Disgruntled Gamer Sues Microsoft For Scratched Game Discs
Added 12/08/2008 by Se
Microsoft could find themselves in some hot water if a Madison County, Illinois resident has his way. Jason Johnson is suing Microsoft for what he claims is defective hardware in relation to his Xbox 360. Johnson claims that his console has ruined his favorite games and made them 'unplayable' due to optical disc scratching. He claims that his copies of Rock Band, Grand Theft Auto IV, and Rock Band 2 all began displaying the "Disc Read Error" after extensive use.
Before Johnson got the "Disc Read Error" notification, he said he could hear "unnatural, grinding noises while the game disc was spinning," during game sessions of Rock Band 2. He removed the disc from the console to inspect it and claims that it "was the first time the disc had been removed from the Xbox 360 since the disc was first placed in the console." After checking out the disc and noting the the circular scratches, he thought his 360 might be defective. According to the suit brought against Microsoft, "At no time was Plaintiffs Xbox 360 console moved when the Rock Band 2 disc was within." It gets deeper still, as he noticed a pattern when he thought about how his copies of Rock Band and GTA IV also experienced the same exact hang-up, and were also only placed in the system and not taken out until the "Disc Read Error" prompt came up.
Now before you jump to conclusions, don't just think that the guy was trying to catch a case, and shake Bill Gates and company down for some cash. Johnson says he called Microsoft on October 29, and spoke to a customer service representative and let them know about the problem, and they told him to check out the Microsoft Web site and look into the Disc Replacement Program. Well he took them up on their offer, only to find that the program only replaces games that Microsoft publishes - and there were only 12 games. To add insult to injury, consumers must also pay $20 to receive replacement games.
Well Mr. Johnson wasn't going to take this one lying down, and he explained to the Microsoft phone representative that "that the cost to press and ship a replacement disc is less than twenty dollars," and added "...Microsoft stands to profit on each disc it replaces under the Disc Replacement Program." After some more troubleshooting, it was determined that his optical drive was defective and because his system was no longer under warranty he would have to pay $99.00 to get it fixed. Not wanting to spend the money and feeling a bit duped, Johnson decided to sue Microsoft.
He's claiming that Microsoft has violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act because they didn't make him aware of their information gathered about Xbox 360's damaging discs. Johnson also charges that Microsoft "intentionally tried to persuade him to believe the disc was damaged due to him and knowingly failed to include with 'Disc Unreadable' error messages that the Xbox 360 may be unable to read the disc because the Xbox has scratched the disc."
Beyond those pretty meaty claims, Johnson also shows off his console engineering know-how about Microsoft hardware stating: "The optical disc drives in the Xbox 360s were defectively designed because the disc reading mechanism of the optical disc drive may come into contact with a disc during normal use and because no safety mechanism was included within the optical disc drive to ensure that a disc did not come into contact with the disc reading mechanics of the optical disc drive during normal use."
Whew! He's suing for actual damages, punitive damages of $50,000, cost, attorney's fees and any other relief the court may think is justified. Who knows how this will play out, Microsoft might be really impressed with how much this guy seems to know about the workings of an Xbox 360 and after it pans out, offer the guy a job.
