My Xbox One was 111 days old. Now it's dead and Microsoft won't honor the warranty.

Yep, you read that right, 111 glorious days of Xbox One gaming. It was a good run, until the unit started shutting off after anywhere from 5 seconds to 1 minute. I called support, they walked me through all of the normal "is it plugged in" and "have you tried another outlet" steps. After getting through all of that, it was determined that the unit needed a warranty repair. Great.

I sent it in 3 weeks ago, only to receive it back last night with a little form letter stating that Microsoft had determined that it had been opened or tampered with. What!!?? The thing has been on my entertainment center since I bought it. I haven't even thought about opening it, much less actually doing it. Besides, what idiot (ok, there's probably some out there) would open up a new unit under warranty? To make matters worse, the console came back with extra damage, as if it had been dropped on multiple corners. The security sticker was mangled as well.

I called Microsoft Support. The first guy was so confused he gave up on me and transferred me to someone else. The second guy was nice enough, and they asked me to e-mail them pictures of the damage. That's where I'm at with Microsoft.

As for where I ordered this originally, it was a Walmart.com purchase, so I called my local Walmart store. They told me to go pound sand, they only honor 15 day returns. I told them they sold me a lemon, to which I was replied to with dead air. I called 1-800-Walmart, and to my surprise learned that there was an extended warranty purchased with it (it was a gift). Awesome. I called the extended protection people, and they said, "Sorry, we won't honor it if Microsoft won't." Really.

Since I know for a fact that I didn't open this thing or tamper with it in any way, my next call was to FedEx. It was out of my possession while being shipped by FedEx, and it left me not having been tampered with and arrived at the service center tampered with. I talked to them about making a claim for shipping damages, so I've got the process prepped and ready to go if I have to there.

So that leaves me here, waiting for Microsoft to respond to some pictures I sent them. I'm not optimistic as it's just little ol' me vs. one of the biggest companies in the world. A lot of people will probably tell me, "Go get a new one," and in reality, I don't really know what else I'm going to be able to do. I am so fired up about this, however, that I'm getting ready to file a complaint with my state's consumer protection division, and then a small claims suit. This whole thing is just beyond comprehensible.

Has anyone else run into a similar situation, and if so, what did you do to resolve it?

This situation hasn't happened to me but I believe you if you say it wasn't tampered with.

Is it possible that the consoles were mixed up at the repair facility? Are you sure that you have yours back?

I'm sure it's mine. The serial number matches. Believe me, if I were dumb enough to tamper with it, I would just own it and move on with my life. But, I have not done a thing to it.

Hmmm, that's quite a pickle.

I would contact Walmart and see what's up there. If that fails I would contact Walmart's corporate contacts and see what's going on there.

I'd also follow the Microsoft route too and see what can be done there.

And this is only your console right? You don't share it with a brother, son, daughter (HA! People know girls don't play video games!) wife?

I called the local Walmart. It failed, manager wouldn't even get on the phone. An in-person trip is next. I called corporate. They did tell me I had an extended warranty, only to find out they won't honor it if Microsoft doesn't. I'm still waiting to hear back from Microsoft as I sent them pictures of the damage that was done while they had it for repair, but I'm not holding my breath.

I have a PS3 and a 360 (which red-ringed twice, when will I ever learn). This Xbox One is a family system, but it's not moving around, and certainly nobody has been taking it apart. My best guess is that I was sold a refurbished product marketed as new, but I have absolutely no basis for that thought. It's the only logical thing I can think of. Maybe that's my biggest mistake, trying to apply logic to this situation.

So you say it worked for almost six months and now it shuts down after only being on for a minute? It could be the power brick. You could buy a new one to see if that solves the problem. Do you know of anyone that would try and open your console?

Never buy a console from Walmart. Your story is not unique in the least because I've read many horror stories from those who purchased a console from said establishment. The worst of the stories is from those who purchased it online. What's odd though is how Walmart usually takes back anything w/o much if any difficulty. I wouldn't volunteer any info by telling them what MS told you. That's up to them to do the leg work.

Sorry to hear about your Xbox One I hope nothing happens to my Xbox because its out of warranty and I have got the cash to get it repaired, keep us informed about this situation.

