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Showing posts with label xbox 360. Show all posts
Showing posts with label xbox 360. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Tech Support, the Ubisoft way

As you can see in my previous postings, I love Rocksmith.

However, Ubisoft's technical support leaves a lot to be desired.

I posted a problem in a message thread in their support forum. They have a "sticky" thread there titled: "Rocksmith Official Bugs and Issues Thread". The "forum manager" made the first post, saying:

Please post all bugs, repeatable crashes and any major game play issues in this thread. Do not make new threads since this can result in your problem getting lost and the Topic getting closed.

This is not a means of Direct support but a means to collaborate all issues. You should also report any bugs or glitches directly to Ubisoft Support. The direct link is in my Signature.

Thank you for taking the time to report any issues.

Toward the end of the very lengthy thread, they advised users to submit support tickets for their issues.

I did that, on December 4:

I am unable to pick Tone Slot 2 in the Amp. When I tap the directional pad or left stick on my Xbox controller, it skips Tone Slot 2 and goes straight to Tone Slot 3. So I try to go back and it skips 2 and goes to Tone Slot 1. I thought it was my controller, but if it were the controller, you would think that it would go past Tone Slot 3 to the guitar picker... or it would skip past songs when trying to choose one. I also tried another controller just in case and it does the same.

I posted this same problem in your forum and it appears that others have the same problem. I'd love to see this fixed in an upcoming patch as it makes this feature somewhat useless.

As you can see, it has nothing to do with my guitar or playing the guitar. It has to do with selecting an option in the game's menu.

I first received an auto-response from the support system with various links to commonly asked questions (aka FAQs)

The next day, I recieved what I believe to be a human response from a rep:

Hello Scott,

Please follow the instructions in the following FAQ for assistance with this configuration issue: http://ubisoft.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/15549

I'll save you a click and tell you that their suggested solution explains how to adjust my guitar's intonation. This is completely unrelated to my problem. Not to mention it could result in me messing something up with my guitar. The issue was also closed as "resolved".

I reopened it with this response:

Your suggested solution has absolutely nothing to do with the problem I reported. In fact, my problem has nothing to do with actually playing the instrument. The problem is with selecting an option in the game's menu, using the game controller. Please re-read the problem that I reported and perhaps try it yourself. Like I said, it has nothing to do with the guitar.

A couple of days later, they closed the incident as resolved, without explanation.

That's right around the time a new thread started in the Ubisoft forum, titled WTF kind of answer is this Ubisoft support criticizing the response that someone else had received. I replied with my experience. The Ubisoft Forum Manager replied, telling me to re-open my incident if it wasn't resolved, and they explained that the first response may be a simple FAQ. Why there's a need for multiple FAQ responses is still a mystery.

So I did, with a strong suspicion that it would be closed again within days, without a response. I sent:

This problem is not solved.

It was closed a day or two later.

I posted an update. The topic died off after a few people responded to my update.

Yesterday I decided to re-open my incident. It irks me that some companies feel it's ok to treat their customers like this. I used to work in tech support and this was never acceptable. I sent the following message:

I don't know why you keep closing this. Closed means resolved, and as you can see, there is no resolution posted by you in this incident.

Surprisingly, I received a response the same day.

Hello Scott,

Please follow the instructions in the following FAQ for assistance with this configuration issue: http://ubisoft.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/15549

Deja vu? It's the exact same thing that they sent me the first time.

I responded with:

Is this a joke? You can't be serious. Did you even read what my problem was? Or read the reply I made when you first suggested this same "solution" which is completely unrelated to my problem?

My problem is NOT a configuration issue. If you feel so strongly that this is a solution to my problem, can you please explain to me how adjusting the intonation of my guitar affects TRYING TO SELECT AN OPTION in the game with a game controller.

Thank you.

I couldn't hold back. I posted a complete summary in their forum with an admittedly sarcastic  ending:

I have a sneaking suspicion that the link they sent me is also the solution to world hunger.

Within a couple of hours, I received a private message from someone whom I assume is directly involved with the development of Rocksmith, apologizing for the lack of response from support and reassuring me that my problem was a rare issue related to DLC and said that it would be fixed in the upcoming patch.

I thanked them for the reply.

Now when I posted my "summary", I admit that I did do a faux pas, and named the rep in my posting. Only their first name, and to be honest, I'd be extremely surprised if it was their real name.

The Forum Manager didn't like that, and edited my message and the replies of a couple of other people. They also posted:

Like I have stated previously, the first reply may be a simple FAQ. If your question has not been solved there may not be a solution to your Ticket. Even if the answer is not to your satisfaction, the details have been logged and if others report the same situation a fix is more likely.

Trying to call out Ubisoft Staff whether it be Forum or Support will only lead to further action.

Can you please PM me your Incident Ticket number?
Thanks

Here is my entire reply to that:

First, I apologize for naming the rep, there was no intent to "call them out". I was simply putting a name to the "bizarre" responses I received.

Secondly, what purpose does sending a completely unrelated FAQ response serve, AFTER the support system has already sent an auto-response with links to FAQs? That's rather pointless, don't you think? The only thing it does is make the company look like they don't care about the customer.

