Now that I've griped about my Mac, I will even it out by whining about Microsoft.
My husband got an Xbox 360 HD-DVD player. We probably watched 3 movies on it before it broke. We're both really busy folks, and so we didn't get around to trying to exchange it or get it fixed until about a year after we purchased it. There's only a 90-day warranty on those things, so our only option was to pay MS ~$60 to have it fixed. We looked around thinking that it might be better to just purchase a new HD-DVD player, but the prices were still high enough that repair seemed like a decent option. Mick said that he would appreciate it if I would handle the repair for him as a Christmas present. This sounded OK to me, so I obliged. Now begins the horror.
First, diagnosing the problem was awful. I called support a few times (see below for how fun that is). Each time the person would have me repeat the steps the previous person had had me do and then tell me one more step. "Ma'am are you sure the dvd player is plugged in? [yes] I see. Are you sure that the dvd player is turned on?...." Finally, I got them to agree with me that the problem wasn't "stupid user error" and that it needed repair.
I shipped the dvd player out the week before Christmas, and saw by the tracking number that it had been received 12/24. About mid-January, Mick said, "hey, have you heard anything about the dvd player?" Since I hadn't, I gave them a call. If you have ever called Xbox support you know what a terrible experience this is:
First of all, they have an automated voice recognition menu system that is STUPID. "Hi, I'm Max and there are a few things I can help you with. If you're calling about the Xbox console, say 'console'...." Blah Blah Blah. I wish you could just short cut the menu by entering or saying a reference number, but no, they want your name, the serial number of your xbox, etc. Anyway, after a really long frustrating time, you get through to a person. This person happens to live in India and tells you his name is Dave or Bob or Mike (one time a woman helped me - her name was Anna). Then, they have to ask you your name, how you spell it, your phone number, and address EVERY TIME YOU CALL (apparently getting this information one time is not enough). Then, you tell them your reference number and they look up your past information.
Okay, so the first time I called them, they were unable to give me any information about the dvd player. I didn't worry at this point since it hadn't been very long and told them thanks, I'll call back.
A couple weeks later, I called them and they still couldn't give me any information. I asked them how long the process usually takes. The helper person said 2-3 weeks. I said, well, it's been 5 weeks, what is the hold up? The helper guy said, hold on, let me see if I can find out for you. He put me on hold for about 30 MINUTES. (The 30-minute hold repeats itself several times in this story). When he came back I got to talk to a "supervisor" who told me that I should just wait until I hear from them. I said, okay, I'll call back in a week. He said, "no, don't call back. We'll call you." I said "How long am I supposed to wait? Indefinitely? You have my property and you have my money to fix it. I WILL be calling back to check on the progress."
At this point, I was angry and was looking for a place to vent. I contacted the main MS support via a web form. I wrote about the poor service and how I was on hold for 30 minutes and how much I hate the automated voice recognition menu system. I received a reply from a person who told me to contact Xbox support with any problems concerning my Xbox and gave me the phone number. YES, THIS REALLY HAPPENED.
So, a week later, I got a message on my answering machine saying that my hd-dvd player had been shipped! Oh, Joy!
About 5 days later the dvd player arrived. I was so happy! Unfortunately, my joy was short-lived. When my husband got home, he noticed that the power cord and connection cable were missing (I had mailed them with the dvd player in case they were the problem). So, I called up stupid xbox support again. This time the automated voice recognition system was EVEN MORE FUN. Now, it recognized that I had an open repair (which was nice), but would only tell me it had been shipped and I ended up in an infinite loop in the menu system trying to get a person on the line. Finally, I found out that if I didn't try to use my existing repair ticket and started a new repair that it worked. I got on the phone with a person finally and told him what the problem was. He didn't seem to believe that I had sent the cables. However, I was insistent and finally he said that he was going to write an email describing my problem and he was going to put me on hold for 5 minutes. 30 MINUTES LATER he came back on the line. I asked him what he was doing. He said I was reading over the notes of your ticket. I said, "That doesn't take 30 minutes." and I admit I was really grumpy with him. I didn't curse or say bad things to him, but I wasn't sweet. Anyway, the end result was that he said he had sent the email and that the order was put in for the cords. Whew. I thought I was done.
Then, a week later, I got a message on my answering machine that said that there was no record of me sending in the cords with the dvd player. At first, I thought I must have misunderstood. Obviously, English was not the caller's first language, so I might have misunderstood. I braced myself to call xbox support again. I got comfy on my bed, turned on Judge Judy, got a snack, and dialed. Since I already knew the trick of starting a new repair on the phone menu, I got through to a person pretty quickly. Her name was Anna. I really like Anna. She was the most reasonable person I talked to at Xbox support. I hope she gets promoted soon. Anyway, Anna told me that my record showed that a higher up supervisor had written that the cords were not sent in with my dvd player. I made some sad, anguish-ridden noises and said "I did send them in. I don't have them here. Why in the world would I lie about this? Why would I make it up? Is there anything we can do?" Anna sounded like she believed me and told me my only option was to hold for a supervisor which would take a really long time. She did not have the authority to do anything because a higher up supervisor had marked my record. I told her I would wait. After about 10 minutes, Anna came back on the line and told me that she was still waiting and did I want to continue to hold or would I like a call back (This was a very nice touch by the way. The others just left me hanging...). I opted to hold. About 30 minutes later, Anna came back and there was a supervisor on the line. This supervisor's name was Rain. I liked her too. I think she should be promoted, too. Rain was able to make the order for my power and connection cables and told me they would be shipped out soon.
So, only time will tell. Will I actually ever receive the cables? Will I finally be able to watch "Children of Men" in HD?
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