So there we were, sitting on the couch playing a quick round of Buzz, when I start to smell burning plastic. My friends thought I was nuts. Five minutes later, they saw smoke.
The 4-port USB hub that shipped with Rock Band? It was smoldering. We had hooked up the instruments and turned on the 360 not ten minutes earlier, but decided to play one more round of Buzz before getting our rock on. Maybe the rock gods were frowning on us, maybe EA released a product with a serious safety hazard. Who can say? All I know is there was a small electrical fire, and had I not been in the room my house would have likely burned to the ground.
I don't really know what I'm going to do about this yet. I'm certainly not going to sue. Nothing was damaged (asides from my hands when I rushed to unplug it). Besides, I'm Canadian. We don't do that.
I'm absolutely going to get in touch with EA. I'm just not really sure what the best avenue for that would be in this situation.
And I'm going to write this post. If nothing else it'll help spread the word of a potentially dangerous situation that might warrant a product recall.
UPDATE: I've contacted EA via their support site. Their advice? I should plug it back in and try again. Congratulations EA, your form letter just killed me. Hit the jump for the full back-and-forth;
Jim to EA;
My Rock Band 4-port USB hub started a small electrical fire. It was being
used as it was intended. It had four instruments plugged in for about ten
minutes and was connected to both the AC-adapter and the Xbox 360.
I would like to see it replaced. I would also like to know what EA intends
to do about this, as clearly there is a serious safety hazard involved with
the USB hub included with Rock Band.
Pretty straight forward and to the point, right? Here's the reply;
EA to Jim;
Hello Jim,
Thank you for taking the time to contact us regarding your Rock Band
purchase. It is always a pleasure to assist our customers in any way that we
can.
The USB Hub comes with 4 USB ports that the peripherals can be plugged
into.
Check to see if the customer has plugged the AC Power Adaptor into the USB
Hub and a wall outlet in order to provide power to the USB Hub.
Power Down Xbox 360, and unplug everything, but the USB Hub, AC Adapter.
Plug in One Peripheral to a port on the USB Hub.
Turn on the Xbox 360 to see if it is working.
If the problem still persists follow these steps.
1)Power down the Xbox 360
2)Plug the AC Adaptor into another wall outlet.
3)Plug in a working peripheral into a separate USB port on the USB Hub
4)Turn on the Xbox 360 to see if it is working.
If the problem is continues try a final step.
1)Power down the Xbox 360
2)Unplug the USB Hub from the Xbox 360 and plug it into the other USB port
on the Xbox 360.
3)Plug in a working peripheral.
4)Turn on the Xbox 360 to see if it is working.
If there is anything further that we can do for you, please don't hesitate
in contacting us. Additional support can be found on our help site located
at http://support.ea.com/cgi-bin/ea.cfg/php/enduser/rockband.php.
Sincerely,
Sonam,
Rock Band Support
Electronic Arts.
If you read the site, you know I can't just leave it at that. More updates as they come.
UPDATE #2: I'll give them this -- they're prompt. I'll just keep updating this post with new communication as it occurs;
Jim to EA;
Sonam -- I'm not sure if you understand what an electrical fire is.
Following your advice could have actually caused me serious bodily harm or
killed me. I understand that form letter replies save a lot of time, but by
not actually reading my email before responding you could have been
responsible for my death.
Please escalate this ticket to a supervisor as there has been a serious
issue with a faulty device provided by your company, and it requires a
serious response.
EA to Jim
Hello Jim,
Thanks for contacting EA Technical Support. I do apologize for the
difficulties which you have encountered with the game.
To better assist you try to call our Rock Band warranty. The automated
warranty service is now up and running. You can process your replacement
there, or you can call us at (650) 628 1001.
Should you require further assistance about this or any Electronic Arts
games in the future please visit our website and review our extensive Self
Help knowledgebase (http://support.ea.com).
Thanks,
Javed
EA Technical Support
Jim to EA
THERE WAS A FIRE. YOUR PRODUCT STARTED A FIRE. I DO NOT NEED AN AUTOMATED
WARRANTY REPLACEMENT. I NEED TO SPEAK WITH SOMEONE WHO WILL ADDRESS THIS
ISSUE.
