I have (literally) spent almost 4 1/2 hours this week with them on a SIMPLE problem and every time they say they will call they won't and when I call back they have no "documentation" of my previous calls. Anyone else had just ridiculous problems with them? I love my 360 but this is freaking bullshit...
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Xbox customer service: worst ever?
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nobody_here
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i have had to call them twice, both times i spent very little time on hold and got the answer to my questions rather quickly
Just the opposite here. Shortly after launch my headset developed a short, so all anyone playing against me could hear was static. I called up microsoft support, spent a few minutes explaining what was going on. The tech checked my registration then sent out a new one no questions asked. I've had the same experience with 3 microsoft mice, and one keyboard. Something went wrong, I called and got through, went through a few troubleshooting things and when it still didn't work, for products in warranty they just sent one out. So unless something has changed in the last year, I've had great experience with microsoft/xbox tech support.
It's not my style to defend MS, but you are calling during one of the worst times of the year. A lot of people have new 360s and are probably flooding the lines with *stupid* questions.
It's not as if they can hire more people for 4 weeks of the year; training them and getting them up to speed only to let them go would be a giant waste of money.
With that said, I called Nintendo today and had a replacement WiiMote on its way within 15 minutes. Then again, I fully expect Nintendo to provide that kind of service, much like I do Apple.
It's not as if they can hire more people for 4 weeks of the year; training them and getting them up to speed only to let them go would be a giant waste of money.
With that said, I called Nintendo today and had a replacement WiiMote on its way within 15 minutes. Then again, I fully expect Nintendo to provide that kind of service, much like I do Apple.
DragonMasterAlex
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Let there be no question: The CONTRACTOR that MS hired to provide 360 support is the single WORST, most INCOMPETENT company I've ever dealt with. I've been trying for 5 MONTHS now to get a working 360 out of these SOB's and it's been 90% grief. I finally got a *working* 360 about a month ago--but they haven't bothered to send back my hard drive yet, so I can't actually USE the 360 for anything like, oh, say, Xbox Live (5 months and counting I've paid for, drizzling out unused...), games because I can't save my progress, etc.
MS needs to take a page from NINTENDO'S book when it comes to support. Also, this cheap-ass 90 day warranty is complete and utter bullshit. Even Wii at $249 gives you a *15 month* warranty (12 if you don't register).
MS needs to take a page from NINTENDO'S book when it comes to support. Also, this cheap-ass 90 day warranty is complete and utter bullshit. Even Wii at $249 gives you a *15 month* warranty (12 if you don't register).
Rocketpig said:
I understand this is a busy time of year, but this is a 10 second fix problem that they've dragged on for several days and I've spent almost all of my monthly cell minutes talking to them. Heck, last night I was on the phone for 47 minutes before the supervisor finally got on to tell me that there was no new news and nothing she could do because the fax that I sent to them on Monday afternoon at like 1:00 had just arrived (yeah right...).
My 12 + 1 month prepaid card is showing up as expiring this month (I applied it on Friday) and they've verified several times that it is valid. But every time I call they want me to give them the code again because communication between their own department blows.
If they could just change the end date or credit my account with the correct time this entire thing would be fine, and I guarantee they could do that in a few clicks of a button, but no, they need to drag this whole thing out...
MasterShredder
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DragonMasterAlex said:
Why did you send in your hard drive? They specifically say about 10 times per phone call to send the console only and nothing else. At least they have every time i've called them.
DragonMasterAlex
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MasterShredder said:
*Sigh*. No, when they've sent you a *dead* hard drive they specifically ask you to INCLUDE the hard drive. I think it's fairly obvious a guy wouldn't send his hard drive unless there was a good reason to do so
MasterShredder
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DragonMasterAlex said:*Sigh*. No, when they've sent you a *dead* hard drive they specifically ask you to INCLUDE the hard drive. I think it's fairly obvious a guy wouldn't send his hard drive unless there was a good reason to do so
Ahh ok makes sense. I've seen a lot of people send everything back to them and then get pissed cause they just got a console back and nothing else. Ya never know
independantvariable
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Your not alone Alex. Right there with you with incompetent outsourced customer service and a game system that hasn't been working in 2 months.
