Venting about Xbox Support

My Xbox 360 broke on November 15th (3 red rings).  I called, and after I explained that this was the fourth 360, they "escalated" me to "priority support", said they'd send me a box to send back both the console and power supply, and that a "supervisor" from Microsoft would call me.  (I begged them to cross-ship a replacement, but they wouldn't even consider it).

The next day, a lady from Microsoft called me and said that she didn't have a status update for me but that the box was on its way.  She did this again the next day.

After about a week of this, I still hadn't received the box.  I asked her to send me another box, which she did.

A few more days goes by, and I receive a box, but it's not the box I can send the power supply back in.  I call and leave her a message asking if I should send the console back anyway, or wait for the proper box. 

I don't hear from her; I call the next day and leave a message.  Same thing the next day. 

Figuring she's forgotten about me or something, I call the main Xbox support number again and explain my problem.  The 1-800-4MY-XBOX folks inform me that they're the outsourced support organization and they don't have access to any information about my case, because it's being specifically handled by a supervisor.  They say all I can do is wait for a callback.

I wait.  The supervisor lady calls me and when I asked if she got my voicemail, basically explained that she's too busy to check her voicemail.  She says to send the box back anyway and that she'll tell the depot to send me a 360 with a power supply.

That was about a week ago.  I know I can't call her and ask for status because she doesn't get messages and doesn't answer the phone, so I call the 1-800-4MY-XBOX people again.  Once again, they explain that they can't do anything at all, not even see the status of my repair.  All they can tell me is that my new console hasn't been shipped yet.

So the 360 has been out of commission for a month now, and I can't even get order status.  And this is the "priority", "escalated" support with my own personal "supervisor" to ensure that I get prompt service.

And what can I do at this point?  When I did talk to the "supervisor" lady at Microsoft and she told me she doesn't pick up her voicemail, I said I wanted to talk to someone higher to complain to about the service I was getting (not just her, but the whole support case).  She said there was nobody I could talk to, and that I'd have to write a letter, and gave me the corporate headquarters mailing address.

Recap:

  • The outsourced support folks can't help me.
  • I can't contact anyone at Microsoft who can help me.
  • There is nobody I can complain to.

Maybe having your case escalated to a supervisor is some sort of penalty box in which they put people whose consoles break too often.  I use the 360 a lot - both for games and as a media center - but it's out in the open on top of my stereo cabinet, so it's not like I'm mistreating it. 

Any goodwill they may have gained by extending the warranty to 3 years, they've lost to this ridiculous repair process.

Want to make a 360 exchange less painful?  Cross-ship a replacement.  Even if you have to charge my credit card and credit it when you receive my return, I think most people would be willing.