Emi’s Xbox Live account was hacked last year, but she has control of it again. She just can’t read any of the e-mails that Microsoft sends her about it. That’s because they’re in Chinese. This wouldn’t be a problem if she could read Chinese, or if she had any idea how her account was set that way or how to change it back. She doesn’t. Neither does the chat representative at Microsoft, and the only support available is through user forums.

Emi writes:

My Xbox live account was hacked back in December ’11. It was restored several months later but ever since then I have been receiving support emails from their site in Chinese:

Microsoft 帐户
安全信息确认
看起来你已向 Microsoft 帐户(redacted@redacted.com)中添加了一些安全信息:
电话号码: (555) 555-5555
如果忘记密码，你可以使用此信息来重置密码。

(I got this shortly after adding a phone number to the account for recovery purposes)

I have tried getting the guys at Xbox Live to fix it but they say my account is set to English on their end and that it must be a problem with my Windows live account.There is no way to contact windows live support save through the forum located here.

I was told by the Xbox live Service rep that I would receive a response within 24-72 hours but I havent heard anything. This looks like basically a Yahoo! answers for Microsoft product problems. I cant find ANY way to contact a real person about my account issue, other than asking on this forum.

I figure if I’m going to ask random internet people for help I’d rather ask the Consumerist crowd…

Any clue on what to do other than hiring a Chinese interpreter?

Enclosed is a transcript of the chat I had with the service Rep… I know I was being a bit of a Jerk but I’m to the point where I just want to cancel my Xbox live account, lose whatever subscription time I have left and trade the thing in for a huge loss at Gamestop.

Here’s that transcript, which we’re enclosing just so you can see the infuriating level of customer non-service that Emi received. There’s a phone number for Xbox support, yes, but not for Windows Live, which is the account that’s the source of Emi’s problems.

AnnoyedConsumer: Hello, ever since my account got hacked and then restored, I have been receiving emails from the Live site in Chinese. How do I get them in English?

Unhelpful Rep: Hello, thank you for contacting Xbox Customer Support. My name is
Unhelpful Rep:. Please give me a
moment to review your question.
Unhelpful Rep:: Hello AnnoyedConsumer, I hope that your day has been going well. I apologize for the long wait, Thanks for waiting, and being so patient! You’re Awesome!
Unhelpful Rep:: The account you are currently signed in with is already set to the Untied States, and should be English.

AnnoyedConsumer: They are not
AnnoyedConsumer: 你好! 感谢你帮助我们验证你的 Microsoft 帐户! 你的代码如下: 3932180 如果你未申请此代码，我们建议你转到 https://account.live.com 更改你的密码。 谢谢! Microsoft 帐户团队
AnnoyedConsumer: I’m pretty sure that isn’t English. That is the last email I received from the site when I had to reset my password about an hour ago now.

Unhelpful Rep:: It sounds like this email is being sent from a different account.

AnnoyedConsumer: I only have one account…
AnnoyedConsumer: This one

Unhelpful Rep:: The last email we sent for this account was June 12, to confirm your subscription renewal.

AnnoyedConsumer: Then why when I reset my password did I get emails from your site in C hinese. I JUST reset the password

Unhelpful Rep:: Try going here:
Unhelpful Rep:: https://account.live.com/summarypage.aspx

AnnoyedConsumer: That is the account I am using to talk to you and play Dark Souls on.. I only have one account
AnnoyedConsumer: I got a password reset email, an email when I updated my phone #, and two emails when I validated other email addresses to the account… all in C hinese.
AnnoyedConsumer: Enter your me Microsoft 帐户 安全信息确认 看起来你已向 Microsoft 帐户(redacted@redacted.com)中添加了一些安全信息: 备用电子邮件地址: redacted@redacted.com 如果忘记密码，你可以使用此信息来重置密码。 确认
redacted@redacted.com 如果你没有提出此请求，请单击此处取消。 谢谢! Microsoft 帐户团队ssage here…
AnnoyedConsumer: Thats the email from adding my college email address to my account. This is all stuff I just did within the last hour and the emails came as I did them…
Unhelpful Rep:: Were you able to check to make sure your language was set correctly using the link that I sent you?
AnnoyedConsumer: I do not see a language setting on that page
AnnoyedConsumer: Here look I just changed a setting
AnnoyedConsumer: Microsoft 帐户 安全信息确认 看起来你已向 Microsoft 帐户(redacted@redacted.com)中添加了一些安全信息: 备用电子邮件地址: redacted@redacted.com 如果忘记密码，你可以使用此信息来重置密码。 确认redacted@redacted.com 如果你没有提出此请求，请单击此处取消。 谢谢! Microsoft 帐户团队
AnnoyedConsumer: : More Chinese!
AnnoyedConsumer: That mail JUST came… 1:42 am
AnnoyedConsumer: Microsoft 帐户 安全信息确认 看起来你已向 Microsoft 帐(redacted@redacted.com)中添加了一些安全信息: 电话号码: (555) 555-5555 如果忘记密码，你可以使用此信息来重置密码。 确认 (555) 555-5555 如果你没有提出此请求，请单击此处取消。 谢谢! Microsoft 帐户团队
AnnoyedConsumer: Here’s another one.. trying to add my phone number

