Microsoft Sued Over Alleged Xbox 360 Defects

richdun writes "Reuters is reporting that a Chicago man who was lucky enough to purchase an Xbox 360 has filed suit against Microsoft over the overheating and crashing some users have experienced. The man is seeking unspecified damages, litigation expenses, and replacement or recall of all Xbox 360s. While more suits or a class-action is probably on the way, others have sought less litigious solutions."

Comments

Fire

[PacketScan]

Xbox Burn your house down edition.

Re:Fire

[Fiznarp]

Whatever, calm down. I've been playing mine for sometimes 6+ hours a day since Nov 22nd with the power supply sitting on the carpet. No lockups ever, online or offline. The brick on the floor barely gets warm, hardly enough to notice much less start a fire. Those folks who are having problems probably have defective consoles that should be replaced, but by no means does this mean that they all are broken. Most of the 360s sole are working just fine.

Fiznarp

Re:Fire

[scottennis]

Xbox 451?

Re:Fire

[genericbrandname]

yeah if anything turn it over and put a piece of chicken on it and not only do you have a gaming maching but a grill too

Re:Fire

[tshak]

Bottom line, were are be bombarded with crap. Dell and there "bad" capacitors, Apples scratching nano screens, Sony's PSP and now Microsoft's overheating XBox 3-POS-0 powersupplies ... and this has been in the past 18 months.


Many of these cases have to do with user issues. Nano's are small enough to put in the same pocket as your keys, do you're scratching them more often - you didn't do this as much with your bigger iPods. XBox 360's are working fine in the vast, vast majority of cases. There maybe be a few faulty units, but for the most part it is well known that these power supplies are hot and can not be placed on thick carpet. I'm all for the improvement of quality overall, and to an extent I share your sentiment that we need demand higher quality as consumers. On the other hand there are tolerances for faulty units and these tolerances are fairly low. They seem to affect so many people because you don't have 900,000 artciles on how the XBox worked, you only have one or two about a few people who are having problems. Without some tolerance for lower quality we would be paying through the nose for these products. Maybe the bar needs to be raised a little, but I personally do not want to be paying $1200 for a military grade Nano.

Re:Fire

[j79]

From all the media coverage of Microsofts "overheating" 360, it's obvious what the issue is. YOU got a defective unit! That's right. Somehow, a unit which doesn't overheat slipped through Microsofts QA, and was sold to you. If I were you, I'd turn around and SUE Microsoft for not allowing you to enjoy trying to rig up the Power Supply with string, so it doesn't overheat. Heck, that could be the first game included in the box! A big ole Power Brick, and a 12" piece of thread. Can you get it off the ground? Will it stay?? WHO KNOWS!?!?!? :)

Responsibility

[Eohl]

I love that the submitter's comments seems to imply that it is somehow more noble for consumers to take the responsibility for defective products on themselves, as opposed to holding the manufacturer accountable.

Re:Responsibility

[Eohl]

Normally I'd agree with you 100%, I'm non fan of excessive litigation. The problem as I see it is that this seems to be an actual hardware defect...or at least a design defect. In any case it isn't something that would be fixable via a patch. A responsible company would recall defective hardware, which seems to be the main thrust of the lawsuit.

Re:Responsibility

[TheFlyingGoat]

The manufacturer should be responsible for fixing the problem, not paying damages and legal fees. If the man is awarded damages for some strange reason, every company that unknowingly releases a faulty product is going to get screwed. As a result, testing costs and corporate insurance costs will skyrocket and those costs will be passed on to you and me. Hope you look forward to paying 10-20% more for your next car.

Re:Responsibility

[ch-chuck]

More nobel?

To sue, or not to sue: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The quirks and crashes of an overhot X-box,
Or to file suit against a sea of lawyers,
And by suing, correct it? To wait, to call;
To call: perchance to connect: ay, there's the rub;
For in that call to support what help may come
When we have shuffled off the automated attendant,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long wait;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of support,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? Perhaps I should just
purchase a Playstation?

Re:Responsibility

[everphilski]

Remember, in each of those situations the company in question is going out on a limb for you. When you bounced that check they fronted you the money. When you returned the movie late, you denied them a potential sale. When you paid your credit card late, you withheld money that was rightfully theirs. Your basically taking out a loan in each case; you signed an agreement and that's what you get...

-everphilski-

This is one thing I don't like about this country

[the_humeister]

Anyone can sue anyone else no matter how stupid it is, and there won't be any repurcussions except more money for the lawyers. What we really need is some system in place where the loser pays to further discourage stupid lawsuits.

I think there's some sci-fi book where the loser and his lawyer dies. That might work too, but I don't think most people would go for that.

Why not just return the thing?

[aflat362]

If you aren't happy with the 360 why not just take it back? Why does everything have to resort to a law suit?

Re:Why not just return the thing?

[SA3Steve]

So you would sue because you had to wait in line and decided to fight with other customers? Should you sue Best Buy then or wherever you bought it from? How about the customers who decided to start fighting? Did you spill some coffee during this fight? You could probably sue for that.

If I purchases an XBox 360 and it wasn't working, I'd be pissed...and I'd call Microsoft and demand a replacement. If they rejected that, I'd put a stop order on the credit card payment or I'd just return it to the store. Is this guy sueing for emotional damanges or something pathetic like that?

Re:Why not just return the thing?

[Ced_Ex]

I guess it depends on circumstance. If I just walked into a store, got a 360 and took it home and it didnt work, sure I would return it. But if I waited in line 6 hours, fought customers just to purchase a broken item for my kid who is crying, then if I called Microsoft and got the run around, hell yeah I would sue. Of course I dont have the whole story, so he could just be wanted to cash in.