VERY strange.... but then again I've only had one experience with sending my console for repair (RROD) and it turned out to be a good one.

Last resort, sell it on Craigslist and use the money to buy a new one.

Ah man, that is terrible. It is this huge company, that I am assuming you liked before. Now they wont help you out with their product, what to do? You like the system, but now are so mad you cannot bring yourself to buy another. I have been in a similar situation with Audio Technica. I love the sound of their TT cartridges and mine had a problem. The tech support also had a problem with my situation. So I am so upset at the company, that has the product that I like best. After a while I just accepted it and bought another cart from same company.

@xhawk27: It worked for 111 days, so just over 3 months. It's not the brick, at least not according to Xbox support. I don't have another one to try, sadly.

I should know more about the situation tonight, I'm calling back to follow-up.

Update: Turns out Microsoft says the fact that the sticker got mangled is why they rejected it for warranty repair. Since it left my possession intact, I've filed a claim with FedEx. They have about a week to get back to me.

NEVER buy from walmart. They take back opened consoles and sell them as new. What I think happened was someone bought an xbox one, had some problems with it and tried to fix it themselves, probably got it sort of working but then bought another new console and returned the old busted one pretending it was the new one. Kept the new one and walmart sold his old piece of shit as new to you. And you got stuck with it, it worked for 111 days (how ironic 111 is the vault in fallout 4). You have to take this up with walmart. Tell them they sold you a used tampered with product as new, go directly to the store abd speak with the manager. They make billions of dollars they should help you out. But let this be a lesson to you, NEVER AND I MEAN NEVER buy anything from walmart. They are an evil corporation who sells used opened stuff as new. Is rather get it from gamestop, amazon, bestbuy. That way they give you brand new stuff.

If all else fails you could take it to a third party shop and see what they would charge you to fix it.

Having worked at Walmart in the past I can say this is 100% true. I would buy from Best Buy or Gamestop only, they seem to take care of returns the proper way.

Another thing that is important to remember, is to take pics with date of any product before you send it in for repair under warranty.

I would probably take a crack at it myself if I just end up being stuck with it.

I imagine before you sent it in they had to register the serial number on the console, right?

Check to see if the one you sent them is the same one they sent back to you, check the serial number.

Maybe there was a mix-up. Also, Walmart is notorious for taking stuff back without checking to make sure it's what the person purchased. Someone could have bought the console with the serial number on the box that you used to register it, but replaced the console with a defective Xbox One to swap out a faulty one with a better one, and they're using the one with the serial number registered to your box while you have a defective or tampered with Xbox One, or something like that. So again, check the box your system came in if you have it, or your receipt, or anything that lists your serial number and check it with the Xbox One you have right now.

These stories never get old!! Ive had original XBOX, X360, X1, PS,PS2,PS3 and PS4 and over all of those years I had a PS3 YLoD and (1) 360 RRoD. So many of you act like this is a twice a year thing for you. Maybe if you guys would take better care of your stuff, give the systems plenty of ventilation and stop letting people jam candy bars in the game slots, your stuff might not break!!

@ShoTTyMcNaDeS: How the hell is this contributing to the conversation, its possible for electronic goods to break without the user being at fault you know.

Personally my advice would be that persistence is the key when dealing with large companies. Deny fault and quote their own policies until they are sick of your calls and you will get your unit repaired. I once did this with a sound system. I ordered online for collection in store, returned home, unboxed the goods only to find I had clearly been given the ex display model and charged full price. I then had a three week battle trying to explain that the scuffs and fingerprints were not my own and that the good were ex display and not new.

fortunately the pictures I took of the goods were time stamped and taken just 25 minutes after the printed reciept for the goods was issued to me. My argument that I couldnt reasonably have caused that much wear and tear to a unit so rapidly seemed to hold weight with head office. Be persistent, be factual and be polite.

@ShoTTyMcNaDeS:

Yea, you're right. Letting it sit on a hard surface, with nothing else around it, never moving it, and lifting it just a bit to promote airflow is being quite abusive. Thanks for the tip!

