Red ring of death

[flyte]

(I know I'm new but I was bored and thought I would share my experience with you guys)

Anyone else experience this joyous event? I just love when my five hundred dollar video game system stops working when I wanna play Halo 3.
For those of you who may not know, when there are three flashing red lights on your xbox 360 instead of the solid green ones it means your system took a crap. It's because of crappy metal they used in the solder connections. I can't fix that without killing myself.

Thank god the Microsoft team (in India??) was there to help me diagnose the problem. I'm exaggerating here but it's not that far off: My replies start with asterisk *.

Hello, what seems to be the problem?

*I have the red rings on my 360, I need to have it repaired, I already completed every troubleshooting step on the website. Theres a new 3 year warranty for this problem, right?

Which system do you have?

*Is this microsoft? I have an Xbox 360.

I see, could you please tell me the serial number on your machine so I can make sure we are talking about the same system.

*You think I have a playstation? (The lady had NO sense of humor!) ..I gave her the serial number.

That serial number is correct. Yes, I see that you have an xbox 360.

*(Do I win something?) I already knew that...

What seems to be the problem?

* (sigh) I have the red ring of death.

What? You have the red rings on your xbox 360 system?

*Yes, 3 red rings.

What color are the red rings?

*Uhm. They are red.

How many rings?

*Three. Red. Rings.

Okay, have you tried turning the system off and back on again to see if the red rings go away?

*(no lady, I tried EVERYTHING but that!) Yes, I did that immediately. I also already followed all the troubleshooting things on the microsoft websi-

There is a list of troubleshooting on our website for you to follow for that issue. We can go through them together.

*I already did everything on the list, please just send me the box.

You already called?

*No, I already.. look I know it's broken. Can we skip the stuff you have to tell the dumb people? I'm a geek, I already tried everything!

We have several options here but your warranty is expired.

*I thought there was a 3 year extension for the red ring problem.

There is a three year extension for this issue. You have had your system for 2 years past your original warranty. Let me put you on hold and see if you are still eligible for the 3 year warranty.

*(I wait for her to subtract 2 from 3)

Good, news! Your eligible!

*I know!

Do you enjoy your use of xbox live?

*No, I have dial up and I haven't been able to try it out yet.

We will be sending you a 1 month subscription to xbox live for this minor inconvenience.

*Uh, I can't use that.

Won't that be nice!

*What?!

Now, we have two choices here.

*Send me the box.

You can either pack your xbox 360 in a sturdy box, making sure to wrap it carefully.

*Please send me the box.

Or we can send you a box for your xbox 360, which will take 3-5 business days.

*I would like the box please, I don't want it to break more.

Which would you prefer?

*Uhm. Please send me the box.

Okay, you are aware that the box will take 3 to 5 business days to arrive?

*Yes, because you just told me 3 seconds ago.

So you would like us to send you the box?

*Yes, for the love of god.

Okay, we will be sending you a box.

*Thank you.

It should take 3 to 5 business days to arrive.

*That long? Okay.

You can place your xbox 360 in the box and send it back to us.

*(Really, Are you sure?) I'll do just that.

Don't send in any games, hard drives or controllers with your xbox 360.

*Uhm, I won't.

If you send any games, hard drives or controllers to microsoft with your xbox 360, microsoft will not be responsible for the loss of them.

*Thats why I'm not sending them.

Don't send any wires either.

* (I could kill her at this point) I promise not to.

If you send any wires to microsoft with your xbox 360, microsoft will not be responsible for the loss of them.

*I understand.

Don't send anything other than-

*Look, I'm only sending the bare bones system, I PROMISE!!

Microsoft will not be held responsible for-

*Anything, ever?

The loss of any items sent with your xbox 360.

*Ok. Thanks for telling me.

Please give me your address information so we can make sure everything is correct.

* (She then proceeds to mistype my address and telephone number about 4 times.. I'm still not sure I'm even going to get the darn box)

Okay, so you should be getting your box in 3 to 5 business days. It may take longer if being delivered over the weekend.

*Yes, I know how the mail works. By the way, how long is this going to take?

3 to 5 business days.

*No, I mean the repair on my 360.

That will depend on whats wrong with it.

*(I resist the urge to slam my head repeatedly into the wall) Ok what if it has the 3 red rings of light? How long would that repair take?

Oh, well you can check on the status of your repair at our website. Similar repairs generally take the same amount of time.

*Uh.. How long does the repair for the red lights take, generally? (Getting worried now) It's not really 9 months like I read online, is it?

