Microsoft steps up...

Remember my problem from a couple of months ago when two of our Xbox 360s experienced the dreaded "ring of death"? Yo may recall that one of the boxes was still under warranty, but the other was no longer covered. In order to get them repaired, I had to call to have a shipping box sent so I could send them both to the repair center. The Xbox that is still under warranty would be repaired for free, but the other would cost $139.90. That's an awfully steep price for a repair that (as I found out) was a common problem with the hardware.

Reeves (who experienced the ring of death syndrome with his own Xbox 360 just a few weeks ago) sent me an email yesterday. Microsoft put out a press release on Thursday announcing that they would extend the warranty of the Xbox 360s to 3 years (up from 1 year, which is actually up from the original 90 days). The press release also stated that Microsoft will reimburse all customers who had already paid the repair fee. Another article stated that the company says it is planning to spend at least $1 billion to repair serious problems with its Xbox 360 video game console.

I gotta say: I'm impressed. I was really upset that this was such an obvious problem, causing many customers (including myself) to be very upset, and I was hoping that Microsoft would somehow step up to the plate someday and do the right thing. I'm really happy to see that they are.