Reader Brad took his XBOX Live Gamertag to a friend’s house. When he got home, he realized that he’d forgotten his memory card (with the Gamertag on it) at his friend’s place.

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 doesn’t want a free memory unit. He wants his saved games back.

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 like Microsoft to prevent the issue from occurring in the future, and offer a formal apology. If that is not technically possible, I would like to be offered a full refund on my Xbox 360, Live! service, and all of my games and accessories. It is unacceptable for Microsoft to provide a game console/service that destroys users data, and I cannot support such a system/service.

Microsoft responded:

RE: Your complaint to the Better Business Bureau

Case Number: 22146246

Dear Brad,

A copy of your report filed with the Better Business Bureau of Oregon & Western Washington regarding your Xbox Video Game System has been forwarded to Microsoft.

Our records indicate, that we contacted you by phone on the 7th of January in regards to your Xbox console.

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.

Thank you for your continued support of Microsoft Xbox gaming platform.

If you have any further concerns regarding this issue, please contact 1-800-4MY-XBOX and use ticket number: 1053326815. Otherwise we will consider this issue closed.

Sincerely,

Kevin Lamb
Xbox Customer Support
Microsoft Corporation

cc: Better Business Bureau of Oregon and Western Washington

Brad pointed us to a forum thread where he details the steps he took to recover his saved games, etc. You can read that here.

After recovering my gamertag I can no longer access my saved games! [XBOX Forums]
(Photo:louder)

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