Oh no, not 9 months. It takes from 3 to 6 weeks for that particular repair.

*Thats not so bad, I can live with that.

Or longer.

*How much longer????

You can check on the status of your repair on our website.

*Okay. I'll do that.

Let me just give you your repair number.

(She gives me a huge number, asks me to repeat it and I resist the urge to screw it up five thousand times like she did)

Alright so we will be sending the box out in 3 to 5 business days and you shou-

*It takes you that long to send an empty box??

And you should recieve it within 3 to 5 business days.

*Okay, great. Thank you.

And send your damaged xbox 360 back in the same box we send you.

*(What, I'm gonna wait 6-10 business days and then use a different box?) Ok. And I won't send anything but the system.

And don't send anything with the xbox 360 system.

*I won't, Oh my god lady!!

Is there anything else I can help you with today?

*I sure hope not! Bye!

Please have a good evening and thank you for purchasing an xbox 360.

*No problem, thank you for using the cheapest materials possible to build it!

What?

*Nothing! *click*


It was a close thing, I ALMOST shot myself during that conversation.

[judgemax]

sorry, but thats to funny! we have all been there, with some one for some repair, ..Mine is always my printers. although, when i fried my wireless router, ..the conversation, was almost identical to yours! ugh! you have to literally, sit on your hands, to quash the urge to hang up on them and say, i will just buy something else!

[KingOfTheDeep]

this is why i took my xbox back to gamestop the day i got it, and got $350 worth of PS2 games instead..

[Grins]

Hiliarious, beent here too. Oh, and I shared this with my son. He said he had a similiar issue with the red ring of death. Turned out the extra cooling upgrade he bought for the system had a defective fan and as soon as he stopped using it the issue stopped.

[flyte]

They say the cooling system makes it worse.. People are actually wrapping towels around their 360's when they get the red ring problem. The overheating makes the connections work properly OR makes a fire. I decided to send mine in for fixin' instead of burning my house down.

Kingofthedeep, I really do love my 360, I've been really sick for a long time so spend a lot of time playing games. I also love my dad's ps2 :)
This is the first issue I have ever had with it, and while I am really pissed, I'm definitely not gonna give up on it :)

[KingOfTheDeep]

i love the 360 also, a friend of mine has one..but they are just not reliable enough for me. i've had my ps2 since '02, not one problem lol.

[Dwarf Puffers]

:rofl: HAHAHA, you poor guy. That was sooo funny. If I had been there, I would have re-called just to mess with her. You just made my day (night), thanks man :)

[flyte]

Np, Dwarf.. but.. *Checks pants again to be sure* IMA GIRL! :eek3:


- Sarah

[cooldude123]

hehehe thats the best

[ILOVEBETTAS]

Wow... that is HYSTERICAL! I'm sorry but that is so funny! How stupid can people be? I just don't understand.... lol :grinyes:

[jtburf]

I love calling tech support and getting.

Hello my name is Bob. (clearly in some weird foreing countrie.)

outsourcing has really ****** me offf too.

then there is the classic question of, ?Is the device on sir?

[Ctenopoma]

i have had to send in my x box 4 times:wall: and most of them are like yours! lol
once i had a person say right at the begining:
"EEELLLLLOOOOOO would you like to purchase a xxxxbbax 350?"
and it was customer survice on the phone! :grinyes:
and just to screw with the person i said.(in spanish)
No abla o speeeaake enlish.
She replys: What why you calling then?
I want to noif if you have di xbaox 360?



hahahaahah i laughed my *** off after,both me and my friends.


im evil:devil:

[Lady G]

LOL, I feel for you...went through the same thing here!! I really wanted to throw the stupid phone at the wall, just so you know mine took about a month to repair and get back to me...hope all goes well for you!!
Just remember it will take about 3-5 business days for the box to get to ya though!

[flyte]

Just remember it will take about 3-5 business days for the box to get to ya though!
WHAT?!!?!?!

Lol- Cool, I hope mine only takes a month. I have found that if there is any type of complication to be found.. medical.. mechanical.. anything. It hits me. It'll problably explode or something.

[clown-lover]

:rofl::rofl:

Wow.. I feel your pain as I used to be the guy on the other end of the phone at one point and time in my life for that very company.. Unfortunately the quality of employees coming through the door has decreased exponentially over the years as these companies try to decrease costs associated with tech support. So they have created "Knowledge" bases that they have to follow step by step and click on buttons that state you have acknowledged these and your call is being recorded. If they don't the employees are fired/warned etc..

