[Detomah]

We seem to be receiving an increasing number of horror stories from Xbox 360 owners who have had to call Microsoft's Bangalore-based tech support call center. When your reason for calling is a bricked console, one would think it would be a painless and quick procedure to get the thing replaced or repaired. Apparently not the case, according to Brent from Consumerist.com:

"I run a tech company and a support organization. I'm overly courteous to tech support people because I know they have a tough job. My friend J bought an XBOX 360 bundle at Costco and it bricked on him in roughly two weeks. I was over there Friday night and decided to call XBOX support for him since he's kind of a hothead about these things. Here's how it went:

On hold for about 20 min, finally reach Steve, India-based tech support:
Steve: How can I help you?
Me: I've got a dead console.
Steve: Let me walk you through the troubleshooting steps....
(we go through all the steps, he verifies it's dead, we go through the serial number, name, address, etc.)
Steve: Sir, when did you purchase your XBOX?
Me: Early November.
Steve: I'm sorry sir, but your console is out of warranty.
Me: Excuse me?
Steve: Your console comes with a 90-day warranty, your warranty is no longer valid.
Me: I don't understand, I purchased the console one month....
Steve (suddenly angry, agitated): EXCUSE ME SIR, PLEASE LET ME FINISH
Me: What?
Steve: (almost yelling): IF YOU DO NOT STOP THIS I WILL HAVE TO END THIS CALL RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!
Me: I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about....
Steve: SIR YOU NEED TO STOP TALKING AND LET ME FINISH OR I WILL END THIS CALL!!!!!
Me: (very calm still): OK
Steve: Our system shows your console's warranty has expired.
Me: Well, that doesn't seem right since I bought it about a month ago.
Steve: (here's the kicker) I don't care if you bought your console yesterday, we still show your warranty is expired.
Me: (stunned, but still courteous, as I'm clearly dealing with a nutjob here) OK, what do I need to do?
Steve: You need to fax your receipt to [he gives me the info]
Me: OK, and then you will process the repair?
Steve: NO
Me: Huh?
Steve: Then we will have your warranty updated in our system. You will need to call in again to tech support to request a repair.
Me: Really?
Steve: Yes
Me: Could I please be routed to a supervisor?
Steve: Yes, and sir, I'm sorry if I was rude to you.
Me: It's no problem, could I have your last name, Steve?
Steve: NO, you cannot.
Me: Could I have an employee number or something to identify you?
Steve: NO, you cannot. Please hold.

Anyway, I stay on hold for another 45 minutes (really) to reach a supervisor. He STILL does not accept that my console is within warranty, but instead of requiring me to fax the receipt and call them back, he actually allows me to send in the receipt with the console as a means of verification.

I let him know about my experience

As Posted Here: http://www.gwn.com/news/story.php/id...Nightmare.html

I don't know why, but I found the conversation he had with the support guy so damn funny, probably becuase it just highlights the fact of how crap support centers can and more often than not are.

It does sound like the typical kind of attitude I would expect from anything involving Microsoft though.

Anyone else had any bad experiences with the Microsoft support line about their 360?