Why Can't Microsoft Help Get This Guy's Stolen Xbox Live Account Back?
Erik has been patiently trying to get his stolen Xbox Live account back for a month and a half now, but all Microsoft has done to help is lie and fail to follow up on phone calls or emails. Oh, and there was that one point where they sent "how to get your account back" instructions to the person who had stolen the account, which sort of defeated the point.
Erik's college roommate sent us the following letter:
I am writing this tip on behalf of my roommate, Erik.
Around a month and half ago (8/07/2009) his account was stolen on Xbox Live. He called Microsoft Support and asked for Accounts & Billing and they transferred him to someone that knew how to help. They verified that he was definitely, without doubt, the original owner. They asked for his contact email address and he gave them his primary email. They also said that the investigation team will get on this issue right away and it would be available again within the month (at the latest). Well, it has been a month and seventeen days since the time this email was written and nothing has happened that allowed him to get the account back. They said they would be calling him once a week to let him know the status of the investigation. He only got a call the week after and the week following that one. The last time they called they said that the investigation team is still working and that the account should be available at the end of August/early September.
Erik is a very patient guy and doesn't get angry over these types of things at all. He waited patiently until September 14th and called. Microsoft told Erik, after he asked if the message had been sent, that an email had been dispatched to the contact information on his Live passport. So Erik asked where the email was sent to and they said it was sent to an email that had the name "Chris" in it. It sounds like the person took control of his Live account and changed the contact information before MS locked the account down. They also did not change any of the information back to what it should be. So basically, MS sent the directions of how to recover his Live passport and gamertag to the hacker that stole his account in the first place.
So after MS figured out they made a mistake, they said the contact information had definitely been set back to Erik and that within 5 days an email would be sent to him and the investigative team would call him to inform that his gamer tag could be recovered again. He waited out the 5 days without a call or email and called back (9/19). When he called them they apologized for not calling within 5 days and that he would definitely receive a call within 2 days. Three days later (9/22), no call or email. So, he called back. An hour on the phone, he used the prompt to speak to accounts and billing once again, they verified it was him, again, and he explained the situation, yet again. They gave him a case number but no extension to call. So, he would have to call and wait the 10 minutes it takes to talk to intelligent life at MS and let them look up the case. Every time he calls MS it takes 5 minutes for the operator to read the case's notes. So, he talked to this guy and was told that they have no way of knowing what the investigation team is doing or what the status of the investigation is. He was very sorry that he was not able to help any further. So, he told the guy thanks and that it isn't anything personal but he would like to speak to his supervisor. So, he after a 15-min wait to speak to one, he was connected. The original operator signaled that he was no longer going to participate and that William was on the line. William, the "supervisor", had a very heavy (Indian? Middle eastern?) accent and it was insanely difficult to understand what he was saying. Erik asked to speak with the investigation team, but the supervisor said that could not happen as they do not speak with the public. So Erik asked to speak with the supervisor's boss and he said that could not happen either. He does not take phone calls... So, Erik asked how this was going to be fixed and the supervisor said he doesn't know and he has no idea when the investigation will finish. Just to wait.
The person that stole the account charged $125 in MS Points to his CC, which he canceled immediately. Definitely 800 pts of those went to changing the gamer tag. Get this, the person even started a new prestige on his COD5 account. He was on his 4th and was content with keeping it like that until Modern Warfare 2 came out but I guess that isn't going to happen. Microsoft reimbursed him $75 of the $125 after the first call but he has yet to be reimbursed for the rest. Erik wasn't told whether or not he would even be able to get his original gamer tag back.
Erik no longer has any idea what to do. He has done everything they asked and they have done pretty much nothing they said they would. Hopefully, Consumerist can see how this situation is frustrating. Especially when one can't talk to the team that is "investigating" the account that one "own's".
Erik has been a faithful Xbox player and account holder for almost 8 years now and is doubting Microsoft's loyalty to their customers.
What do you think should have happened in this situation? What would you guys have done in this situation? What do you think Microsoft can do to make this better?
