Scratches (read destroys… since the games won't play anymore) on your expensive game are a good reason to back to the shop with your Xbox, but it is sent then you from one to another (from the shop to Microsoft, the maker of the Xbox, and back again). According to Microsoft the problem isn't the Xbox, but the user of the Xbox. He 'probably' placed the Xbox on an instable position and moving the Xbox during the gaming. Some complainers even got to hear that they couldn't do anything since it is Microsoft's 'policy' that the Xbox can not scratch the disks. In a couple of cases the Xbox was switched for another one, but then you'll get another repaired Xbox. If that really solves the problem? That's the question. When you start to talk about compensating of the scratched games (which cost about 60 euros each) Microsoft even starts to act harder. Almost no complainers got compensation for their scratched games.
Xbox problem goes worldwide
Not only in the Netherlands are the problems with the Xbox the discussion of the day. A little search on the internet shows that gamers around the world experience scratched disks. Microsoft also refuses to listen them. The Dutch consumer TV show 'Kassa' put an Xbox to the test by the independent experts of hardware.info. They have opened the Xbox and looked at it with a microscope. The results show that there are clear wear tracks on the lens of the drive (a TSST, Toshiba Samsung) from the Xbox. According to hardware.info it has been proven that the lens makes the scratches on the disk. The problem is in the missing small rubber containers around the laser-lens. To compare the drives another DVD-drive of the same manufacturer was also examined. But this time a drive that is normally used for computers. That drive DOES have the small rubber containers around the lens! Because of those containers contact between the lens and the disk is impossible. According to hardware.info it has been proven that the Xbox has a mistake in it. What even is called, by the Dutch consumer rights, a product error.
More vibrations at vertical position
Since this was a nice possibility to test the Xbox a bit more, a couple of other tests where preformed. According to Microsoft the Xbox may be positioned horizontal and vertical. But hardware.info showed in the broadcast of Kassa that the Xbox 360 vibrates more when you place it vertical and is more stable when placed horizontal. After these tests Kassa contacted the Dutch part of Microsoft again. The company does not want to explain it in the broadcast of Kassa and is not even considering an appropriate solution for the problem. All that Microsoft says that "if the Xbox 360 console is positioned stable and not moved or tilted while gaming there are no risks for scratches". With other words: it's all the because of user actions.
According to a Dutch lawyer Richard de Lange that you can expect from a product that costs 400 euros there won't be complications like these. At normal use the machine should not make any scratches on the disks. According to him it is not normal that the Xbox can not stand vibrations.
---------------------------------------
For those who would like to watch the broadcast of the show I was talking about Click here to watch it (the Xbox part starts at somewhere near the 17th minute of it
)
: 
But I imagine that for an Xbox user, scratched disks would really suck. I find that Microsoft as a company is pretty bad on the customer service end, and refuses to acknowledge that any problem could exist in their software or hardware.