I have long since left that industry but I do know what it is like on the other side of the coin as well..

Good luck, but I'm betting you won't see your unit for at least two months.

[boomerjr91]

wow that sucks. I've had the red ring of death at least 10 times but, only 3 times I've had to call probably the same lady. this is what I wanted to do to her though by the end of the conversation. :hitting: it took a little more than a month to repair. so far my wii has been flawless (thank god.) good luck though because halo 3 is a really good game.

[Grins]

good luck though because halo 3 is a really good game.

Ack, I was talking to my son and his friend (via the headphone) the last night. I asked them if I should be concerned that they both spend so much time in their rooms talking about "shooting their friends". Of course I went back up to his room later and busted out laughing at the site of him playing Guitar Hero. It just looked so comical when I'm used to him playing real guitars.

[daayda3]

OMG...sorry, thats too funny
can someone tell me what the "red rings of death" are? hehe :o:

i know... i know...

[daayda3]

hehe... nvm

For those of you who may not know, when there are three flashing red lights on your xbox 360 instead of the solid green ones it means your system took a crap. It's because of crappy metal they used in the solder connections. I can't fix that without killing myself.


:duh:

[daayda3]

now i have "3-5 buisness days" in my head...

[simplyorange]

so is everyone here have/had this RRoD on the first model xbox 360s?
or anyone have the ones with the hdmi port built in which is supposed to be the new ones that doesnt overheat or shouldn't.

i went out to get one (either arcade or pro with the hdmi ports) new years day and luckily for me they were sold out. so now im telling myself not to get one yet.

hell im getting my cousin's xbox and gamecube both for 50 and plan on modifying those.

but call of duty 4 and gears is just freaking sweet.

[1wizz]

If you read a long post all the way through then the story is either compelling or very funny. I'm sorry for your lack of game console but the story was told with such humour you should take up short story telling LMAO :rofl:
:clap::clap::clap:

[jagr200]

Np, Dwarf.. but.. *Checks pants again to be sure* IMA GIRL! :eek3:


- Sarah

The fact that you are a girl and had all those comebacks makes it funnier.

My 360 took a dump on me and lets just say I was pissed. So I proceeded to call MS India(god knows they shouldn't speak English!) and talked to some moron for 30 mins until they told me because my disc drive broke I had to pay $100 to get it fixed!!!!!!! So I proceeded to tell her that MS sucks and I was just gonna play my PS3 from now on. Well I caved and bought another Xbox 360 Elite that night. I know I'm a sucker but I LOVE xbox live! My PS3 and Wii both collect dust so I couldnt not get a 360 again.

[Mr. U]

My 2 cents: 3 days out of the box and it failed. The Microsoft phone assistance is even worse - no one home other than the automated operator. I got a replacement after taking it back to Circuit City, but now I'm wondering if I should have gotten the warranty coverage ...YIKES! :eek:

[Que]

Both of my sons Xboxes worked flawlessly. His original blew up when we had a lightning strike but I looked up what might have gone wrong and fixed it for something like $10 for the part I replaced.

Fingers crossed, knock on wood... ow.

Q

[OgreMkV]

The fact that you are a girl and had all those comebacks makes it funnier.

My 360 took a dump on me and lets just say I was pissed. So I proceeded to call MS India(god knows they shouldn't speak English!) and talked to some moron for 30 mins until they told me because my disc drive broke I had to pay $100 to get it fixed!!!!!!! So I proceeded to tell her that MS sucks and I was just gonna play my PS3 from now on. Well I caved and bought another Xbox 360 Elite that night. I know I'm a sucker but I LOVE xbox live! My PS3 and Wii both collect dust so I couldnt not get a 360 again.

You could send them to me ;)


I had a similar problem with a Wi-Fi printer. I kept saying, just give me the dang IP address and then we went through this that and the other. Turns out (and nothing anywhere says this) that the printer IP is dynamic and you MUST have a router.

[flyte]

My boyfriend went and bought his own xbox 360 last night while we were out. I'm convinced he did it just to be mean.
If he thinks I'm bringing all the games and controllers over for him to use, he's out of his mind. Get your own copy of Halo 3! I need mine! To stare at and cry!
*Conveniently forgetting that he bought most of the games and controllers...

I'm hoping the new console doesn't have the same problem as mine. He could probably fix it himself as he's one of those people who can do things like that without dying. What a hassle, though, when you just wanna play a darn game.
The new xbox came with 2 stupid games that no one likes. The girl at the counter was even like.. "It comes with two free games, but they kind of suck"
He got the game, Mass Effect, seems really cool so far.