FIRE = BAD.
YOU = UNAWARE OF FIRE.
It's that glowy orange stuff. If you touch it, you die. Understand?
F-I-R-E.
I'm not trying to be demeaning here, but your product started a fire and so
far you have brushed me off twice. That is so far beyond unacceptable that
you'd need a rocket just to get there. Please address the situation or
provide me with the contact information of someone who will.
UPDATE #3:It looks like EA trying to kill my children in their sleep has certainly gotten some legs, as we've received hundreds of comments across the interwebs about it. Sadly EA's email response team must have lost their fingers in a freak ginzu-sharpening accident as we've gone 24 hours without a reply. This means either one of two things -- they've escalated it to an appropriate division and are taking their time to carefully work out a response or they've completely abandoned the idea of helping me.
I'd also like to take this opportunity to clarify a few things. A lot of people have asked why I don't just call the 800 number. There's a reason for this. The first is that without a documented record I can't back up any of what I'm saying should things get ugly down the road. The second? Prior to my career as blogger extraordinaire I spent nearly a decade in the call center industry. If I call the number I'm going to get some guy that makes $10/hr and reads from a script -- he won't be able to help me. He'll escalate it to his supervisor -- who won't be able to help me. Eventually I'll jump through a dozen hoops until I finally reach someone who gives me an email address of someone who might help me. Realistically, dealing with email support is no different than dealing with telephone support, with the exception of having a complete document of our conversation for my records.
Also -- a lot of people are saying what happened is impossible. To those people I say this: I hope your children die in a gasoline fire. It may sound harsh but that's pretty much what you're saying to me. After all, I have two kids. Had this happened while we were all sleeping, they'd be dead. Many of you have also called bullshit on this saying that the instruments wouldn't function afterwards. First off, I've never claimed that they did. As a matter of fact until I read those comments, I hadn't even thought to check. Turns out they do work, so whether you like it or not, you're wrong. Time to revisit that 10th grade electronics class that made you an expert in all things electrical (the one I more than openly admit to having never taken -- my shit was burning, that's the extent of my knowledge on the subject).
To those of you that suggest I sue as money is the only language EA understands, let me explain to you why I can't. While I agree with you that unless there's the threat of a lawsuit nothing will change, I have no real reason to sue. Neither property nor person sustained serious enough injury to warrant it. Given the situation on what grounds can I sue? The laws in Canada are a little different as well. I can't just get a lawyer who'll work for his share of the settlement up here. I'd need a mountain of money to afford the costs up front, which is something I simply don't have. So while I understand the power of the almighty lawsuit, it's simply not a power I can use.
I'm glad that word has spread and I hope EA does something about it. But I feel I've done all that I can do without an ongoing dialogue, so unless I actually hear something from EA we'll have to consider this matter closed. I'm going to take commenter Utopaline's suggestion and buy a decent USB hub that won't put my life at risk.
| 
Comments
YOU = UNAWARE OF FIRE.
Ok, Jim. You win.
On a side note, I just got an email from a friend requesting a get-together for some Rock Band session this weekend. May have to rethink that (or at least keep an eye on the peripheral hardware).
Now that this is getting picked up by the gaming websites, though, I'm sure you'll get a better response soon.
I'm going to have to check my RockBand USB hub for that "add pyrotechnics effects" toggle (make sure I haven't set mine to blow up as well).
kidding dude. that is scary...glad i don't use mine too often im gonna buy a PC one just in case though. You want one?
Uto
+1 to the "thank God you were in the room". I tend to leave my videogame stuff connected all of the time, so I sure hope that I don't run into a similar issue. Thanks for the clear pictures, too: with those, there's no doubt as to what happened.
Also found this on Stumbleupon, thanks MC for putting it up.
Hope Those EA Meatheads listen Jim, good luck Fellow Canadian, and remember, if they keep it up, it's your duty to threaten them with Legal Action, there's nothing wrong with a little suing, as long as we don't get ridiculous like our southern neighbours.
