EB Warranty Woes


What used to be the solidest protection plan for your gaming console in the industry, has just gone all limp noodle. EB games (as of early February 2007) has changed its warranty policy drastically. You used to be able to slap down a fee of roughly 10% of your console’s price, and this would guarantee you a brand “new” system, should anything happen. It covered basically anything, whether it was physical damage, a defective product, or accidental misconduct. No questions were asked if you presented your warranty slip with your receipt. Now the company has taken a firm stance that should anything go wrong with your system, the company will provide a “working” replacement. “Working” meaning used or refurbished. Not only that though, the company has also raised the price of almost all its warranties by nearly double! So basically you are paying more for less. This is huge step backwards for a company that set the standard in the gaming community, warranty -wise. People counted on EB for a “real” warranty, a warranty that works and a warranty that did not let you down. Gigantic corporations like Best Buy and Future Shop push their supposed fail proof, customer satisfied guaranteed plans. However they never live up to the hype. 1 out of 3 people seem to have had a negative experience with these corporate replacement plans.

Xbox 360 What is even worse now is trying to reclaim a new “working” unit for your defective one. If no used or refurbished product is on hand you must search store to store to find one. If none can be found in the district, the company will ship one out to the EB closest to you. This sucks because with the old policy you simply walked in and out with a new working system within 5 minutes. Now it seems that it could take 5 days to get back to your gaming. What hurts the most though is just thinking about placing a warranty on a brand new sleek hand held. Because lets be honest, do you really want some 6 year olds Pre-owned, scratched up, muggy DS in exchange for your otherwise perfect one that accidentally fell to the floor and now has a broken hinge? I didn’t think so!

Now, why would EB games do something so sneaky, so shady, so down right stupid? Although it is all speculation, one could assume it would have something to do with Microsoft. EB has taken back a record number of defective XBOX 360 products in the last year, and the company can not justify providing 2 or 3 360’s for each customer with a warrantee. However making your customers pay for Microsoft’s mistake is a dangerous game EB. One can only hope you reconsider your decision on the warrantee front for your sake, but most of all for the sake of your customers.


Contributed by: Cain


- May 1, 2007




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