Should be fun when mine is up and running again. We can bring them both over his house and use separate televisions. (we lead very exciting lives)
Of course, that will make killing him even more difficult for me since I look at his split-screen more than I do mine.

Still waiting for that box! Darn weekends!

[Mr. U]

so is everyone here have/had this RRoD on the first model xbox 360s?
or anyone have the ones with the hdmi port built in which is supposed to be the new ones that doesnt overheat or shouldn't.

Mine is the one with the HDMI port.

[simplyorange]

Mine is the one with the HDMI port.

well thats disappointing to hear.
just found out my cousin's first batch 360 is out for the count also. he's too lazy to call it in.

i guess i'll just wait it out a little longer.

thanks mr. u

[spirals]

then there is the classic question of, ?Is the device on sir?

lmao the sad thing though, is that my dad is the computer tech. support guy for a series of high schools, and 9 times out of ten his conversation with the teachers goes:
T: my computer won't work
Dad: is it properly hooked into the network?
t: yes but the monitor won't work
d: is the monitor turned on?
t: yes of course the monitor is turned on, but theres nothing on it
d: is the computer turned on?
t: well i've been trying to tell you that it won't turn on!
d: is the computer plugged in...
t: yes of course its plugged in i'm not some kind of...oh...oh um...nevermind...

sigh...

that being said, as much pain as i know it gave you, reading that convo really made my night much better

[Lady G]

So did your box come yet?

[flyte]

My box finally arrived this afternoon! Thank god for the directions enclosed in the empty box or I would have forgotten to put the xbox INSIDE of it!
Yeaaay!

Now lets hope I didn't void out the updated warranty when I opened the case a few months ago. Don't really wanna pay $140 bucks for them to fix their own mistake.
I have a bunch of large parrots and all my electronic devices get full of bird dander and explode if I don't open em' up and blow em' out :/
*Crossing my fingers...*

[jpappy789]

LOL ROTFLMAO!

[flyte]

I dropped my poor xbox off at the UPS store this afternoon. I handed him lovingly to the girl behind the desk and watched, appalled, as the dumb broad tossed him carelessly onto a nearby table.
My boyfriend dragged me out before I was able to get my purse around her neck.
I'm sure Frank will be beaten to a bloody pulp by the angry UPS employees around the world. I miss him already. :(
Yes.. I named my xbox Frank. Doesn't everyone else name inanimate objects?
It can't just be me!

[rwspear76]

Dude I wasnt even on that call with you and I am aggrivated for you........almost worse than when i tried to cancel aol

[Swayde]

lmao the sad thing though, is that my dad is the computer tech. support guy for a series of high schools, and 9 times out of ten his conversation with the teachers goes:
T: my computer won't work
Dad: is it properly hooked into the network?
t: yes but the monitor won't work
d: is the monitor turned on?
t: yes of course the monitor is turned on, but theres nothing on it
d: is the computer turned on?
t: well i've been trying to tell you that it won't turn on!
d: is the computer plugged in...
t: yes of course its plugged in i'm not some kind of...oh...oh um...nevermind...

sigh...

that being said, as much pain as i know it gave you, reading that convo really made my night much better


My husband is a computer tech too, works for the cable company, and goes on an alarmingly large amount of calls where stuff is not plugged in and other truly retarded problems. It irks him totally that those calls get past the help desk and techs get scheduled lol. But it makes me laugh.

My brother had the red ring of death, his xbox is in the shop and they said it would be 4-6 weeks or so.

[Squawkbert]

Funny stuff - I too feel for you.



















but when I opened this thread, I thought it might be about a good chili recipe

[flyte]

Holy Crap.. Just checked on Frank at xbox.com and it says Shipped to customer.
I can't believe they didn't call me out for opening the case. I guess my nice note addressed to "Microsoft xbox fixing people" explaining about my dirty parrots getting dust inside the case worked!
I also can't believe they are sending it back so fast.. I assumed they would wait 3 weeks and then toss a new one in a box! I sent it to them 11 days ago!
Woohoo!

Swayde, they told me 4-6 weeks as well.

[Lady G]

WOW, really!! LOL, maybe they just sent a new one instead of trying to fix it!


Dude I wasnt even on that call with you and I am aggrivated for you........almost worse than when i tried to cancel aol

OMG...yeah, trying to get rid of AOL..take some nerve pills before that call!!!