I worked in software technical supprot for 6-7 years and we used the same support system that Ubisoft uses, so I know how the back end works. I know the real reason why they close them off, but I won't get into that.

If there was no answer to my problem, then they should be straight forward and say so and at the very least reassure me that the issue was forwarded to their engineers. The incident should not simply be closed with the hopes that I'll just go away.

Having said that, I did receive a private response from someone at Ubisoft (or from Rocksmith) shortly after I posted my message, apologizing for the trouble and they reassured me that my problem is a rare issue somewhat related to DLC and will be fixed in the upcoming patch. I thanked them for their assistance.

That is how support should work and if it did work like that, this entire message thread wouldn't even exist and you wouldn't have to threaten your customers with further action for being rightfully upset.

If you still want the incident number, feel free to PM me, otherwise I no longer need a response as I did get one from someone who cared enough to give me one.

I wasn't sure if I should post that because I thought it might touch a nerve, but thankfully it didn't. I received this response from the Forum Manager within the hour:

We do care and I understand your frustrations. This is why I asked for you Ticket number. I still have to uphold the rules though.

I am glad you were contacted about your issue and given an answer. Please let us know if you are still affected after the patch release.

Seriously, Ubisoft, you have to do something to improve your technical support. Why couldn't I have received an answer the first time I submitted the support ticket? Surely, your first level tech support people must have some kind of escalation route for problems that they can't resolve or at least provide some assistance for?

I suppose it could be worse — I could be a PS3 user. The PS3 version appears to be plagued with problems. There are endless reports of crashes and lost progress.

This is the second Ubisoft game that I've had a poor technical support experience with. My patience is wearing thing, Ubisoft.

 

Monday, November 7, 2011

Gonna be a rock star

Ok, maybe not. :)

I got my first guitar for Christmas when I was in my late teens, along with a beginner book and some guitar picks. Weeks later, after building callouses on my fingers, I set the guitar aside.

Every few years after, I'd pick it up, with half-assed determination to learn how to play. I replaced strings a few times.

To date, I still cannot play the damn thing, mostly due to frustration, lack of patience, and no lessons I suppose.

Years ago my wife and I developped an addiction to the Guitar Heros and Rock Bands. Yeh, plastic instruments and all. Spare me the "pick up a real guitar and learn" crap. It's tiring. Thanks to Rock Band, my nephew bought a drum kit and took lessons.

Anyway, when Rock Band 3 came out with its "Pro Mode", my interest in learning guitar was renewed. Maybe this was what I needed? But the real Fender Squier Strat designed for it was a little expensive. However, when I heard about another upcoming game called Rocksmith, that used REAL guitars without anything more than a special USB cable included with the game, I was able to justify the Fender purchase. It would serve two purposes. Rock Band 3's Pro Mode, and to use with Rocksmith.

Rock Band 3's Pro mode was a tad frustrating, but mostly because of the "hybrid" Fender strat requiring tweaking to get to work properly with the game. It still isn't 100% good with the game, but to be honest, it was enough to make me set it aside.

In the meantime, I picked up a small 10w Fender amp to accompany my guitar, for real play. I should have held off on the amp purchase.

Enter Rocksmith.

After reading a couple of early reviews, I was a little hesitant. Latency seemed to be the issue. After reading a few positive reviews, I bit the bullet.

This "game" is awesome. It connects your electric guitar via a special USB cable to your console (PS3 or Xbox 360), and then connects to your home stereo, which acts like your amplifier, and also provides a whole whack of pedal effects to accompany game play. It turns out that my system configuration is the recommended best at minimizing latency. After tweaking the in-game latency setting, I think I've pretty much eliminated it.

I put the word "game" in quotes because it really is more of a teaching tool. Perhaps it doesn't go into as much theory as a guitar less might, but it teaches people like me enough so that one day they may be able to pick up a guitar and rock out a song or two.

I live for that day. :) Perhaps I should add this to my bucket list...

The game is not without some frustrations though, and I suspect it's mostly due to the Fender that I'm using. For one thing, the specially designed frets (for Rock Band 3 Pro Mode) sometimes make the strings catch when string bending. I also think that it doesn't stay in perfect tune, possibly due to the inntonation being a little off. That could be due to the weak neck because it contains eletronics for Rock Band 3 Pro Mode. I followed some instructional videos on YouTube for adjusting inntonation and it's a little better, but still not perfect.

Last week I decided to look into getting a new guitar; one that is designed 100% for real play. I emailed AxeMusic.com, where I bought the Fender and the amp, for any recommendations. They're Canadian, and I like their service. I told them looking for a decent beginner guitar in the $300 price range. After a few email exchanges, I settled on a See Thru Black Cherry ESP EC-100QM. I even checked out a few youTube videos of people playing this guitar. I liked the look at the sound.

I called late Friday and placed the order.

Maybe once I get a little better, I put up a video. Maybe. :)

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Saving a few bucks on Xbox Live Points

If you...

  • own an Xbox 360
  • occasionally buy Xbox Live Points to purchase game DLC or Xbox Live Arcade titles
  • are Canadian

... keep reading if you want to save a few bucks.

