The representatives I spoke to were obviously foreign but helpful to the best of their ability. The first one was so bad I thought they hired a guy with a bad stutter, but I guess it was just him trying to read the verbal cues he saw on his screen. I wanted to laugh more than be angry. Sounded like his signal was cutting out. We’d…..fast……help…..could you….please? Well I didn’t get very far with me, and he interpreted my saying I have to go for a pen to write down a number as, “This call is over. It’s ok to hang up,” I guess that’s a horror story, but a highly entertaining one to go through. I was like, “who hires these people?” lol.

The second guy sounded Puerto Rican or Phillipino and read from his script to perfection without feeling (arrogant nor sympathetic). After talking to the automated computer system, I couldn’t tell whether I had a real person yet or not, he was that good….

But it all got resolved and he gave me detailed instructions on what to do and not on sending my 360 in. Leave a note on the 360 with the reference number and also write it on the box. I have confidence that, if I word it humanely enough, I can request a Falcon motherboard on the note (otherwise you might get a Xenon back, and they’re the ones that screw up in the first place) and it will get done. It’s all how you deal with people mostly. Be patient and try to have a sense of humor first, and if that doesn’t work, then get mad.

Six XBox 360’s and still having problems? I hope they gave you some free stuff. I know people with just two consecutive repairs alone are entitled to a free game. It’s the very least they can do.

The sad part is that all Microsoft needs to do is replace a few cheap plastic screws with some metal ones. This will prevent the expanding and cracking of the screws, which ultimately leads to the PCB making contact with conductive components, shorting out the system.

I’d still like to pursue this and put some pressure on Microsoft and other large corporations that practice poor business methods. It’s just tough to dedicate the time to such pursuits sometimes. I’m glad this article has gotten so much attention, though.. I wish more of our readers would post their thoughts and sound off – it’s a good start!

I believe it’s all about holding large corporations accountable for their actions. If things are well-documented and every effort is followed closely, we can truly track progress (or lack of it). You’re right: all these disconnected efforts can be a bit of a waste but I think M$ is finally getting hit hard with some class action suits and bad publicity. It’s just the beginning!

Hopefully they’ll learn how to value their customers. Sony and other huge companies can stand to learn the same lesson as well….

if anyone is interested, please email me
calvingrand@hotmail.com

From what I can gather this has gone on long enough. If we can locate the base we may be able to infiltrate.

thanks

In the greater picture, Microsoft definitely has terrible support across-the-board. Their products don’t even work well together, which is ironic. Vista is terrible. When it comes to Windows, I prefer 2000. Less clutter and it does what I want it to do.

Sadly, Microsoft and their bretheren spend more time smearing competitors rather than fixing what they are doing wrong. The Anti-Linux propaganda is certainly a reflection of the type of tactics large corporations like to use. When something comes out that is actually functional, reliable, and affordable, the other Monopoly pieces try to kick it away and hide it.

The whole overseas outsourcing thing is scary to me. I hear countless people telling me they’ve been bounced around, laughed at, hung up on.. That’s simply unacceptable. Sure, we all have had moments when we wanted to give a client a piece of our mind but there is a thing called professionalism that tells us to bite our tongues and do the right thing. You lose that when you try to save some money and outsource to people that could care less about customer satisfaction and retention. It’s all a shame really and this is the growing trend… VERY scary stuff.

BTW, Mary, just call me Yogi! I gather we are kindred spirits. I Dugg your GNOME Do article – good stuff!!

Oh, and excellent work, Yogizilla. Your analysis is top-notch.

Oh, and reading the ToS and other scripts is pretty much all they CAN do, apparently. They will regurgitate policy ’til they are blue in the face and you are bored to death. I agree that the auto-renewal model they employ is silly. A pre-paid card should supercede all that, like in any other situation. Apparently, doing things in a backwards manner is how Microsoft likes to practice business. =oX