Why Sony has a loyal customer here.

[Prometheus59650]

My second XBox dropped dead a couple of months ago. It wasn't particularly old. Or overworked. To be honest I was hesitant to invest my playtime in it for fear it'd die.

I was ticked off needless to say, because for the amount of money they expect you to pay for these things you shouldn't have to reinvest and reinvest because it just smacks to me of throwing good money after bad. I was simply willing to call it done. Besides, I had my PS3.

It was a day one purchase for me and while I haven't thoughtlessly worked it to death I have put it through its paces in the years I've owned it. I take care of my electronics. They are just too expensive to do otherwise.

The Blu-drive went bad last week. Wouldn't play anything and the system wouldn't recognize that it had a drive at all. Well, I knew I was having that fixed, so I thought I'd see what the deal was for the XBox. Not a bad flat rate for fixing it, so what the Hell? When all is said and done I'd like to finish Star Ocean and want to play Mass Effect 2 eventually.

I sent in the service requests for both Sunday before last and here's my experience so far:

M$

* Put in a service request last week that required me to go to their site and print my own shipping labels. Ok.

(BTW, they charge you for the repair the minute you put in the service request apparently.)

* But I can't get into the site to print them for days.

* When I finally get in, it tells me that I already printed those labels.

* Spent 40 minutes on the phone last Friday because the only way to print labels now is to void the old order and put in a new one and they are going to mail me labels.

* As of today? Still waiting for labels.

Sony:

* UPS'd me the label...the box...the packing material...and even the freaking tape for the box last Monday....arrived Wednesday.

* I shipped it last Thursday.

* Received by Sony 6.23

* Repaired and on it's way back to me 6.25.

One company has it together, one doesn't. Guess which.

And this is why Sony has and is keeping a customer.