Microsoft sells Xbox Live points direct from the Xbox Live Marketplace for the following prices:

  • 500 Microsoft Points - $7.25
  • 1000 Microsoft Points - $14.50
  • 2000 Microsoft Points - $29.00
  • 5000 Microsoft Points - $72.00
  • 6000 Microsoft Points - $87.00

Not taking tax into consideration, that works out to 1.45 cents per point, unless you buy 5000 points which works out to 1.44 cents per point. (oooh big savings there)

You can save a few more cents more by buying a 1400 or 2800 point card at Best Buy or Future Shop. At regular price, they sell them for:

  • 1400 Microsoft Points - $19.99
  • 2800 Microsoft Points - $39.99

That works out to ~1.43 cents per point. In comparison to Microsoft's pricing, 1000 points would cost you $14.28. Still not much of a savings. You'd probably spend more on gas driving to the store.

I think that's pretty much the standard pricing for those cards everywhere, unless they go on sale, and that's pretty rare.

There is another option that I don't think many people are aware of: Dell.ca.

Dell.ca sells Xbox Live point cards, as well as gaming consoles, games and accessories. Buying your Xbox Live point cards from Dell.ca will save you even more. On top of that, they have FREE SHIPPING and they also accept PayPal.

This is Dell's pricing scheme for points cards:

  • 1400 Microsoft Points - $17.99
  • 2800 Microsoft Points - $38.99

You can quickly see that the best bang for the buck is the 1400 point card. 1400 points is ~1.29 cents per point and 2800 points is ~1.39 cents per point. In comparison to Microsoft's pricing, 1000 points would cost you $12.85 — a savings of $1.65 before tax.

Granted, the convenience of having points instantly-when-you-need-them isn't there, but if you plan ahead you can save a few bucks and maybe buy that cool hat or outfit for your avatar. :) In my experience with Dell.ca, their shipping times are really good. Almost everything I've ever ordered from them has arrived within 2-3 days.

Monday, January 3, 2011

No excuses now - Week 7 progress

I survived the Christmas and New Year indulgences.

Overall, it wasn't anywhere near as evil as I expected it to be and I managed to say somewhat on track. My weight this morning was just under 257 lbs.

I managed to break the 9000 calorie mark at the end of December and I'm just over 500 calories away from reaching 10,000 calories. 10,000 is the last calorie achievement on Xbox Live. When I started this, it seemed so far away.

So anxious to get below 250 lbs. :)

Sunday, December 26, 2010

More than just the turkey got stuffed - Week 6 progress

I should have seen it coming after the Christmas morning breakfast of eggs, sausage, bacon and hash browns exceeded half of my daily calorie intake.

Despite switching from working out daily to every two days, I had to work out yesterday to counteract the evil to come in the form of Christmas dinner. On the plus side, the workout yesterday was the biggest calorie-burner for me this month at 459 slayed calories.

Dinner came and went. It was damn good, but I paid for it adding ~2000 calories to the ~1400 I ate at breakfast. And that doesn't even include the 7 or 8 beers later in the evening. It sure adds up quickly. It's no wonder I am the weight I am.

Anyway, the weigh-in this morning turned out to be no worse than yesterday's weigh-in at around 258. This leaves me at around 2lbs over my lowest so far, so all things considered, I'm not in bad shape (no pun intended). Since I'm off work for the Christmas holidays, I have a week to work it off -- again -- before New Years Eve arrives.

My wife bought me some 3 pound weights for Christmas to use with my workouts. I tried them yesterday when I did my YSFE cardio boxing. They even recommend using hand weights with some of the workouts. What a difference. It's too bad that there's no way to account for using weights in the workouts. I'm sure more calories are being burned and not counted.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Counting Calories - Week 5 Progress

This counting calories thing appears to be working, thanks to the Livestrong.com web site.

A few days ago I broke the 260lb barrier. Unfortunately, I did put 1 or 2 lbs back on thanks to a yummy pot luck lunch at work, but I expect that after this weekend, they will be gone and I will be below 260lbs.

This makes me very happy.

My goal is set at 2000 calories per day. With the exception of two days that I hit nearly 3000 calories (last Sunday, before I started tracking, and Thursday's pot luck lunch), I'm averaging 1450 calories per day, after my workout burned calories are subtracted. Even without the workouts, the average would be below 2000. Knowing that makes it tempting to skip a workout every once in a while. I have to convince myself that if I do that, then it'll get easier and easier to skip.

One thing that is extremely difficult to keep low is my sodium intake. It's almost always over the recommended daily intake. It's crazy. I have to try and keep a closer watch on that.

My workouts are up to around 30 mins long and are supposedly burning off anywhere between 350 and 400 calories per day, according to Your Shape Fitness Evolved. That's more than double than when I started and it's my plan to keep doing that much as a minimum.

My left hip joint is giving me a bit of trouble. It's bothering me for a couple of years now. It feels like it's grinding or needs to pop. It hurts when I stand for a long time or do a lot of walking, but I can really feel it when I work out and have to kick with my left leg.

Anyway, that's the update for this week.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Fitness hell - Week 4 progress

My suspicion from last week was correct. I have to start keeping a close watch on what I eat.

I weighed myself this morning and was disappointed to see that I gained a few pounds back. It's not like I went crazy with eating, but clearly whatever I ate was really bad for me.

