ForceTrainer says:

First off, many thanks for posting my experience with XBOX Live billing on your site. About 6 hours after the post went up I received a phone call from XBOX Live support asking about the situation. Unfortunately I did not speak with support list night, and after calling them back today I got in touch with one of their reps.

I spoke with James in their escalated support for about 20 minutes. Right off the bat he explained to me what MS would be able to do, and I was offered the option of a full refund of the amount that I paid or they would provide me with a 12-month XBOX Live Gold membership code that I could redeem. I opted for the full refund since all I wanted originally was to downgrade to a Silver membership.

After getting that cleared up, James asked me to explain the entire situation to him, and I gave him the story pretty much verbatim from what I sent to the Consumerist. When I finished James apologized for the confusion that occurred, and he explained a few things including why he thinks the situation occurred:

- His first comment was that I was absolutely right that I should have received a full credit for the time paid for (vindication!).

- My case should have been escalated by default when I first spoke to billing because my request and situation were non-standard. My account was in a decline state which the billing department can handle, but since I wanted to downgrade to a Silver account while in a decline state I should have been escalated immediately.

- James believes that the major confusion occurred because my annual account was in a decline state, and that it is very rare for a billing CSR to deal see. Decline states are common with accounts paid on a monthly basis (which makes sense), and the CSR treated my annual account like it was a month-to-month. With month-to-month billing if you get declined your payment to bring your account current gets you paid for that month. Basically you're just paying for time that you've already used. However, with the annual membership, when you pay your balance there is time that is owed to you. The CSR that I spoke with just pretty much screwed this part up.

I absolutely believe that James was sincere in his evaluation of the situation, and his point that decline states don't occur often with annual accounts means that the CSR I talked to may have never had that exact situation before. While that doesn't mean that what the CSR did was right, mistakes happen and MS worked quickly to fix the mistake. James said that they will make sure to address this in training with their CSRs. Whether that happens or not I don't know, but the fact that they called me directly speaks volumes.

I did ask James if he knew why I received a call from their department, and his response was that he was just told by his boss to call me and not given any other information. This to me was a pretty big clue that it was the Consumerist post that sparked the phone call. I'm definitely not going to complain about that!

Most importantly (because I want to help other readers that have been trying to deal with XBOX Live billing) I brought up to James that there were other Consumerist readers that were having similar problems, and I asked if there was anything they could do to make getting their situations resolved a little easier. This is what I was told:

1) If you are having billing related problems with your account, call XBOX Live support at 1-800-4MY-XBOX.

2) When the IVR (known as Max) answers, wait for the option to speak with billing. This option is AFTER the choice for XBOX Live support. He said that many users choose the option for XBOX Live Support when in fact they need to speak with billing (obviously they should be changing their prompts).

3) If you account is in a decline cycle (meaning your credit card expired, etc.) tell the CSR that you know you are in a decline cycle, and explain exactly what you would like to have happen. This could be anything from just paying your bill to downgrading to a Silver membership. Be clear and things should hopefully shake out.

4) If at any point you feel uncomfortable or confused with what the CSR is saying, ask to be escalated to the next level of support. They should do this immediately without any objections.

5) At this point the escalated support should be able to help you out. They have authorization and additional information to handle most requests including refunds if necessary.

The main reason I didn't escalate my call was because I was rather angry, and I didn't want to yell at someone that was just trying to help me out. In the end everything worked out, and I thank the Consumerist for that! With the information that I got from James as well I think that other people with billing related problems should be able to get squared away. If not, just write in to the Consumerist :)

Thanks!
ForceTrainer

Let us know if ForceTrainer's instructions work for you by emailing us at tips@consumerist.com. Good luck! And remember that you shouldn't ever be afraid to ask for your complaint to be escalated! There are limits to what your basic CSR can do. If your issue needs TLC, ask for someone with more authority.

(Photo: Maulleigh )

I've been a faithful Xbox Live Gold member since I first bought my Xbox 360 a few years ago. When I first signed up for my account I chose the annual option, so for the past two years I've paid my $49.99 like a good little gamer.

This year was probably going to be no different, but my billing ran into a little snag when my credit card on file was replaced. I started receiving emails from Microsoft telling me that I needed to update my card info so that I could be charged for the next year, but I kept forgetting. I finally received a final email saying that my account had been closed and at that point I could no longer sign onto Xbox Live. Honestly I couldn't care less about having a Live account, but I have a good amount of DLC, so I immediately gave Xbox Support a call so I could at least get switched to a free silver account so I wouldn't bork what I had already bought.

After a minute or two on hold (I called 1-800-4MY-XBOX) I got through to a very nice woman. I explained to her that my account had lapsed and that I just wanted to convert my Gold account to a Silver one. She said no problem, but informed me that I would need to speak with billing. "Not a problem," I thought, and I got forwarded immediately.

After another minute on hold I was through to the billing department. I was pretty impressed at the lack of hold time, considering it was a Sunday night, and I even made a comment to my brother over IM saying, "Wow, Xbox support is pretty good." Needless to say my comment was a bit premature.

I again explained my situation to the billing rep, and he asked me to sign on to http://billing.microsoft.com so I could update my billing information there. That seemed like a pretty simple request, and he said he would stay on the line with me to make sure that everything got updated properly. Again, I was impressed because most reps would just tell you where to go and hang up. He verified that my billing information was updated, and he told me that I would be charged $49.99 because I had an owing balance on my account. While all I wanted to do was convert to a Silver account (hopefully for no charges), I was half expecting this since my account had technically lapsed in June. I asked if it was possible to just pro-rate the two months that I was given service after my account lapsed, and I was told because I'm an annual member that wouldn't happen. Alright, fine, no big deal – it's just $50. The charge was put through and I figured all was set. Here's how the rest of the conversation went:

Me: Alright, so my account is settled. Since my account lapsed in June I'm assuming I should have about 10 months left of Xbox Live Gold service, right?

Rep: No.

Me: Ummm… what do you mean no? When I paid the $50 I was paying for service from June 2008 to June 2009. I understand that I won't get a full year of service from today, but how come you're telling me I'm not going to get Gold service at all?

Rep: By paying the $50 you settled your account. Your account has been reactivated as a Silver account.

Me: Okay, I understand that my account is now settled, but I just paid for 12 months of service. If you date that from June 2008 I should have a Gold account until June 2009.

Rep: No. When you paid the $50 that was just to settle the account and bring it current. Your account was almost sent to collections, so your payment stopped the process.

Me (Getting very pissed off right now): Okay, so what you're telling me is that I just paid $50 so you wouldn't send me to collections? With Xbox Live service you PRE-PAY for the service! If I'm paying you $50 I just PRE-PAID for services that you owe me. Now you're telling me all I did was stop you from sending me to collections?

Rep: Yes. However, now that your account is settled you can go ahead and purchase a Gold account if you want.

Me (To the point of ripping my hair out): So what you're telling me is that I just paid you $50, and if I want to get a Gold level account I will need to pay again for it even though I just paid you $50?!?

Rep: That would be correct sir.

Me (Trying not to yell at the guy so I can ask pertinent questions): Okay, that makes no sense, but let's continue. Can you tell me exactly what I was charged for? Was the $50 I just spent for Xbox Live Gold service, collections fees, account reactivation… what?

