Xbox 360 Fanboy

Atari's reputation for solid customer support (relative to say, 2KSports) is being put to the test in their community forums where fans are complaining about car trouble in Test Drive Unlimited, particularly:

• No sure-fire way to run into friends/clans members in free roam, plus
• The car trade feature has been disabled as a temp fix to a data loss problem, which effectively disabled an achievment.

According to reader Aragom, Atari has acknowledged these issues and ultimately promised a patch in November, but the extended silence didn't relieve the road rage? These guys were the gold standard for customer service at the TLU release, when we praised their prompt response to complaints and feedback-friendly approach. Is this as good as it gets for the pissed and the patchless, or are people being just a little too testy with Atari?

[Thanks Aragom]

Just when you're really feeling pity for Xbox 360 Customer Support due to the obnoxious prank calls they have to put up with, along comes reader David's aggravating tale of woe:

I just received my so called repair console back and it is broken as well. So I call Microsoft and come to find out just two days ago their policy changed and now no matter what we have to pay for the box and the shipping to mail our systems to the repair center. After grilling the call center I finally was told that after I get my system back, which can now take up to 2 weeks, I can call back in and speak with a supervisor and complain that the process took to long etc. and they will refund my shipping cost to mail it to them. Incidentally, their computers are also down and they can't submit repair orders right now. Also, in the many times I have called. once I was told the refunds for the 2005 units will be issued in a month or so after they have a press conference and last night I was just told they would repair all 2005 consoles for free. You still have to pay to ship it to them.

We all know this isn't the reps fault, but paying to ship a defective console twice could turn anybody into an amateur Jerky Boy.
Any similar stories?

"Brautigham" seems to be spending his October torturing Xbox 360 Customer Support personel with a series of increasingly racist/obscene prank calls (audio not safe for work or tender eardrums). He's fairly skilled at being a patronizing ass, which no doubt comes from years of practice. If you happen to know him personally, several heavily accented headset jockeys on the Microsoft payroll will surely thank you for slapping him across the face.

Microsoft has issued a semi-heated response to the German sprockets who wondered if a curious piece of foil on the 360 heatsink may be the cause of the console's much-discussed toaster oven issues. From Gamerccore Blog (run by Xbox employees):

The video and photos posted by German blog GameStore24.de show thermal interface pads that are not installed incorrectly.  They are installed per specification.  This foil eliminates the need of a protective liner, which simplifies the final assembly process and minimizes shipping concerns and contamination issues.  

The manufacturing team pointed me to the exact part we used.

The part in question can be found here at Chromerics.com:

THERMFLOW T558 is recommended for applications where rework and ease of disassembly are important. This new material provides the high performance properties typical of free-film phase change materials with the added benefit of easy removal. T558 is the same phase material as T557 which has been coated on one side of a conformal metal foil carrier. It is easily attached onto a heat sink or heat spreader, leaving the metal foil surface exposed. This foil eliminates the need of a protective liner, which simplifies the final assembly process and minimizes shipping concerns and contamination issues.

Note the spec sheet above that refers to gray/silver foil. The Xbox-Scene forums have some interesting discussion on the matter.

So were the Germans off base? Is MS off the hook? Is it possible some 360s got the T558 and some the "foil-free" T557?

[Previously: Achtung! Xbox 360 overheating explained!]