Help! My NTSC 360 has just died!

[Dolls Eyes]

I live in London,Uk.My machine has been playing up over the last week.Screen freezes,glitches and the dreaded three red lights.I went to microsoft support page and followed all their tests(removing all cables,Harddrive etc).Still the machine would play up.So much so now that it seldom runs for my than 20 sec before freezing and giving me the three red lights.
I had preordered my NTSC 360 from VG+ and recieved it shortly after US launch.VG+ only offer 30 day warranty.My invioce dates 23/11/05 so i am within microsofts 12mth warranty.I called microsoft uk and although my machine is registered i need to call Microsoft US/Canada.Which i will do once they are open.
How do i get this resolved?If microsoft US/Canada agree to repair/replace console who is going to be accountable for the shipping?I have had quotes from couriers of ?40-60 just to send it.
It has also been brought to my attention that microsoft released a press statement saying
"The company said that "standard and ongoing" analysis of its repair data had pointed to a large number of problems with a particular group of consoles that made up the initial manufacturing run".
It also adds
"Microsoft has said it will waive the cost of repairs on Xbox 360 consoles manufactured before 1st January 2006, and refund any fees already paid".

Please can anyone advise,has anybody else had this happen and how did you deal with it

[Bleeders]

Contact MS UK and tell em' you received the import machine as a gift from a relative, hopefully, they'll replace it for you without having to resort to contacting MS US.

One of the chaps on here did this I believe and they replaced his US machine with a like-for-like.

[Dolls Eyes]

thanks Bleeders,i will give that a shot,Just incase they ask do i say that my relative lives over there or what?
Regards.

[Bleeders]

Nah, don't tell em' anything like that mate, all you say is a relative brought one back from the US.

[Dolls Eyes]

thanks Bleeders.Gonna call them now.Will post soon

[Dolls Eyes]

just got off phone to microsoft UK.I told the rep my situation and her reply was that if i own an NTSC machine in the UK then the warranty is void.As it is in their policy agreement that any consoles taken out of respective country is no longer under warranty.Thats the long and the short of it.I said to her that microsoft had released a press statement sating that machines purchased befroe 1/1/06 had technical issues.
I am so annoyed!
I said to her that i am essentially left with a defective machine and any shipping,repair expenses are to be paid by myself.Her reply was yes.
I am going to call Microsoft US but not holding my breathe.
This is f**king ridiculous,how else am i to resolve this.Is there not a reputable 360 repair man who could repair it with at least a 3-6mth guarantee.The cost of sending to US is not going to be cheap.
I cant believe they are acting this way especially given that by their own admission they released a product that is defective.

[buster_broon]

Neostuey had a JPN machine that Microsoft UK took back

ask him what he did

but we all know the chance we take with import consoles

[babs]

It's almost always the same with any imported goods, it's just the way it happens.

Sounds like the problem has been building up, maybe fans or cooling? Might be worth getting hold of one of those Nyko cooler things or similar and seeing if it helps?

Also, you haven't just moved the power supply or covered it with anything?

[Dolls Eyes]

thanks buster,sending neo email now.

Thanks babs,my machine is well ventilated and once setup in living room has not been moved for several months.Power supply has not been moved or covered

[EvilBoris]

You could try just ringing up again and starting from scratch, the people vary in how useful they are there.

[VR46]

Crisp or Spatial returned a USA 360 and got a replacement OK iirc, it's all covered in this thread:

http://ntsc-uk.domino.org/showthread.php?t=62882

(if you have a couple of spare hours to sift through all the posts)

[EvilBoris]

Yeah Spatial did quite soon after he got his

[NeoStuey]

PM replied to.

You could try just ringing up again and starting from scratch, the people vary in how useful they are there.

Too true.

Hot of the press, just got this email, I love the way they replace the spaces.

Your? Xbox? Video? Game? system? has? been? shipped!? ? You? can? expect? to? receive? it? in? 2-5? days.? ? Thank? you? for? your? patience? and? get? ready? to? get? back? into? the? action!? ? Your? shipping? information? is? provided? below? for? your? reference:

Makes speaking to them on the phone much more appealing after trying to decipher these messages.

[tom-nook]

Yeah I'm pretty sure that one of the guys who got his machine repaired for free spoke to a few f**kwits before he finally got through to someone who was really helpful & arrange the repair. No harm in trying again.

[Spatial]

Yep, t'was me.

They sorted my US system out free of charge and replaced it with another US system. Not sure why they're now giving people grief over doing it though

If anything it should be no questions asked if you have a US system bought within the time frame that they're extending the warrenties on

And yep, I spoke to around three different people before I got one who was in the UK, was amazingly helpful and knew what he was doing. The others were from their European Virtual Call Center (resulting in the classic line of "Yah! Yah! Yoo have zee problem wiz your Xbox!") and they were the ones that were telling me (in very poor English) that it would be ?60-70 for repair.

The only thing I can suggest is keep ringing up until you get through to someone with some sense.