I know this is an old topic - but it affected me recently. Also don't get me wrong, I love my Xbox, which is why problems like this annoy me so much!

I got my Xbox 360 back from Microsoft last Friday after the dreaded Red Ring of Death (RRoD). The actual repair service wasn't bad; it only took them 2 weeks in total from me sending it off to receiving back in my hands.

But I do have a massive problem with the situation as a whole. I bought this Xbox off a friend who was upgrading to an Elite. This Xbox had already been back to Microsoft for the RRoD problem three times, so I wrongly thought they must have identified and fixed the problem. Even when I got the RRoD I wasn't too concerned as the Xbox was only two years old and therefore I thought it was covered by Microsoft's extended warranty. I was wrong.

On my first call to Microsoft, I was informed they would not speak to me as I was not the registered owner. I rang back and asked if I could transfer the registration, no problem they say. Then I tell them about the RRoD and ask to start the return process. At this point I'm informed that, as the second owner, the warranty does not apply and I'll have to pay for the repair myself! The cost of the repair was £60. My problems with the techical support staff did not end there, it took me over two hours for them to take payment, but I'll not go into that here.

I have a huge issue with the fact that this particular Xbox had failed four times within two years and I was having to pay for the repairs on what was obviously a seriously defective unit. Microsoft still claim only a small percentage of Xbox's fail, but only one out of the six people I know with Xbox's has not had to return it due to the RRoD.

On the plus side, Microsoft replaced the console this time, so hopefully this one will be a little more reliable!