Ugh. Too good to be true. :)

And to top it all off, I burned more calories this past week than the 3 weeks prior: just over 1600. I hate to think of how it would be if I hadn't.

On the plus side, it's looking really good for beating my 2000 cal in 14 day goal that I set for myself; 5 days and 274 cal to go!

I'm really enjoying the cardio boxing routines. That's part of the reason for the increase in calorie burns. It makes for a great warm up.

The Your Shape FE web site is still not fully functional, and it's been at least 2 weeks since I've been able to access their support forums. For some reason I get an error when I try to log into them. There are others with the same problem. At first, the reps in their Facebook page seemed concerned and were passing along info to their support people, but now our pleas appear to go ignored... and the problem still exists.

The leaderboard stats are a little f'd up too. For example, it has me listed twice. The "female" one is not the correct one, obviously. :)

That was yesterday, but it's still listing me twice today.

There have also been some questions about when they're going to post "events" on their web site that we can participate in. No replies to those questions either.

It's annoying when a product is released with virtually no support to back it up.

Here's my current rank:

Monday, December 6, 2010

Kinect & Your Shape FE - Week 3 progress

Since the last update, I discovered that I had entered my weight incorrectly into Your Shape FE when I did the fitness test. I fixed it, and it didn't seem to change the recommended workouts. However, since my weight was incorrect, it miscalculated the calorie burn. Heavier people burn calories faster. Based on the number of calories burned at my correct weight, I estimate it is around 360-400 calories short. Not a big deal though.

After completing the 12 easyier sessions, I went in search of something different. I learned the the Cardio programs will change daily, which makes it a whole lot more interesting. Plus, they appear to be broken down into two or three routines per session, which lets me decide how many sessions I want to do per day. I upped my workouts to burn around 200 per workout. That lasted until the weekend.

I had a little setback (err... night out) on Saturday. I didn't go crazy, but it definitely wasn't part of my fitness agenda. :) Good food. Cold beer. Fun times.

So, on Sunday I was wiped. Not hungover, just tired. I did try to workout in the evening but after a few routines, I was so winded it scared me a little. I had to call it quits.

At least I tried, so the guilt was minimal.

This evening, I decided to re-do the fitness test with my correct weight set to see if anything would change. It didn't seem to affect the recommendations as far as I can see, but it feels better knowing that it's based on my correct weight.

I redid one of the easy sessions for this evening's workout, which is how I determined how much short the total calorie burn was with the incorrect weight. It went well, but it felt like a bigger workout than it was. I didn't feel as energetic. Either I was still in weekend recovery mode, or missing a workout really messed things up.

On to the weight loss for this week. There was none. In fact, I gained about ½ a pound. Should I be surprised? No. Oddly enough, I weighed myself on Friday and it had me about 3 lbs heavier, so in the end a ½ lb is good enough for me.

We'll see how this week goes, but I suspect I'll have to start taking a serious look at what I eat if I'm going to have any chance of achieving a 10lb per month loss. The Christmas holidays sure aren't going to help with that either.

Friday, November 26, 2010

My Shape

I'm sort of... round. :)

I've never been a big fan of working out. I don't particularly enjoy exercise unless its a byproduct of something fun. Cycling, for example, I do enjoy, although last summer I didn't do very much of that at all and I'm not sure why.

You would think that being on medication for high blood pressure and high cholesterol and being about 70lbs overweight would be enough to make me wake up. You would think that years ago when my doctor compared my health situation to a house that would fall apart in 5 or 6 years, it would wake me up.

You would think.

And it did, for about 2 years. My doctor was somewhat of a hard-ass, no bullshit kind of doctor. Some hated him. I hated him, at first, but then realized that he's just telling me like it is. I didn't want to hear the speech every 3 months when I saw him, so I did something about it. I lost 45 pounds back then, down to 240lbs. Then I had to switch doctors, for reasons beyond my control.

I put most of the weight back on.

On the plus side, I did quit smoking almost 2 years ago, but the weight remained between 260 and 270lbs.

This past fall, I had the opportunity to try something very cool: Xbox Kinect.

When the official release date arrived, we picked up a few games for it, one of which was Your Shape Fitness Evolved.

Perhaps my head isn't screwed on the right way, but the thought of earning Xbox achievements in exchange for burning calories appealed to me.

Yeh, you'd think that perhaps living a longer life would be more appealing.

Anyway, for whatever reason, this "game" has woken me up.

The first day I tried it, the "beginner" workout that it created for me after my assessment kicked my ass. I actually pulled my calf muscle. I had to put my workouts on hold for a few days to let my calf heal.

When I resumed, I tried morning workouts on a weekend and found that I didn't have the same energy as I did after work, so after work ended up being my chosen workout time of day. Since then, with the exception of a few days, I've been doing my beginner workout and the odd "gym game" or "cardio boxing" session on a daily basis. I try to burn at least 100 calories each time, which works out to somewhere between a 20 to 30 minute workout. It's not much, but it's 100 calories more than I was burning before, and I'm sure it's building muscle.

It really didn't take long before the workouts didn't make me feel like I was run over by a truck. I seem to be adjusting to them quickly, and that's a major plus for me.