But when I talked to the xbox live billing department to cancel my subscription I actually talked to someone who could speak ENGLISH, and sounded like she lived in/around AMERICA.
Xbox general support=horrible
Billing=Better
But when I talked to the xbox live billing department to cancel my subscription I actually talked to someone who could speak ENGLISH, and sounded like she lived in/around AMERICA.
Xbox general support=horrible
Billing=Better
My service with my 360 was great, but thats when it first came out and I think they were trying harder then. I had an X-box that died as well that I had to send in and the skate punk loser I had to talk was pathetic. Just a dumb ass that seemed to not even have the skills to work at Burger King. Spent hours for him just to read what was on a help sheet right in front of him.
beanman101283
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So here's a question. My 360 has been hard locking lately. It's sitting out in the open on top of a wooden shelf. I was debating whether to call support or to try one of those fan stands first. What would you all suggest? It's a year old.
They're not great, but I wouldn't say worst ever. Plus in the case of human support employees, the quality will vary from employee to employee. I mean c'mon, there's gotta be worse customer service out there.
Like those companies that force you through a 2-hour automated check-list before even giving you an option to talk to a human being (Cablevision). Those are problems that have to do with them trying to ignore people. Thankfully I think they may have put an end to the forced 2-hour checklist.
Like those companies that force you through a 2-hour automated check-list before even giving you an option to talk to a human being (Cablevision). Those are problems that have to do with them trying to ignore people. Thankfully I think they may have put an end to the forced 2-hour checklist.
Cantonious
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kelbear said:
Comcast anyone? I've waited on hold for 45 minutes just to cancel my account with them.
I had a situation with my Xbox to Xbox360 upgrade, I didn't know all of the details for the account so I had to call, it took about 10 minutes to complete the information for two accounts.
nobody_here
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sniperchicken said:
Comcast, Delta, my local electric company, all very very VERY poor, way worse than M$
DragonMasterAlex
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kelbear said:
In general terms I'd agree with you on principle: in any organization, some individuals will handle support better than others, and that's just life. The problem is that in this case, I've been dealing with them for *five MONTHS*, and have talked to countless individuals (at *least* 20 different people by this point) and still don't have a working configuration that can be considered complete. What are the odds that I'd have gotten this bad of service *consistently* if the organization itself wasn't a complete disaster?
As I've said time and again: We'd be in shape if we were getting MICROSOFT support, but we're not. We're getting half-baked, half-assed el cheapo contractor service. Hell, I hesitate to call it "service".
DragonMasterAlex said:*Sigh*. No, when they've sent you a *dead* hard drive they specifically ask you to INCLUDE the hard drive. I think it's fairly obvious a guy wouldn't send his hard drive unless there was a good reason to do so
If it was a *dead* harddrive, why did you send in your system? And if you were sending in your system, why did you include your harddrive anyways? Everyone i've talked to gets another drive when MS sends the 360 back.
no offence, but your story is shady and i just dont believe you =]
larryBird44
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Maybe its how you ask? I get great customer service when I call just about anywhere. My brother on the other hand gets the worst luck...spends hours on the phone getting nowhere.
Cpt.Carnage
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I dont consider myself biased in any way but Microsoft support is really testing my patince.
So, 360 gives me the good ol red rings of death. Phone up microsoft. Good news, becaues i bought my 360 before 2006, im covered until Jan 1 2007. So we arange to have a prepaid shipping box sent to me so that i can send my busted 360 for repair. The agent said i should expect the box by the end of the week. No box. I wait 3 weeks and phone MS again. I even give them a second address. Said i should expect the box withing 3-6 buisness days. I wait anouther two weeks. No dice. I have ended up phone about 5 times and have yet to get a box. I phoned again yesterday and the agent gave me her promise i would get this box around friday, so this is the last time im going to give this a shot before raising hell over this. I realize that logical reasoning would say thats its Christmas time and shipping is hell but keep in mind, i originally phoned 6 weeks ago in early November. I have given them two diffrent address and still no luck. But what really frusterates me is the last time i asked, the agent said they had not shipped the box from my last call roughly 2 weeks prior.
I have really lost faith in Microsoft.
Just my rant.