Rep: The charge will be for Xbox Live Gold service.

Me (Ready to rip his throat out through the phone): You just said that I was being charged for Xbox Live Gold service. If that's the case then how come I am not getting the balance of the months?

Rep: Because that charge was to bring your account current.

This ordeal continued for another 10 minutes. He told me that my payment was solely to bring my account "current." His rationale for not giving me the balance of the months on my account was that my account was almost sent to collections. Well, first off, my account was never sent to collections, so that's the biggest BS story I've ever heard. Second, how can you send me to collections on a debt for services that I was never given? Microsoft cut off my account when it went delinquent, and at the very least I got a free month out of them. I absolutely understand them wanting me to pay for that, but how can you send me to collections for an entire year of service that I haven't even used yet? I also asked him that if I had called last month to settle my account would I have been given the balance of the months. His answer? Yes. Rationale? Because my account wasn't being sent to collections last month.

After all of this I informed the rep that I would dispute the charge with my credit card company. He told me, "Fine, we get that all the time. However, we always win because we will show that it's a legitimate charge." I tried to argue with him saying that yes, while the charge itself is legitimate (I did authorize it), Microsoft is refusing to give me the services that I paid for, and that is grounds for a dispute resolution in my favor. He didn't really seem to care and I knew I was getting nowhere, so I just hung up at that point.

So where do I stand? Yesterday I was charged $50 for 12-months of Microsoft Xbox Live Gold service which should have been dated from June 2008. However, my account is currently at a Silver level, and the only way to upgrade the account is to pay again for Gold service.

There are several problems that come up with this entire phone call. First, I only had the choice to pay $49.99 to bring my account current even though there are monthly and quarterly payment options available. If I had been a month-to-month member I probably would've just paid for a single month and lost a month of service, not 10. If I had been paying via Xbox Live Cards that you buy at retailers nothing would've happened because there are no recurring payments. So for the most part, a dedicated customer who makes an annual commitment to the service gets screwed the hardest. Thanks Microsoft!

Yuck. You should probably call your credit card company and talk the issue over with them. We wouldn't be surprised if you were able to do a chargeback.

(Photo: Tengaport )

UPDATE: This complaint has been resolved.

So last week I sent my Xbox 360 to be repaired due to the RRoD, the 2nd time it has happened since I bought the system in November 2006. It initially RRoD'd around 9 months after the purchase date, then was sent in and repaired. It started freezing again last week and then RRoD'd, and I sent it in for repair #2. I just received my system back today and started looking through the vents to see if it was a 65nm Opus repaired system, and then realized somehow there was a piece of paper with labels on it left inside of my system. I've called support now, had my case escalated to level 2 while speaking with a supervisor (who had never heard of this happening before), but was told I will not hear back from them for 48hrs.

Nick sent a bunch of pictures taken through the vent holes of his XBOX. This is the clearest one. Looks suspiciously like a sheet of stickers to us. Whoops. Guess the surgeon left a sponge inside, huh?

In order to use the new service, users will need to be an Xbox Gold-level member which costs $50 a year. Naturally, they will also need a Netflix membership, but it has to be above the base $4.99 membership level.

The article says,

Confirming another pervasive rumor, the software upgrade will let users create avatars (which look a heck of a lot like Miis on the Nintendo Wii) and invite their friends to a “Live Party.” The Netflix partnership means that users can also invite their friends to watch movies with them too — something that has a few attendees here pretty excited.

“I like the idea of being able to be in a game, talking with friends and someone will say something like ‘I’ve never seen Office Space.’ And thinking that I could go, stop the game and make that person watch ‘Office Space’ with me,” says Edie Sellers, contributor to podcast site GameHounds.

Netflix has been like a pure virginal daughter to us at The Consumerist. We feel as if Microsoft, the biggest slimeball in town, is whisking away our daughter for a wild trip to Vegas where we know she will ultimately be deflowered. Their union fills us with worry and a sense of dread which emanates from the pit of our stomach. Don't you hurt our daughter, Microsoft, or we'll f'ng kill you.

Microsoft partners with Netflix on Xbox Live [MSNBC]
(Photo: Getty)

It's a simple two-part process. First, you must transfer your authorized licenses here on the site. Second, you must download the transferred licenses onto your new Xbox 360.

Microsoft points out that if you've sent your Xbox 360 in for repair or replacement, "the licenses have already been transferred as part of the repair process, and you do not need to use the license transfer tool, but you may need to download the content again."

"Transferring Content Licenses to a New Console" (Thanks to Justin!)

RELATED
"UPDATE: Microsoft May Slowly Be Fixing Their Broken XBOX DRM"
"Replace Your XBOX 360? 'Sorry, We Can't Help You. Buy All Of Your Content A Second Time'"

• An Xbox 360
• Windows Vista with Vista Media Center (it's included by default in Vista Home Premium and Ultimate)
• A Netflix subscription
• The freeware vmcNetflix plug-in

Hi guys, not sure if you're interested in putting this sort of thing on your site anymore, but I've had my own problems with Microsoft, the 360 and their support.

In a sentence, I called their support after replacing my busted 360, and their response to my question as to why I can't access most of my content either online or offline from my old hard drive anymore was "Can't help you, sorry. Buy all of the content a second time."

Now here's the long version:
I was kindly greeted by Alex, the automated system guy (I've never seen any company give theirs a name), then transferred over to a man who I believe went by the name "Jeeves" (at least that's what it sounded like to me through the accent). After a bit of friendly banter and him asking me for a whole bunch of different information, I explained to him the following situation of which I will attempt to detail here in as few words as possible:
- My launch 360 broke about a year and a half ago, but it wasn't under warranty, so I cracked it open and fixed it, making the new extended 3-year "three red ring" warranty void.

- My launch 360 red ringed just a little while ago.

- I decide to purchase a new console, figuring I'd like the fresh warranty and the new (instead of refurbished) console, and I'd just put my old hard drive in the new console and things should work alright.
- Even after logging into Live, I can't access the full games that I'd purchased over Live, so I call Microsoft's Xbox support line, expecting someone to be friendly and help me with my problem. While they were friendly, the only solution I was offered was to buy all of my content a second time. Yes, they instructed me to buy the content AGAIN.
I promptly explained to them that they'll transfer licenses between the broken and refurb consoles they send out, so I wondered why they couldn't help me. I could prove that the consoles were both mine in whatever way they wanted, verify hard drive serial numbers, give them receipts, Xbox Live account information, etc... And I got nothing other than the exact same line about not being allowed by publishers to transfer licenses, and that they have to contact them about transferring licenses and get the publisher's approval for each game.
Then I asked to be elevated, and "Jeeves" politely transferred me to his supervisor, Ian. I spoke with Ian briefly and he gave me the same response: "Buy the content again." To his credit, he did get me to attempt some other things to at least get my content working when I'm online, but he ultimately said it's not up to him.
It's very frustrating, seeing as I've gifted consoles to friends, bought a launch 360, and even replaced my 360 when it broke, and now this is the sort of awesome customer service I get for being a dedicated 360 user.

I'll probably end up selling my two 360s and accessories, and buying something else with the money I get from it. This experience with Microsoft's DRM has absolutely put me off of any of their products in the future, game-related or not.