We suggest, in fine college freshman style, that Erik copy your letter and personalize it so that it comes from him, and then EECB these Microsoft email addresses and any others he can find. On of our commenters on that post had success with those addresses. Another commenter also suggests Erik contact MajorNelson on Twitter, who may be able to help or point Erik to someone who can.
(Photo: w?odi)
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Most of the 'help' on the xbox live phone 'support' is not very helpful. (Yes it is fun to put things in 'quotes').
When we tried to remove a CC # from an account, we didn't have the password for the Passport account it was tied to, and didn't have access to the email (thanks, Comcast!). A process which should have been pretty simple (REMOVE this CC) was needlessly complicated (obviously because it involved no longer buying things from them).
With the poor customer service and the poor life expectancy of the consoles (on our third and LAST), why don't they just go away? PS3 games and graphics are as good if not better (but an external USB drive on a PS3 must be FAT32?????).
I don't know anything about XBox Live or gamer any of that. Can someone give a bit of background? What is a gamer tag? I assume that when someone steals an account, it's equivalent to stealing a login, which means someone else is playing on your login and you're paying?
If posting to Twitter works with M$, why not start a microsoftfail or 360fail tag (or whatever is done on Twitter) for these kinds of problems?
@katstermonster: Ugh, I wish there was an edit button. First sentence should read: "I don't know anythign about XBox Live or any of that."
I worry about this happening, so I make sure never to keep my cc info as part of my xbox live account.
@katstermonster: It's a username that identifies you. It's like stealing someone's facebook/ myspace name. The biggest problem is a lot of people tie a credit card to the username for buying MS Points, which buy downloadable goodies.
@katstermonster: Like you said, it's basically your login to XBox Live. Your gamertag is your username and it's associated with your achievements, gamer points, gamer score, and possibly your credit card and Live ID (plus private messages between you and friends). So they could do a bit more damage than if it was just a basic gamer profile or something similar.
@eccsame:
You don't have to worry too much; Live accounts are usually stolen via phishing. Just don't give anyone your password.
Since Microsoft is being so unhelpful and is so good at wasting Erik's time, if I were Erik I would create a new gamertag, mod my Xbox and download/burn his games from now on.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but if Microsoft is going above and beyond the call of duty to waste Erik's time and money, then he might as well recoup the money in some other way. And don't think of it in terms of absolute dollars. Erik seems to be out about $100 according to the writeup. $100 to Erik is probably equivalent to several million dollars for Microsoft. So, proportionally, by pirating his games for his own use, Erik is causing far less monetary damage to Microsoft than Microsoft is causing to Erik with their willful negligence in this matter (not to mention his wasted time).
Erik has tried to deal with this in the proper way and received consistently abysmal results. By continuing in this vein, he is only sure to get more of the same.
@Cant_stop_the_rock: Still, because of the BS wall that goes up the moment you want to try and remove the credit card, you're better off buying your points at the store and not even link a credit card to their service.
I have an Xbox but I've never gone Live. God forbid I should ever have to deal with MS customer support. No. Just no.
@JollyJumjuck: You are right to say that "pirating games for his own use" would cause little monetary damage to Microsoft -- it would instead hurt developers who are blameless in this dilemma. Microsoft would still get its money because Erik would still have to pay for his Gold Xbox Live account. In fact, Microsoft would make even more money, because it routinely engages in Gamertag and console bans when it detects modded systems playing online. Erik would have to keep buying new Live accounts and $200+ consoles to get his Modern Warfare 2 fix.
@doctor_cos:Same goes for the Xbox 360, no NTFS external drives. However, if you have a Mac, it will read HFS+. Explain that one to me, Microsoft. Thank goodness for MacDrive for Win7.
See, this is why I don't have an Xbox. Every few weeks another story comes out about hardware failures or bad customer service, and I decide to stick with Steam on my PC for another six months.
Let's not start console or OS wars in this thread.
If Microsoft has been made aware of the theft and continues to charge his account (or allows charges to be made without fully reimbursing them) then they are complicit in the fraud and Erik should sue them in small claims court.
@squinko: because you're Twittering a MS bigwig that just happens to want to help. Having a dedicated line would need to be staffed... just like their HELPLINES and EMAIL HELP.
