My current 360 console is a replacement for a previous console that was not even in working condition when I bought it. I called customer service and got it fixed. I later suffered the infamous red ring of death and had it sent off to be repaired. Months later it was returned to me, but by that time I had become frustrated and bought a new one, giving the other one to a family member.
My new console has now suffered the same fate as the old (red ring of death), and reviews that I am now reading indicate that this is a huge problem for many gamers. Why does the hardware on this machine fail so often? I will advocate that the games and graphics are brilliant and very entertaining, but if the console does not work, then it means nothing.
I find myself unwilling to commit myself to another saga of trying to get this unit repaired because : 1) the warranty is almost certainly gone by now, so at my own cost, 2) because it is now evident that Microsoft customer service is substandard, rude and almost entirely pointless, 3) it will take an irritatingly long time to have it returned to me and 4) I have no assurance that this incident will not reoccur. Why should I spend more money, time and energy on a substandard product?
Your standards of service and product quality are appalling and I do believe I'd rather go with another company for gaming. Perhaps a SONY PS3 will be more my style. At least I can somewhat recoup my losses on games as more and more stores these days offer trade-ins.