I might be biased because I work technical support for one of their competitors, but I would never buy electronics from Walmart unless I had a VERY good reason to(ie the time I was able to con them into price matching a 3DS down to 100 bucks because it was 2 AM, and nobody cared), I've heard stories like this with surprising regularity when it comes to products purchased from them.

Awesome idea, didn't think of checking the printed serials against actual serial.

let me know how that goes, it could be possible your console was damaged beyond the state you mailed it on the way though, either by the postal handlers or by Microsoft themselves, or maybe Microsoft got your console swapped by accident with someone else's at the repair center, or even people have been known to do switching of defective console for new ones at places like Walmart that don't that don't do those detail checks on returns (like the "bag of sand" stories) and could be someone bought a new console swapped a defective console for a fresh one then getting a refund on it so next buyer is stuck with defective console

yeah, I'm very curious myself and I hope you don't get screwed over and figure out what happens

i agree with others. Never buy a system from Walmart. Buy from Best Buy or GameStop. Hope all works out for you.

After having spoken with Microsoft, and been advised to take the matter up with FedEx, FedEx has told me I cannot make a damage claim on the shipment. It must come from Microsoft. The runaround continues...

I'll be honest,I am no genius by any means,quite a few that know me personally would call me dense.But if I was in your boots,same situation,I think I would take it to small claims court.If you lose,I don't think small claims court costs that much for court cost.But I think you have a real case.I think you'll win your case. Just curious,what country are you from?

wow , this million dollar company and there product still has problems.

Update: Contacted my state's Attorney General's office, and they said I should file a complaint with the Department of Justice, no question. This will take up to 35 days to resolve once they receive it. Here we go folks...

Hope that makes enough noise to get your replacement. Hell of lot cheaper than their lawyers.

Sorry to hear that my PS4 died after 16 days i buy it thanks to sony hellas send new console after two weeks

@wegngis: so I take it the serial numbers matched and it got damaged either by Fed Ex or Microsoft?

Did it come back looking worse or is it possible you bought a store return and the previous owner tampered with it? What was the state of the hardware and shipping container when you got it? Did Microsoft send you the shipping box with foam protectors and absorbers so ship safely or did they require you to entirely package and secure your own shipping?

@lamprey263: Yes, they matched. I'm going to re-check now though (thanks OCD!).

It came back looking worse than it left. Not like it got dragged behind a truck, but subtle stuff like the sticker, and the corners were dented. The container was fine when I got it back, so it happened either as an outgoing package, or at the Microsoft facility. Microsoft provided nothing to ship it in, but they did provide a detailed "how to ship" document, which I followed exactly. Shame on me for not taking "before" pictures. Live and learn.

@wegngis: This sounds terrible

Wow a Microsoft products worked properly for over a 100 days? Gotta be a record

did they actually say you opened your console ? holy crap . did they give reasons why they thought you opened it ?

my X1 just went out of warranty 10 days ago . I hope nothing happens to it .

I'm not a lawyer, but dated a para legal and love reading up on law at times. I am pretty sure this is illegal. If the extended warranty was paid for, further investigation is warranted. That's basically stealing someone's money. I would speak to one of my friends that practices law, but I am 43 and have made such friends. But there is legalities at play here and as a consumer of both the product and extended coverage you have rights.

@mikejred1991: Well unfortunately with lawyers some cases take precedence. And those usually are the ones they either get the most press or the biggest payoff.

The little guy is being screwed in the US economy everywhere. Sanders 2016 baby

@cainetao11: Yes we need a socialist to get us back on track. People who actually think socialism is the way to go are unbelievably deceived.

Right, because Norway hasn't won Best economy for business and standard of living per capita from Forbes magazine 3 of the past 5 years. And they, like most of Scandinavia are Democratic Socialists. They enjoy an education and medical system ranked over ten points higher than the United States'; have open elections; educate their own and their own keep their economy going.

But you're right that's nothing that sounds good to a country that basically only leads the world in defense spending, number of citizens incarcerated per capita and adults that vote against their own best interests if a candidate says he loves Jesus.

@cainetao11: No point in arguing or even trying to explain why socialism is wrong, with people who are deceived by it. Going off of Forbe's mag, yeah that is some great credibility there. Comparing Norway to the US is ridiculous.

