UPDATE: This has been confirmed in a statement over on Mercury News: "We've made the decision to comp repairs for consoles manufactured before January 1, 2006, and provide refunds to the small group of customers who have already paid for repairs." I've also heard informally that you may not need to produce a receipt after all. The serial number probably tells them everything they need to know about the unit.

Extreme distrust reigns in this Xbox.com forum thread about a brand new decision from on high: all Xboxen purchased prior to January 1st, 2006 are getting a free one-year warranty extension, but that's not all. Anyone who paid to have one of the older units repaired will be refunded their $140 via a fat check from Microsoft.

Call 1-800-4my-xbox to cash in. Have your console on your lap so you can give them the serial numbers. However, you must have your original receipt.

We're not 100% certain that this is for real, but multiple posters in the thread seem to confirm it. Kotaku Scouts, now is your time to shine. Report your findings to Tips@ or in the comments.

The thread goes on for five pages while internet detectives pick apart the original poster's story, instead of just calling Microsoft and asking a customer service rep.

Apparently today is when this news breaks officially, so expect an announcement from MS to start filtering up through all channels sooner or later. Until then, the customer service reps are reputedly a little confused. Expect to be put on hold.

Special thanks to David and Victor for tipping this one! Eliza Gauger

Complete thread here [Xbox]