The following article has been written by HEXUS reader Parm Mann for gaming website we play Xbox. He has agreed that we can publish his article in its entirety.

Following on from Tuesday’s article; The Great Xbox 360 Repair Debacle, I now have some updates to share with you all, including word from none other than Xbox Live’s Director of Programming, Larry Hryb, a.k.a. Major Nelson.

After publishing the article two days ago, I received a message via Xbox Live from Major Nelson which read:

Hey there…read your story about your Xbox 360. Can you sent me an email with your support ticket numbers so I can investigate? My email is Major@xbox.com.

Thanks.

Major Nelson"

Naturally, I was delighted. Somebody from Microsoft was finally stepping forward and willing to try to provide at least an explanation. Unfortunately, here is how the discussion has developed:

From: Parm Mann, Sent: Wednesday, June 27 2007, 12:36

Hi Larry,

Thanks for getting in touch, it’s very nice to hear from you and I hope you’re well. My current Xbox Support reference number is ##########.

As stated in my article, I first sent off my original Xbox last month only to receive a broken and cracked Xbox in return, the reference number from that repair was ##########..

I do appreciate you taking the time to get in touch with me and your assistance is sincerely appreciated.

Kind Regards,
Parm

From: Major Nelson, Received: Wednesday, June 27 2007, 15:05

"Thanks. I am escalating now.."

From: Parm Mann, Sent: Wednesday, June 27 2007, 21:20

Hi Larry,

Just a quick note to ask if you've had any updates on the Xbox 360 repair delays? I know you must be very busy but myself and a lot of readers are waiting for news on their consoles and any information you can provide will be very much appreciated.

Kind Regards,
Parm

From: Major Nelson, Received: Thursday, June 28 2007, 04:12

"I do not, sorry."

From: Parm Mann, Sent: Thursday, June 28 2007, 09:25

Is there likely to be any further information?

From: Major Nelson, Received: Thursday, June 28 2007, 14:59

"If I get any, I’ll share them."



That's all so far. Whilst we still wait to hear from Major Nelson again in the hope of getting some information, we don't expect to hear much more. It is possible that Major Nelson has been too busy to investigate the matter just yet, which is completely reasonable.

As part of our original article, we suggested three possible reasons for the current delays to Xbox 360 repairs; the new heatsink, an overflow of broken consoles and overseas repairs. we play Xbox reader, Tank Johnson, was kind enough to offer a potential fourth reason:

"The slow down is due to the recent banning of the modded 360’s. Many of these losers are bricking their 360’s and then sending them in to MS for repair. A month ago when MS cross-checked the DVD firmware and blocked these 360’s from Live, they created a snow-ball effect of incoming 360’s to the repair centers.

So now they have to replace the hacked units, (I've only read of TWO cases where MS refused to replace due to hacking.) plus the normal amount of weekly failures. That is 1000’s of 360’s."

We must point out that both our and Tank Johnsons possible reasons are entirely speculation and unless Microsoft step forward to explain the situation themselves, we won’t have any actual facts.

Again, we will keep you all updated with any news as we get it. It's now 42 days since my original Xbox 360 died and I’m still awaiting a working replacement. Thank you to all those who responded to our original article with similar stories of their own.

*update at 20:28* A Microsoft representative, asked by Major Nelson to call me has just been in touch. The man was very polite and by far the most helpful representative I've spoken to thus far. First and foremost, he clarified my scenario and sincerely apologised. He advised that my console was still at the repair centre but assured me it would be with me within the next seven days. Stating that he wanted to be completely honest with me, he informed me that there had been a large amount of consoles sent in for repair over the past few weeks and the unexpected influx had caused the delays.

In addition to his apologies, he was willing to offer me compensation in the form of a wireless controller or Xbox 360 game. Though appreciative of his offer, I advised that all I really wanted was my console. I went on to explain that a lot of customers feel detached from Microsoft right now as those in a similar situation to mine have been without a console for quite some time and have been able to get no explanation. I asked him to pass my comments to Major Nelson and implored him to suggest that an explanation and an apology for the current delays be publicly announced via xbox.com or majornelson.com. He understood that we customers currently without our consoles needed reassuring.

He assures me that Microsoft are working as hard as they can to bring the estimated repair time down from 25 days back to 10-15 days. I hope that by shedding some light on this situation, all those still without consoles get them back sooner rather than later. I'll keep you updated on the arrival of my own.

Source :: we play Xbox