In that time, I also bought a digital scale. Our old one was so inconsistent. I'm not 100% sure of what I weighed at the start, but if I estimate my starting weight at around 267lbs, I have now lost 3.8lbs since. That's 3.8lbs in under a month. And, I haven't made any significant changes to my eating habits -- yet.

I've never been to a health club or anything like that, so I can't really compare them with "Your Shape", but to me it does feel like I'm at one and I have my own virtual trainer who motivates me and tells me where and when I'm not keeping up with them, all in my own living room; and without feeling uncomfortable or awkward.

Another plus is seeing and tracking my progress in the game and on the Your Shape web site. Seeing really is believing. :) As of tonight, I have burned ~1400 calories in total and completed the beginner workout sessions.

This is a great start for me. The more I do it, the more I want to do it.

I highly recommend Kinect. If workouts aren't your thing, there are more game-like games available for it that are a lot of fun to play. My daughter really likes Dance Central, and Kinect Sports is my fav and can also give you quite a workout without even realizing it.

I'll keep posting the occasional update of my progress, so if you're interested keep checking back here.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Big corporations DO care – go figure

I arrived home from work today to a surprise: a plastic-wrapped package sitting on my dining room table, from UPS.

It was my Xbox power supply.

So, it would appear that the manager I spoke with was right, it could arrive today – and it did.

So, yes, I did get all worked up over nothing. However… had a few things been done differently by Xbox support and the repair process, this blog post and the other two wouldn’t exist.

This is where things make a  change for the better.

Just over an hour ago, as I was typing an update saying that I got my power supply, the phone rang. My wife answered it and handed me the phone.

It was another surprise. A surprise that restores my faith in big corporations, like Microsoft and reassures me that there are indeed people out there fixing the wrongs rather than simply ignoring them.

The surprise was a man by the name of Anthony, who was calling from Microsoft. He had received a “heads up” about my problems, and my earlier blog post. I honestly don’t know how he was made aware of it, nor does it really matter. What matters is that he called to make an effort to fix my problem and make me a happy customer. If someone out there took it upon themselves to escalate the issue up the corporate ladder at Microsoft, thank you very much.

I won’t go into the small details of the call, but I will say that we had a great conversation. He apologized for the experience. He explained the hows and whys that lead to the problem.  He didn’t try to deny that there were areas that needed improvement. He didn’t make any excuses. He was well aware of XboxSupport on Twitter. :) He listened to my suggestions on how to improve the service.

He also told me that he was sending me a new power supply for my Xbox, to arrive tomorrow. That was before I had a chance to explain that I did in fact receive the original one today. They actually thought that it got lost in transit, so he took it upon himself to send me a new one. Now I will have a spare.

He also asked me if I had any trouble setting up the replacement Xbox. We talked a little about that, and he asked me for my email address so he could send me his personal contact info so I can let him know how it goes and if I have any problems.

There’s not much else to say, except that I am still somewhat shocked that I received a call, and so quickly. A lot of people, including myself, often bash Microsoft. My earlier blog posts are proof of that. All it took was one call to change my view of the company.  They are listening and doing something.

Kudos to Microsoft and kudos to Anthony.

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Canned responses

I sent the Xbox email support a message last night using their support submission form. I chose the “Other” option from the drop down list, thereby eliminating all of the more common issues they help with the hope that I’d get a human to read my message.

Because the form is limited to 1000 character, I suggested that they visit my blog where all of the details are posted, or forward my message to a manager or someone higher up as I had already dealt with support.

Seemed simple enough. Or so I thought.

This was in my email this morning:

Hello Scott,

Thank you for contacting Microsoft online support for XBOX. I am Kody and I will be assisting you today with this issue.

I understand that you are encountering problems with your Xbox 360 console.

As our dear customer we are committed on giving the best possible service. We know how unsatisfactory your situation is when your console is not performing correctly.

In order to check what is causing the problem and give you the correct steps to resolve the issue, please provide us further with more specific details such as:

  • Exact error message or error code as seen on the screen (if there are any).
  • Games (Original Xbox games or Xbox 360 games) that are affected.
  • The number of red lights flashing on the Ring of Light (surrounds the power button light), if any.
  • The color of the indicator light on the power supply unit while the console is turned on.
  • Please include other details that can help identify the issue.

You may also include other details that can help identify the issue.  I look forward to hearing from you again and helping you resolve your problem.

If you need to reply to this e-mail, please reply 'with history' (include any previous e-mail) or reference to Service Request Number 1133432296 so we can expedite our service to you.

Thank you for visiting Xbox.com. We hope that we were able to assist you, and that your experience with our customer service was positive - something we constantly strive to improve. If you should have future questions on Xbox products or services, please be sure to revisit our Web site as we are continually adding information to enhance our service.

Best Regards, 

Kody
Microsoft XBOX Support Services
http://support.microsoft.com

That’s a canned response if I ever saw one. And based on the time I received it (6:19am) in comparison to when I sent it late last night, it’s not an automated canned message. A human, whether it really was a “Kody” or someone else, had to click a button to send it to me. Do I assume they simply didn’t read my message and just blasted through a bunch of “Other” flagged messages with the same canned response, or did someone actually read it, not give a damn, and then send the canned message in hopes that I’ll go away?

Is it any wonder why Tech Support gets a bad rap, often being compare to monkeys, when all they’re told to do is act like monkeys?