- Mac

Any XBOX 360 experts have better advice for Mac than Microsoft did? Or does he really have to buy his content a second time?

(Photo: Milkham )

Richard says:

I have swapped several emails with Stephen Toulouse, the Microsoft staffer who seems to be responsible for the press briefings on this (he was the one who gave the followup story to Kotaku). Firstly, he confirmed my enforced change was /not/ because my tag is the same as my name and /was/ because my tag is deemed to be offensive. I've sent him the following as an email querying a few more details.

Ah, good. Thank you for clearing that up. I also noticed last night that I cannot enter my last name in the Real Name field of my Xbox profile, although I can put it in the Bio section — does it become less offensive a few inches further down the screen? I tried Heterowood and Homowood too (both were barred) but Straightwood was allowed, oddly. Even the words "Unix" and "Linux" seem to be barred from the Real Name field, which I find rather bizarre. I also note that this was a system generated response, and not the result of a complaint about me.

So, what about the international issues? Wanker is quite a common surname in Germany, and is very rude to British people but (I understand) doesn't have as strong a connotation to the Americans — I'm pretty sure I've heard it on the Simpsons. Would that be allowed? What about swear words in foreign languages, how do you handle that case?

Basically, because of the international issue I think Microsoft haven't thought this through. I am conducting a bit of investigative journalism along those lines: getting two friends to register a gamertag that is outrageously obscene but in an obscure-ish language, then getting someone else to file a complaint about it. Want to bet the complaint will be ignored? I think MS are adopting a US-centric point of view here and I don't think that is acceptable for an international service like Live. If you're going to start censoring words you have to do it in all the languages active on Live.

Ball's in your court, Microsoft.

Here's Varun's letter:

Today, I discovered I couldn't connect to Xbox Live. After calling "Shanya" at Xbox Live (could not understand her, despite trying very hard), I was told that the Xbox Live service was down. How odd - everybody else, including my flatmate, on the same console is able to connect.

So I called back and "Ryan" answered. Ryan spent 35 minutes diagnosing my issue, making me connect, disconnect, reconnect and otherwise delete, undelete and trash my account. All the while, I explained to him that it clearly was NOT an issue with the connection, and not an issue on my end. After struggling to read his script, he finally took pity on me and followed my instructions to see whether there was anything wrong with my account. Sure enough, there was.

The system had tagged my Gamertag as offensive. What was my Gamertag? First name + last name.

What?!

That's right - my first name + last name is an offensive combination to the people who run Xbox Live. I asked Ryan what to do and he suggested changing the name order around.

So I've been forced to change my Gamertag - which means all the time that I've been using Xbox Live (about 30 months), my name has been offensive and apparently in violation of their terms, but they didn't bother to check or notify me or... well, do anything, really, except disconnect me today. I note that they updated the terms in 2005, twice in 2006, once in 2007 and somehow, I was in compliance with those terms all this time. Yet despite no change in the terms since June 2007, I am now in violation of those same terms. Explaining all this to the supervisor, "Lawrence", on the phone resulted in long, unintelligible mumbles (it was as if he arbitrarily picked words and letters out of the dictionary, strung them together, and then ran the whole gibberish through a randomizer), I was told that it was for my own security and protection they had decided that my name was offensive. Oh and the name that I had spent a while building an identity around? Yeah, there's no compensation for that. Nor did my preferences transfer over. In fact, I'm completely SOL...

Oh, for pete's sake, Microsoft.

After that fuss t'other day when Xbox Live banned the gamertag TheGayerGamer, I wondered if this would happen; lo and behold it has. They've banned my gamertag too. What makes this funny is that my old tag is just my name — Gaywood is my surname, which they could easily verify from my Live profile etc. I can't decide if I'm amused or annoyed by this.

Thought you might like to note this in your coverage of the story. I'd suspect anyone with the string "gay" in their name is going to get a free new Gamertag soon. I haven't played much on public live servers of late, so I suspect this is more likely to be down to an automated script trawling the database rather than individual tags that have been complained about. So, where does this end? What if my home address is in Scunthorpe?

Our sister site Kotaku obtained Mr. Gaywood's driver's license, which is more than Microsoft bothered to do:

PREVIOUSLY: "Gay" Player Name Banned By Xbox Live

Instead of repairing or replacing his console, Microsoft sent Jeff a letter informing him that his console was not repaired because it had been tampered with. Jeff called Xbox customer support and was told that his tampering had voided his limited and extended warranties, and that a supervisor wouldn't be available to speak with him for at least a few days. In the meantime, Jeff took his Xbox to a friend who runs a video game store. The friend showed Jeff how Xbox checks for tampering by removing the faceplate and inspecting the holographic "Microsoft" sticker; if the sticker is removed, the word "VOID" appears. Jeff's friend also told him that his store would buy back Jeff's console, meaning that in their assessment, the seal had not been broken. Here's a picture of the sticker in question:

A little smudged, but obviously intact. Jeff talked to a higher-up CSR using the executive customer service number that we posted, but it was no use: "It was his impression that I tampered with the Xbox due to the smudged seal . . . I was also told by him that if I didn’t do then someone I know did. (Yeah, probably my wife or 14 month old daughter- they are big into 'modding')." If Jeff purchased his Xbox with a credit card, he might try initiating a chargeback or using his card's buyer protection program, but the sadder issue remains: "I was an unabashed Microsoft supporter. I have no interest in “modding,” don’t know how to “mod” and don’t care find out. I didn’t even know that seal existed before my buddy showed me. All in all, I am out almost $600 on a broken seven month old Elite (which I bought brand new in a sealed box). Their crappy product fails and I get blamed for it."

Someone in Microsoft's fulfillment department needs to make a note that "Version Français" means, like, "this game is in French" or something:

My boyfriend bought Mass Effect for his Xbox 360, but within a month it was clear there was something wrong with the disc (frequent disc read errors occurred).  Microsoft readily agreed to replace it, but every replacement they have sent has been in French.  I’m writing to you 5 months and 4 French discs later!

At the beginning of January my boyfriend returned his faulty English version.  Over the next month and a half he made 4 calls to Microsoft, where the status of his replacement oscillated between “It’s in the mail” to “have you sent the original yet?”  His replacement finally arrived late February.  He popped it in the Xbox and was all ready to play, but all the text seemed to be in French.  Confused, he grabbed the case and found a green oval on the front that said, “Version Française.”

He phoned Microsoft and explained that he needed an English disc to replace the English disc he returned.  They assured him that wouldn’t be a problem.  The second replacement arrived quickly, but was also in French.

He phoned Miscrosoft again.  They apologized and assured him that a specific note was in his file saying all replacements should be in English and the 3rd replacement would definitely be in English.

In April a 3rd replacement arrives.  The case is damaged… and it’s also in French.

He phoned Microsoft.  Again.  They phoned back 3 or 4 times to say they were so sorry and that his issue would be escalated.  Then someone phoned saying she was the manager and was on top of the situation.  On May 11 they phoned to say the English replacement was on its way and should arrive in 3-5 days.  On May 12 a package from Microsoft arrived.  Inside: Mass Effect, Version Française.

