International reports continue to paint a dire portrait of Xbox 360 reliability, with an independent UK repair center refusing dead Xbox 360 units, one user showing evidence of being on his twelfth machine, and Microsoft allegedly outsourcing UK repair to Prague.
(Not) Taking Care of Business
Northumberland, England-based video game console repair center Micromart (NE) Ltd. has announced its refusal to accept faulty Xbox 360s suffering from screen freezing issues or displaying what it calls the " dreaded" three red ring quadrant lights. " This problem is endemic on the Xbox 360 console," reads the company' s statement, " and the volume has made this repair non-viable." The company continues to support more minor Xbox 360 faults.

Micromart is not affiliated with Microsoft, and offers repair service for a variety of video game consoles either via mail or through a physical drop-off location. The company states that users whose consoles are inoperative or freezing should deal with Microsoft directly.

When contacted by Shacknews, a Micromart representative reiterated the " exceptionally high volume of this fault," which he claimed " has been identified as a fundamental motherboard problem." The representative declined to speculate on the overall failure rate of Xbox 360 consoles beyond a general relative assessment of the problem. " The level we experience is unusually high and information on the many website forums seem to suggest it is far more widespread than our own information," stated the rep.

Recent reports also suggest that Microsoft' s own UK repair centers are becoming overwhelmed with repair requests. According to claims sent by Xbox 360 owner Lee Sherman to the online arm of Xbox 360 Gamer Magazine, Microsoft' s Havant repair center has begun sending some of its units to the Czech Republic repair center in Prague, while claiming to owners that the repairs are being carried out domestically. Sherman, whose console has been out for repair for some three weeks, allegedly tracked down the Prague center through directory enquiry service.

When he confronted the Havant location with his findings, he was apparently told that Havant sees approximately 1,500 to 2,500 defective console per day, which are then rerouted to Prague. At the time, Microsoft had not commented on the matter.