So, 360 gives me the good ol red rings of death. Phone up microsoft. Good news, becaues i bought my 360 before 2006, im covered until Jan 1 2007. So we arange to have a prepaid shipping box sent to me so that i can send my busted 360 for repair. The agent said i should expect the box by the end of the week. No box. I wait 3 weeks and phone MS again. I even give them a second address. Said i should expect the box withing 3-6 buisness days. I wait anouther two weeks. No dice. I have ended up phone about 5 times and have yet to get a box. I phoned again yesterday and the agent gave me her promise i would get this box around friday, so this is the last time im going to give this a shot before raising hell over this. I realize that logical reasoning would say thats its Christmas time and shipping is hell but keep in mind, i originally phoned 6 weeks ago in early November. I have given them two diffrent address and still no luck. But what really frusterates me is the last time i asked, the agent said they had not shipped the box from my last call roughly 2 weeks prior.
I have really lost faith in Microsoft.
Just my rant.
kingsleytim
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JSC450 said:
Your post doesnt make sense. When the console goes in for repair they tell you a dozen times not to send the HD with the unit as only the unit is being replaced. So how is it everyone you talk to who had a 360 replaced got a new HD also? That doesnt make any sense at all.MS only sends back console w/o HD.
Psychotext
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My brother dealt with them last weekend and seemed quite impressed. Oddly though, he said he spoke to an American. You might think that's not that odd but from what I've heard, you Americans mostly speak to India so how did a UK customer end up talking to an American call center?
FOR ALL OF YOU BASTARDS DEFENDING M$ YOU EVIDENTLY HAVENT HAD TO DEAL WITH THE RING OF DEATH AND THE EVEN DEADLIER OUTSOURCED CS THEY ARE USING AS OF LATE.........IT IS HORRIFIC!
im not even going to go into my whole story but lets just say i feel completely ripped off by my whole experience of purchasing and TRYING to play a 360.
im not even going to go into my whole story but lets just say i feel completely ripped off by my whole experience of purchasing and TRYING to play a 360.
S
SpeedRunner
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Oh god, I hope I never need the customer service support. All I get is an occasional disk read error, not often enough to piss me off. I work at a call center and I often have to communicate with people in India, it is nearly impossible.
DragonMasterAlex
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JSC450 said:
Ask JethroXP, he knows for sure it's true, he's checked on the status of the case for me. I don't really care if you believe it or not, but disbelieve at your own peril.
In the case of the 360 mentioned above, they told me to send in both my hard drive AND my 360 time #2. I did so. When they sent me back a 360 with hard drive, BOTH were dead, separately, straight out of the box. Literally the hard drive made a horrible squealing sound and the 360 gave me 3 red lights *instantly*, both with and without the hard drive attached. Thus they asked for BOTH to be returned. The next 360 (#4 total, 3rd replacement) works fine (to the extent I can test it sans hard drive) but they haven't sent me the hard drive yet.
DragonMasterAlex
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Lazy_Moron said:
If they're saying it's "Holiday busy-ness", they're full of crap. I've been dealing with them since *August* and it's been the same.
lesman said:
This seems to be the opinion of a lot of people.
Ironically, people perceive other companies like Apple to be better, but I have a Hell of a time getting an explanation as to why my iPod sat in China for two weeks. We're talking hours worth of customer service here...and in the end, it was completely their fault (They failed to send FedEx the proper documents for international delivery).
TheGardenTool
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I've had nothing but good service both times I've had to send my Xbox 360 for warranty work. The second time was right around July 4th, so the first time I called I was told that it would be 2-3 days before I got the box to ship it. It has not shown up, so I called back and they told me that it didn't ship out on time because of the holiday slowdown and they'd overnight it the next morning.
They even kept apologizing because it broke the first time I tried to turn it on after I got it back. Now it's been six months without a single problem.
They even kept apologizing because it broke the first time I tried to turn it on after I got it back. Now it's been six months without a single problem.
Erasmus354
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Sort of unrelated, but I have come to the conclusion that a lot of people simply dont know how to deal with customer service in order to get an outcome they want. I listened in to a call my brother placed to Dell yesterday, and was frankly appalled by the way both my brother and the CS rep handled the whole thing.