I’ve attached a photo of our 4 French versions of Mass Effect.  Despite escalating the complaint and involving a manager, Microsoft still sent a French disc.   At this point we’re wondering if we’ll see an English version by mid-June, the half year anniversary of when he last got to play Mass Effect.  My boyfriend may be moving soon so it’s important they get an English version in the mail.  Any suggestions?

P.s. Anyone want a French copy of Mass Effect?

Consumerist,

I have had a bad morning. Last night when i tried to sign into my xbox live account "thegayergamer" I was told that it had to be changed. I figured that it was just from people reporting it as an offensive name being that the greater Xbox live community isn't exactly welcome to gay people, i spend a lot of time muting people on Halo3. I assumed that once i called Microsoft they would straighten things out.

I talked to a supervisor there, Roxy, who told me that she didn't personally find the fact that my gamer tag had gay in the name offensive, but that the greater Xbox community did, so i would have to change it. I hope I'm not the only person who finds this don't ask, don't tell policy disgusting... eek

From Grant, thegayergamer

We think you deserve a better explanation than this. Despite what this Xbox Live CSR told you, we're not convinced that it's the "greater Xbox community's" job to classify offensive material. At best it sounds like this "supervisor" was trying to pass the buck. At worst, it's downright homophobic discrimination. Would "theHETEROgamer" also be banned?

Adrian writes:

It’s Sunday, so it is the one day I have to take care of my personal business, and relax. My PS3 crapped out on me a few days ago, and sadly, I cannot get anyone at Sony to fix the problem. The thing is, the PS3 was a gift to me for Christmas. The receipt is nowhere to be found (not by me, but by the person who bought it for me) all she has is a credit card statement. Instead of going to the store and demanding someone give us a receipt for the transaction, I decided to call Sony and see if they would take it under warranty because, for starters it was bought in December, and it was manufactured in July 2007. When I spoke with someone at Sony, I was basically told that they don’t go off of the manufacturing dates, but rather, on the date of purchase.

Fair enough I would think, but if the playstation was manufactured less than a year ago, it would be hard to lie about it’s validity of the warranty anyways. No matter how I went at this, the rep couldn’t help me. Basically he said, no receipt, $150. I am outraged that Sony won’t make themselves responsible on an item which is CLEARLY less than a year old. Their own label on the PS3 clearly shows that it was made in July 2007, 3 months shy of the year mark. Why would they even place that label on there, if it wasn’t any good to them? I’m just angry that a receipt would still be needed, even though I can clearly prove that it should STILL be under warranty.

I tried arguing with the guy telling him I would switch to a Wii, or an Xbox 360, and he just laughed and said, “their support isn’t much better.” I told him I would tell all my friends about Sony and not to buy a Ps3, and he simply said, “that’s totally up to you, but we are gaining momentum right now with customers.” Basically, he was a jerk, my PS3 is shit, and nobody seems to want to help me. That is where you come in. Perhaps someone higher up will see the absurdness in this.

Adrian, we think you're probably expecting a little too much of Sony. They're simply not equipped to deal with this situation logically, and CSRs aren't allowed to make decisions that require independent thought.

Therefore, our advice to you would be to call the friend that gave you the PS3 and ask her to contact her credit card company and see if they'll repair or replace your PS3 under their extended warranty protection. This process should be fairly painless compared with the task you've set for yourself— convincing a huge multinational corporation to think like a rational human being.

Good luck.

How long can a company continue to "investigate" what's obviously a failed download before they credit your account? For Xbox Live Marketplace, the answer is 2 months, 2 weeks, and counting. Every attempt Joe makes at resolving the issue lands him in a customer service purgatory from which no solution can ever escape. Joe writes, "The problem is that there is no recourse for the customer in a situation where this actually does happen. Microsoft took my money before my product was transferred to me. The transfer then failed to take place. It is no fault of my own and there is nothing I can do about it." Read Joe's full account below.

I recently attempted to purchase Ninja Gaiden Black from the Xbox Live Marketplace. Recently is used loosely here, as the original “purchase” took place on February 23th 2008.  After forking over $15 in Microsoft points, I sat and waited for my download to reach completion. This never happened. Progress reached 7% then the download disappeared from my queue without manifesting an error message.  A second attempt gave me the same result. This was a job for Xbox Live Customer Support. Here is a recap of my experience with those wonders of the customer service industry…
   
2/23 I pay money for Ninja Gaiden Black. My download fails at 7% on multiple attempts. Xbox Live Customer Support is emailed, as it is too late to contact the call center.

2/24: I call Xbox Live Support. We attempt troubleshooting. Nothing works. Later in the day I receive a reply from Support via email. An excerpt: This is a known issue that occurs with certain ISPs that perform specific types of network optimizations. Some network optimization processes can cause certain larger Marketplace files not to download. Examples of large files may also extend to content that is found in the Video Marketplace area.  (full email is attached)

2/25: I called Xbox Live Support. More troubleshooting is attempted none of which remedies the situation. I am told I will receive a callback in approximately one week, after they‘ve looked into the problem on their end. After we discuss the email I received from Xbox, I am also told to contact my ISP(Comcast) to see if the problem is originating from their end.

—Every call from here on out is escalated to a manager at some point—
—Also, in this time period, I contact Comcast. They monitor my connection for any abnormality that may cause this download to fail. None are found and I am assured that they aren’t actively doing anything that would interfere with it—

3/9: Never received a callback, so I contacted Xbox. I was told that there was no callback scheduled for my issue. More troubleshooting; no success. I am again told I will receive a callback.

3/23: Again, I did not receive a callback. I am told that the issue is “under investigation”.  I refuse any troubleshooting attempt, as I have already spent approximately 4 hours on the phone at this point. I believe this is the first time I mention wanting a refund. I am told the issue is now “under investigation with upper management”. I am told I will receive a callback in three days or less.

3/28: I did not receive a callback. I contact support and tell them I want a refund of my Xbox points. Not a credit to my credit card, just a refund of the points which are only valid currency on Xbox Live. The idea isn’t completely dismissed given the circumstances, but first the results of their investigation must be known. I am told that upper management is still investigating and I should try back in the near future to check.

4/7: I call Xbox Live Customer support. There is no further information available. I tell them that at this point, I really just want the points back. After going back and forth with management for some time I am told that the support call center does not have the ability to refund my points, but they have forwarded it to their tech department, who actually can do that. I am told to keep an eye on my points because a refund is on the way.(success!!!)

4/19: No refund is ever made. I call Xbox Live Customer support. They don’t acknowledge that I was promised a refund of my points. I get heated, but am still somehow under control. I am told there is no further information available and it is still under investigation. I tell the manager that I feel completely helpless and that this is an indictment of the reliability of the Xbox Live marketplace at large. I tell him I am emailing The Consumerist. However, I am too lazy to do so.

5/9: I directly call the Xbox Escalation Support line. The initial call center worker sounds very helpful. He seems to actually be concerned about the terrible service I have received and seems to be working for a resolution to come about today.  I am put on hold while he talks with management. He tells me he is going to transfer me to an upper level department that can help me. I am put on hold while he explains the situation to this mysterious high-level department within Microsoft. He then gets on the phone and transfers me to…..THE CALL CENTER IN INDIA. The very same place I have called SEVEN times previously and who’ve told me the same thing for the past two months. To her credit, this particular call center worker did have some skills. She danced around for a few minutes before finally giving me the same line I’ve heard so many times before: “I’m sorry, this is under investigation with upper management. I have no further information at this time.” Eventually, I am transferred to her manager, which is one of the managers I spoke with a few weeks ago.  After some futile discussion, I am told that the issue is being investigated and I will receive a callback. He couldn’t give me any type of timeframe for when I should expect my call. I actually email The consumerist.

