my Xbox with my brother in-laws one, 6 months on and he still hasn’t noticed
that is soo stupid they pay for shipping cost both ways all u have to do it get a box smh. i sent my xbox in and had it back in less than a week. hy cry over a box that u can get for free
As far as I know (and I’m on 360 #11 since launch), they only send boxes out for in-warranty repairs. Out-of-warranty repairs have always been required to send their broken 360 in their own packaging. Seeing how the 3 year mark since launch just passed not long ago, I’d expect to see more people getting stuck not only sending their dead units in their own packaging, but having to pay for what is basically a fundamental problem with the 360′s cooling and design (i.e. insufficient heatsink and mounting brackets for the GPU).
This is BS. My disc drive went screwy and won’t recognise games..so I called them early monday morning. I got the UPS confirmation that the box is on it’s way via next day air saver. So I should have it tomorrow.
I didn’t even have to ask them for it. Maybe they refuse you a box when you are a complete dick to them like I’m sure plenty of you are.
I just shipped my X-Box off for a RROD today, MS sent me the box and shipping label free of charge. I made the request last Thursday.
I was prepared to use my own box, but since it was free to get the box driven up to my house with the packing instructions and so in in there, I thought “why not?”
It lasted a full three years, so I guess I was exceptionally lucky.
Wow…really??! I have had to send in my 360(‘s) a couple of times over the past few years and they always provided me a box. I found the return/repair process to be relatively painless (except the fact that my system was gone) but I would be a bit irritated if they told me to find my own box after sending one to me before.
Got to say this is a shit movie on MS’s part.
This rings false to me, because a week ago, my own Xbox, red-ringed on me, and they sent me a box with no problems whatsoever. I did it through their support website, not over the phone. Initially it’s default option was for them to give me an electronic mailing label (UPS) and I provide my own box, but I just changed the option to have them send me a (UPS) box, and there was no problem. It should be on it’s way back to me.
So I wonder if this is actually company policy now, and it has been changed only in the last seven days, or if Zach just talked to a bad CSR.
@etho:
On an unrelated note, I’d just like to say I have Core model from less than a month after launch, and it has only failed me twice in four(?) years. I’m given to understand that this is a remarkably good record for such an early model, so go me!(?)
Consumerist: Do you do any fact checking? Or do you just blindly post tips that are anti-Microsoft to get page views? Kotaku did the work you couldn’t:
“Reports that Microsoft now requires consumers to find their own packaging for sending product to Xbox 360 customer support are inaccurate. Our policy allows customers to choose whether they would like Microsoft to ship them a box and shipping label or print an electronic label and ship their console using their own packaging in an effort to speed up the repair process.”
[feeds.gawker.com]
actually this is not a new policy at all really. i had to have mine fixed back in august 2008 and again here in February 09 and i had to supply my own box both times.
Luckily its not a big deal for me since i have had my xbox repaired so many times before this policy that i have Broken 360 packaging aLL over my house and could just send it in one of those. Ill never run out becuase i always get one back.
Also I would really stop complaining becasue this does decrease the amount of time you are without your 360. In February, from the day that i mailed my 360 til i received my fix one back it was only 8 days. I know before that it was on the order of 20-25 days. Id say that is good news!
I just sent mine in about two to three weeks ago. They provided a box (though you could supply your own if you so choose). Maybe it’s just customer support reps that are misinformed, though I’m not sure why anyone would trouble with actually calling: the process is automated on the website, you just click a few buttons and you are on your way.
My 360 RROD the other day so I setup a return over the phone and not once did they offer to ship me a box. I didnt even know it was an option until now. Should be getting it back today just in time for Halo Wars!
This policy has been in place for a while now. They tried to tell me to find my own box when I sent my system in in June 2008. I insisted and they sent me a box. I kept the box they returned my system to me with so I can just have the label e-mailed to me in the future.
After speaking with xbox support today and asking 9 times for a box. (which I recorded on the phone) I was told they do not offer a box anymore. And haven’t since January. I have to be honest, I have purchased 4 -360′s myself this is my 2nd elite and my first red ring and I feel like they have dropped the ball on this one. (and yes… My house is the halo party house) I am a full time student and work full time, so the idea that after spending 500 bucks on a console they cared enough to ship me the box for the known issue to save me the time and money was nice. I am disappointed in the customer service with the xbox. If I wanted to be treated like crap I would have purchased a PS3
Did this to me about 2.5 months ago. I just used a random box I had laying round the flat. No big deal. Besides if this is a second time and the Xbox is such a notoriously flawed piece of equipment surely it would be common sense to keep the box around that they sent him the first time. I have even in the tiny flat I live in.
please stop the whining!
I really don’t get the point, just ship it in the original xbox 360 package back to MS.
They made me use my own box a while ago all i did was just go to liek a grocerys tore get a box around the same size as my xbox and then warp bubble wrap around my xbox and it was fine nothing happend at all, if anything I find this new policy better because you dont have to wair for them to ship you a box you can send yours in right away now
A month ago after 4 RROD. Mine went down again. Called 1-800-4my-xbox on hold for 30 minutes. They told me that I needed my own box to ship it box. I told them that I couldn’t get a box and they sent one in 5 five day. Received my refurb xbox 14 days. The fastest yet.
I recently had to send in my xbox for the 4th time and this was the first time I had to use my own box. I found it pretty convenient because I got my xbox back a lot quicker but I work in a warehouse, so it’s easy to get free boxes and packing materials, so I can see how people without that convenience might be miffed.