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MS XBOX360 exec, Chris Lewis, spins 3yr warranty as "unique selling point"
Ichinisan
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Source.
"Microsoft's European manager Chris Lewis has somewhat put his foot in his mouth after he stated that he believes the three year warranty on the Xbox 360 gives their machine a unique selling point. Lewis claims the three year warranty does give the Xbox 360 an advantage as people's level of confidence will [sic] reach new heights in the Xbox 360. The comments come as Lewis was speaking to UK trade publication MCV. What a great way to turn an outright negative as a positive."
Another source.
This needed a thread on it's own merit. As an experiment, anyone who participated in the last semi related thread just shut up and let's see how other people interpret this.
[edit]
This is CZroe...my brother was logged-in
"Microsoft's European manager Chris Lewis has somewhat put his foot in his mouth after he stated that he believes the three year warranty on the Xbox 360 gives their machine a unique selling point. Lewis claims the three year warranty does give the Xbox 360 an advantage as people's level of confidence will [sic] reach new heights in the Xbox 360. The comments come as Lewis was speaking to UK trade publication MCV. What a great way to turn an outright negative as a positive."
Another source.
This needed a thread on it's own merit. As an experiment, anyone who participated in the last semi related thread just shut up and let's see how other people interpret this.
[edit]
This is CZroe...my brother was logged-in
Ichinisan on
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While I think the warranty extension is a good step toward correcting their hardware fuckups and restoring confidence, I'd hardly call it a true positive. I mean, if the Wii or PS3 got a three-year warranty, most people would be "eh, this is cool I guess" and never give it a second thought.
I'm still waiting for the 65nm overhaul and hoping HDMI will be standard on that board (Elite doesn't appeal to me).
But how does that translate into an "advantage?"
[every post in this thread is CZroe, not Ichinisan]
Seriously, that's pretty retarded. I guess it's an advantage over not having any warranty, but the fact that they even have to have it in the first place because of a 30% failure keeps me the hell away from a 360 until they can sort that crap out.
So, a warranty because you were too inept to make your console correct is an advantage over actual working consoles? No, not really.
I'm always reminded of this:
Now, I'm not calling the Xbox 360 "shit in a box" - I love the system - and even though Tommy Boy was a comedy, I think that verbal exchange brings up a good point that is relevant to this thread: a good warranty is not a selling point. It should be standard, and even if it isn't your product shouldn't break anyway.
Negative: Car's gas tank explodes upon slight collision
Positive: Should your car explode within the next 4 years, we will gladly replace your fireball for a brand new time bomb with a months worth of gas for free!!!! We feel this will increase the customers satisfaction with our new vehicle.
I have 549 Rock Band Drum and 305 Pro Drum FC's
REFS REFS REFS REFS REFS REFS REFS REFS
Hey now, I don't think the XBOX 360 RROD is life-threatening.
Well, yeah, obviously. To once again quote Tommy Boy
"I am picking up some sarcasm here??"
"Yeah, I'm laying it on pretty thick"
I have 549 Rock Band Drum and 305 Pro Drum FC's
REFS REFS REFS REFS REFS REFS REFS REFS
I was thinking the exact same thing.
So really, it's not a mass market system seller. You'll have the geeks who know this inside and out that will finally take the plunge because of it, but that's not the majority.
What this does is protect the future. in 2 years when little Johnny's Xbox dies, and mom calls MS and gets awesome service and a new machine very promptly, They are much more likely to go buy the Xbox 720 because even though the 360 broke, service was awesome and they got a new machine quickly.
if they didn't do the extension and little Johnny's Xbox broke after 2 years, mom would call MS, they would say "sure we'll fix it, for $texas(or whatever)". Mom will not be buying a Xbox 720 for Johnny, because the 360 broke, and they got terrible support.
This move is as much about the future as it is for the present. It's not so much a selling point for the Xbox 360 as it will be for the Xbox 720(or 1080, whatever the fuck they call it)
that's where he's wrong, it's not an 'advantage' over the opposition per-se, but if it's something that allays consumer fears about a defective console, and drives a few more sales as a result, then it is certainly a positive for Microsoft and the console. It's just a bizarre, twisted positive.