Some Notes:
It is noteworthy that at the bottom of the description for Ninja Gaiden Black, it states “THERE ARE NO REFUNDS FOR THIS PRODUCT”.  The thing is, I did not receive a product for which a refund could be given. This is the equivalent of me walking into Bestbuy, picking up a copy of Ninja Gaiden, paying for it at the register, then the cashier refusing to give me the game and refusing to give me a refund.

The size of the file has come up as a possible problem. It’s 5.9GB, pretty big for Live. I’ve made it a point to download several large Demos and also rented a movie to test out my ability to receive products via Live. Several of these downloads were near 2GB and they all came through without incident.

The email I received stated that this is a known issue, but no one I’ve spoken to at customer support seems to be aware of any pattern of cases similar to this one.

In the earlier calls to customer support, they acknowledged that they could see on their end that the download did not complete. They haven’t done that in the last few and it came up today that, more than likely, what is actually under investigation is whether or not I somehow got the game and am now trying to claim that I didn’t.

I have spent in excess of  6 hours on the phone over this. (It’s not the money. I am a man of principle and I am not giving a massive corporation like Microsoft money for nothing.)

I have checked several message boards to see if this has happened to anyone else and I can’t find anything. It seems to be exceptionally rare.

The problem is that there is no recourse for the customer in a situation where this actually does happen. Microsoft took my money before my product was transferred to me. The transfer then failed to take place. It is no fault of my own and there is nothing I can do about it.

That’s why I’m writing this. The ability to purchase games and videos directly through Xbox Live seems like a great idea on the surface and when it works it is very convenient. However, this is a relatively new form of commerce. When you make a purchase on Live, beware of the fact that if something goes wrong with your download and troubleshooting doesn’t help; there is no effective protocol in place for them to resolve the issue. Xbox already has your money and as far as they are concerned that means the transaction is complete.

Oh yeah, and if you want to play GTA IV on Tuesday when I’m scheduled to get my system back from the repair center, my Gamertag is Tackleberrie. Be gentle though. My ‘box broke 4 days before GTA came out so, I don’t know the ropes yet.

Thank you for your time.  

By contrast, when we rented a movie through our Tivo using Amazon's Unbox download service and it failed to arrive in one piece, Amazon investigated and resolved the issue in less than 48 hours, and that was over a weekend. They looked at our account, confirmed we weren't able to download the file, and adjusted the account accordingly. Joe isn't asking for special treatment—he just wants to either have his points to spend, or have a product in exchange for points. Please, Microsoft, finish your "investigation" and quit jerking Joe around.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Jason says:

I won’t dwell on the details, which are boring. The long and the short of it is that Xbox customer support people are stupid at the main number, and useful at the escalated number. I have now discovered what I need to do in order to get future Xbox problems dealt with, and I thought this information would be useful to share with you.

1. Call 1–800–4–MY–XBOX.

2. Get a reference number for your problem as quickly as possible. You may need to say “I already did that” when they try to make you do the troubleshooting script, just to expedite the process.

3. Hang up and call the escalated support number, 866–506–3826.

4. Talk to someone who knows what they’re doing.

How did I come upon this process? Well, I tried calling the main number first. I talked to a complete and utter moron, who told me to call back and tell the voice system my problem was with Xbox Live (despite that my problem is independent of whether I even have an internet connection). I immediately tried the elevated support number next, but you need an extension or reference number for an existing problem to get past the initial voice recording.

Thank you, Jason. You've done the hard work for all of us.

Jason's XBOX Sage: The Revenge [Doombot] (Thanks, Dan! )
(Photo: tubbyny )

About 6 weeks ago my xbox 360 console suddenly started making some disturbing noises, and shortly thereafter (5 minutes) could no longer read any discs. I called xbox support that night, got through the "super cool" automation, and finally was connected to their wonderful Indian call center. The guy on the phone told me he'd send me a box, I'd send my xbox in, they'd send it back, all would take about 2 - 3 weeks. Pretty standard, I wasn't thrilled but not discouraged. I travel for business and was taking vacation for the weekend in between so I'd only really be missing my console for a couple of days.

Unfortunately, it wouldn't be that simple. Despite having been told I'd have the box in 3 - 5 business days, it wasn't until the 3rd business day I was able to get a tracking number, where status remained "Billing Information Received from Sender" through business days, 4, 5, and now 6. So I called back to explain to them that the box wasn't on it's way. Someone had messed up, and instead of waiting, could I please just get a shipping label emailed to me so I could drop it off myself at the UPS store down the street.

I spoke to a supervisor on this call who apologized immensely for the trouble, explaining that she didn't know why it would have taken so long. She emailed me the shipping label, and then offered for my trouble, to expedite the entire order and to send me a free wireless controller. Sweet! This made me feel much better about the whole situation. Now I would have my shipping label, my xbox would probably still get there around the same time, AND I was getting a free wireless controller.

Well, everything was not right in the world of Microsoft. When I finally received the shipping label via email later that day (after the UPS store had closed) I noticed that they had completely botched my name. As you can tell from my email, my name is spelled Bryan Carroll. Somehow this got transcribed by our call center friends as "Brian Dryanerool". I guess I see how phonetically that could have worked. Maybe. I figured this would probably be a big problem for me in the future, so I called back to Microsoft, and asked them to correct it. They went ahead and did this. Then I asked if I could have a new shipping label. They said it wasn't necessary, as I was just sending it in, and that since it had been corrected, the return label would be correct.

Great. I was set. I dropped my console off the next day at the UPS store and then watched the tracking number. All was going smoothly. UPS performed fabulously and got it in there in just a few days. Microsoft then took 4 business days to repair the unit and "shipped it back to me on Tuesday". In reality, they told UPS about it on Tuesday, and then played the same game as before where they don't actually give the box to UPS to ship, until Thursday. But, finally, Thursday night, it shipped out, with an expected delivery day of next Tuesday (2 days ago).

Well FINALLY I thought, it was out of the handles of the people at Microsoft so nothing else could go wrong.

As I mentioned, I travel for business, and am not home during the week. I come home Thursday nights. UPS delivers to my house around 3. They came Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, as expected, and because it required a signature, I would have to pick it up at the UPS center. Not a problem, I was expecting this. Unfortunately, because an ID is required to pick up the package, I am out of luck. Why you ask? Because I do not have an ID for Brian Dryanerool.

So I called up Microsoft again, this time using your handy Hardball: How to Control Customer Service Reps. I followed the steps, immediately got to a supervisor, and then went back and forth with him for about 45 minutes. I initially had in mind to settle for nothing less than $350 worth of Microsoft gift cards to go and purchase a new system with and just be done with the whole thing. But on 2nd thought, I figured that was a bit unreasonable, and asked that they contact UPS and inform them that the information for that tracking number was wrong, and to give them the correct information so that I could pick it up. The guy would not help in any way. He said it was against their policy to intercept a package, would not read to me what the policy was that would not allow him to do this, and said that my only option was to wait for UPS to send it back to the repair center, where they would put the correct shipping information on it, and then send it back to me. Based on what I've seen so far from this whole interaction, I'm guessing this will tack an extra 2 - 3 weeks on this.

