HomemadeTurbo - DIY Turbo Forum - xbox 360 freezing rant/request for help

i bought my xbox 360 for $375 after tax in late 2007 at gamestop. they told me that they could not sell me an extended warranty, because microsoft was covering everything for 3 years. i guess this was not the case, which i found out recently.

my system has been freezing up during start up at the X screen, or during play a few minutes in.
i have kept it well ventilated, and haven't played it for more than a couple hours at a time. i called into 1-800-4my- xbox (1-800-469-9269), and they did not want to help me. they said that since my 1 year warranty is a couple of months out, they will charge me $119.99 to repair the xbox.
how is this fair? i haven't abused the console...i asked her "how many calls a day do you hear with the same problem that i am having? why cant you help me"? after a long pause, her reply was "sir, i told you that we are working with an automated system, and there is nothing i can do to help."

i know there is probably not much i can do, but holy cow, this is really upsetting. i have been defending the xbox 360 on forums and against my friends with ps3's, and it seems that i may have been wrong. i love the live feature, as well as the game selection, but WHY CAN'T I GET HELP? i called in a few times only to be greeted by people that couldn't understand me properly. i had to repet myself a few times, and the only answers i got back seemed to come from the script that they were reading.

i know that this freezing will eventually lead to the RROD, because it has happened to 2 other systems that i have owned. the problem is that the freezing is not covered until it hits the red rings. the system is not even playable, so what am i supposed to do? sorry that i dont have an extra $120 laying around like a lot of people do.

IS THERE A PHONE NUMBER THAT I CAN CALL TO GET ANY HELP??? IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE THAT CAN ACTUALLY HELP???