Un usuario de "Rock Band" ve como el hub USB para enchufar los periféricos se quema, y emite una reclamación a EA recibiendo una mas que curiosa respuesta....
I wonder if EA's failure to address this issue has changed your mind about lawsuit, Jim. The threat of legal action would get you some serious customer support. And EA (and MTV) have deep pockets.
Of course, this never would've happened if you were playing on Wii!!!
That was immature, but I couldn't resist. Still glad you avoided deadly fire.
Until one day a 1 tried to mate with another 1 (damn homosexuals, running around starting fires in my apartment), the resulting zero division caused a local atmospheric compression, and started a fire.
Consider yourself lucky, you could be ripped molecule by molecule to another dimension through a black hole.
I know the 360's got a UL mark on it; the wall-wart power adapter probably does too, and maybe the hub (you'd have to look). You should think about reporting it to UL --> https://www.ul.com/consumers/conproddb.cfm
When I had to get my guitar replaced, I called them and got through immediately. I had to call back a few times because there were problems with shipping, but every single time I got a person on the line immediately who was very nice.
If you decide to keep e-mailing them instead of calling, my assumption will be that you're more interested in getting funny form replies to blog about then actually finding a resolution to your issue. You can't expect an automatic e-mail reply system to resolve a complex problem, they're only intended to weed out the simple stuff.
http://www.cpsc.gov/talk.html
EA = GG
"What is it, lowly EA drone of mine."
"This guy says that our USB hub almost started a fire and that we should replace it."
"..."
"...We should certainly replace it, right? I mean, this is serious."
"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA AHA HA HAA HA HA HA AHA HA LAWL!"
"Sir?"
"That's not possible!"
"Sir...Pardon my free words, but he's got pictures..."
"Why do you think you're the inferior drone and I am the boss, huh?"
"Sorry, sir."
"Since our products are the most 100% best things ever crafted by human hands in the history of the universe, it is certainly not possible for it to simply 'catch fire, ha ha...It's probably his 360...You know, they are always failing and over heating, so that's what he probably means...Tell him to unplug it and re-plug it back in."
"Okay, sir..."
"Good job, inferior worker slave of EA. What was your name?"
"Sonam, sir."
"Sonam, eh? Hmmm...Maybe after this, I'll bump your wage up to minimum wage."
"Oh happy day!"
(Starts to type)
'Hello Jim,'...
I've had to use EA's 1-800 customer support line before and I was really pleasantly surprised.
I had a situation that was pretty out of the ordinary and I was on the phone w/ a live person who fixed it for me w/in 5 minutes.
That was a few months ago, but I hope they're smart enough to keep up w/ the support that I was so pleased w/.
Oh, did I mention it was after 9:00 PM? Thanks EA.
That being said, I broke down and called the number (hey, my drums were broken and I wanted them fixed). The Rock Band support is staffed with breathing individuals that speak English, which shocked me. The guy was reading from a script at first, and he pretty much apologized saying "Look, I know this isn't gonna work, but they make me do this anyway."
1. there is a 120v outlet that it is plugged into (yes I know the adapter brings it way down, but my point will come) "that's what she said"
2. the USB hub is plugged into the adapter as well as the 360. (2 power supplies) Adapter about 500-800 mA and the same as the 360.
3. All it takes is for the adapter to pooch out and start pumping more volts and amps through it and then any small crack or fray in the wire would heat up and eventually melt. and where there is heat smoke and fire come next.
