Well, I’ve got the 360 back. It took Microsoft a bit longer than expected, but three weeks isn’t bad. Of course, I had the misfortune of having it malfunction just before they acknowledged the prevalence of the problem and extended the warranty to three years. As a result, mine was only one unit being returned in a deluge of others, so this was to be expected.
Still, three weeks or so isn’t too bad of a wait considering I was dealing with what amounts to a massive corporate recall.
What’s interesting is that I didn’t get my original unit back. The one I received has a different serial number and looks new. It also appears to run much quieter, leading me to believe it’s been overhauled with one of the new heatsinks.
They also enclosed a letter informing me that they’d already registered the new unit to my name, and that this unit would be warranted for another three years. All in all, surprisingly good service.
I’ll point out again that the return process was easy and painless. Microsoft even sent a prepaid box and packing materials, so all I had to do was drop it off at a UPS office. I may have some really unflattering thoughts on their software, but the division handling the 360 definitely have their act together.