| Dealing with Microsoft |
[29 Apr 2007|06:27pm] |
I've only had to deal with Microsoft Customer Services a few times and it usually went through fine, actually I don't think I've personally know anyone to have a lousy time when having to deal with them. Obviously that's not true for everyone, I know people have had crappy experiences with them.
I rarely buy/use Microsoft product, there are many other and better alternatives (I mostly am pointing the finger at Microsoft Windows). There is one Microsoft product that I do enjoy using and that my xBox 360.
I purchase my Live! Gold account cards in 3 month increments and only with the prepaid cards. I really had no reason for this, I guess I didn't know you could do it right from your xBox Dashboard with a credit card. I now actually have a reason, my friend did it with a credit card through the Dashboard and now Microsoft auto-charges his card every month...they didn't even mention a reoccurring subscription when he set it up (ouch)!
So let's start some time ago...
I purchased my xBox 360 (the premium plus value deal, whatever package comes with the hard drive) back in November I think it was. Included was the free 1 month gold Live! account. That comes with all new accounts, very cool! I think even before that was up I purchased a 3 month card, waited until my initial 1 month was over to activate it though.
Alright, so the 3 month card was activated in January, towards the end I believe...so come April 6th or so it expires and I go to my local EBGames and purchase another 3 month card. I actually purchased 2, one for myself and one for my buddy Keith. I think he got lucky cause he isn't having the issue.
The issue is that I purchased a 3 month card (see above image) and my xBox 360 and Microsoft themselves insist that it's a one month card. I received an email from Microsoft just a few days ago explaining that my 1 month prepaid Gold membership was about to expire. Uuuh?!? No, I bought a 3 month!!!
So I emailed Microsoft and they replied back letting me know that I could only call in and report the issue. Lame...So I did call in and I was on the phone with India for about 30-45 minutes explaining the situation. I don't know how many times I had to tell them I bought a 3 month card and it was only giving me a month. Then he had to confirm my story another 3 times...in the end of the call he just told me to go back to the retailer and he was 100% sure they would take it back.
Being that's it's Sunday they didn't open till 12PM, not a problem, we had the last disc of season 6 of CSI to watch.
Around 12:45 or so we get to EBGames and I explain the situation to them, the guy behind the counter tells me he's pretty sure they can't take the item back so he double checks with his manager who confirms that and says I am SoL. GREAT! After explaining to him about how distributors and RMA's work, he still says no...lame. He keeps saying that we can't take that kind of thing back and sell it as new...WELL NO SHIT!! You get an RMA from your distributor, return my stupid Live! card and then get a new one, it costs them nothing. Jeez...
Ok, so then I decide I might as well as call Microsoft back letting them know, EBGames will not take the card back, and then Al Hefez in India is a liar. After my call being drop 4-5 times I finally get through to an English/American sounding woman who is quite nice and semi-helpful. Eventually she figures out she's not capable of handling the call and transfers me back to probably the first guy or his cousin Al Mokmed (heh heh heh). I deal with him for about 30-45 minutes, I bet I was on hold for at least 20-25 of it. Eventually he can't handle it and sends me to the next tier. So far I've been on the phone with them for about an hour and a half...and they're absolutely retarded.
So I get on the line with some Indian woman who is pretty nice but dumb as a bag of bricks. She confirms my story like 4 more times (almost once every time she comes back from putting my on hold). Eventually she tells me she wants me to fax in all this crap....uh hello? Weren't faxes the hot thing in the 80s?! I don't have a fax machine...I am not going to go hunting around for one either, then I tell her, no, I am not doing that, nor will I go buy one. In her wanting to calm me down voice she says, "Well I am telling you to go buy one!" So I tell her I have a digital camera and I can send it in via email, NOPE! Lame.
At this point I decided to just buy another Live! card and to just screw around with her (okay maybe not the most professional thing to do, but hey, they got me for my $20, let's make it worth it)!
So I told her I wanted a free 12 month card, apparently she turned on her Indian ears and didn't hear my English. She then insisted I fax that information in. I told her no again, she then gave me the fax number and I told her it wasn't going to happen. I then started yelling into the phone I wanted to speak to a person higher up per the EBGames guy. She then told me I was on warning number three or something and one more warning and she would terminate that call...this is what I said next:
ME: "Good god, this is ridiculous..."
HER: "Well it depends on who's point of view you're looking at it from..."
ME: "I guess you're right, it's not ridiculous that I spend my money on your shitty products and have them not work because of YOUR companies manufacturing error and then not get anything back for something I've paid for..."
HER: "Uuh ummm"
ME: "Look lady, I don't care if you have to go and get Bill Gates, I want to talk to someone higher up"
HER: She mentioned something else about me getting warned about being mad...
ME: "Look, you obviously have crappy customer support and help desk skills, where the hell did you go to school?! Screw it, you're stupid and useless, ktnxbi"
I'll admit that last bit was completely uncalled for and quite unprofessional, but like I said I had already decided to get a new card and leave it at that, but I still wanted that lady to work for the $20 I lost. Got to have a bit of fun!
I am hoping this story can get a lot of Diggs, I want to see if anyone else has had the issue of purchasing a 3 month or 12 month card and only receiving 1 month of it.