Maybe those kids are spoiled and should be brought up not to whine and cry because they don't always get what they want.

Re:Why not just return the thing?

[Gulthek]

You would sue out of annoyance? You would be understanding if someone sued out of annoyance?

It would take severe bodily harm resulting from normal, advertised use of the product to get me to sue.

Like, if, the XBox 360 randomly rockets forward out of the entertainment center at my head. Or if the controllers spiked your hands, or emitted powerful electric shocks. Something, you know, that's actually serious.

oh they have...

[axonal]

"...others have sought less litigious solutions."

Oh they have

Re:now way

[Twisted64]

Bill, is that you?

while I am not a fan of our "sue-happy" society...

[GReaToaK_2000]

I think it is about time someone took a stand against companies pumping shit out to the customer before it is ready. Especially since it is obvious this was done to beat the Xmas season...

In addition, I don't like the way it was posted... "a Chicago man who was lucky enough to purchase an Xbox 360"... OH PLEASE!!!! "lucky enough" You make out to be some amazing thing... It's JUST a GAME BOX!!! Hello!!!

WoW!! When playing games is THAT important life must be truly sad.

To Paraphrase:

[DoctorPepper]

"You smell that? Do you smell that?... litigation, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of litigation in the morning."

Software Beta, Hardware Beta

[fembots]

First iPod Nano then Xbox 360.

Am I seeing a commercial trend where hardware companies are increasing confident to roll out their products even if they are not thoroughly tested, simply because these companies know they have enough fanboys to buy anything they sell?

It's also interesting to see that these hardware companies are also software companies, who are regularly rolling out "beta" software to the public.

The Manual

[TubeSteak]

Robert Byers, who brought the suit, said the power supply and central processing unit in the Xbox 360 overheat, affecting heat-sensitive chips and causing the console to lock up.

I'm guessing he didn't RTFM. It tells you where not to put your Xbox (carpets, enclosed spaces, etc.)

Is it a design defect if you're specifically told what the 'problem' is and how to avoid it?

FYI I'm not talking about chainsaws that can accidentally cut your face off, more like a car owners manual that says "keep your radiator topped off or else your engine will overheat." Or in this case, don't put your Xbox in certain places, or it will overheat.

This is getting ridiculous

[crass751]

Have things really gotten to the point when everytime we don't like a product we sue the manufacturer? What happened to the days when if a product wasn't what we expected it to be we simply told our friends not to buy one and didn't buy from that manufacturer again? Are companies required to produce products that every single person in the world likes otherwise be victims of a lawsuit? Are standard defects valid causes for suits? We (well Slashdot population) all know that no process is 100% defect free, even a 6 sigma process still has 3.4 defects per million opportunities. Are we that litigious? How long before someone sues a restaurant because their steak was medium instead of medium rare?

This is absolutely insane.

If you think making the loser pay is a good idea..

[CyberLord Seven]

then try this on for size.
The RIAA takes you to court, pays outrageous legal fees (which they can afford), files for extensions, appeals and whatever until you run out of money and can no longer defend yourself.
Then you lose.
Now you have your legal fees, plus theirs!
Do you still think making the loser pay all legal fees is a good idea?

As much as I hate Microsoft

[xutopia]

Suing every chance you get is silly. Especially since MS is replacing all defective 360s at no charge with express shipping.

I think there are too many lawyers in the world.

Re:It was only a matter of time.

[ezberry]

It seems that ever since going to law school, all I see on Slashdot is people incorrectly claiming knowledge of the law. The parent is a good example.

The Second Restatement of Torts, Section 402A Special liability of seller of product for physical harm to user or consumer, states:
1)A seller of a product in a defective condition is liable if
  a) the seller's business is to sell that product, and
  b) it is expected to and does reach the consumer without modifications
2) Section 1 applies even though
  a) the seller has exercised all reasonable care, and
  b) the sure or consumer did not enter any contract with the seller.

This results in a situation of strict liability.
There is also an implied warranty of merchantability, as seen in Henningsen v. Bloomfield Motors, Inc. (NJ 1960, 671).
Further, this is not about to go away in the near future as the draft of the third restatement includes clause (see the section on products liability).

Self inflicted?

[MoonBuggy]

Yes, these lawsuits are stupid, but there are two things to consider here (speaking in general, I don't know the specifics of this case, but I can say that this person _deserves_ no more than a replacement Xbox and maybe $100 or a few free games to make up for missing out on the launch day fun. What they'll ask for/get is, I'm sure, another matter): firstly, if any of us can make a significant amount of money from doing very little work - why not? The system's broken anyway, others are exploiting it, so maybe we shouldn't be so hard on these people for joining in. If someone told you that you could have $1000000 for nothing except exploiting a system that's getting fucked over anyway, would you really be that bad for taking it?

That leads to my second point: whose fault is it that the legal and social structures are fucked (i.e. a judge doesn't throw out ridiculous cases _and_ a jury sides with these people)? Could it be the big evil corporations that tell people what to think? I honestly don't know, but the likes of Sony, MS, McDs etc. who generally get hit by these lawsuits are all partially responsible for the state of the 'developed' world anyway.

Maybe I'm feeling extra cynical today, but it just looks to me like the system's screwed anyway, so just make the most of it. Corporations are the epitome of selfishness, and many people are going the same way. Perhaps it's time to give up and go with the flow, because I'm losing sight of any other way to 'win' here.