On Thursday, I popped in my game disc for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Xbox 360), and though everything worked, my Xbox 360's DVD drive made some rather unpleasant grinding noises.
I've heard noises like those before on old PC CD-Rom drives, and they usually indicate the drive is breaking down.
Well today I popped in my game disc once again for the first time since Thursday, and not only did it make an extremely loud grinding noise the likes of which I've never heard before, but my Xbox 360 was stuck perpetually trying to read the disc.
I manually forced it to eject and had to close the drive to get it to display "Insert Disc" again on the screen.
Thankfully, my The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion disc was undamaged.
I then shut down and rebooted my Xbox 360 and tried a few other game discs as well as a regular DVD, and every time it'll try to read it, grind mildly for a second, and then state that the disc is unplayable.
I contacted Xbox Support at 1-800-4MY-XBOX, and after a short troubleshoot session (where they simply asked me to remove my HDD and try playing a disc again), the representative declared that my console needed to go into service, to which I completely agreed. However, since I'm Canadian and not located in the United States, my console can't exactly go for service as there are no service centres in my fair country. Here's the deal:
- My Xbox 360 console is under warranty, so the cost to me, including shipping, is nothing. The entire process will be free. That's great, and the only major thing I'll be loosing (in theory) is time.
- In 3 to 5 business days, I will be sent a return package in which I need to send my console in. I am not to include anything else, including the HDD (which is fine by me), and Microsoft will be using Purolator for fast delivery and return.
- After receiving my console, Microsoft will courier me back a refurbished unit. This is the only part of the process I have a real problem with, which I'll touch on in a second.
- Microsoft will provide me with a 1 month free trial Xbox Live Gold Membership.
Now, overall, the process seems really good. Microsoft will receive my defective console in approximately one business week, and I should see my replacement in about another business week and a half. Basically, I'm looking at 2 to 3 weeks without my Xbox 360, and that's not so bad. The fact that this is all free to me and that I'm also being given a free month of Xbox Live Gold is a nice touch.
The only problem I have is the fact that I'll be getting a refurbished unit. I've only had my Xbox 360 for 3 months, it broke, and I'm going to be sent a refurbished unit instead of a brand new one. Also, they might send me a Core system instead of a Pro system (though the rep did specify I'd like a Pro in the work order). Hardware wise there's no difference between the two since I'm retaining my HDD, but if they send me a Core system I won't have that nice chrome finish.
As an honest consumer, the way I see it, I purchased for full retail price their console and its still brand-spanking new, so I should receive a new unit instead of what could be someone else's garbage. Since it's refurbished, who knows what's been done to it, how well it's been repaired, and frankly how long it'll last. I'll apparently be given the option to extend my warranty period from beyond the base year to two or even three years, but that'll cost me an additional fee.
I will wait and see the condition of the refurbished unit before I complain, however. If it truly is in good condition and working fine, I'll be happy. If it arrives and has scratches on the casing, weird noises or glitches, or does not have the chrome finished DVD drive, I will be back on the phone with Xbox Support immediately.
I'll keep you all posted on the process.
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