Xbox 360 Console Refund

magill sanchez

I purchased a xbox 360 arcade console a week and half ago for my son's birthday, for the past couple of days when he has been playing games the screen will go completely blank but you will still be able to hear the sound from the game or the dashboard. When you reboot the console everything works fine again but give it another 20 mins of playing a game or watching a movie and the same problem occurs again. The Xbox is well ventilated and does not seem to be overheating, I have a vga cable aswell as the scart cable packaged with the console and it doesn't matter which is connected or what tv it is connected to the blank screen will still pop up, as I said it is new so I cant understand why this is happening(cheaply made obviously), I contacted Microsoft and they'll be sending me labels so I can send it off.

Anyways getting to the point a friend from work is moving to OZ and when I told him about the console he told me I could have his Xbox Elite console... nice guy I know, so I was wondering if it was within my consumer rights to return the console and get a refund or would have to take up an exchange! I have all the packaging that came with it if that matters.

If anyone could give me some info on this, it would be great.

magill sanchez

magill sanchez wrote: »

I purchased a xbox 360 arcade console a week and half ago for my son's birthday, for the past couple of days when he has been playing games the screen will go completely blank but you will still be able to hear the sound from the game or the dashboard. When you reboot the console everything works fine again but give it another 20 mins of playing a game or watching a movie and the same problem occurs again. The Xbox is well ventilated and does not seem to be overheating, I have a vga cable aswell as the scart cable packaged with the console and it doesn't matter which is connected or what tv it is connected to the blank screen will still pop up, as I said it is new so I cant understand why this is happening(cheaply made obviously), I contacted Microsoft and they'll be sending me labels so I can send it off.

Anyways getting to the point a friend from work is moving to OZ and when I told him about the console he told me I could have his Xbox Elite console... nice guy I know, so I was wondering if it was within my consumer rights to return the console and get a refund or would have to take up an exchange! I have all the packaging that came with it if that matters.

If anyone could give me some info on this, it would be great.

dont go through the rigramole of sending it back to microsoft. return it to the shop, they have to exchange them if there is a fault within one year of buying it. i returned mine to gamestop after it broke down EXACTLY one year to the day after buying it and they exchanged it no bother. i dont know a single xbox 360 owner who hasnt had to return their unit at least once.what a fukcin embarrassment for microsoft.
the same goes for refunds,off course they will have to refund you if thats what you want and dont let em tell you different.

jesterhead

Yup, definitly entitled to a refund. If they try to fob you off or say take an exchange or repair, quote the Sale of Goods & Supply of Services Act 1980 (always scares them) and tell them the console was clearly not of merchantable quality, nor fit for its purpose.

kida

they are entitled to repair it or exchange it - you might be lucky and get a refund but you are not entitled to it

seamus

Yep, you are entitled to return it to the shop, but the decision to repair, refund or replace lies with the shop.

If you're nice about it, they may exchange it for a few games/accessories, then everyone wins.

Doctor DooM

jesterhead wrote: »

Yup, definitly entitled to a refund. If they try to fob you off or say take an exchange or repair, quote the Sale of Goods & Supply of Services Act 1980 (always scares them) and tell them the console was clearly not of merchantable quality, nor fit for its purpose.

That wont scare them, it will just show them you don't actually know what you are talking about.

The Sale of goods acts states a satisfactory remedy should be offered and can be either repair, replacement or refund. It says nothing about going straight to refund.

What it doesn't state is who gets to decide this, you or the shop.

Doctor DooM

seamus wrote: »

Yep, you are entitled to return it to the shop, but the decision to repair, refund or replace lies with the shop.

If you're nice about it, they may exchange it for a few games/accessories, then everyone wins.

This would prob be the best solution, or possibly some gift tokens.

magill sanchez

I got it in Smyths anyways the missus is gonna bring it back... see how she gets on, hopefully she doesn't get the refund because I know what the money will be spent on more fecking shoes, anyways thanks for the input

rubadub

Deleted User wrote: »

dont go through the rigramole of sending it back to microsoft. return it to the shop, they have to exchange them if there is a fault within one year of buying it.

It might be less hassle though, for some. A lad in work had a broken one, rang them and they sent out a UPS guy to collect it, then the next week a UPS lad delivered it to work repaired.

Travelling to the shop you got it in might be costly on fuel & time. I thought it was an excellent option.

Doctor DooM

rubadub wrote: »

It might be less hassle though, for some. A lad in work had a broken one, rang them and they sent out a UPS guy to collect it, then the next week a UPS lad delivered it to work repaired.

Travelling to the shop you got it in might be costly on fuel & time. I thought it was an excellent option.

Although the xbox is legendarily crap for breaking down, Microsofts service IS very good, As said here I wouldn't avoid dealing with them just cos.

However as you don't want a replacemet in this case, dont deal with microsoft

magill sanchez

My wife got the refund in smyths, she said that they were very hesitant at first when she asked for it suggesting she try out the nintendo wii, when she told the guy we already had one he then suggested to my wife to try some fitness board, she asked did she really need to....? refund given cashier red faced so happy days

YEAH!!! FIGHT THE POWER ,WHOOOO!!!!!

amacachi

magill sanchez wrote: »

My wife got the refund in smyths, she said that they were very hesitant at first when she asked for it suggesting she try out the nintendo wii, when she told the guy we already had one he then suggested to my wife to try some fitness board, she asked did she really need to....? refund given cashier red faced so happy days

Something I've learned from my friends returning their XBox with no receipt; get a woman in her 40s or thereabouts to bring it back. Very few questions asked that way.