I was originally going to reply with a simple one-liner pointing to my original request, but the more I read this canned response, the more it bothered me. The temptation was too great, so this is what I sent:

Hello Kody,

Thank you for replying to my online support request for XBOX. I am Scott and I will be replying to you today with more details on this issue.

I understand that you are encountering problems with reading my original support request pertaining to my Xbox 360 console.

As the the dear customer you say I am, I am committed to giving you the best possible reply. I know how unsatisfying your job must be when upset customers, like myself, send long-winded support requests with very little detail.

In order be as clear as possible about what my problem is, I will again provide you with a link containing all of the information necessary so that you can provide me with the best possible service. I know, that you know, how unsatisfactory my situatuon is when my console is not functional.

Here, once again, is the link containing the information about my issue:

http://blog.scottpaterson.org/2010/06/it-must-really-suck-to-work-for-xbox.html

Thank you for visiting my blog containing all of the details you need. I hope that you are able to assist me, and that my experience with your customer service will be positive - something I'm sure you constantly strive to improve. If you should have future questions on my problem, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Best Regards, 

Scott
Microsoft XBOX Customer
http://blog.scottpaterson.org

Hey, if they can do it, so can I. :)

I’m still chuckling.

Monday, June 14, 2010

It must really suck to work for Xbox support

I don’t even know where to begin.

This might come out all jumbled because it was one of the most frustrating experiences with customer service I have ever experienced; and I have experienced them from both the customer side and the support provider side many times in my life (more so on the provider side)

As mentioned in previous blog entries, my Xbox Elite died and I sent it off to be repaired or replaced. It wasn’t a warranty repair, so I paid about $123 Cdn for the “service”.

Much to my surprise, once I finally sent it off, I received it back today. Amazing four business day turn-around. I was happy.

Until I opened the box.

There sat a nice, plastic-wrapped, refurbished Xbox Elite with a 30-day Xbox Live Gold card taped to it to add onto my existing account (for my troubles, I assume)… and no power supply brick.

Now, before anyone says “WTF? You sent the power supply too? You’re not supposed to send accessories!”, let me explain something.

In a brief chat with @XboxSupport on Twitter, I specifically asked if I should send the power supply with the Xbox console.

XboxQuestion

To which they replied…

XboxReply

I am well aware of the “no accessories” rule, but the reason I asked was because my Xbox did absolutely nothing when turned on. No power at all. By sending the power supply, I was hoping to ward off any bad experiences with a refurb Xbox and a faulty power supply.

So much for that idea.

So, I decided I would call up Xbox support and have a chat. Surely this can be resolved quickly, and to my satisfaction.

First off, their support line seemed to throw me into a loop. I guess it detected my phone number, saw I had a repair incident and decided I should need to know the status.

Ok, thanks, but I want to talk to someone.

For some reason, it kept telling me that for repairs, visit support.xbox.com online and submit the repair request and then just left me hanging to go back to the main menu. It may very well have been my own mistake, but I couldn’t seem to find an option to speak with a real human being.

I hung up and swore a few times.

I called back. I decided I would try Tech Support. If anything, I’m sure they could tell me who I should speak with.

I lucked out and got through to an option to speak with a person.

I really don’t recall his name, but the guy was polite and had a slight accent. It’s nothing personal, but I rarely listen to names. Bad habit. My mind is so preoccupied with what I want to say, that it goes in one ear and out the other.

So I explained what the problem was. After a few misunderstandings, he asked if he could place me on hold to look for my power supply. Yep, look for my power supply.

He came back, thanked me for holding, and proceeded to explain that it would be 9-12 days for it to be returned to me.

Umm… wait a minute… 9-12 days???

I asked him how this was possible. It took 4-5 days for my dead console to be shipped to them, be replaced, and shipped back to me… yet it’s going to take 9-12 days for them to return a power supply to me?

He actually interrupted me and began to explain that for “accidentally returned” accessories, this was the norm.

I then proceeded to clarify that this was not an “accidentally returned” accessory. (Never mind the fact that I don’t consider a crucial part for the operation of an Xbox, like a power supply, to be an accessory) I told him that had asked @XboxSupport if I should send the power supply with the console and I was told yes (or “yeah” as the case may be)

This is where we got stuck in a loop. The support rep stuck with the corporate policy of 9-12 … me explaining that this was not my mistake… him giving more apologies… me poking and prodding for some kind of compensation… more apologies… more corporate policy… and then me thanking him for his help, assuring him that I appreciated his help, and then asking to speak with a manager.

When I worked in support, I hated that. But it happens, and you comply with the customer’s request.

I got some resistance, as expected. It was explained to me that the manager would tell me the same thing. I thanked him and insisted. He asked if he could put me on hold while he found a manager. I thanked him.

{Insert annoying hold music here}

I don’t know how long I waited… 2 or 3 minutes perhaps?

He came back and explained that he was still looking for a manager. I thanked him. He thanked me again for holding.

{Insert same annoying hold song here}

More waiting.

He came back again and explained that he was still looking for a manager. I thanked him again. He thanked me again for holding.

Repeat that once or twice more. I actually thought that maybe they were hoping I’d just hang up.