/really wanted to put HELP in quotes
After dealing with Microsoft several times with issues I can without a doubt say they are completely useless and dont care about helping you with your issues.
My advise is to file something in small claims to get the ball rolling and put pressure on them to do something
@doctor_cos: Wait so you're blaming Microsoft for not allowing you to mess with an account you didn't have a password too? and for you unable access it even though that was Comcast's fault?
If you called me up saying you wanted to mess with an account but didn't have a password and when I sent the password to the registered email you said you couldn't access that either I wouldn't help you either. That's just good security measures. Where exactly is the problem?
@ThinkerTDM: Also: buy a Wii instead. Or PS3. Or an etch-a-sketch. Just stop giving M$ money, they're evil.
@doctor_cos: PS3 is cool in that they don't charge anything at all for you to play online. I admit that Live probably has a wider user base and some nice features, but it still amazes me that anybody is willing to pay such a premium to Microsoft for what Sony gives away for free. (online play)
I don't like that Sony expects people to make an account and give up all their personal info just to browse the Playstation online store. It's awkward when setting one up for someone to explain that they'll have to give up all that info just to see if maybe there's something in the Playstation store they'd like to purchase. Obnoxious.
Grow up, stop playing video games and read a book. Maybe socialize with people in person instead of sitting in front of the tv for hours.
This reminds me. I still need to get the retrofit for my XBox wireless steering wheel. I faxed the form in last year and waited and waited. I called to follow up and the rep knew what I was talking about and stated something was sent out per their records. I advised that I never got it, so she started to put in a new order until her computer crashed. She told me to call back and recap to the next rep what just transpired. I did and the guy did not get it. I explained what the retrofit was and that I needed it. He puts me on hold, talks to his manager and comes back to tell me no action can be taken until the unit fails. WHAT THE !$#!??? The retrofit is to avoid a fire hazard and I point this out to him. He holds to the statement that nothing can be done until a failure and that notes would be made to ensure that I would get a replacement once the unit fails.
What a bunch of imbeciles.
@Radoman: "I admit that Live probably has a wider user base and some nice features, but it still amazes me that anybody is willing to pay such a premium to Microsoft for what Sony gives away for free."
I've used both PSN and Live and I have to say the Live is much, much better in terms of load times, matches, chatting/messaging, etc. It's a service people are willing to pay for because it's worth it.
@Kogenta: Plus most of these cards can be purchased on sale at various times in the year for like 20% off. You can also buy the Gold accounts on ebay for about $30 which saves you 40%.
In the end, I have a gold account which is untied to my credit card. Plus when I don't want the account anymore, I can just sell the point cards to people for a couple bucks off what Microsoft is charging them. Try doing that with the points that you bought via their service!
@AllanG54: Or we could do with our time what we want, not what you believe everyone should conform to.
FTR, I own a PS3 (and have been Sony all the way, not because I'm a fanboy but because I liked their first system so no real reason for me to deviate.)
So this story bothers me...a lot...
There was no "hacker". At best it was a phishing attempt your buddy rolled through for some "Free Microsoft Points" bull. The only other way is to continue calling customer support until one of them divulges too much information. Bits and pieces here and there and you have a complete profile BUT they do not know your Live ID password so most likely his information was phished.
It is now extremely easy to remove all credit card from the account. I only had to call into accounts and billing one time for 20 minutes tops and all CC were removed without hassle. Though I did get a lecture that OMG I wont be able to automatically renew my live subscription which is always on sale at Buy.com for half the price. Why did you not just have the cc company reverse the charge and issue a charge back? It's a fraudulent charge and should have been done immediately.
If you had escalated the call you would have Tier 3's support number...the information is here on Consumerist. How about you stop calling 18004MYXBOX and talk to support right here in the US. They will contact you back and you have a direct extension to the support agent working on your case. Demand to escalate the case.
