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reading the posts in this forum creates a feeling of profound discouragement. Although a couple of people report that their console repairs went smoothly, their posts are far-numbered by people who are currently replacing their 3rd, 4th or 5th console -- and getting quite a runaround from Customer Service in the process.
It was my hope, in posting the "Open Letter to Microsoft" that appears below, that there would some sign in this forum that someone from the Company reads the posts... and possibly even intervenes in situations where additional help or information is clearly needed.
But I have not found a single instance, so far, where that appears to be the case... I have also not been able to find any email or regular postal address for a Customer Service officer in the Microsoft corporation. It almost seems as if the company uses a third-party operation for customer service as a firewall between customers and itself...and that no one cares to what degree we, the consumers, experience delays, frustration, and irrational business practices in trying to get our 360 consoles to work.
For what it is worth, here is an account of my experiences.... speaking as a loyal but very frustrated XBox customer.
An Open Letter to Microsoft concerning Xbox Customer Service
I am own all three video game consoles. My preference is consistently the Xbox 360. It has great games; I love the Achievement system and the entire Xbox Live experience.
But there are two major shortcomings. One is well known: there has been in the past a quality control problem (red rings, etc) resulting in the return and repair of a great many 360 consoles.
I had to return one console purchased in 2006… and now, currently, I am in the position of having to return a refurbished model that was sent to me just a few months ago. In the meantime, I recently purchased one of the Resident Evil special editions of the Elite console, mainly because I was assured that it definitely had the Jasper motherboard, among other improvements, and was much less likely to prove defective.
Quality control issues in the manufacture of Xbox 360s inevitably led many 360 owners to contact Customer Service. Unfortunately, the Customer Service operation seems to be just as defective as many of the consoles have been – and what is worse, there is no sign of improvement in that department.
A good Customer Service operation is absolutely essential when a company has made the mistake of selling a problem-prone product (for whatever reason). I do not mind, particularly, that I have had to return two Xbox 360 consoles. When the 360 system works, it works very well. I would definitely call myself a loyal customer.
But the myriad of problems that I encounter with the Customer Service department is truly aggravating. I hope that someone in Microsoft, responsible for the Customer Service program,will read what follows:
(although it is a saga that borders on the unbelievable.)
Around the end of April, 2009, while I was playing Fable 2, my refurbished Xbox 360 suddenly stopped functioning. I couldn’t even remove the disc from the DVD drawer. I noticed that the power brick was showing a red light. I called Customer Service and was told that, based on my description, the power cord was likely to be the problem, not the console itself.
I was told to send back the power cord and a replacement would be issued.
Perhaps I should have done just that. But instead I pointed out to the Customer Service representative that I happened to have a SECOND power cord, or at least the main section of one; I had the large brick and the cable that leads to the console. What I lacked however was the 3-prong cable that runs between an electrical outlet and the brick. An item worth about $3-$5 at most.
I had to explain this situation several times. It seemed that the rep had difficulty grasping what I was saying. I pointed out that it would likely be cheaper all around, if, instead of shipping a heavy brick back to Microsoft, the company would simply send me the inexpensive cable that I needed to connect it to an electrical outlet. (There was no reason to believe that this brick was/is defective, so why send it back?) (The power cord on the cable and block that had shown a red light did not fit the second Microsoft power cord – there was a small piece of plastic that prevented one from being interchangeable with the other.)
The rep agreed to my proposal: I was assigned a reference number 1101041654 and I was told that within about 10 business days I would receive the 3-prong cable that I needed.
Two weeks went by and nothing arrived. I called Customer Service again and retold the story. This time a rep said, we will cancel the original order and start over again. The shipping address was verified as being the one on file. This time I was issued a new reference number 1102096129 and was told to wait for another period of 10 business days for the cable to arrive.
Nothing arrived.
Another two weeks went by and I called in again. This time the rep I spoke to said the problem was “probably” that I had not sent in any power cord to be replaced. I explained, patiently, that two previous reps had agreed that a cable would be sent to me without my returning the brick (because we had no reason to believe that this particular brick was defective.) I was assigned another reference number 1103151535 and was told that I MUST return the brick and was given an address to ship it to.
I paid $17.10 for packaging and shipping (traceable online). The reference number was clearly printed on the outside label.
But on the very same day that the package arrived at its destination (in Toronto) Canada Post made this entry: “International item refused by recipient and is being returned to sender” How does a shipment from British Columbia to Ontario become an “international item”? In about two weeks time, the box containing the power-cord brick was returned, just as it was sent, unopened and with no accompanying note or explanation.
Needless to say, Xbox Customer Service could not explain such strange behavior. We double-checked the mailing address that I had used for shipping (it was correct).
This time the rep said that she would arrange for me to be sent a box and label – and that should rectify the situation. Once again I was given a new reference number 1104818538 and was told to wait for another ten business days.
Two more weeks went by (it is now June 19, 2009) and nothing has arrived.
In the meantime, a friend who had the same generation of xbox 360 that I had (requiring a 3-prong cord) came by and I was able to connect to the partial power that I had and activate the 360. I was able to release the Fable 3 disc from the DVD drawer (at long last, after six weeks) but now the console itself was displaying 3 red rings.
So now, in addition to still needing a power cord replacement I also need to return the 360 console itself. However when I went to the Support page on www.xbox.com, it was not possible to print out a label. (The fact that I am currently residing in Canada does not mean that I deal with a different form of Customer Service. We all go through the same Customer Service through 1-800-4MY-XBOX)
When I went to another section under Xbox/Support, to obtain the free “Xbox Data Migration Kit” (in order, eventually, to transfer data from the (defective) 20 Gig Xbox 360 to the new 120 Gig Elite, instead of getting a pdf order form to use, I got an error message. Even now, after 3 days of trying, I still get an error message. So I am stymied there as well.
I have no idea how to resolve these problems….It will soon be TWO months that I have been without a functioning Xbox and also without my Gold Membership in Xbox Live. And my problems have not begun to be dealt with,…it’s safe to say that it will take at least another month at least before the console is replaced.
Of course I will be phoning Customer Service yet again today… and doubtless I will be given another reference number and be told that something will be shipped (a label, or a box, or a cable)…but at this point I have no faith in the Customer Service process…but also no alternatives.
If someone from Xbox management reads this… please help!
I am not speaking solely for myself. There are others who also need direct contact with a responsible person in Customer Support; someone who will solve problems efficiently and not give us the runaround. The Xbox console can be fixed; perhaps the Jasper motherboard will greatly improve its reliability. But Customer Support remains broken. This is a public relations disaster.
johnH
in prosperity, our friends know us,
in adversity, we know our friends.
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