Supper was ready. I was getting hungry.

Finally, he returned to say that a manager was found and told me his name. Again… bad with names. See above. He let me go and left me with the “manager” who asked me how he could help me.

He seemed a little uncertain of what to expect from me. Nervous perhaps. I know that feeling well. I asked him if he was aware of what the problem was, and so it began.

More of the same corporate policy, and apologies (a little more apologetic actually), and now it seems that it was going to be 5-10 days. In fact, my power supply might arrived tomorrow since it has already been 4-5 days since I sent it to them(???)

I explained that 5-10 days was unacceptable, especially considering that it only took 4-5 days for the entire exchange of dead Xbox for a refurbished Xbox. How could it possibly take 5-10 days to send me a simple power supply?

From what I gather, I’m lucky that it was an exchange, because that’s fast. Had it required a repair, I could be waiting 2-3 weeks and my power supply would arrive before my Xbox.

Again, it was implied that I made the error in sending them the “accessory”. Again, I corrected him.

And then something shocking happened. He asked me for more information about @XboxSupport on Twitter. He paused. He then began to explain that corporate policy forbids employees from using Twitter in any official capacity.

I told him that it is indeed official support. He repeated the policy. This went on back and forth for a few minutes. I said “So you’re telling me that there is no official Xbox support on Twitter?” He said he stood by his comments.

I had to laugh. And I did. Sorry, but it was funny.

I went on to explain that Xbox Live’s own “Major Nelson” recommends @XboxSupport on Twitter and that the Twitter account is even listed the Xbox.com support page. He asked me where. I frantically searched for the page. I had seen it earlier, but now I couldn’t find it.

In the meantime he assured me that he was well aware of the support available in their department. I told him that I believed him, but that he was obviously unaware of the support available outside of his department.

I then found the link. I read it out to him and he went there. There was silence. I asked him if he could see it.

He then tried to tell me that they don’t do hardware support. (I was later assured by @XboxSupport, during a rather humerous exchange when I told them they don’t exist, that they do indeed do hardware support) I also explained to him that I never went looking for help from @XboxSupport in the first place. They asked ME how they could help after I made a comment about waiting for a box. I then asked them about the power supply.

I told him that he should be upset that they are not made aware of their support offerings. I sure as hell would be. I’d be pissed if I just finished debating with a customer, and betting the farm that I was right, only to have them prove me wrong.

When then got stuck, once again, in the loop of apologies, corporate policy of 5-10 days, etc. I’ll give the guy credit, he sure was stubborn.

I had enough. I thanked him for his help and then asked to speak to someone higher up.

He kindly explained that there is nobody higher. Everyone higher doesn’t take calls. I then got a little sarcastic. I said “Surely they have a phone, and surely they speak to people on a daily basis!” I used to hate when customers did that to me. He said they don’t speak with customers.

I said “So they aren’t customer focused people… they don’t care about customer service?” I then went onto explain that when I was in support, there was always someone higher to speak with. If I, as a manager, couldn’t make a customer happy, there was my boss… or his boss… or the CEO. SOMEONE in the company had the power to turn an unhappy customer into a happy one. It was rare that someone would not go away happy and it was very rare that they had to go above me.

I told him flat out that I was looking for some form of compensation for what was not my error… anything… 30-days of Xbox Live Gold… anything.

He didn’t budge. They don’t have that power, unlike the refurb centre and their 30-day Xbox Live Gold cards.

I explained that’s why I would like to speak with someone higher.

Again with the “they don’t accept calls” stuff… more apologies… and so on.

I interrupted him and politely asked him when I would receive my power supply. 5-10 days was the response. I said “Fine, thanks for the help, and be sure to let your boss know that I will be calling them… or someone else there, because I am not finished” and then I hung up.

This actually seems much shorter than our conversations, believe it or not. There was far more repetition from him, and me.

I really do feel sorry for the guy, in a way. To be kept out of the loop like that… that’s embarrassing and a shining example of how not to run a support department (or any department for that matter).

But then again, he’s probably working for peanuts at an outsource centre. The corporate mother ship doesn’t really care about them. Do your job and nothing more. You can be replaced.

So now what? I don’t know. Yet. I’ll figure something out.

In the meantime, if you’re a Microsoft / Xbox employee and you have any power in you to make even a half-assed attempt at making me happy, feel free to give ‘er a go. You certainly can’t do any worse than your hand-cuffed, out-of-the-loop support people. I really feel sorry for them.

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Friday, June 11, 2010

Fast!

As of this afternoon, the status of my Xbox 360 repair is now set to Device shipped to customer – Your console has been repaired or replaced. We are shipping it back to you.

I realize that it shouldn’t take long to ship a refurb, but it surprised me to see it happen so quick.

If it’s as quick in transit as it was to send to them, I’m assuming it’ll arrive on Monday or Tuesday.

My Xbox status

Because this is why you are here…

Yesterday, I received a notification from UPS that my Xbox had been delivered to the service center.

The status on Xbox.com had not been updated; it was still in Waiting for device at service center mode.

As of this morning, it is now in Device received at service center mode. :)

On completely unrelated note, I am still waiting for the 16GB iPod Nano that I won from Dove via Twitter. I was told that the minimum wait was 10 business days. This is the 11th day. Yes, I’m impatient. I’d be less impatient if the rep handling the prize had replied confirming receipt of my email that I sent with the signed release form, as I requested.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Bon voyage, Xbox 360!