TheDriver

magill sanchez wrote: »

My wife got the refund in smyths, she said that they were very hesitant at first when she asked for it suggesting she try out the nintendo wii, when she told the guy we already had one he then suggested to my wife to try some fitness board, she asked did she really need to....? refund given cashier red faced so happy days

Haha, love it! Go on the Missus!

Jaysoose

I have returned my xbox to smyths with no problems and no receipt, the lads behind the counter were sound as a bell and didnt even question the return.

In my experience smyths are one of the few big shops that will look after the customer. Try returning something to Currys......fluckin nightmare.

seamus

magill sanchez wrote: »

he then suggested to my wife to try some fitness board, she asked did she really need to....?

ROFL

Rookie mistake

evil-monkey

magill sanchez wrote: »

when she told the guy we already had one he then suggested to my wife to try some fitness board, she asked did she really need to....? refund given cashier red faced so happy days

lol, a schoolboy error by the cashier there!!

Jaysoose

Depends what way you look at it, he is either very inexperienced or a comic genius

foggy_lad

i tried to deal with microsoft over my new xbox but they did not reply to my email until after i had rang their dublin number ten days later! this costing me over €10 as i do not have a landline to ring their "freephone" number.

the rep told me my new xbox would be collected but my address is not on any sat-nav so ups would not be able to find me and also they would be repairing it not replacing it and the call just seemed to drag on and on with him seeming quite rude so i eventually said i would return it to argos and hung up.

next day i returned it to argos and they rang me back later that day telling me to call in to collect a replacement so which is better, dealing with professionals in a shop or dealing with call centre staff who's priority is cost saving and avoiding any kind of replacement or admission of liability?

Sam Vimes

foggy_lad wrote: »

i tried to deal with microsoft over my new xbox but they did not reply to my email until after i had rang their dublin number ten days later! this costing me over 10 as i do not have a landline to ring their "freephone" number.

i've never heard of a type of free phone number that can't be called from a mobile. What does it start with?

Nody

Sam Vimes wrote: »

i've never heard of a type of free phone number that can't be called from a mobile. What does it start with?

He's saying he had to pay for the call (hence not freephone for him), not that it was not reachable (not that it would be a problem to block mobile phone numbers for a IN number but that is a side discussion).

Sam Vimes

Nody wrote: »

He's saying he had to pay for the call (hence not freephone for him), not that it was not reachable (not that it would be a problem to block mobile phone numbers for a IN number but that is a side discussion).

that still leaves the question of why he had to pay for the call if he could have reached their freephone number. i don't know what having a landline or not has to do with it

Nody

Sam Vimes wrote: »

that still leaves the question of why he had to pay for the call if he could have reached their freephone number. i don't know what having a landline or not has to do with it

IN number (Intelligent Numbers) are virtual phone numbers in the sense that they are not connected to a physical address. When you dial a IN number (this is for ANY type of number, free phone, national rate, sex line rate etc.) the exchange goes to a IN server to look up what number it points to to know how to divert it (this is the short version of how it is done).

When this look up is done you can put in a lot of funky functions to help deal with the call (this is depending on the carrier who sold the number in terms of what is available). For example a Freephone number is of course not free but the company who bought it actually foots the bill for the call for you. Because of this you can for example have a white list (only allow calls from these numbers), black list on a number, region, type, country etc. All to make sure that you as a company don't get outrageous phone bills and can. This also includes how you want the IN number to treat such an incoming call (route it through, disconnect it, play a recorded message, route to another number etc.).

Hence if you call a free phone number it is up to the owner of the number to decide how to handle your call. If the owner has decided that calls from mobiles is not something they want to pay (smart decision) they can simply reject them/have the owner take the cost. There are some horror stories out there for companies who did not do a proper set up (calls from a European mobile phone in South Africa to your freephone number can be quite expensive after all...).

This is also why the OP had to pay for the call even though it is a freephone number; this is also the cause of the disclaimers such as "This number is only toll free if called from with in Ireland" and similar at the start of the call.

Sam Vimes

so the answer is: their freephone number is only free from landlines. fair enough

edit:actually i don't think this is what happened here. he said he rang their dublin number, not their freephone number.

foggy lad wrote:

i do not have a landline to ring their "freephone" number.

foggy_lad

Nody wrote: »

He's saying he had to pay for the call (hence not freephone for him), not that it was not reachable (not that it would be a problem to block mobile phone numbers for a IN number but that is a side discussion).

i rang the dublin number as when you ring the free phone number using a mobile or skype phone it will not allow the call!

Sam Vimes

foggy_lad wrote: »

i rang the dublin number as when you ring the free phone number using a mobile or skype phone it will not allow the call!

right so that explains it

foggy_lad

yes the freephone number is only free for landlines as mobiles are blocked. and when you ring the Dublin number you have to listen to minutes of crap before you even get into the queing system which results in a much higher price for the call.

FREEZER BURN 47

I own a xbox 360 pro, and just a couple days ago my xbox got the "three rings of death." You need to call 1 800 4 MY XBOX, and ask to speak with a supervisor about a refund, otherrwise they will send you a refurbished console...
cheers,
justin