Ok so my younger brothers Xbox 360 was having problems, namely the disc drive just wasn't reading discs and had the stupid habit of in the middle of a game deciding the disc was dirty and then it wouldn't read it etc etc. So I filled out the Repair Centre form and everything for him and they took it away and everything seemed fine and dandy. Next thing it gets sent straight back with a letter daying they refuse to repair it because apparently its been tampered with (no details or other explanation) so after repeatedly trying to get in touch with them and being brushed off and left on hold endlessly they finally say "Oh well we'll look into it for you and get back to you on your home number ASAP". Lo and behold, they never bother getting in touch or making any effort whatsoever.

So again after the same ardous run-around trying to speak to someone who actually knows anything/in the correct sub department of a sub department I'm told "Yeah it was tampered with so we've voided you warranty and we wont repair it." when asked how exactly the console (Purchased in October 2008) has been tampered with (by a 12 year old seemingly) is that hes downloaded illegal software on to it (from where exactly this is, or even what the hell this is they didn't say or even know) and when presented with his download history consisting of game demos and offical Marketplace add ons they shrugged us off with "Well it could have been pirated software or a pirated game". I know for a fact that a pirated game has never been in that Xbox, let alone my house for that matter, but what the hell am I supposed to do?

I'm being presented with a united front of beligerence and bureaucratic nonsense that the Xbox will not get repaired and its warranty is now void. Oh yeah and just to top it all, in clarifying that the Xbox has been "tampered with" its now completely broke; they've taken a console with a dodgy disc drive and turned it into a useless piece of junk which adds a nice finish to the b/s they've piled on us already. Does anybody know of way around this crap or how the hell I can get this sorted? It seems to me to be a complete injustice and gross error by Microsoft but what can I do? How the hell do I even go about proving innocence and the truth?

Pop off the faceplate and look at the condition of the official Microsoft seal. My guess is that the seal is broken.

Do you still have the receipt? Because depending on the warranty laws in your part of the world, it should still be covered by the store warranty (which are usually 1 year). So the store should replace it. They'll probably have to replace everything that came in the box though, which includes your Hard Drive, so you'll lose you're save data and stuff (but you could back that up on a memory unit before hand if you can get access to a non-broken 360) but it's better than having a bricked console.

Dude that sucks. They might be giving you the run around because you're a kid and they figure they can get away with it. If you think your parents will help you with this, you could explain the problem to them and ask them to call in for you. If your parents can be really firm over the phone, you'll get them to listen eventually. If they are going to void your warranty, I feel they have an obligation to provide specific details as to what the violation was.