Unhelpful Rep:: It seems like this is an issue with your MIcrosoft Account.
Unhelpful Rep:: Your Xbox LIVE account is currently set to english.

AnnoyedConsumer: This was Because my XBOX AC C OUNT was hacked
AnnoyedConsumer: December of last year…

Unhelpful Rep:: There isn’t much that we can do, since from our end your information has already been set to English. To get more help with this issue we suggest that you contact Microsoft Account support.

AnnoyedConsumer: How?
AnnoyedConsumer: I want to be able to talk to a person not comb through pages and pages of FAQs that are useless

Unhelpful Rep:: To contact Microsoft Account support for more help, post a message on the Microsoft Answers website, use this link:

Unhelpful Rep:: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windowslive/forum/profile

AnnoyedConsumer: No… No no no .. I want a REAL PERSON
AnnoyedConsumer: I want a phone #
AnnoyedConsumer: An email address… a REAL person that I can speak with in REAL TIME

Unhelpful Rep:: To post a new message change the option from “Find Answers” to “Ask a Question” at the top of the page, You’ll need to be signed in to make a new post. If you don’t have another account that you can use to post your message you can create a new one using the link below: You should get a response from a Microsoft Account Support Agent within 24-72 hours

AnnoyedConsumer: I don’t want help from a bunch of internet schmucks I want help from a REAL Microsoft person…
AnnoyedConsumer: If I wanted internet schmucks or message boards I would use Yahoo answers!

Unhelpful Rep:: There is no chat, email, or phone number for Microsoft Account support, Account support is handled through Support Forums on answers.Microsoft.com, by real Microsoft Employees.

AnnoyedConsumer: So… [redacted] is a real MS employee?
AnnoyedConsumer: [redacted] is an MS employee?

Unhelpful Rep:: If you would rather speak over the phone to an Xbox Customer Support agent you can always contact our Support C enter by phone at 1-800-4MY-XBOX or 1-800-469-9269, 9 am to 1 am Eastern Time, 6 am to 10 pm Pacific Time

AnnoyedConsumer: [redacted] is an MS employee? These are names taken from that site you just linked me

Unhelpful Rep:: It sounds like you are having problems with your Microsoft Account.
Unhelpful Rep:: MIcrosoft Account support is handed through the forums.
Unhelpful Rep:: It can sometimes take 24-72 hours to get a response.

AnnoyedConsumer: Are those people Microsoft employees or random internet users?
AnnoyedConsumer: The ones answering the questions?

Unhelpful Rep:: To post a new message change the option from “Find Answers” to “Ask a Question” at the top of the page.

AnnoyedConsumer: Answer my question
AnnoyedConsumer: Are the people on that site that you linked me, MS employees or random internet users?

Unhelpful Rep:: Microsoft Employees have a MIcrosoft Log Bade and have the title “Forum Moderator ”
Unhelpful Rep:: *Badge

AnnoyedConsumer: So then the answer is no… and I might as well use Yahoo! Answers…

Unhelpful Rep:: Yes!
Unhelpful Rep:: Microsoft Account support is handed through the forums! These are MIcrosoft Employees!
Unhelpful Rep:: Your post will be changed into a private message if they need to ask you any personally identifiable information.

AnnoyedConsumer: [link to a forum user’s profile]

Unhelpful Rep:: You should try to be as descriptive as possible about your issue without providing too much personal details about yourself in your post.

AnnoyedConsumer: This guy is an MS employee? He answered a question on that site
AnnoyedConsumer: I want answers from a REAL Microsoft employee… not an Internet user. I want my problem fixed… not speculated on by someone who doesn’t work for the company. Do you understand this at all?

Unhelpful Rep:: Would it be too late to give you a quick call?

AnnoyedConsumer: Its 2:05 am here… that would be a yes… I was trying to get this fixed so I could spend my day off playing video games … without having to worry about Chinese mystery emails in my inbox
Unhelpful Rep:: Please contact our Support C enter by phone at 1-800-4MY-XBOX or 1-800-469-9269, you can also request a call using the “Request a C all” feature on our website.

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