Another note MajorNelson on Twitter probably not going to happen. Email him...he cannot help you in any way but he can forward the email to the right person. When the XBLA game Undertow went free for that Christmas season that XBL was down I shot an email to MN about getting an 800 point refund since I had already purchased it. 2 days later I got a response from him and another 24 hours I got a response from the man working on the issue. If anyone remembers they never said anything about refunds to those XBL subscribers until about a week or two later. I just had to make a quick call to Tier 3 number given to me and I got an 800 point refund instantly. Emailing him got the job done as he does check them all. Twitter I imagine it will get lost with the tide of tweets he gets daily.
Seriously escalate...get the Tier 3 number so you have someone you can talk to personally and not some random CSR. Also call during business hours. After hours is when the Indian CSR's take over. I know Tier 3 calls back 24-48 hours, work till 7 PM PDT and they are consistently working for you not the other 20 million subscribers.
"Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence."
- Napoleon Bonaparte
@AllanG54: Classic. A guy staring at a box emitting flickering lights berates Erik for staring at a different box emitting flickering lights. A guy typing on an online comment board rebukes Erik for playing an online game.
Pardon my zinger, but you're crazy!
@outinthedark: Where does the story insist it was a "hacker?" The fact of the matter is that it really doesn't matter how the account came to be misappropriated. Erik is making a simple request that Microsoft occasionally acknowledges as such; it just won't follow through.
For some reason, you seem to think that Erik did something wrong. It seems that his worst offense is calling the number that Microsoft tells him to call in such a situation. The story clearly states that he has tried to escalate the call, to no avail. I guess the squeaky wheel gets the grease, but that bothers me sometimes because in situations where I feel a company is wronging me, I painstakingly try to help the company help me. If they tell me to call a number, that's the number I call. If they tell me to wait a certain amount of time, I wait. Erik is doing everything Microsoft is telling him to do, and it still won't help him.
Good for you for knowing how to go up the chain of phone lines, but ultimately, no one should have to. The only reason anyone would call 18004MYXBOX is because they have a problem with their XBox. Why even have that line if the people on the other end aren't able to do anything? Why not make that number the one that goes to Tier 3, if Tier 1 can't help anyone? You seem to be supporting the notion that only people with the special, secret phone number should get help when they have a problem. I disagree.
(And, for the record, I would argue that a 20 minute phone call to remove ties between a CC and Live account is not "extremely easy." "Without hassle?" A 20 minute phone call for such a simple thing seems like the very definition of the word "hassle." For most services that tie my CC to my account, it takes no more than 1 minute for me to remove my CC info on my own, without requiring a phone call or 19 additional wasted minutes.)
@doctor_cos:
//but an external USB drive on a PS3 must be FAT32?????//
Seeing that ntfs is a proprietary file system for Microsoft Windows, and the PS3 doesn't run windows, FAT32 is pretty much the best option Sony had.
@Tmoney02: I agree with you, as far as your examples go. But at the same time, the rightful owner of a credit card should be able to tell a company to stop charging the card, regardless of the name on the account, or whether they have that account's password.
It shouldn't take a lawsuit to remove your credit card from someone else's account.
@AllanG54: Grow up, stop playing on the internet and read a book. Maybe socialize in person instead of sitting in front of the computer for hours.
@Tmoney02: Here then is more detail to curb your criticism:
1. The CC in question was MINE.
2. The Passport account in question was my son's, who had lost the password and the email the account was tied to was shut off BY COMCAST WITH NO EXPLANATION.
I didn't want to 'mess' with an account. I wanted to remove MY CREDIT CARD NUMBER from the account. I have all the information you could ever want to prove it is MY CREDIT CARD.
Please elucidate how Microsoft remains blameless here.
@mikemil828: So the PS3 does "everything" except give you an external storage option that allows you to have HD sized media files on it (remember FAT32 = 4GB). That's my beef :)
We have made - to the T - the exact same experience with a stolen XBox Live account. We are very patient consumers, but this will drive you up a wall. The ticket was opened September 2nd, and today, October 25th, after having spent hours on the phone, we still don't have my son's account back.
I don't understand why Microsoft doesn't realize that this kind of bullshit WILL hurt the company's reputation. I'm furious!
The answer is, they just don't care.