No more extended warranty from MS for the 360?

[Inspector Fowler]

I just bought a new Elite and in the past I've relied on the extended MS warranty instead of the Best Buy one. When I found out I had to go through the same process either way, it was a simple choice.

However...I can't find the offer or anything to purchase the extended warranty. Anybody remember anything about this?

[WhyThree]

If I recall correctly, it comes with 1 year general warranty and 3 years for red ring of death. I don't think you have to buy anything else to qualify for the warranty.

[Inspector Fowler]

Yeah, but when I bought my first Xbox, instead of buying the Best Buy warranty I bought a $50 two year warranty from Microsoft. I've had to use it twice out of warranty (three times total). So for $50 it was a really good deal. I've always jokingly referred to it as "the $50 that makes the 360 actually work".

This time there wasn't an offer for that. I dunno why not. Maybe because $50 wasn't enough to recover the repair costs.

[Laughing Penguin]

Are you sure the warranty as from Microsoft and not a repackaged Best Buy plan? I only ask because it's the first I'd ever head of this, my 2 friends who manage Gamestops hadn't heard of this, and a quck sarch online shows no mention of such a thing. Microsoft does offer a full year warranty covering general failures for a full year for free, but I can't find any official coverage beyond that.

That being said, I find their standard coverage to be excellent. Just today I called them because I have a system with disc read issues... the shipping label they were sending is running a couple days late, so I just got an upgrade for expidite shipping and repairs. Now i'll have it back faster than I would have if the shipping label showed up on time! And I get a coffin, which they usually don't do anymore. Sucks to have to send it back (it was a Jasper unit I grabbed last year) but I have my formerly red-ringed launch system to play while I wait for it's return.

[Laughing Penguin]

I did find this just now:

http://www.xbox.com/en-AU/support/xbox360/extwarranty.htm

Not $50 though, seems the starting price is $70... is this what you bought? Did you get it at Best Buy, or later on from Microsoft?

[Inspector Fowler]

I guess I should describe this better, I figured more people had gone this route.

The Best Buy warranty is something you purchase at Best Buy. I picked up one a zillion years for my original Xbox - you know, "if it breaks just bring it back and you get a new one". Despite what they say, when I tried to redeem it at Best Buy, they told me to fuck off. They said I had to call a number, do some troubleshooting. If they couldn't fix it over the phone, I packed it up and mailed it in. If they couldn't fix it at the Best Buy repair center, then (and only then) would they send me a voucher to "just buy a new one", as the salesperson had so helpfully phrased it.

I think it goes without saying that I was pretty fucking pissed - when I bought that Xbox, they told me I could just bring it in if anything was ever wrong with it. So I decided I wouldn't get the Best Buy warranties anymore.

Years ago, I opened up my first Xbox 360 - if my Achievements record is accurate, it would have been May of 2006. In it was a small card - this was from MS, in the actual 360 box. The card told me that for $50, I could double the regular warranty to 2 years. This was before the red-ring madness had reached its peak, but after it had started, so I decided I would take Microsoft up on their offer. I mailed the card to Microsoft along with a check.

Not only did it double my warranty - the first time I had to send it in for a repair, they extended the warranty to 2010. I called and asked why, and the Indian guy said, "I'm not sure, but I can verify that your extended warranty has been...extended...until 2010." Sweet.

I sold that system to a friend but even last month it red-ringed. I simply logged into my Xbox.com, and verified with Microsoft that their console was still attached to my tag and still warranted through 2010. Yep, through December of next year. It made a 3rd trip to Microsoft courtesy of my $50 extended warranty. 4.5 years of coverage for $50, not bad.

All of the servicing has been done directly through Microsoft either by phone or internet.

The second time it died, I decided it was time to grab an Elite (I know the logic there is fucked up, it broke so I gave them more money). I sold the original one to a buddy and bought an Elite. The Elite also had a card in the box offering to sell me an extended warranty. I didn't take them up on it that time, mostly because I was stretching my finances just to pick up the Elite. A year ago I left gaming for a while and sold the Elite to some random guy off Craigslist.

Today I bought a new Elite. As usual, I told the salesgirl to fuck off when she offered me their awesome service plan. If the Best Buy thing really worked like they said, sure I'd do it. But having the experience I narrated above, I told her I'd rely on the MS extended warranty. Imagine my surprise when I opened the box and there wasn't a card in there.

Apparently, in Australia, you can still get an extended warranty (http://www.xbox.com/en-AU/support/xbox360/extwarranty.htm). In other countries as well. But my mad Google skillz just aren't showing the same option in the US anymore. Dammit. And that salesgirl looked at me like I was retarded, walking out of Best Buy with no insurance for the Elite.

Yack. I feel so naked without the extra coverage. I'm a 3X returner of 360s, so I don't expect much more out of this one.

[Iron Past]

What I know for sure is MS offers a general one year warranty that covers everything and a three year warranty that covers the Red Ring and E74 errors. Keep in mind that it is from the date of manufacture, though, not the date of purchase. And regardless of what they say, since it's from the manufacture date, anyone can redeem it. Maybe if you register it counts from date of of purchase, I don't know.

If you're lucky, should your system have a hardware failure, they might reset the manufacture date like they did with mine. They also might not offer the extended warranty anymore since the last I heard, covering hardware failures for three years cost them in the billions area of dollars.