Sincerely,
Gronne
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Dear Microsoft,
I am one of your best customers. As I write this letter, I do so on a laptop running
Still not satisfied, I asked why that was the only course to take. Couldn’t they test it? Wasn’t there a warranty that covered this kind of defect? They said the hard drive wasn’t covered under the warranty and could not justify me sending in the console for repair until they could rule out the hard drive as the problem. I told them I was very unsatisfied with that response, they read me a scripted apology a few times and I finally hung up in frustration.
Thinking that I might have just been speaking with an uncooperative rep I called a couple of more times but got the same result – I guess they all had the same script. So I gave in and bought a memory card but the problem remained. I called again and this new person said they had no record of my previous calls (despite my providing reference number). After repeating several test that I’d already done on previous calls, this rep suggested that the brand new game the other rep suggested I buy was the problem and to try another. I thought that was pretty ulikely but he assured me it was common and stated that it did not seem that a repair was necessary.
I tried a couple more games with the same result but having gotten nothing positive from my calls to Xbox support, I gave up on trying to get help and resigned myself to saving my games about every 5 minutes (if the game permitted). That worked for a while but shortly thereafter I got the infamous “3 red lights” and the console would not boot at all.
I tried calling Xbox support yet again and basically begged the person to repair my console (the return period at the retailer had now passed). As had happened on every other call, despite providing a reference number, they made me repeat about 15 minutes worth of diagnostic steps as if this was my first call (e.g. unplugging all cables, unplugging the hard drive, etc…).
The support rep finally agreed to send me a return box and asked for the consoles serial number. When I gave the number she told me the warranty had expired (the period was 90 days at the time). I told her that I had only purchased it about a month ago (new, sealed and from an authorized retailer) so that couldn’t be possible. She said, “well according to our system it’s expired and you would need to pay for any repairs.”
(For the record, I’ve only completely lost my temper a few times in my entire life and this was one of them.)
My blood started to cool down after a 10 minute tirade. The woman, while not very helpful was at least a patient person, and after my outburst said that I could try including a copy of my receipt with the box and “if they could verify that it was in fact purchased when I said it was it would be free.”
Approximately two weeks after sending my console for repair a replacement arrived (no charge, because it was still under warranty). I plugged it in, it worked and I was relieved. When the HD-DVD add-on came out I bought it, I bought some more games and assumed this was a good product that I just had bad luck with. Unfortunately not more than a few months later I was staring at 3 red rings again.
(Another note, I have always used my Xbox 360 exactly as recommended by Microsoft (properly ventilated, positioned upright, proper environment, no 3rd party coolers, console was never opened, etc…).
By this time Microsoft had extended the Xbox 360 warranty. I called support and this time the diagnostic steps actually worked, for one week. After that, the console could not be booted at all.
I only had to make one more call to get a repair box this time but they still made me spend about 45 minutes on hold and repeating the diagnostic steps again before proceding with the return authorization. A couple of days after sending my 2nd unit in I read some articles about the experiences many of other users with their Xbox 360’s, some even had worse experiences than mine. A common theme was that the replacements being sent by Microsoft were refurbished units (i.e. consoles that had already been returned because of defects before) and that was the reason they did not last very long. I honestly didn’t think that was true but I was concerned enough to call Xbox support to find out for sure.
When they confirmed that that was in fact standard practice I was shocked. I asked them if it was possible to get a new model since I had already been through 2 units in about less than 6 months – also that, having paid full retail, I thought I should at least for once get the new working console I paid for. “Isn’t that reasonable,” I asked.
Instead of the sympathy and resolution I hoped for I instead got another cold scripted apology followed by the standard “ineptitude” defense of the outsourced technical support industry. Disappointed, I asked to speak with a supervisor and she told me that he would just tell me the same thing – he also has no authority regarding how consoles are replaced. I then asked to speak with someone who did have that authority and was told she did not have that number.
I politely repeated my request to speak to a supervisor until she acquiesced and put me on hold for 25 minutes. When the supervisor finally got on the phone he did not tell me exactly what she’d told me. He did still say he couldn’t help me or connect me to someone who could, but he offered to contact the repair center and have someone from there call me later that day. I said I’d appreciate that and gave him my phone number. That never happened.
Since then I’ve gotten my 3rd replacement console. It does boot up, but the fans groan like an old computer that has been sucking dust for several years and there is something loose inside the case that rattles loudly at random times.
So here I am months later, having spent several hours on the phone, running to store to buy games, memory cards, wasted time in line at UPS to return my console and despite all of my extra effort, Microsoft still has not provided me the new working console that I paid $400 for. Instead I’ve gotten one new-and-defective Xbox 360 from the retailer followed by two used-and-defective replacements from Microsoft.
At this point I would like to thank you for reading my letter. I hope that it is enough to finally have someone respond and resolve the ongoing problem I am having. My phone number is located at the bottom of the letter. I hope to hear from someone at Microsoft soon that can help or at the very least give me a true and unscripted apology.
Sincerely,
Dissapointed Customer