on the other side, I know Jim very well, and he would never be this passionate about something that did not scare or endanger him or his family. I know this was freaky, and yes Jim, I will pick up a hub for you tonight or tomorrow, can't have you going without Rock Band
Uto
Obviously any piece of electronic equipment can have random defects during manufacturing, and the company should be liable for any damages to your property (EA would probably try and go after the company that they buy the hubs from or the cabling supplier for their loss after they restituted your damages to you). But if you arent interested in suing to recover property loss caused by their faulty equipment (which would not be a frivolous ridiculous suit unless you tried to gouge them for bullshit stuff like mental anguish, etc etc), and you are not interested in trying to get he equipment replaced - which they should do considering the nature of the failure regardless of how long its been since you purchased that, then i'm not fully understanding exactly what further reply you are expecting to get from them. Though i can see how just an apology and a spontaneous offer to replace the item (rather than jsut a link to the correct page to place a warranty replacement request) would have been a much more intelligent customer service strategy on their part, i can also see why due to the beaurocratic BS that probably didnt happen. Note that ive used the warranty service on broken/faulty guitar, drum pedal, and drum pads on three separate occasions and they have always been prompt and easy to use.
A USB port is only 5V but its still powered by a wall adapter putting out constant amperage. Far more than a little dry cell smoke alarm battery. USB amperage might not be a lot but you'd be stupid to think a dead short wouldn't heat up enough to melt plastic.
Best of luck to you.
This would not have happened while you were asleep or out of the room because presumably you would unplug the 4 port adapter from the wall when you are not using it. Sounds like you got an adapter with some bad wiring and since these stories aren't all over the place, you should just accept your warranty replacement and move along. If this were a bigger issue, I'm sure there'd be a lot more stories on the internets like yours and EA would be working on a recall.
I had issues with my xbox a year or two ago and it took about three months of calling countless times to get nowhere. I constantly got rerouted as well as disconnected. Microsoft's support is useless and apparently theirs is too. Once I called the Better Business Bureau Microsoft was the one calling me back to finally tend to all of my needs.
Former Owner of 3 xbox360 now saving for a ps3
One thing I would suggest, if you really do want a response is a trick I learned over at the Consumerist: The EECB, or Executive Email Carpet Bomb.
http://consumerist.com/consumer/complaint-lette rs/how-to-launch-a n-executive-ema il-carpet-bomb-259713.php
I have a feeling someone will reply pretty damn quickly.
If this was a simple broken peripheral it really would not be the same issue, but a product you purchased from EA started a fire in your home! Obviously it's up to you, but I think it's worth pursuing.
That sure is some emotions you got there! psycho
Its a game, get over it. go to the store where you bought it. Now you have had your 15 minutes of fame--congrats.
I love the It's a game argument.... we're not debating between Rock Band and Guitar Hero here.... the thing caught on fire. I fail to see how that has anything to do with it being a game
But thanks for stopping by and offering such wonderful insight!
http://www.ulc.ca/
That goes to Underwriters' Laboratories of Canada (ULC) website, UL's Canadian affiliate.
Does the USB hub have a sticker on it that has an icon with the text "UL" inside a circle? If so, you might want to contact Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. (UL) about this and see what they say.
Here are some links if you want more information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underwriters_Laboratories
http://www.ul.com/
Looks like my first comment didn't go through. Posting this again.
You remember a few years back there were all those laptop fires caused by defective lithium-ion batteries.
And there were those PS2 adapters that were recalled because they started fires.
http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/6824.cfm
That's what the issue is here.... that's always been what the issue has been here, and the fact that the company isn't acknowledging that there may be a problem that is worth investigating on their end.
This wasn't just a hardware failure... this is a matter of public safety.
You think with a multi-million dollar corporation like EA they can hire some decent designers to design decent hardware. Honestly, EA's quality in games has gone down the drain too, don't really trust them to provide quality entertainment any more.
So I was surfing around the Internet when I came across this awesome example of EA (Electronic Arts) trying to kill one of it's customers via it's support system and a little thing called Fire. Lets......
YOU = UNAWARE OF FIRE.
It’s that glowy orange stuff. If you touch it, you die. Understand?
F-I-R-E."
Your killing me here, great stuff.
Also sue the fuckers for saying use it again (And that's coming from a non-American btw) you could have been seriously hurt and possibly would have killed a lot of your equipment.
