Xbox 360 Limbo

Diana confirmed via UPS tracking that Microsoft received the faulty Xbox 360 on November 29, 2006. She didn't hear from Microsoft right away, but assumed the repair service was behind due to the holidays and didn't think it was a big deal (plus, she had borrowed a friend's Xbox 360 to tide her over in the interim).

Then January arrived, and she still hadn't received word about her system. On January 2nd she called the support center, only to find out that the person she had spoken to back in November had failed to create a service order. Basically her console sat there for more than a month, until she called them. The Microsoft rep created a new service order and assured her that she'd receive an e-mail with service and shipping details within ten business days.

Eleven business days later, she called back. The rep said her service request was under way (though he couldn't tell her the actual status of her console) and that she would receive an e-mail within three days with details. Diana asked to speak to his supervisor, who said she would personally e-mail the service department to get the status. The supervisor pointed out that e-mail was her only access to the service department (no phone access). Diana asked if they would upgrade her shipping so she could finally get her Xbox 360 back, and the supervisor noted that only the service department could make that decision--but there was no way for Diana to talk to that department. When Diana asked if there was anything else she could do to escalate the issue further, the supervisor helpfully suggested she write a letter to Redmond.

Eight days later, on January 24 (five business days after she was promised an e-mail that hadn't arrived), Diana called Microsoft again and asked for a supervisor. As she waited, she was disconnected. She called back, went through the whole explanation again, and again asked for a supervisor. Finally, she reached a sympathetic person who noted that the customer service department was very busy, and that she herself had already been through two hardware exchanges. She assured Diana she would look into the issue and call her back, personally, on January 26, 2007.

January 30, 2007: Two business days after the promised callback failed to materialize, Diana called Microsoft yet again. This time she waited on hold for 30 minutes while the rep talked to his supervisor. Eventually she talked to the supervisor, too, who assured her that she would look into the problem herself, and call her back in 48 to 78 hours. The supervisor ended the call with a polite "Well, thank you, Diana, for calling Xbox customer service; is there anything else I can help you with today?"

By now my calm, patient friend Diana was pretty much shaking with frustration. It was at this point that Microsoft lost not only her as a future Xbox customer, but the mountains of good will she would have spread regarding the console and service.