Gaming What is the final word on Microsoft repairing Flashed 360s?

[Gaisuto]

My 360 red ringed back in January or so and because it was flashed I never did anything about it but suck it up.

Now I've heard people saying theirs was flashed, messed up, the silver tape even being gone and because it was red ringed they'd still send you a refurbished one due to it not being part of the original warranty.

I want to make sure before I send a repair ticket to them if that's the case. Do they send you a refurbished 360 regardless of if it's flashed or are people just getting lucky and having them not notice?

 

[martin88]

Some people's 360 without warranty do get rejected, but you can't know for sure if they'll reject yours.

By the way, if you send it for repair now they're gonna give you a unflashable LiteOn drive if they decide to repair it.

 

[Gaisuto]

Well I didn't plan on flashing the second one anyway, so that part wouldn't bother me.

What happens if they do refuse it though? They just send it back?
The thing is, when I looked at their policy and other information around their site shortly after I posted this, I read this, exactly word for word:

**READ ME**
Although your device shows out of warranty it may still qualify for a no-cost repair if you are experiencing the three flashing lights failure and are within three years of the original purchase date of the console.

Now, modding it falls into the original warranty which has since run out anyway. They're wording this like the Red Ring thing falls into another category outright. The way it's worded makes it imply that they have to fix the red ring no matter what, weither it's by sending a refurbished unit or fixing the original or whatever. So can they actually refuse it by that? Or am I just thinking too much into this?

 

[Mangofett]

The worst thing that will happen is that they will charge you for shipping it back to you, like 10$ or something.

 

[jaxxster]

The thing about a lite-on drive is not 100% true. If you read a few threads down my 360 rrod on me and it was flashed, luckily the warranty sticker was still intacted so i sent it back to ms. 1 week later i got a new one with a new mobo and dvd drive. The dvd they gave me was a flashable benq and my 360 is now again flashed and working fine.

 

[lenselijer]

I just fixed one of these new hdmi 360's with the x-clamp, working fine now, no rrod anymore

it will only cost you a few euros for some screws to replace the X-clamp under the GPU.

 

[ramzeva]

aslong as it has the silver warranty sticker intact they will fix it, they dont check your drive, you can leave it flashed and get it back flashed. if you dont have a warranty sticker get one on ebay "xbox warranty sticker" for about 20 dollars... worth it to get it fixed right?

and when you get it back remove the warranty sticker with a hair dryer and place it on wax paper to store intact for future use.

 

[Gaisuto]

(I planned on sending it off tomorrow.)
I've seen a post or two where people said they've sent the thing off without the warranty sticker intact and they've still got refurbished units. Now I'm suddenly hearing the opposite the day before. Just my luck...

If I had the money I would just buy a new one. I can't even afford a $5 sub let alone a $20 sticker...

 

[ramzeva]

well you may end up paying 10 to 20 dollars in shipping charges if it gets denied as well.

 

[Gaisuto]

well you may end up paying 10 to 20 dollars in shipping charges if it gets denied as well.

And if you refuse to pay it?

 

[science]

well you may end up paying 10 to 20 dollars in shipping charges if it gets denied as well.

And if you refuse to pay it?

I would assume they keep the box.

I have sent in a flashed drive, but the sticker was put back on, and I don't think you have the sticker, so that doesn't help you

 

[Gaisuto]

well you may end up paying 10 to 20 dollars in shipping charges if it gets denied as well.

And if you refuse to pay it?

I would assume they keep the box.

I have sent in a flashed drive, but the sticker was put back on, and I don't think you have the sticker, so that doesn't help you

So in theory they'd keep a box which has been a paperweight to me for half a year. Works for me. Worth the gamble I suppose, I'll send it in tomorrow and see what happens.

 

[science]

Good luck with it, I wish you many happy returns. lol

 

[Gaisuto]

Well, I checked the repair status on my system. They are sending it back repaired/replaced, and they have put my system back into "In Warranty." So it looks like the gamble worked!

 

[martin88]

So you're going back the route of purchasing games?

I still remember the thread you made when you wanted to mod your 360 for the first time. That's what got me started.

 

[Gaisuto]

Well I'll have a job soon enough so I'll be able to actually start affording them. Just can't get every single title that comes along.
Also the main reason I don't want to mod it again is because I can't, really. When I tried to mod a friend's shortly after I tried to do mine, it bricked my computer somehow despite me following all the proper steps. That was a good computer and it bricked, so I've been using this piece of crap ever since. I don't want to risk doing that again.

 

[Gaisuto]

And I got it back which is working. Curiously, I didn't get a notice saying it was refurbished/replaced and just that it was fixed. And I got a month of Gold as compensation. Yay now I'm ready for Soulcalibur 4!

Except for one problem - I can't get back on Live because my account's apparently suspended because of payment. The problem is I need to get to Account Management to put the code in for the free month, and when I try to it says I need to connect to Xbox Live. Which I can't do because they've suspended my account due to payment. And I can't find a single place on their site how to change that...

 

[MC DUI]

And I got it back which is working. Curiously, I didn't get a notice saying it was refurbished/replaced and just that it was fixed. And I got a month of Gold as compensation. Yay now I'm ready for Soulcalibur 4!

Except for one problem - I can't get back on Live because my account's apparently suspended because of payment. The problem is I need to get to Account Management to put the code in for the free month, and when I try to it says I need to connect to Xbox Live. Which I can't do because they've suspended my account due to payment. And I can't find a single place on their site how to change that...

Good news that they repaired your console.

I'd give support a call regarding updating your account, they can override the suspension to put in the code.

 

[martin88]

Go to Xbox.com, then sign in to your Live account.

Then go to this page, choose "Redeem Prepaid Code".