Has this service got the X factor? (Microsoft Xbox 360 customer support)

Name: madmum71

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Product:	Microsoft Xbox 360 customer support
Date:	19.09.07 (2843 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A good service

Disadvantages: Repair can take a while

Ok lets get something straight before you start reading this, I am not the most technically minded person I have a other half for that! Don't get me wrong I can e-mail and use word and have just learnt how to put my music on my MP3 player! (Go me!) And I remember the start of games consoles, I had an Atari then a Sega and even a Nintendo but I suppose I sort of grew out of them until I had my boys.

My other half bought me the original Playstation that I then lost to the boys and then we got the first Xbox and I suddenly remembered that I was actually good at these games and I played them when the boys were in bed! The boys were actually proud that their mum actually could finish the games before them and then the boys asked for the xbox 360 for Christmas this year as a joint present and being the gullible suckers we are we obliged (personally I think the other half wanted one!) Well what I found blew me away and I marvelled at how consoles had evolved especially as I had found my ultimate game Call of duty 3!

And so we were happy with our new addition and yes I do limit the amount of time that the boys spend on it, I mean they can't interrupt mum if she is playing!! And then horror of horrors it broke!

Basically it started with the disc tray not opening without being prised open and then the discs were not loading, now this sort of thing would usually not phase me as I am used to my youngest breaking most things, basically he is like a bull in a china shop! But it was the start of the 6 weeks holiday and although I had arranged holidays and boy sitting I must admit with the weather we have had I needed a distraction for them!

So on advice from the other half I started the hunt for the manual that came with the Xbox 360 but to be honest that was like finding a needle in a haystack, I mean come on I don't remember much that happened last week you don't expect me to remember where I put something 8 months ago! I had also read about a lot of complaints about the customer service for this product so I really wasn't looking forward to speaking to them.

So I got the Xbox 360 customer support number from the website and gave them a call. I also found out that our console came with a one-year warranty so as ours falls within that time it should be covered. The website does give you some trouble shooting tips but it couldn't help me so I couldn't put off the inevitable!

Now I usually find phoning these customer service places frustrating and end up speaking to someone with no experience or can't understand a word I say, or I end on hold listening to that bloody irritating music! So I had psyched myself up for a row but for once I really needn't of worried.

The first thing that usually gets my back up is going through all those options they seem to throw at you and then I normally end up at the wrong place or getting cut off! But this set of options was very straightforward the main ones being

Xbox 360 live
And Xbox
So obviously I went for the 360 option this then had 4 choices:

Xbox 360 live including bills
Xbox 360 console support
Xbox 360 accessories including controls and cables
Xbox360 games

The number is a free phone number,

So I went for the technical support and I was connected straight away to a really nice lady who even seemed to understand me!

After explaining our problem she immediately advised me that the console would have to be sent in for repair, this actually made me break out in a cold sweat when I was told that this could take up to 25 working days, I mean come on it's the 6 weeks holidays!

So we decided to send it away the day before we went on holiday because that would at least eat up 2 weeks of the time. She took out serial number that is found on the console, my name, address and e-mail address and then advised me that she would send us an e-mail with all the instructions we needed. I then got given a reference number to keep safe for any future correspondence.

The first e-mail came within 10 minutes of speaking to her, which advised that they had received our details and to wait for the next e-mail with all the instructions on it. I made this call on the 30/7/07 and the next e-mail came the next day 31/7/07. This was the most important one and gave me my instructions, there are 3 things for you to click on the first one is your:

SHIPPING LABEL

When you send your console back you need to take off the removable hard drive and ensure that you remove any discs also do not send any controllers. Then you pack it in a plain box and not the original box (like I still have that!) and print the shipping label off your computer then stick this on the top of the box. This has all your details and reference number.

RECEIPT

The second thing you print out is your receipt, this is basically your proof that UPS have picked your console up and has all your reference numbers and details on it. There is also a place for the UPS person to sign

UPS COLLECTION

The third one is the directions for contacting your nearest UPS point, you can either drop it off in person or use the central phone number to arrange collection. Now seeing as I was working right up to the day before our holiday I couldn't be taking a day off to wait around for the UPS man, so I phoned them ready for a row only to be told that they would pick it up the next day between 3pm and 5pm, which fitted in, perfectly for me. And so away it went; the man turned up well within his time, signed my receipt and off it went.

COMING HOME

We came back from holiday and the console had been away for about 15 days, I decided to phone the customer service department to see how much longer it would take to fix. I was actually really surprised to hear that the console had been repaired and if I phone UPS they will arrange a delivery time for me. So again I phoned UPS and they agreed to send it out the next day but couldn't give me a time, this was actually ok for me as I still had a couple of days off and I knew I would be knee high in washing and ironing for a couple of days!

Sure enough at 10 am the next day our console turned up, to much relief from me and joy from the boys!

It was packed a lot better packed then when I sent it and it came with a months Xbox 360 gold membership and a letter telling us what was repaired, in our case it was the DVD drive and this had been replaced. You also get a letter telling you how to connect your controllers and a feedback letter to send back to them.

So after re-connecting the console and putting our hard drive back on I held my breath and YES! It was all better! The disc tray was not playing up and the discs loaded straight away and a lovely peace descended over my house, except for me because while they were happily playing I was stuck with all the washing and ironing!

So all in all I was really pleased with the service I received, I am not used to having all these sort of things going smoothly and I feel we seem to expect and get more of a shoddy service from a lot of large companies. But credit where credits due I found this service very good, the staff were helpful and patient and for once I did not lose my patients or temper or have to threaten beheading, legal action or to send the boys round to bite their ankles!

Property of madmum71 & lisa8871

Summary: A good overall experience