You are absolutely welcome... i simply just dont believe thís silly story
As for you not believing this "silly" story, there's nothing I can do for you.... and I'm not going to try and convince you. That's your problem
Apparently this sort of treatment is not uncommon for EA. Please read this thread, you might find it helpful:
http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/crysis-series/334592-why-ea-should- exchange-my-dig ital-copy-crysi s-physical-reta il-copy.html
This guy had a problem with his pre-ordered crysis game, and got the exact same cookie-cutter responses from EA... however, he eventually got a hold of *someone* at EA and got a proper response. Emailing the tech support won't help you though, no matter how long and hard you try it seems. No one reads those emails.
This is really disappointing and actually rather disgusting how EA treats their customers. Actually, they treat their employers like crap too from what I hear. Boo EA.
Also, EA's call support isn't THAT bad, they actually speak English. They're probably going to tell you to send it in, and they'll give you a year warranty, but it's better than, say, Microsoft's or Sony's.
I agree that EA is bullsh.... him, but he didn't purchase it directly at EA, but through a store. Why he should get the store to "take the case" onwards. According to the law, this is the right way.
sorry for my spelling, i am Danish:)
sos tan malo que escupis para arriba y no te corres.
chau salamin
next we see the second reply. the warranty., seems that the system recognized you email as being sent in again and bam, you get the warranty reply. be prepared for a battle, and you may get closer to your goal via phone.
where i work, emails get the shove off. its really not an urgent matter, they will call, if not they will email and most places have 24 hour response times. canned of course.
i feel your pain......
The 360 has plenty of hardware issues, even without you making up fake ones.
Call me and I'll call EA and get them on the record about this via recorded statement
This would be a story for us to follow up with @ TWIG and for the radio station
i avoid this company.
the fire started inside the cable coming from the xbox, it has nothing to do with the power adapter, looks to me like the insulation on the +5v wire has been either broken down or was a bit thin in one spot, causing a short between it and the grounded shielding causing it to heat up and eventually set the insulation on fire.
this wont be a recall issue, it will be a rare one-or-two off occurance
but EA... sort out your support, actually every company sort out your support indians are shit.. you get what you pay for
Have you heard back from them again yet? Because if they *are* just ignoring you, then it becomes bigger than the original story - one of the companies involved has put your entire family at risk and THE DANGER MAY STILL BE PRESENT FOR OTHER FAMILIES.
Regardless of your current thoughts on the situation, I feel that this matter is worth pursuing further - how would you feel if a similar fault caused someone to be seriously injured (or worse) and you hadn't followed up?
Keep us posted - I'm checking back every day or so in the hope that they either a) order a recall or b) give you some guarantee that they are safety-testing these products as we speak.
This entire story is disgraceful. Well done for bringing it to the world's attention.
Manlyjack you dip, that's the whole purpose of a recall like this, they don't know how many defective items there are, the one you may have at home may carry the same defect, but it has yet to show itself. The fact of the matter is this would be different had it actually been left alone long enough to involve other property or the house itself or the people therein, it would have been in the national news by now and in the courts, but he was fortunate enough to catch it in the act.
And no, you don't know what happened with it either, while anyone here might pose a likely possibility at what happened, you haven't investigated it personally or professionally, so you aren't empirically correct yourself.
I've worked in retail for years now, this is the ONLY way to get a problem completely solved and your compensation.
Do the impossible! See the invisible!
As someone who took that 10th grade electronics class, it looks like some sort of overload on the hubs part, it might be feeding too much power through that cable, I'm unfamiliar with the product, but I'm fairly certain it would have something to do with the extra power it has to suck from that AC converter.
As for the people who think it's impossible, you know the drill, gasoline fire, die, etc. This is how a lot of house fires are started, dickwads.
Best of luck Jim, and I'll be watching for updates to see how you go.
What exactly are you trying to get from EA? You seem to be ranting aimlessly at an e-mail chat line. Great, I guess it passes the time for you and everyone needs a hobby. But if you want something from the company you should clearly state so in your contact with them. Do you want your hub replaced? Because you could have it already. Do you want a big bag of loot? Good luck, you're not going to get that short of suing them.