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| Dealing with Microsoft |
[29 Apr 2007|11:17pm] |
I've only had to deal with Microsoft Customer Services a few times and it usually went through fine, actually I don't think I've personally know anyone to have a lousy time when having to deal with them. Obviously that's not true for everyone, I know people have had crappy experiences with them.
I rarely buy/use Microsoft product, there are many other and better alternatives (I mostly am pointing the finger at Microsoft Windows). There is one Microsoft product that I do enjoy using and that my xBox 360.
I purchase my Live! Gold account cards in 3 month increments and only with the prepaid cards. I really had no reason for this, I guess I didn't know you could do it right from your xBox Dashboard with a credit card. I now actually have a reason, my friend did it with a credit card through the Dashboard and now Microsoft auto-charges his card every month...they didn't even mention a reoccurring subscription when he set it up (ouch)!
So let's start some time ago...
I purchased my xBox 360 (the premium plus value deal, whatever package comes with the hard drive) back in November I think it was. Included was the free 1 month gold Live! account. That comes with all new accounts, very cool! I think even before that was up I purchased a 3 month card, waited until my initial 1 month was over to activate it though.
Alright, so the 3 month card was activated in January, towards the end I believe...so come April 6th or so it expires and I go to my local EBGames and purchase another 3 month card. I actually purchased 2, one for myself and one for my buddy Keith. I think he got lucky cause he isn't having the issue.
The issue is that I purchased a 3 month card (see above image) and my xBox 360 and Microsoft themselves insist that it's a one month card. I received an email from Microsoft just a few days ago explaining that my 1 month prepaid Gold membership was about to expire. Uuuh?!? No, I bought a 3 month!!!
So I emailed Microsoft and they replied back letting me know that I could only call in and report the issue. Lame...So I did call in and I was on the phone with India for about 30-45 minutes explaining the situation. I don't know how many times I had to tell them I bought a 3 month card and it was only giving me a month. Then he had to confirm my story another 3 times...in the end of the call he just told me to go back to the retailer and he was 100% sure they would take it back.
Being that's it's Sunday they didn't open till 12PM, not a problem, we had the last disc of season 6 of CSI to watch.
Around 12:45 or so we get to EBGames and I explain the situation to them, the guy behind the counter tells me he's pretty sure they can't take the item back so he double checks with his manager who confirms that and says I am SoL. GREAT! After explaining to him about how distributors and RMA's work, he still says no...lame. He keeps saying that we can't take that kind of thing back and sell it as new...WELL NO SHIT!! You get an RMA from your distributor, return my stupid Live! card and then get a new one, it costs them nothing. Jeez...
Ok, so then I decide I might as well as call Microsoft back letting them know, EBGames will not take the card back, and then Al Hefez in India is a liar. After my call being drop 4-5 times I finally get through to an English/American sounding woman who is quite nice and semi-helpful. Eventually she figures out she's not capable of handling the call and transfers me back to probably the first guy or his cousin Al Mokmed (heh heh heh). I deal with him for about 30-45 minutes, I bet I was on hold for at least 20-25 of it. Eventually he can't handle it and sends me to the next tier. So far I've been on the phone with them for about an hour and a half...and they're absolutely retarded.
So I get on the line with some Indian woman who is pretty nice but dumb as a bag of bricks. She confirms my story like 4 more times (almost once every time she comes back from putting my on hold). Eventually she tells me she wants me to fax in all this crap....uh hello? Weren't faxes the hot thing in the 80s?! I don't have a fax machine...I am not going to go hunting around for one either, then I tell her, no, I am not doing that, nor will I go buy one. In her wanting to calm me down voice she says, "Well I am telling you to go buy one!" So I tell her I have a digital camera and I can send it in via email, NOPE! Lame.
At this point I decided to just buy another Live! card and to just screw around with her (okay maybe not the most professional thing to do, but hey, they got me for my $20, let's make it worth it)!
So I told her I wanted a free 12 month card, apparently she turned on her Indian ears and didn't hear my English. She then insisted I fax that information in. I told her no again, she then gave me the fax number and I told her it wasn't going to happen. I then started yelling into the phone I wanted to speak to a person higher up per the EBGames guy. She then told me I was on warning number three or something and one more warning and she would terminate that call...this is what I said next:
ME: "Good god, this is ridiculous..."
HER: "Well it depends on who's point of view you're looking at it from..."
ME: "I guess you're right, it's not ridiculous that I spend my money on your shitty products and have them not work because of YOUR companies manufacturing error and then not get anything back for something I've paid for..."
HER: "Uuh ummm"
ME: "Look lady, I don't care if you have to go and get Bill Gates, I want to talk to someone higher up"
HER: She mentioned something else about me getting warned about being mad...
ME: "Look, you obviously have crappy customer support and help desk skills, where the hell did you go to school?! Screw it, you're stupid and useless, ktnxbi"
I'll admit that last bit was completely uncalled for and quite unprofessional, but like I said I had already decided to get a new card and leave it at that, but I still wanted that lady to work for the $20 I lost. Got to have a bit of fun!
I am hoping this story can get a lot of Diggs, I want to see if anyone else has had the issue of purchasing a 3 month or 12 month card and only receiving 1 month of it.
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