To make matters worse, at the end of my final call, I asked whether or not the free controller was going to be included in the current box, or if it was being sent separately. He told me that nobody had ever documented a free controller, that it was impossible for someone to have offered this to me, and that I wasn't getting one.

So now I feel completely stranded, am about 60% sure I'm never going to see my xbox again, at least not in the next month, and am not even getting that free controller I was so excited about.

(Photo: milkham)

Tipster Michael writes:

Apparently the local Best Buy has an unbeatable service option for you. Looks like they will come to your house and insert your game to your 360 for you. Wonder how much they would charge to turn it on and put the controller in my hand?

Tiffany writes:

I'm writing to you in hopes (just like Dustin at the military base, but possibly a little more desperate) that some day in the near future I can get my Xbox360 back.

I sent it to Microsoft to fix on January 5, 2008 and shipped it back to me on February 2, 2008; however, FedEx shipped it to my home address and I unfortunately couldn't sign for it because I was stuck at work. I requested that FedEx change the delivery address to my work address, but they said they couldn't without Microsoft's permission. I asked FedEx to hold it at the shipping center but it accidentally got returned to Microsoft's service center.

At that point, Microsoft had done no wrong, but this is where it starts to get frustratingly nightmarish. I contacted Microsoft who assured me that they would send the package back, this time to my work address where the package could be signed for during normal work hours; however, somewhere along the line, Microsoft decided I had stolen the Xbox from the original owner since it was suspicious that I was "opening two repair orders" in such a short time. Countless (I lost track after 10ish) phone calls were made to Microsoft customer support about my case in a fruitless battle to get them to send me my console back, but they kept dancing around the reason(s) they were refusing to send it back to me. Eventually, a customer service representative admitted that all along they were unauthorized and had no means to actually help me, so all the times they claimed a supervisor assigned to my case would contact me about my case were lies. They eventually coughed up an address to the Microsoft Legal Department and said if I sent a letter their way, they would help me out. She hinted that the reason corporate had put a hold on my console may be because they didn't believe I was the original owner, despite the fact that I sent them a copy of my receipt and credit card statement as bona fide proof of purchase.

My coworker had suffered similar bad luck with his console repair and also had to write the legal department several letters before finally receiving his console back, so I felt like I finally had a chance to get my missing console returned to me. I sent a letter to the Microsoft Legal Department and CC'd a copy to the Vice President of Consumer Affairs at Microsoft 22 days ago begging for at least a response to my letter. Thus far, my e-mail inbox has remained vacant and my phone has not rung with news from Microsoft.

At this point, I'm quite at the end of my line and know that contacting customer support would just wring what little humanity I have left out of my soul. I noticed last week you posted about Dustin's grief with Microsoft not sending him a box to ship his Xbox in for repairs and also provided some links to file a small claim and contact my attorney general. I'm wondering if you can assist me further in any way, or know of someone who can since you've mentioned that multitudes of people of submitted similar complaints. Being completely left in the dark as to why they won't send my Xbox back to me after four months is making me more than a little crazy.

Thanks,

Tiffany

You can try going even higher, straight to the top, and emailing big billg@microsoft.com, but reason apparently has no home at Microsoft.

Our advice to reader Dustin, who, after three months, still hadn't received a shipping box, was to speak with his credit card company, consider small claims court, and to launch the mighty Executive Email Carpet Bomb. Tiffany wants even more, a customer service weapon so powerful, so effective, that it hides beyond our conception. For that, we're going to turn this one over to you, our beloved and infallible Consumerists. Tiffany has reasoned, waited, begged, all without results. What should she do next?

PREVIOUSLY: It's Been 3 Months And 12 Days Since My XBOX Broke And Microsoft Still Won't Send Me A Box
(Photo: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com)

Fed up, he tried giving Microsoft another address (his friend's), but still no box has arrived. He just wants his XBOX 360 repaired before the warranty is up.

Dustin wrote to us on Jan 10:

Hello, I'm writing you in hopes that something can get done about this issue. I bought an xbox 360 around September of 07 and lately its been freezing up. So I called Xbox up to get a repair. On December 27 the repair was placed and two weeks later I never got my box. So I called up Xbox to find out why my box isn't here after a few CSR I was told that they would not ship to a military address.

I talked to a few supervisors and was told that military bases would not allow Xbox's to be shipped. I called UPS as thats what Xbox uses to ship out everything and they said there was no such rule and that empty boxes get brought into the base all the time. A CSR said I would get a call back on Saturday so maybe that will solve my issue. I just really want to get my Xbox repaired and not have to go through all these hopes and loops just for them to fix my stuff.
-Dustin

Dear Consumerist,
A few months ago I sent an email about Xbox not being able to setup a repair for an unknown reason. You sent me suggestions on how to contact the higher ups, and within a few days I was contacted by Becky from the Xbox Escalation team. She has very kind and sorry about this issue Months passed by and still no word on why my address was not working with their system. Around March I got tired and just gave them a friends address. She put in the repair and everything seemed to work. Here I am 2-3 weeks later and still no box and the tracking number they provided is not valid. I don't know why my address isn't working or why my box isn't getting here but all I'm trying to do is get my Xbox fixed before my warranty is up. Any suggestions on what to do next?

Thanks
Consumerist Reader,
Dustin

If your credit card can't help you out, you might want to try small claims court. File a case against Microsoft for breach of warranty. This is a "worse case" scenario, however, because filing a small claims case (while cheap) isn't free.

For more information about small claims court and how to prepare your case, click here.

If you're still willing to beg Microsoft for a shipping box, you should try launching an EECB on them. For more information about how to learn to launch your own EECB, click here.

We've been hearing a lot of similar complaints, Dustin, so you're not alone out there. In fact, it might be a good time for people who are having this issue to start complaining formally to their state's attorney general. To find your state's attorney general, click here.

(Photo:dirtyblueshirt)

Microsoft's extended warranty for the Red Ring of Death was the "result of what Microsoft views as an unacceptable number of repairs to Xbox 360 consoles." Apparently, the number of Red Light of Death repairs is acceptable.

Ben and Company,

I have been reading The Consumerist everyday for the last year, it's the first site I visit every morning. Thank you all for a great service. This is the first time I have written in with a tip/complaint.

Microsoft recently extended all warranties to 3 years for all Xbox 360's dealing with the "Red Ring of Death". What you have to read in the fine print though, is that the extended warranty only covers the very specific "3 red lights". No more, no less.

Three days ago my Xbox took a turn for the worst while playing a game of Team Fortress 2. During the match my screen started rapidly flashing green and vertical lines appeared. I figured it was just a glitch so I shutdown the Xbox and restarted, I still had the problem. I tried several different games (Oblivion, Orange Box, Rock Band, GoW, Condemned 2) and every single one of them has lines in the screen. I tried 2 separate LCD TVs and 2 separate video cables. All had the same result, lines in the game-play.. Here are some screenshots.

