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Rumortoid: Microsoft scamming European customers with refurbed Xboxes?

11:53 AM on 05.19.2008, Jim Sterling 41 comments

Rumortoid: Microsoft scamming European customers with refurbed Xboxes? photo
     Rumortoid

There's a rather unsettling rumor floating around the 'netwaves today concerning 'new' European Xbox 360 bundles that may be old refurbished consoles with outdated parts.

The Web site Logic-Sunrise claims that the new European bundle deal consisting of two games and two wireless controllers could contain hardware that predates the Falcon motherboard, meaning they are more likely to suffer the "red rings of death." The site says it has found Hitachi 47 DVD drives in the machines, as well as after-sales white labels in place of the common silver labels. One customer also reports his newly purchased 360 lacked the HDMI port, and even had pencil marks and blood stains on it. 

This is just a rumor until anything more concrete arises, but it's not like Microsoft has a proven track record of care and efficiency when it comes to electronic hardware. Considering the entire reason there are so many refurb units is because The 'Soft cuts corners and damns the consequences is enough to make this rather believable. It could also be a case of retailers switching out consoles themselves, like the shady wankers they are. So far, MS has not commented on the issue, but I'd check your 360 for spunk marks if you decide to buy one soon.


Next page: More Xbox 360 stories




Trev's Avatar
Trev at 05/19/2008 12:01
Pencil I'd believe, but I'm going to need to see pictures before I believe someone unboxed a 360 with blood stains on it.
skud's Avatar
skud at 05/19/2008 12:07
i got my 360 for christmas and it was an old one with no HDMI. i assumed it was really old stock, or a refurb.
dragfindel's Avatar
dragfindel at 05/19/2008 12:10
lol blood stains on your 360, sounds like a perfect setting for CSI. but if this is true, it would be very unfortunate for the new owners.
Professor Pew's Avatar
Professor Pew at 05/19/2008 12:22
I think this was only for the new 199 euro Arcade pack that comes with Halo 3, Forza and 2 wireless controllers. One french site first scooped that, and later Logic sunrise posted how they included old hardware.
Mikescool's Avatar
Mikescool at 05/19/2008 12:24
i bought an xbox 360 from walmart and it was swapped out by someone... and they won't let me return it. this is Canada as well.
garrfunkel's Avatar
garrfunkel at 05/19/2008 12:38
I dont believe the blood thing. If MS were gonna re-sell refurbs then Im pretty sure they would check for blood stains before doing so. On the other hand if this is true it does not bode well for MS.
Boggs's Avatar
Boggs at 05/19/2008 12:44
Blood... pffft... wake me up when they've got pentagrams engraved on them.
NihonTiger90's Avatar
NihonTiger90 at 05/19/2008 12:44
Everyone hates Europe, it seems.
Moofey's Avatar
Moofey at 05/19/2008 12:49
Honestly, knowing Micro$oft, I wouldn't be surprised if this was real.
Anus Mcphanus's Avatar
Anus Mcphanus at 05/19/2008 12:54
Only in Europe.....
MechaMonkey's Avatar
MechaMonkey at 05/19/2008 13:05
Pencil marks and blood stains? I'd like to hear about the situation that led to this.
Quest's Avatar
Quest at 05/19/2008 13:17
lucky for me i'm not in europe :)
Monte's Avatar
Monte at 05/19/2008 13:22
so THIS is how MS is helping to cover their losses? Forcing refurbished units on customers who payed for something new? wow, if this rumor is true, then its a new low for MS...

Really, i might be fine with getting a refurbished unit IF i was getting it at a lower price, but if i pay for something new i expect to get something new...

@GARRFUNKEL
kinda depends on how big the bloodstains are... if their small enough then they might have been quickly overlooked or missed during the cleaning process
deiga-the-semivaliant's Avatar
deiga-the-semivaliant at 05/19/2008 13:34
I dunno what you thought when you heard 'bloodstain', but I'm pretty sure it wasn't a splatter of lifejuice dripping off the harddrive.

A small drop maybe? Easily missed.

That said, if this is true it's huge fucking bullshit. For shame, Microsoft.
animateria's Avatar
animateria at 05/19/2008 13:38
MS must be in the mob business.

Shadiness all around!

And BLOOOD! BLOOOOOD!
TrailerParkJesus's Avatar
TrailerParkJesus at 05/19/2008 13:39
Why do people live in Europe in the first place?
Churchhills Dog's Avatar
Churchhills Dog at 05/19/2008 13:43
*cue Nelson Muntz laugh*

AH-HA! Europeans are second class citizens!
Necros's Avatar
Necros at 05/19/2008 13:44
MechaMonkey brings up an excellent question.
brainderailment's Avatar
brainderailment at 05/19/2008 14:05
Pictures or it didn't happen, although you could make those up too.