It doesn't seem like you want anything but attention for your rant. Which I am hurting the cause by providing you.
but honestly that sucks. i never had any problem with my hub that i got with mine, but then again i got the game for the wii :D
Well put sir! i totally agree...
I guess, the lesson here is, just go through with the warranty - it is quick, painless, and free.
'Hi, my son has just bought Rock Band for PS3 which came with a VIPowER 4 port USB hub. He set this up as instructed and has used it for about 10 days. Last evening he thought he could smell burning and on closer investigation found the hub to be smoking. He immediately switched everything off and disconnected the power. We live in a wooden house and are very mindful of leaving electrical items connected in case of fire and was very disturbed to see the state of the hub and the fire it may have caused. I attach photos to show the damage. I have contacted the help number (ref XXXXXXXXX) and spoke to a very nice lady who offered a replacement hub of the same type which i refused as there are other accounts of this hub melting and burning and do not want another in the house. I work in the It support sector and deal with USB hubs and many other electrical items and do not expect this to happen. Please respond with your solution to my problem and the greater picture of a faulty and potentially life threatening product.
Link to another faulty hub
http://www.thebbps.com/blog/2008/10/20/rock-band-tried -to-burn-my-hou se-down/
I look forward to your timely response.
Chris'
http://support.electronicarts.co.uk/cgi-bin/eauk_new.cfg/php/enduser/fattach_get.php?p_sid=jsAyKthj&;p_li=cF9saV9wYXNzd2Q9JnBfbGlfZXhwaXJ5PTEyMjUyMTMzNjg mcF9jY2ZfMz0mcF9zdGF0ZS5jc3M9MSZwX3Bhc3N3ZD0mcF91c2VyaWQ9anVuZ2xlamltQGRzbC5waXBleC5jb20mcF9jb3VudHJ5X2lkPTMmcF9jY2ZfPQ**&p_accessibility=&p_redirect=0&p_id=10770815&p_tbl=1&p_created=1225207206&p_file_id=656584
http://support.electronicarts.co.uk/cgi-bin/eauk_new.cfg/php/enduser/fattach_get.php?p_sid=jsAyKthj&;p_li=cF9saV9wYXNzd2Q9JnBfbGlfZXhwaXJ5PTEyMjUyMTMzNjg mcF9jY2ZfMz0mcF9zdGF0ZS5jc3M9MSZwX3Bhc3N3ZD0mcF91c2VyaWQ9anVuZ2xlamltQGRzbC5waXBleC5jb20mcF9jb3VudHJ5X2lkPTMmcF9jY2ZfPQ**&p_accessibility=&p_redirect=0&p_id=10770815&p_tbl=1&p_created=1225207206&p_file_id=656585
http://support.electronicarts.co.uk/cgi-bin/eauk_new.cfg/php/enduser/fattach_get.php?p_sid=jsAyKthj&;p_li=cF9saV9wYXNzd2Q9JnBfbGlfZXhwaXJ5PTEyMjUyMTMzNjg mcF9jY2ZfMz0mcF9zdGF0ZS5jc3M9MSZwX3Bhc3N3ZD0mcF91c2VyaWQ9anVuZ2xlamltQGRzbC5waXBleC5jb20mcF9jb3VudHJ5X2lkPTMmcF9jY2ZfPQ**&p_accessibility=&p_redirect=0&p_id=10770815&p_tbl=1&p_created=1225207206&p_file_id=656586
http://www.box.net/shared/feupjvx2yj
http://www.box.net/shared/33pb4ko65x
http://www.box.net/shared/kfcydqt13n
Chris
Does anyone know if EA replaced these old style hubs in the later releases of rock band or if they keep selling them as they are?
Some supporters are just to thickminded.... especially if their names suspiciously subcontinental if you catch my drift.
This is a very unpleasant support experience... but thats EA for you.
There is only one thing an american corporate will take notice:
SUE THEM.
Sue them for conspiracy for murder in the first grade, demand deatch penalty for everyone one of their directors. They tried to kill you, your wife AND KIDS.
Get all media, especially the cheap stuff for the ppl on it.
Otherwise they will brush you off.
Thats corporate america for you.