Fix my XBOX

[Dallasin2K3]

Here's a little story, since I can't play NCAA now.

Last year, NCAA 2004. I had one of the launch edition XBOXes with the Thompson drive that always gave DDE errors. Happened on ESPN College Basketball, too. I put up with it for a year but decided to get it fixed this summer when I got fed up.

So I called Microsoft. I informed the tech about the problem and cited sources like ABC.com's story on the Thompson drives. (For those of you who haven't seen it, it's a buyer beware article highlighting how [censored] the drive is and to be careful when buying XBOXes.) I also cited some petitions of people who were trying to get the launch XBOXes recalled due to the faulty drives. So the tech took my out of warranty XBOX and put it back in warranty to have the problem fixed. I had to be very persistent about how it was Microsoft's fault all along, etc., but it worked. So the total cost to get it repaired by Microsoft was about 15 dollars for shipping.

10 days later it comes back, and to my relief, has a new samsung drive in it.

Works great, for about 3 weeks. Up until about midweek last week, when the drive had trouble reading games when I turned on the XBOX. Usually I could just restart it a few times and it would eventually work, but the other day, it gave up, and after about 20-30 tries, no dice.

So I call Microsoft again. I explain my problem and the previous repair and he informs me that this issue is not covered by my XBOX warranty. "That will be a one-time fee of $91.47 to get it fixed," he informs me. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. At this point I get irritated and push him about how the drive was just repaired by them 3 weeks ago and doesn't work now. I told him there's no way I'm paying for it, but he wouldn't budge. I told him to fly a kite and put his supervisor on. SO here comes the supervisor, and at this point I was rolling. I told him I wasn't going to pay a hundred bucks, plus shipping, to have the piss-poor repairs on my XBOX re-repaired. He informed me that Microsoft will stand by his product, and not 2 minutes later, he decided that the repairs, shipping and handling, would be on the house.

Unfortunately, it'll be 7-10 days till I get the shipping box, another week to get it to microsoft, another week for the repairs, and then another week for them to ship it back... Which ends up being like a month (ack), but at least I'm not paying for it.

So I guess I'll be seeing ya'll online in mid-late August! lol.

[brewer67]

you coulda fixed that yourself with a little qtip

[Dallasin2K3]

Quote:

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brewer67 said:
you coulda fixed that yourself with a little qtip

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Um, no, you can't.

Anyway, I know a lot of people still have this problem. So for those of you out there...

Anyway, when you call Microsoft, you will have to stick with your guns, but be prepared with info from the web and hang up without agreeing to pay for anything if you have to. Here are some helpful links:

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/7on...tory_xbox.html
http://www.sentientcreations.com/xboxIssues/

[Dallasin2K3]

Oh, and by the way, the dog chewed through my 50' ethernet cable.

[XboxRocks1991]

Quote:

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Dallasin2K3 said:
Oh, and by the way, the dog chewed through my 50' ethernet cable.

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And now ur dog isnt workin rite????

[Dallasin2K3]

Quote:

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XboxRocks1991 said:

Quote:

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Dallasin2K3 said:
Oh, and by the way, the dog chewed through my 50' ethernet cable.

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And now ur dog isnt workin rite????

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I'm thinking this is a joke.. but I don't see anything funny in it.. so.. Maybe I'll just answer the question instead.

Um, no. The dog is just fine. It's the ethernet cable that doesn't work.

[lkelly]

Why not just buy a replacement drive off ebay or somewhere else and put it in yourself?

You would be off and running in less than half the time.

[RGmoney]

Quote:

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Dallasin2K3 said:
Here's a little story, since I can't play NCAA now.

Last year, NCAA 2004. I had one of the launch edition XBOXes with the Thompson drive that always gave DDE errors. Happened on ESPN College Basketball, too. I put up with it for a year but decided to get it fixed this summer when I got fed up.

So I called Microsoft. I informed the tech about the problem and cited sources like ABC.com's story on the Thompson drives. (For those of you who haven't seen it, it's a buyer beware article highlighting how [censored] the drive is and to be careful when buying XBOXes.) I also cited some petitions of people who were trying to get the launch XBOXes recalled due to the faulty drives. So the tech took my out of warranty XBOX and put it back in warranty to have the problem fixed. I had to be very persistent about how it was Microsoft's fault all along, etc., but it worked. So the total cost to get it repaired by Microsoft was about 15 dollars for shipping.

10 days later it comes back, and to my relief, has a new samsung drive in it.

Works great, for about 3 weeks. Up until about midweek last week, when the drive had trouble reading games when I turned on the XBOX. Usually I could just restart it a few times and it would eventually work, but the other day, it gave up, and after about 20-30 tries, no dice.

So I call Microsoft again. I explain my problem and the previous repair and he informs me that this issue is not covered by my XBOX warranty. "That will be a one-time fee of $91.47 to get it fixed," he informs me. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. At this point I get irritated and push him about how the drive was just repaired by them 3 weeks ago and doesn't work now. I told him there's no way I'm paying for it, but he wouldn't budge. I told him to fly a kite and put his supervisor on. SO here comes the supervisor, and at this point I was rolling. I told him I wasn't going to pay a hundred bucks, plus shipping, to have the piss-poor repairs on my XBOX re-repaired. He informed me that Microsoft will stand by his product, and not 2 minutes later, he decided that the repairs, shipping and handling, would be on the house.

Unfortunately, it'll be 7-10 days till I get the shipping box, another week to get it to microsoft, another week for the repairs, and then another week for them to ship it back... Which ends up being like a month (ack), but at least I'm not paying for it.

So I guess I'll be seeing ya'll online in mid-late August! lol.

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Sorry to hear that man. I too have a launch date Xbox with the Thompson drive in it. With last year's NCAA 2004 and Madden, I was getting "DDE"'s right and left. With this years NCAA 2005 and ESPN 2K5, I have not had a single problem. I also clean mine on a regular basis too. Good luck with yours man...