Experiment over. There it is right there. Also, wunderbar's sticker thing is funny because there is no way they would tell you about the RRoD on the package just to end up notifying the people who had no idea.
The warranty extension is NOT unconditional. It is EXTREMELY conditional. It is *only* for the "three red lights" problem. Period. It's not a "selling point" by ANY means.
I guess it didn't really demonstrate that the PA community would or would not have corrected him, but I did tell everyone to shut up.
Exactly. It can't be an advantage when it's a problem the competition didn't have unless it covered more than just that specific problem (it does not).
[This is CZroe]
In my area (Central NY...what the kids would call my "hood, yo"), Hyundai's are all selling like the hottest and cake-iest of hot cakes because people like the fact that it has a 10-year, 100,000 mile warranty. Warranties very well can be and are selling points on products. Your guaranteeing that a consumer purchasing your product will be able use that product, regardless of what happens.
However, the scene which you reference with that quote from Tommy Boy is the greatest moment ever recorded on film in the history of motion pictures.
</James Lipton>
You can't promote a three year warranty that only covers a specific problem that only your console has. If promoting the RRoD warranty coverage, you are NOT "guaranteeing that a consumer purchasing your product will be able use that product, regardless of what happens." Exactly the opposite in fact.
The warranty extension covers ONLY the "three red lights" problem. ONLY.
[edit: This is CZroe]
Yeah, we need to do this to keep things fair.
Lol microsoft.
Well, okay, it's a selling point, but that's because consumers refuse to expect/demand product that works for a reasonable amount of time. Like, if I buy a 400 dollar item, I damn well expect it to perform flawlessly for at least three years.
So....warranties, generally speaking, don't guarantee you a working product? That doesn't help sell the product?
I may have worded it incorrectly and I apologize for that. The 360 3-year warranty only covers RRoD failures. I am well aware of that.
But, wasn't that the biggest problem with the 360 (for those who had one fail)? Wouldn't that change someone's mind who was on the proverbial fence about buying a 360 because of hardware failures? Isn't that a selling point?
Lets make this situation more realistic though. Mom goes out and buys a 360 for her kid, it dies, and gets replaced. Later the second one also dies (which by accounts I've read, isn't unlikely), and she again has to replace it. On and on and on. She's probably at some point not going to buy an XBox 360-2 no matter how good the customer service was. People expect shit to work. When it doesn't, no matter how good your customer service is, their trust in your products goes down.
the majority of people will look at it 2 ways:
1)they look and see that they are protected for 3 years from the "chance" of a hardware failure, where as with Nintendo and Sony, you get one.
2)For people who have no clue at all; in 2 years, their consoles will be fixed for free if it breaks. Then, they will be happy that it was fixed 2 years later, and buy the next xbox because of good customer service.
Lets not ignore that MS is really thinking about mass market here. and since mass market doesn't have a clue as to the hardware failure rates, they have the advantage on unit sales, because 3 years is longer than 1 year, and more people will like that.
It's off to a good start this time, let's keep it that way.
In 2 years though, with the 360 revisions that they claim fix the problems, and won't break as often, that won't be an issue though. they'll get the broken one replaced with a (literally), new, improved Xbox that probably wont die, because of the hardware revision.
they even announced that they know, and gave it as a reason for extending the warranty (because they are fixing it, and all new consoles are assembled differently so as not to incur the problem)
I agree to a certain extent, but video game consoles (just like anything nowadays) are complex systems that get screwed up. Sure, when I pay for high-end electronics (which includes game consoles) I expect a certain level of quality. However, things break down. That's why there are warranties.
EDIT: Grammar correction.
Actually, that might not be true. The announcement of the warranty extension and the confirmation of the hardware problems got picked up by the mainstream media, big time. So a lot of people might at least be dimly aware that the machine had problems, and Microsoft is spending a bargeload of cash to fix it.
...then again, considering how many people are convinced Mario is coming to the 360 or some shit, there's probably a ton of people who really don't know.
maybe so if they were being evasive about it, or going "hey, here's a warranty for no apparent reason at all" or something. They've put their hands up and said "we acknowledge there's a problem, we'll reimburse anyone who's had to pay for it already, and upgrade everyone's warranty to three years to cover it. We also have a solution to the problem which we're implementing in all repairs from now on, and all future consoles made".
