I can't believe my recent experience to try and get the xbox fixed
This is the world's largest (in market share and financial clout) company in the world and yet their website is shit and doesn't work. I really hate Microsoft.
This is my experience ...
1. After calling the number above it encourages you to use the website, which I also prefer as I know most call centre staff are pretty poorly paid poor trained poorly motivated people. So I go on the site
2. I logon using the Live account that the console is registered to .. it doesn't have the record

.. try to re-register as indicated on the site but turns into an error message. Actually it first tells me that it is already registered (no shit) then it just gave me an error message
3. Call to call centre. it takes about 25minutes to get through to someone (thank goodness its a 0800 number) as the first 15 minutes is used to tell you to use the website
4. Finally reach a CSR and to give her credit she was pretty good. Got the console registered properly. However she advises me to try to sort it out myself one more time, so I took the instructions for how to clear the cache on the HD.
5. xbox now won't even turn on

6. So go back to website and press the start repair button ...

... error message

7. Call the call centre again .. another 25minutes wait. Then the CSR tells me (via her script) to try to resolve the problem myself .. ARRRRRRRRRR!!!!!! ... I didn't swear .. actually I started almost crying and just kept saying please can you not tell me the scipt that I have heard before and just start the repair process for me.
8. The final part is for her to transfer me to the payments dept .. it was busy, so she said she will organise a call back within the next 24 hours. However she insist on asking me for a specific time and I insist that she will fail (like all call centres except first direct to meet this promise) but she insisted. So I said call me at 10am, and she arranged for a call from 10am to the end of the morning for the payment dept to call back.
9. It is now 5pm and the phone hasn't rang all day
Why is the richest computer company in the world such a pile of shit? Well .. it's because they are so rich and have a monopoly on key markets. The act like monopolists .. ie they just don't care.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DON'T BUY XBOX this christmas. Buy a PS3 (same age, and used more because it's a bluray player and its still working!) or wii (far less complicated and again not broken and still works).
DON'T BUY MICROSOFT. IT WILL ONLY MAKE THEM WORST!!
I have to make that call to the call centre again
