:biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:
Alright, ladies, gents, and others, here's my review:
Initially I wanted to send in either my RROD Falcon or my RROD Zephyr. He advised me to send in the Falcon and so I did. I wanted the following services:
~ RROD repair (reball)
~ RGH
~ Fan mod
Knowing the fan mod came free I had expected to pay around $80 plus shipping. When it arrived he informed me that the DVD drive (benq) was shot and he'd be receiving Benq refurbs soon, so quoting me $35 to replace it I gave him the green light. Later on it had turned out that the drives weren't quite up-to-par with what he was expecting so for the $35 he gave me a very nice Lite-on drive.
It also turned out (after the reball) that my firmware was too new and so a downgrade would be required. I agreed to said downgrade as his prices are ridiculously good. After hearing that all was successful (and the process taking only a few days after reaching him) my xbox was shipped back to me.
I was deeply enjoying all of the features of the RGH and downgrade and exploiting to my heart's content for about 4 days of light (2-3 hours TOPS with the fan set to 100%) gaming when, boo, my xbox RROD'd again (although after it's RGH'd it doesn't show red rings it just blinks the middle power light repeatedly). I was very disheartened that it would fail after only 4 days, I mean, I just spent $165 (plus shipping) on the darn thing. As I would later learn, Falcons are very prone to failing and there isn't really much that can be done to permanently fix said failures (on the same motherboard).
I emailed him, he said he was very sorry and that no matter what he wouldn't leave me hanging. He offered me some upgraded consoles but I am on a VERY tight budget so even the $165 treatment was almost too much. I shipped the xbox back to him under "full warranty" at my expense ($10) and there wasn't much communication for the majority of its second repairs, and I was disheartened to learn eventually that he had to completely replace the motherboard (though not its peripherals which were all from my original) at his own expense. It came back with no warranty sticker so I can only assume that I'm on my own from here on, and I do not blame him in the slightest.
So now, it's sitting here with me buzzing happily. I'll keep everyone updated on its running status. Alex, I'm sorry that you lost money on this one but I'll definitely be giving out your business cards and recommending you to anyone who mentions Xbox repairs and mods. I appreciate your services.
Pros:
Seller was great overall with a relatively positive attitude and a definite passion for his customers' satisfaction. All of my questions were answered within a day or two at most. Prices are incredibly inexpensive. Takes his work seriously and gives warranties. I had a
LOT of questions. Literally about 55 total emails between us throughout the entire process and every single email received a quick response.
Recommendations:
~ If Falcons are so prone to failure, I'd recommend informing the customer immediately about any possible risks/known-problems not just for falcons but for all xbox types just so that the customer is well aware of worst-case scenarios; looking back now I'd probably just have waited a month for your Corona RGH services just to be sure that I had a stable system.
~ Perhaps it would be better to increase your prices by $5-$15 so that if an xbox ends up failing again the blow from paying for warrantied repairs doesn't hurt so much.
tl;dr sent in Falcon. Repaired. Failed after 4 days. Repaired again (for free). Running strong and will continue to update in the future.
Overall Rating: 10/10
The failure of the Falcon was not in the slightest his fault and the fact that he repaired it on-warranty at his expense means a lot to me. Would definitely recommend to anyone looking to get RGH'd or repaired.