That's pretty thorough.
THAT's not the part they fucked up on. It's when he called it an "advantage." The only way it would be an advantage would be if it covered more than a problem the others didn't have.
Help it? Yes. Give it an advantage? Not unless it really does guarantee you a working product for longer than the competition with all else being equal. It doesn't.
No because they can't promote the 3 year warranty. It still has only a 1-year warranty. The 3-year thing is for a specific problem only. If they are unaware of the problem then they are also unaware of the 3-year warranty because they are exclusive to eachother.
Call me a realist: I don't think there will be any problem maintaining reserves of the refurbs made from the original flawed units but with the new heatsink and epoxy. These will outnumber the other refurbs for a long, long time unless the newer models get a similarly terrible reliability problem.
Actually, they called it "general" and said that it has a "non-specific cause." What they mean is that it could be the BGA joind from a memory module, motherboard chipset, OR CPU that loses a solder joint connection or two due to the flexing of the motherboard (heat). They are still playing dumb, but it's still just that: Playing dumb.
I think the 65nm CPU will have much better reliability in regards to this specific issue for the reduced thermal envelope aspect alone. The other improvements, like the solder type, extra HSF, and chip epoxy will combine to make is entirely different from the bulk of what is out there now. Not to mention, now would be the time to design a different PCB with the flaws of the old one in mind (and HDMI standard I hope!).
you'd have preferred them to announce they were going to fix it before they knew how to fix it? If they'd just said "oooops there's a problem, we'll extend your warranty, but to be honest.. it's not going to do a lot of good". Sucks for the people that did what you say, i can't disagree there, but i don't see what else MS could do. Can't announce a solution and a fix for a problem, unless they have one.
They knew of the problem and the fix. Underground Hong Kong repair depots were operating on all the "broken" XBOX 360s they bought cheaply. It wasn't until they tried to sell epoxies and repair information that it became clear to the public. If they had independently determined the cause and began fixing them, then one can assume that MS had had more time and resources dedicated to it considering the DIRECT cost to them. Out of warranty units weren't the only ones getting RRoD.
Admitting the problem before the corporation is ready to do something about it would have been bad corporate policy, yes. That's not the issue. They didn't just ignore the public while investigating or refuse to comment: They went out of their way to deny that there was a systemic problem.
They just kept dismissing the extent and severity of the problem rather than confirming it despite overwhelming information to the contrary... and not just failure reportings, but the actual problem and fix were known LONG before Microsoft admitted anything. That was also long before they stopped making new "failure rates are within expectations/industry norms" statements even. How could *I* have known this so long ago and not the people repairing hundreds a month? Hmm...
What?
Source, please.
And most people won't know about the warranty either, because some GAMEtard will try and sell them some extended warranty anyway.
I think this is non-news.
Plus: I hate that guys name.
Two products does not a long and storied history make, but my personal sad tale of woe revolves around the short lived Microsoft Networking hardware. Between an MN-500 USB adapter and the MN-700 wireless router... well those suckers were just about crippled if you lost the CDs and they didn't allow you to download their precious software from the interwebs. I was miffed.
Moving back to the topic, this is possibly the most blatant sows ear to silk purse conversion I've seen attempted since Sony's "no, really, it's expensive and that's a good thing" of E3 last year. The 3 year warranty is great, but I wouldn't be bragging about it.
A lot of people look at the 360 as the "middle of the road" next gen system. It's got power, like they want, so you don't have to worry about mediocre next-gen graphics like the Wii. It's got games, since it's been around for a year longer than the other machines. It's got a lower price than the PS3, so if you want a powerhouse next-gen system, a lot of people don't consider the price difference of the PS3 worth it.
Now, you take the MAJOR concern that A LOT of gamers have about the 360: The RRoD. This new 3-year warranty (and subsequent RRoD-free machines that will come eventually) does a lot to soothe the RRoD-cautiousness that a lot of people have, and removes a major inhibition about buying a 360.
Given the other advantages that the 360 has in some people's eyes, yeah, I'd say this warranty gives the 360 AN advantage over the competition. The warranty itself isn't an advantage, or a selling point, of course not. But it definitely enhances the advantages already present in the X-Box.
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