I then went to turn the Xbox on the following morning and received a flashing red light and an error code on the screen. I looked up the error code online and found this: E74: There is high chance it's a scaler chip problem (the "ANA" or "HANA" chip near the AV cable connection) it can also be caused by a faulty AV cable so check that first. In some cases it is a problem with the GPU

I believe the problem only occurs in areas of the screen that are being rendered 3D by the on-board video. Its pretty obvious that the video and/or motherboard are malfunctioning in some form. If you have a look at the screenshots you will see that all 2D graphics (in-game HUD, dashboard) are all fine, only 3D rendered graphics have the issue.

I called Tech support and they said the new 3 year warranty will not cover this issue. I thought this was pretty outrageous. The Tech said I would have to pay to have the unit shipped and pay to have it fixed. This is obviously a defect in the Xbox. This is my second box (First one RRoD) and has been working with no issues for just over a year.

So now my wallet in $107.00 lighter, and I will be without my console for a month. I have been nothing but an Xbox 360 fan and evangelist. I was the cornerstone for 5 of my friends purchasing the console, and now I have been let down. They took care of my first console with defects but refuse to take responsibility for an obvious manufacturers defect on my latest box.

I think that when its working the Xbox 360 is a great product, anyone trying to decide which console they should buy should take Service and Support in to consideration. My experience has let me down.

Some suggestions for Steve and others who experience the Red Light of Death: call the escalated Xbox support line; if that doesn't work, call Tier 3 escalations. You can also try these executive email addresses; if that doesn't work, email the big guy himself. He might not like it, but it should get results. If none of that works and you paid with a credit card, check if you have extended warranty coverage or if you can use your buyer's protection plan to get a replacement.

He let loose an EECB (Executive Email Carpet Bomb) and CC'd us so we could listen in:

I'm writing an email because I'm extremely frustrated by your companies phone support at this moment. I called in to 1877GETZUNE to cancel my Zune Pass Subscription because I wasn't using it enough. A lady with an indian accent came on and got my information and then placed me on hold for approximately 6-10 minutes and then warm transferred me to a gentleman who then confirmed I wanted to cancel my zune account.

Here is where the trouble begins. I get off the phone and login on my XBox 360 in and effort to purchase points to pay for the soon to be released COD4 map pack. After inputting my credit card info I get a message that states it is unable to validate my CC info. I called into 18004MYXBOX at 12:53PM on 4/3/08 trying to get them to remove the old credit cards on my account and add the new one. She starts working on that and when she pulls up my account she says this is showing as a Silver account. Well knowing I had just paid for a year of XBox Gold I informed her that was incorrect. She says it was moved to Silver today and I said no I called to cancel my Zune Account today. She then has me delete the account off of my Xbox and restore it which does nothing, she then tells me to just try it again later. I ask to speak to a supervisor at that point and after another 5-10 minute wait I get Patrick who tells me basically I have to wait 7-10 business days and gives me a reference number of xxxx. He also tells me he can not cancel my Zune account which wasn't canceled and has no answer as to why Zune can cancel my XBox Account which I at no time gave them permission to access.

In this day and age I find it completely unacceptable that it would take 2 weeks to turn my XBox Account back on.

Please get back to me as to how to fix this situation.

William

(Photo:ejk)

Dear Xbox,
 
On Easter Sunday of all days my xbox elite died. (I wish it would rise from the dead) It would power on but never boot. No red ring stuff? just nothing. The green light in the middle turns for about 5 minutes then turns off. This is my second one, my first died 1 month before they announced the 3 year red ring warranty.
 
All I'm asking is for a little help to get a repair shipping box. I've called every few days for the past week and every time I call there's a issue and they have to recreate the order. I just want a shipping box. I not mad or a some crazy blogger (just sad) about this I just know overseas support is broken and I just need a little local help. I do have admit now I worried that if/when they get xbox to the repair depot it if I will ever see it again.
 
The worst part is I convinced all my friends four of them fresh out of school and poor to buy Vegas 2. (one friend just had his first child and the other just married I cant get them to buy anything, but I got them to buy this game so we can all "Jump in") I had to find the hard way that easter night when they were all playing together that I can't "Jump In" anymore.
 
Thank you
 
David

After telling the father that his son was involved in illegal activities and it would result in their internet getting shut off for a week, Mark writes on the halo3forums he heard "the father began to yell at his son, i then heard a loud smack, and then sobbing, and then cracking noise as if something was breaking..it then occured to me that the father had just beat the sh.t out of his kid, and the cracking noise was the sound of a hammer on an xbox." Comcast says it has identified the employee who violated the users privacy to an epic level and told Convergys to fire him. As anyone who read our insider post, "Convergys Call Center Sucks Because Agents Are Stabbing Each Other And Making Out In The Halls," Comcast and Covergys are renowned discerning employers of classy lads. As an added bonus, here's a picture DSL Reports acquired of Mark toking on a bong:

**(UPDATED)To Those of YOU who packet flood...be aware [halo3forums]
Outsourced Comcast Tech Gets Vengeance On Xbox Cheaters - But in the process abuses Comcast support systems, violating user privacy... [DSLReports]

Evening, Consumerist Editors (and hopefully readers)!

I'm sending this in due to my experience with XBOX LIVE Support and Microsoft's broken XBOX LIVE DRM (Originally posted here: http://consumerist.com/355519/microsoft-has-no-answer-for-their-broken-xbox-live-drm).
I too, like Kevin, sent in my XBOX360 for repair after the RRoD, and was sent a brand new XBOX360 as a replacement. Now, mind you, I had my XBOX360 registered on their website for warranty information, so I could see when they sent a brand new one, because the Serial Number on my warranty information was updated before they even had the new box on the truck to me. This was late December / early January.

So, when Kevin's story broke, I decided to check into whether or not my content purchased on the old XBOX360 could be accessed while I was offline, or by another GamerTag on the same console. Nope, it couldn't.

So I called XBOXLIVE support in February, and got the same runaround as Kevin- re-download it, restore your GamerTag, etc, etc, etc. They never once offered the re-licensing until I specifically asked for the points to re-download my content. Once they did, I got the same spiel as others in the previous thread; for those that weren't keeping up, Microsoft could "fix" the problem by re-licensing my old content to my new XBOX360's serial number. Of course, this lengthy process (CTRL + H being a difficult task for their XBOX LIVE department, but common knowledge to their warranty division) would take 20 - 30 days. Of course, having no other alternative, I told them to go ahead and do it and get it resolved already.

This was 32 days ago at this point. Monday morning I get a call from an unknown number, and the message on my voicemail was from XBOX LIVE, letting me know that the re-licensing has been resolved, and all I need to do is re-download my older purchased content to the new XBOX360.

Lo and behold, it works. And I don't even have to delete the old content. Just go under Account Management, then Download History, find the content and choose the "Download Again" option, and there it is, available for use online, offline, and on any GamerTag on the console.

So I just figured I'd drop this to the Consumerist to let you guys know that Microsoft might finally be getting something right.

Or maybe their XBOX LIVE Department took a class in Microsoft Office and learned Find & Replace.
-Starsmore

(Photo:Milkham)

Microsoft Finally Makes Things Right [hawtymcbloggy] (Thanks to Michael!)