It wouldn't surprise me if it were true.
ikoul's Avatar
ikoul at 05/19/2008 14:14
Why is it that as soon as I saw the phrase "spunk marks" in my RSS reader, I knew the article was by Jim Sterling?
Misanthrope's Avatar
Misanthrope at 05/19/2008 14:21
Nice going developers and consumers, letting microsoft into the console world will surely continue to pay off!
Qraze's Avatar
Qraze at 05/19/2008 14:31
would a droplet even show up on a 360? i know if it was my ps3 then i just wipe it off its sleek design. you can do that with a 360 right, or is the plastic that porous?
Crunshii's Avatar
Crunshii at 05/19/2008 14:36
only Europe?

I thought they were doing this to the entire world.
McSnow's Avatar
McSnow at 05/19/2008 14:51
America get film and TV on demand, we get the aidsbox 360.
Too Much Coffee Man's Avatar
Too Much Coffee Man at 05/19/2008 14:52
older models i can believe.

But no HDMI? Does the box say HDMI?

maybe the blood stains are a gears of war limited edition lol
JamnOnTheOne's Avatar
JamnOnTheOne at 05/19/2008 14:54
Refurb > New

...Most times anyway. Refurbs oftentimes have a more thorough QA process.
Syn's Avatar
Syn at 05/19/2008 15:36
Do we expect anything better of M$? I mean COME ON they built their whole empire on stolen software, it's a whole company of sissies.
Just makes my PS3 look even better, you're the man M$!
niacin's Avatar
niacin at 05/19/2008 15:47
oh to hell with this I'm finally going to be getting myself a 360 soon and if I find cum stains my rage will be... completely unnoticed by microsoft.
Volomon's Avatar
Volomon at 05/19/2008 16:06
I thought this kind of stuff was illegal? How can you sell something used as something new, the price value of ANYTHING new goes down as soon as the box is opened.

Oh well thats what you get for buying an Xbox 360, the natural love and care of MS.
Volomon's Avatar
Volomon at 05/19/2008 16:09
@JamnOnTheOne Let me debunk that myth that a refurb is better than new. First off all the parts have been through strain or use, meaning more quality checks are needed because of this. Where as a new has parts UNUSED, meaning their shouldn't be anything wrong with any console in a batch. Now only that but a NEW console comes with a warranty that it works, where as a refurb tends to have a 30 day warranty. Meaning if your screwed your screwed thats the risk of buying used. Theres a reason for that warranty difference.
cjpkiller's Avatar
cjpkiller at 05/19/2008 16:11
they already lost europe so are they now just saying fuck it?
Monte's Avatar
Monte at 05/19/2008 16:42
@VOLOMON
Hey now, you have an error in your logic; "their shouldn't be anything wrong with any console"... you see this is Microsoft we're talking about, their hardware is just full of shit fresh out of the box

Also These refurbed 360's come with the full 3 year warranty...
Batthink's Avatar
Batthink at 05/19/2008 17:17
"One customer also reports his newly purchased 360 lacked the HDMI port, and even had pencil marks and blood stains on it."

They sacrificed something to make it work again? Uh oh... >_>
Alpha 87655320875's Avatar
Alpha 87655320875 at 05/19/2008 19:04
Everybody in the video game industry hates Europeans, that's a fact.
BlackSunEmpire's Avatar
BlackSunEmpire at 05/19/2008 19:41
Wow, refurbed units masquerading as new units, almost like packaging sixaxis in the place of dualshocks, or shipping your software by retarded turtle mail.
hpv's Avatar
hpv at 05/19/2008 22:57
This is why you guys should never have bought a microsoft console in the first place. These guys have 30 years of experience doing it poorly with computers and the xbox is just another attempt to extend their desktop monopoly into other industries.
wardrox's Avatar
wardrox at 05/20/2008 01:39
I wonder why the PS3 is selling better?
mistic's Avatar
mistic at 05/20/2008 02:20
OMG if thats true, somebody should have his balls nailed to the wall...
JamnOnTheOne's Avatar
JamnOnTheOne at 05/20/2008 13:28
@Volomon

As someone that works for a company that makes a good degree of money off our "B" stock (90 days used), I can say that the refurb systems get far more care and attention put on them than our new stuff. Oftentimes, most (if not all) components are replaced and the only "used" piece is the chassis and some cabling.
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