Microsoft Xbox 360 console warranties

[Tao]

Good Afternnon

Looking for a bit of help & advice on the above.

I have an Xbox 360 games console that comes with a 1 year exchange warranty & a 3 year repair warranty (Standard as offered by Microsoft).

We originally purchased our first console at the back end of May 2006, this became faulty in March 2007, we therefore returned it to the shop for replacement, they duly replaced the console with a new one.
In February 2008 the replacement console also broke & again we returned it to the shop for a replacement, again it was replaced.

There is a common fault with theses consoles whereby they develop a terminal fault that cannot be easily fixed (Microsoft are fully aware of this as it is detailed indepth on their website). Whilst attempting to play the console today we found that the main power transformer has stopped working (a new fault). I therefore returned it to the shop only to be told that we were out of warranty as the original date that we had purchased the console was back in May 2006. I attempted to explain that the faulty part was on a system that was new in February but to no avail.

As detailed earlier they had already replaced the console with a new one which was way outside of the one year replacement window, but now choose to maintain that the ONE YEAR WARRANTY does not apply to the actual system but from the date that the system was actually purchased.

My problem is simple Microsoft do not seem able to produce a console that can last more than a year, I have paid for my console & it has broken down twice within that year period.

Can anyone advise what the legal stand point is on ONE YEAR WARRANTIES?

Many Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this & for any comments you may have.

[Jez]

The warranty may have expired, but this does not affect your statutory rights. I think it would be reasonable to ask for your money back? Get a Playstation 3 instead - they only have a small known issue with overheating and that only happens if you play for hours non-stop. Better graphics too

[Catriona]

I am about to post something on extended warranties and statutory rights, but in the meantime what I would say is this: the issue of the warranty is irrelevant in this case. And their comment about being outside the warranty is misinformation. You should be looking to your rights under the Sale of Goods Act - particularly section 14 which refers to your entitlement to "reasonable quality". One of the definitions of the concept of quality is durability and I would say that after 13 months and the price paid, this is unacceptable. There should be an industry standard for the lifespan of any electrical product and this is the benchmark you should use. A washing machine for eg is 5 years. The Sale of Goods Act states that you can take an item back to the retailer for up to 6 years, although if it is after the first 6 months it will be up to you to prove the fault was present at the time it was given to you. It is made more problematic by the fact that this is now your third console, but you are also within your rights to claim a loss of faith in the manufacturer and request recission (termination) of your contract with the retailer on this basis. You would then get a refund less a reasonable amount for your use of the item over the time you have had it. See the section on 'Buying Goods' in the 'Know Your Rights' section of this site, and good luck!

[Tony]

If you paid on your credit card then the credit card company is equally liable. See: Consumer Credit Act: Equal Liability | Consumer Information

Let us know how you get on

[Jorumian]

I agree with Jez,

Hopefully you can get your money back and invest in a replacement console. My brother has an X-box 360 and while it is absolutely fantastic, and some of the games are outstanding, when I came to buying one I was so worried about the console dying within a year of me buying it, that I got a PS3. The difference between the consoles is negligible in terms of quality, however with a PS3 you now get the Blu Ray disc, which has been accepted by all major film/dvd production companies as the future format for home use, over the X-Box's HDD, and the PS3 is a machine that is a great deal more reliable.

Ian

[Tony]

I bought a Playstation 3 for the same reason as you Ian, but the High Definition is better on the PS3 as it supports the full 1080 high definition standard. It is a shame there is only one game that makes use of it though. My main gripe with the PS3 is the fact that it does freeze and need rebooting. The babysitters last weekend didn't know how to do this and were not able to see the end of their film. I think the reason for this is overheating and when the fan kicks in you certainly know about it and it does affect enjoyment of films.

Tony

[scotchlass]

My DH has an X Box 360 and a PS3- he has only ever head a problem with the 360- I think he had the "red ring of death" and was able to send parts of it back to Microsoft direct and had replacements sent Free of Charge.

I know OP was back in July, even if the one yeat warranty had run out wouldn't he have been able to to see if could have been repairable as that warranty would have still been running?