Socialism and the US democratic party hide behind human good. And if you cannot see that, no point in further discussion. The people who rely on the gov. in Europe are some of the most low self esteem miserable people. Taxing the rich to give to the poor is wrong on many levels, its not charity. A nations military should be well funded. We got caught off guard in the past with a weak military. Bad idea to cut back on our military with China growing theirs at an incredible rate. I wonder hom many nukes Russia destroyed in comparison to the US, why would they play by the rules. And yes real conservatism is inline with Bible doctrine, a reason many are deceived.

Socialism does not bring about a utopia within civilization. You are voting to change what made America great. .

5. Norway is backed by big oil

When liberals point to the per-capita GDP of Norway, they forget to mention that much of this is a result of big oil interests. Norway is the largest oil producer and exporter in all of Western Europe. Norway produces roughly 200 barrels of oil per person per year. That puts it at number 5 in the world for per capita oil production. (Source.)

The conclusion we can draw from this is that a significant portion of Norway’s per capita GDP is based on oil revenues. In other words, Norway is successful despite its government, not because of its government.

Incidentally, I find it funny that those same liberals who vehemently vilify big oil are happy to ignore that little fact when pointing to the success of Norway.

http://www.economist.com/node/17039151

Bold: I guess I am supposed to just take your word for this huh? Because you've met them all?

We outspend the next 25 countries in military combined, 24 of them are our allies. You seem like you live in fear. A military can be well funded and ours has been for quite a long time. Nobody is saying cut all spending. Cut it back. We have the means to defend ourselves and we shit sure don't need to spend anymore money going into other countries.

I don't forget anything as far as big oil interests. Where is North Dakota gotten its big boom from? What you fail to look at is that Norway, Sweden and Finland are also leaders in scientific research on reusable forms of energy. Guess researching that doesn't fit that right wing, let the billionaire corps pay no taxes and make Joe tax payer actually give them money from my taxes in order to hire their own population.

http://werenotbrokemovie.com/

See the issue is ANYTHING to the extreme is not healthy. Communism to the extreme as has been done through out time has been unhealthy for those nations.

Capitalism to an extreme, as we have become, is also unhealthy. When you haven't raised the minimum wage in 8 years but the price of eggs, milk and bread, basic necessities has risen that's capitalizing on anyone at any opportunity. That's what our brand of capitalism has become.

http://inequalityforall.com/

This is however an Xbox forum, and I do believe we have derailed this thread enough. You may reply, you may not. You may watch these documentaries and begin your own research as I did when they came out, you may not. Either way, enjoy your gaming.

@cainetao11: Do some research on how much obama has cut back on the military. Also I hope you see that those scandinavian countries had to go back to more conservative practices bc their programs where not working. Taxing the rich, corps, and restrictions on corps is bad for everyone. Socialist are the biggest hypocrites, stick it to the rich and corps when what they are doing is gaining ALL the POWER. We are so far in debt how is Sanders going to pay for all these services? And the more power you give to the gov. the more and more it will impose itself on individuals. Democrats like Sanders will keep pushing more and more.

I suppose you think Reagan was a horrible president. He was super conservative and the country was way better off for it. He had things back to good after the previous dems royally f'ed up.

You sure that maybe socialist/democrat influence might have something to do with the higher prices of food? Look at Obama's oil decisions, that is why the cost has gone up. I dont give a damn about green energy, what does that have to do with anything about Norway gov.? Does that make it ok for them to be a huge exporter of oil? i guess that is how you see it which is ridiculous, they have every right to do it and their socialistic economy might not look so good without it. How does this not make sense to you?

I will not read any of your links "inequalityforall" lol when has man ever been equal? There will always be the poor, that is the natural way it has been for all time. You cannot see past the human good democrats put out there, it all sounds good but does not work.

@juboner: This is an Xbox forum not a political. I was in the military when the first round of cuts went through and most republicans in congress were on board for them. That's all I am going to say on the matter. This is a VIDEO GAME forum. We have derailed enough. Enjoy your gaming sir.

@cainetao11: Agreed, should have never mentioned Sanders in the first place with this thread ( light jab) :D. Thank you for your service in the military.

Has this been resolved?