The bag contained:

• Legendary Edition Helmet signed by most-if not all-of the studio staff
• Halo 3 Soundtrack (two disc) signed by Marty O'Donnel (with "DO NOT ERASE!" written under his name)
• Bungie Jacket
• Bungie T-Shirt
  
• Halo 3 Messenger Bag
• Two Halo 3 Limited Edition Wireless Controllers (one covenant, one human)
• Halo 3 Faceplate and Skins for Xbox 360
• Four McFarlane Action Figures (MC, EVA Spartan, Brute Chieftan, Jackal Sniper)
• Halo Actionclix Preview pack (Target exclusive sticker on the front)
• Halo Actionclix Game Pack 4
• Halo 3 Wall Graffix
• Halo 3: Ghosts of Onyx Novel
• Halo Graphic Novel
• Halo 3 Wristband
• Halo 3 Hackeysack
• 
  

And finally, to the staff of Bungie Studios:

I cannot thank you enough for the outpouring of support that you have lavished upon me in the aftermath of the release of my story. Long have I known of your dedication to your fans and community, but I find this single act of kindness mind boggling. Apart from the fact that a few of you had signatures adorning my console, you had no involvement in what occurred. As such, you have far surpassed any response I could have anticipated. I don't think I could ever repay you for this.

Thank you all for what you have done for me. I wish each and every one of you continued success in your future endeavors.

P.S. Marty, I love the soundtrack, and I promise you that I will do as you've requested and not erase any of it.

Nathanial's full letter and more pictures of the swag are posted on Hawty McBloggy.

Bungie Unscrews Previously Screwed Gamer [Hawty McBloggy]
PREVIOUSLY: Microsoft Scrubs All The Valuable Signatures And Artwork Off Your XBOX 360 Case

An avid gamer, Nathanial carried his XBOX 360 around to various events, collecting signatures and artwork from members of the gaming community. When his XBOX finally died, he contacted Microsoft to make sure that he could send the console in without having the exterior case replaced or damaged. Microsoft ensured him that his request would not be a problem.

Nathanial included (along with his XBOX) a letter explaining the markings on the case and requesting politely, but firmly, that he receive his original case back.

And he did.

Unfortunately, someone at Microsoft took it upon himself/herself to scrub the exterior of the box until the signatures were completely removed. This just seems spiteful. Trying to picture the person who thought that giving someone's signed XBOX a bath was an awesome idea makes our brain hurt.

We read complaints for a living and can't help but wonder why gamers given so little respect by the companies that make such exorbitant profits off of them. The complaints we get are insulting. From retailers who allow their employees to "check out" products before selling them as new, to consoles and games crippled with broken DRM, gamers are consistently treated like children, or worse, criminals by the companies that benefit from their loyalty.

(I say this purely from observation, as I'm not what anyone would call "a gamer." The vast majority of video games give me motion sickness, to be perfectly frank. I'm quite fond of Lego Star Wars, however.)

Here's the letter Nathanial sent in with his XBOX:

To whom it may concern:

Enclosed in this package you will find one Xbox 360 console, serial number 610537654806. I pre-ordered this machine months before the Xbox 360 launched, and I've been a proud owner ever since it arrived. Although the original warranty for my machine has expired some time ago, I still keep the sales receipt and original retail box.

I have taken this unit along with me on some of my travels over the past two years, and during that time I have acquired a number of signatures from notable members of the gaming community.

Among those signatures are several members of the Rooster Teeth Productions staff, certain members of the Xbox 360 team, and some of the staff from Bungie Studios. Those signatures are also joined by custom artwork by Rooster Teeth Comics artist and Halo fan artist Luke McKay. This console represents some special memories—of which I am quite fond—from the past two years of my life. As you can imagine, this particular unit has a great deal of sentimental value to me and is quite possibly of reasonable monetary value as well.

I am well aware that in many cases new replacement units have been returned to those who have sent their consoles for repairs. I would be displeased if this were to happen to me. When I put in the service request for my unit, the agent that took my call assured me that the same unit I have sent to you would be shipped back to me. If you must send a different unit back, please put my original case on the replacement unit. Having put the above information forward, it is logical to conclude that I would be most disappointed should I receive a different console with a plain white case in return.

Please take care in handling the case, as despite the fact that the ink is permanent and has had plenty of time to set, the possibility yet remains that it may be smudged.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Another Gamer Screwed by Microsoft [Hawty McBloggy]

He used the "recovery" service to get the tag back, but when he got access to his tag he realized that he could no longer use any of his saved games.

That was about a month ago and Microsoft still has no solution for his problem. Frustrated with losing all the games he's saved, Brad filed a complaint with the BBB.

Microsoft responded:

We are unable to comply with your request to provide a free Memory Unit. Accessories such as that may be purchased from a retail location.

Brad writes:

After using the account recovery service on my 360 to recover my gamertag after using it on a friends 360, I found that I could no longer access ANY of my saved games. I contacted 18004MYXBOX four times about this issue, each time, receiving the same script and run-around. I finally escalated the issue, and Jeff from the Xbox Live division called me back to discuss it. He acknowledged that there was an issue with their account recovery service, but that there was nothing they could do, and offered me no compensation. Unfortunately, MS decided to use their DRM system on the saved games as well. When my gamertag account became partially corrupted on their server, it no longer allowed linked to my saved games. And of course, MS does not know how to fix their own system.

Thank you for using the Better Business Bureau's Online Complaint System.
Your complaint has been assigned case # *NUMBERDELETED*.
Correspondence regarding this complaint will be emailed to : *EMAILDELETED*
Please print a copy of this for your records.

Filed on : January 24 2008

Filed by :
*MyNameDeleted*
*MyAddressDeleted*
*MyLocationDeleted*

Filed against :
Xbox
1 Microsoft Way
Redmond WA 98052

Complaint Description:
When moving my Xbox Live! gamertag from a friends Xbox 360 console back to my own console, I lost the ability to access my saved games, even though they are still present on my 360's hard drive. Moving the gamertag to play in different locations is how the Xbox Live! service is intended to be used, there is some error causing my gamertag to not recognize my saved games. This occured Thurday, January 17th. I placed calls to 1800MYXBOX on 3 separate occasions: January 18th, January 19th, and January 20th about this issue. Customer service did not offer any solutions which worked, and failed to put me in contact with someone who had expertise in the area. My 1800MYXBOX reference number regarding this issue is 1056102591. These saved games are my personal data, and represent 2 years of my time and effort. Microsoft's Xbox live service, either intentionally or unintentionally, has caused damage to my gamertag and/or my personal saved game files. I have documented my issues and experience on the Xbox Forums here: http://forums.xbox.com/18015242/ShowPost.aspx#18015242 . Other Xbox Live! and 360 uses have had identical or similar issues as shown by the following forum posts: http://forums.xbox.com/17067018/ShowPost.aspx , http://forums.xbox.com/18049832/ShowPost.aspx#18049832 . I have been in contact with several other Live! users that have experienced the same problem. Their Live! gamertags are: 'klamath xor', 'JigSaw XV', 'd3adpoetic', and 'XCALIBUR18'. 'klamath xor' has also filed a complaint with the BBB regarding this issue here: http://app.alaskaoregonwesternwashington.bbb.org/complaint/view/*NUMBERDELETED*.

Your Desired Resolution:
I would like Microsoft to acknowledge the problem and fix it, allowing me and the other affected to use their saved games again. If this is not technically possible, I would