Taunting Elf
Soft Gamer
Registered: Oct 2001
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 25 |
My Xbox problems. Office of Fair Trading now involved.
Some of you may know me from Playnow. I am a regular contributor there, and occassionally read here.
I am so p!ssed off about my Xbox situation that I just want to get it off my chest.
Please note: I think Xbox is by far the best machine at the moment. I am just unlucky.
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Late 2001.
-Registered with www.xbox.com.au and entered the register and win competition.
Mid February 2002.
-Blair from Spin Communications contacted me to advise that I had won the www.xbox.com.au register and win competition. I provided my contact details.
Tuesday 19th March.
-Received the Xbox machine and 3 games (Halo, Project Gotham Racing and Munchs Odyssey) via courier.
Wednesday 20th March.
-First problem occurs with the machine. Put Dead Or Alive 3 (which I purchased) in the Xbox, and the Xbox did not recognize the disk at all. The dashboard gave a message about not recognizing the disk, and to insert an Xbox game or DVD. Turned the machine off, waited about 10 seconds, turned it on again, and everything was fine. Didn’t think anything of it.
Thurday 21st March.
-Same problem as detailed above (it would not recognize the disk), only this time with Project Gotham Racing. I did the same as Wednesday (restarting the machine) and it seemed to be fine. Later while playing, it was loading up a new level, and the little spinning K in the bottom right stopped spinning and froze on the loading screen. No option but to turn off.
-Later on the same evening, when I completed a level in Munchs Odyssey, it froze on a blank black screen. Only option I had was to power off again.
-Needless to say, at this point I am starting to be concerned that I may have a faulty machine.
Sunday 24th March.
-Same problems as outlined above continuing.
-Called the Xbox customer support line and spoke to Greg. He asked about the disk condition. I take extremely good care of my electronics, and I can assure you, there isn’t a blemish on any of the game disks. Also, the problem has been happening on all of the games – which indicates to me that it isn’t a problem with the disks. Greg logged ticket number <ticket number>, and said that he will send out a self addressed box, and I am to send the machine in to be examined and repaired.
-Not particularly happy with this (I would prefer a replacement), but fair enough, I’ll send it in and get it fixed.
Easter 2002 Xbox problems.
-Played through Dead or Alive 3 with each character to completion. On beating the boss, with about 3 or 4 of the endings, it froze on a blank black screen, and I had to restart the Xbox.
-Halo. The problem had not happened on Halo up until Easter. Finished a level on Halo, and the Xbox could not recognize the disk, exited out to the dashboard and displayed a message about not being able to recognize the disk, and about putting in an Xbox game or DVD.
-Obviously there is definitely a fault with this Xbox unit.
Wednesday 3rd April.
-Packaged up the Xbox machine as requested and posted it in.
Tuesday 9th April.
-Received the Xbox unit back.
-All of my saves to the hard drive had been wiped. No problem, as long as it is working now.
-Started playing Dead Or Alive3, as this is the game that I can easily reproduce the problem on. Started playing along the top row of characters on story mode. Once again, I got along to the fourth or fifth character, and again it is failing. Although the unit has been in to be fixed, the problem is still occurring. I am really angry and frustrated now.
Wednesday 10th April.
-Problems still occurring in both Dead or Alive3 and Halo. These are the only games I have been playing.
-Called the xbox customer support line again and spoke to Sahra who said that she will ‘escalate’ the problem to her manager.
The next weekend.
-I am hardly playing the Xbox at all. I have no motivation to do so, as the saves are likely to be wiped again when it gets fixed next, or I get a replacement. I am not going to go out and spend $50 to save games when I don’t need to (and shouldn’t have to).
-A few friends have been around and have had a bit of a play on it, and the problems have persisted. Freezing on completion of stages in Halo.
Monday 15th April.
-Rang the Xbox customer support line again to find out what they plan to do to resolve the problem. Spoke to Andrew who suggested I try switching the 50Hz-60Hz option in the dashboard.
-Switched the display setting option, and it made no difference at all. Played Dead Or Alive3. Still freezing on the character endings after defeating the boss.
Tuesday 16th April.
-Called the Xbox customer support line again and spoke to Ryan who will escalate the issue once more, and will get back to me later in the week.
Wednesday 17th April.
- Andrew called me again to advise that they now need the Xbox to be sent in again for further investigations. This time to send it in with the games.
Friday 26th April
-Have still not received the ‘flat pack’ to send the machine in.
-Called the customer support line and spoke to KerryAnn. KerryAnn advises that the only course of action available to her is to resend out a box for me to send in the faulty machine. KerryAnn also advising that because it is over thirty days since I received the machine, replacement is not an option. This is not acceptable, and I demand a replacement and to talk to a supervisor. I finally talk to Georgina the supervisor. I request to email her or fax to her this log of my problems. She says that she is not able to give out her email address or fax number. I can post this in to “Xbox Customer Care, 1 Epping Road, North Ryde, NSW 2113.” I have posted in this log (including todays entry).
-I advised Georgina that I will be contacting Consumer Affairs about this situation.
-Complaint now lodged with the Office of Fair Trading.
In Summary.
I have a faulty Xbox unit. I have sent it in to be repaired. It has been returned with the same intermittent fault. It is now a month since I first received the machine, and I am yet to play it properly.
The problem can most easily be recreated by playing through Dead Or Alive3, finishing with each character in story mode. (Simply running the endings in theatre mode will not recreate the problem). Should not take more than an hour (unless the person playing is really hopeless at games).
The next game it has happened most on is Halo (simply because this is the game that has been played the most). In order to recreate the problem, you would need to spend considerable more time with it. It has happened most regularly when completing level 3.
Another game it has happened more frequently on is Munchs Odyssey. This is probably second easiest to re-create the problem on (after Dead Or Alive3), as I haven’t played this very much, and it has happened as many (or more) times than Halo.
When completing a stage, it is freezing when attempting to run the cut-scenes.
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04-26-2002 06:58 AM
