While submitting his busted Xbox 360 for repair, Ben stumbled upon a valuable piece of info for those whose have suffered multiple system breakdowns: A special phone number that expedites the shipping your refurbished replacement console, provided you have your reference number and the extension of a CSR who helped you with your problem when you called 1-800-4MY-XBOX. We first reported the secret number (1-888-236-0927) two years ago.

He writes:

In the process of sending in my third Xbox for a Red Ring of Death repair (this one lasted an entire month!), I discovered some very interesting tidbits about the 360 repair process after filing an EECB through the e-mail addresses listed on The Consumerist.

Hours after filing my complaint, I received an e-mail from Glenn, a CSR from Microsoft, who told me some very beneficial information for the disgruntled 360 population at-large, but managed to screw up my repair even further.

The big news: If your 360 has broken down multiple times, there’s actually a phone number that you can call to initiate an expedited process. I was shocked to hear about this, especially given that the @XBoxSupport feed on Twitter told me that there was no other number through which I would be able to address my issues:

It’s pretty clear Microsoft doesn’t want this expedited process advertised. So, without further ado, here is the magical phone number:

1-888-236-0927. Have your reference number ready.

Basically, Glenn told me that Microsoft puts a hold on your credit card and sends you an XBox before yours gets to the repair center. After they receive your console, they remove the hold and everything is peachy keen. Although this is helpful to me, Glenn said it was impossible for me to take advantage of the process because I had already sent my console in a full hour before I was able to speak with him on the phone.

This infuriated me to no end – logically speaking, why couldn’t they place the hold on my credit card and send a console out to me? Another example of incredibly backward and infuriating customer service by Microsoft.

The other key piece of information Glenn relayed to me concerns the units that are being shipped back through the repair center in Texas. If you have your hopes on receiving a new unit, think again – Glenn told me all of the units that come out of that center are refurbished, so you can re-live the joys of sending in your broken 360 to Microsoft endlessly. Yay?

For what it’s worth, I sent my console in with a special note:

I’d rather wait for a regular repair than hand over my credit card number to a CSR. What about you?

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