The CS rep was a moron, and my brother was too scared or something to tell the rep what steps he had already taken. Instead he went through pointless steps either completely unrelated to the problem at hand, or repeating things he had already done.
About the time the CS rep tried to blame the fact that his NIC couldn't recognize an ethernet cable plugged into the computer on our ISP was when I had enough and jumped in. In about 1-2 minutes of calmly explaining how moronic that assumption was to the CS rep he was on his way to a new motherboard for his laptop.
Moral of the story? When you call customer support be clear, precise and courteous. Don't be mean, but be firm. Explain your situation well, anunciating clearly along the way, and don't be afraid to elaborate or reiterate problems if the tech doesn't seem to understand. If the tech asks you to do something that seems pointless, ask them what they are checking for, because the tech might not understand the issue your having very well and it could help both of you. Don't let customer service jerk you around, refuse to let them blame the problem on something besides their product unless it sounds 100% plausible to you. If you need to politely ask that they escalate you to the next level. During all this keep in mind that these people are not out to get you, they are just trying to do a job. The nicer you are to them the nicer they will be to you, try to use their name when you talk to them as well.
I think if everyone tried to act like this support would be better all around. Remember sometimes you might get someone who is new, or just a jackass so there will be incidents where you just have to deal with someone else to get a resolution. I think the most important thing is to refuse to hang up without a resolution to the problem.
The CS rep was a moron, and my brother was too scared or something to tell the rep what steps he had already taken. Instead he went through pointless steps either completely unrelated to the problem at hand, or repeating things he had already done.
About the time the CS rep tried to blame the fact that his NIC couldn't recognize an ethernet cable plugged into the computer on our ISP was when I had enough and jumped in. In about 1-2 minutes of calmly explaining how moronic that assumption was to the CS rep he was on his way to a new motherboard for his laptop.
Moral of the story? When you call customer support be clear, precise and courteous. Don't be mean, but be firm. Explain your situation well, anunciating clearly along the way, and don't be afraid to elaborate or reiterate problems if the tech doesn't seem to understand. If the tech asks you to do something that seems pointless, ask them what they are checking for, because the tech might not understand the issue your having very well and it could help both of you. Don't let customer service jerk you around, refuse to let them blame the problem on something besides their product unless it sounds 100% plausible to you. If you need to politely ask that they escalate you to the next level. During all this keep in mind that these people are not out to get you, they are just trying to do a job. The nicer you are to them the nicer they will be to you, try to use their name when you talk to them as well.
I think if everyone tried to act like this support would be better all around. Remember sometimes you might get someone who is new, or just a jackass so there will be incidents where you just have to deal with someone else to get a resolution. I think the most important thing is to refuse to hang up without a resolution to the problem.
DragonMasterAlex
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TheGardenTool said:
Ah, so they sent you a dead replacement, too, eh? Something about the build quality of 360 just *stinks*.
LOCO LAPTOP
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nobody_here said:
My local cable! Btw its not comcast. my cable company is called advance cable tech support is so bad that i can do the job my self, 1hour + wait time, slow ass internet speed 5mbps when i pay for 8mbps and i have called many times to get that fixed but next year im going back to bellsouth.
MS may suck for you guys who own a 360, i dont
so im glad and i dont want one. but yeah.Let me ask how long is RMA?
TheGardenTool
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DragonMasterAlex said:
The first time I booted it up it almost instantly went to the 3 red lights again, maybe 3-5 seconds. So while not technically DOA, I'm pretty sure they didn't test it before they sent it out or else it would have died on them after a couple seconds.
I hope this won't jinx me, but I love this 2nd replacement, as I've left it on longer, as well as just longer play sessions in general, than even the first one and it doesn't feel anywhere near as hot and hasn't crapped out yet.
DragonMasterAlex
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TheGardenTool said:
Believe me, I can relate. The first replacement they sent me lasted 30 *minutes*, the second was DOA straight out of the box, and shipped with a dead hard drive to boot. When they finally shipped me a working 360 (4 months later) they didn't ship a hard drive with it. I just got a call a bit ago stating that tehy'll ship my hard drive "as soon as possible". I would assume that means like, *now*, since they certainly have plenty of them, but I guess we'll see. It's only been 4+ weeks now, for a total of 5 months sans working 360.