I dropped off my Xbox at the UPS Store on the way home from work today. It’ll be interesting to see how long it takes to receive the refurb replacement.

As a side note, I really dislike UPS for their crappy brokerage fee practices when getting something from across the border. But the guy working in the UPS Store really makes it difficult to dislike them. He was nice and friendly, and chipper. He printed off a drop-off receipt quickly and explained how I can track my package even though it isn’t rocket science. You don’t often find someone in as good of a mood after a long day at work.

Monday, June 7, 2010

No box for Xbox?

It’s been a day over a week since I logged the repair ticket on my Xbox Elite and still no sign of a box being mailed to me to ship it for repairs.

Out of curiosity, I sent a message to @XboxSupport on Twitter and asked how long it usually takes, at the same time as sending a friend an email asking how long it took for him to receive the box.

My friend replied: 2 days.

@XboxSupport replied: In most cases a box is not sent.

Well that certainly explains why I haven’t received one.

I told @XboxSupport that people I know have all received boxes, which is why I have been waiting. They replied: You will want to find a box to safely ship it in and use the shipping label provided. Umm… yeh, I kinda figured that.

I told them I would use the box it came in, and they said: You will want to use a box other than the 360 box and be sure to keep your hard drive and any other accessories.

The box it came in is suitable for buying it in, but not for shipping it in? Not too surprised.

Anyway, when I got home I found a good box that our DVD player came in, and modified the foam supports that it used to suit my Xbox. Samsung sure knows how to pack their hardware.

My Xbox is now packed, labeled as per the UPS instructions, and ready to be sent. We’ll swing by the UPS store on the way home tomorrow and send it on its way.

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Tuesday, June 1, 2010

My Xbox Elite – R.I.P.

My 2½ year-old Xbox Elite died on Saturday morning. No, not the RRoD (Red Ring of Death) or the E74 error, both of which every Xbox owner dreads.

I simply wouldn’t power up.

On Friday night while I was playing Red Dead Redemption, I noticed what can only be described as “snowing in the wild west”. Yet, it wasn’t snow. I booted up Blur for a look-see and the symptoms were the same. I continued to play for a ½ hour or so before powering it down for the night.

I searched the web to find that this could be an early indicator of the E74 error, which is basically an overheating GPU.

On Saturday morning, I grabbed my can of compressed air and cleaned the rear grill of the Xbox, in an attempt to help keep it cool when I turned it on. It wasn’t extremely dusty, but it had more than I expected.

After I was done, I hooked it all back up and hit the power button.

Nothing. No lights. Nothing at all.

I checked all connections and still nothing.

As much as I feared the RRoD or E74, either of those would have been a good alternative since both are covered by a 3-year warranty. But dead meant I’d have to pay to get it repaired.

No, I wanted to play games this weekend. So, I went out to Future Shop and picked up one of the newer “Arcade” Xbox models. As basic as they come. For $200 plus tax, I got a new Xbox with a 1-year warranty and another controller. The alternative was be to pay ~$120 and wait 2-3 weeks to ship it to MS and have them ship a refurb back to me.

I decided that I will still get the old one repaired, to keep as a spare and put in the basement for the kid to play. Time will tell if this is a good idea or not.

I logged a ticket on MS’s Xbox site and they sent me an email with a UPS label to print out, and I’m currently waiting for the shipping box to arrive so I can send it to them.

That’s pretty much the whole point of this blog entry – to keep track and see exactly how long the entire process will take.

  • Saturday, May 29 – logged the repair request in the afternoon (credit card was required)
  • Sunday, May 30 – received an email from UPS containing links to: instructions, the UPS return label to print, and a receipt.

Stayed tuned for more. :)

Monday, April 19, 2010

Xbox 360 compatible USB storage

Ever since Microsoft released the dashboard update for the Xbox 360 that allows it to read and write to USB drives, I’ve been searching for any information on compatible USB sticks storage. The last I read, a list was “forthcoming”.

In addition to that update, Microsoft also announce that they would be selling preconfigured, Xbox branded, USB sticks by Sandisk. In typical Microsoft fashion, they will be overpriced at around $70 for 16GB, and $35 for 8GB. I wouldn’t hold your breath on MS providing a list of compatible USB sticks.

I already tried a 4GB “Energizer” brand that I had lying around on my Xbox and it gave me a warning that it did not pass the performance tests. Despite that, it has been working fine.

I noticed that the part number on the Xbox sticks was similar to Sandisk’s own Cruzer flash drives, so I had a look around for those. I found 16GB Sandisk Cruzer USB sticks at Best Buy for $40 each. It wouldn’t surprise me if they are the exact same drive in different cases. The one linked above on Sandisk’s own page says “new design” but looks pretty much the same as the one at Best Buy.

I ordered a couple and they arrived today. They seem to work great and they pass the Xbox’s performance test.

It should be noted that these drives come with some program installed called U3 Launcher and a hidden partition. If you plan on only using this on your Xbox, it might be worth removing it and freeing up the space. You can find information and a removal tool by searching Google.

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