<span style="font-weight: bold">Dammit Microsoft, Part I: Xbox360 And The Red Ring of Death</span>
<font size="2">Originally Posted: May 15</font>

Dammit... it strikes me.

Now, it's going back to MS.   I know there is a towel trick that is supposed to work but it's already registered with MS to be sent back, so I won't try it.   What bugs me more is "Max" the computerized technician that took me through the same steps I did by reading articles on the Xbox.com website...

And my 360 is just 4 months old.

I have tried to defend MS and this is what I get.

ARGH.  just had to rant...

<span style="font-weight: bold">Dammit, Microsoft, Part II: Attack of the MS Customer Service
</span><font size="2">Originally Posted: May 23</font><span style="font-weight: bold">
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<span style="text-decoration: underline">On May 23:</span>
I often wonder about the incompetence of customer service... it was exactly one week ago that my POS gave me the dredded "red ring of death." I still have not received my return box. So, I call...

Sigh.

It hasn't been sent. It doesn't even have a tracking number, yet. Now, is it the fault of the customer service or are there just that many broken Xbox360's...

The end result is... if I don't have it by Friday at 5PM... call back and they would look at it again. Yeah, I want compensation for this incompetence.... like a 120GB HDD. Screw a free month Live Gold... I am already signed up until next January. Do they really think I am gonna go another 6 months before I receive any compensation? Apparently, they do.

I have tried to give them benefit of the doubt and this is what I get.

Sigh. Sigh.

If I didn't love the games so much, I'd just give it up.

Argh.

<span style="font-weight: bold">Dammit, Microsoft Part III: Revenge of the Webpoet</span>
<font size="2">Originally Posted: May 25</font>

I am going to wind up with 6 parts to this.... (I guess we are at Revenge of the Syth now)

So, I didn't get my box, again today. I call back. We are at square one again. In fact, I got a new confirmation number. Apparently, there was an "error" with the original repair request. Nobody noticed until today. (I think this some customer support BS to cover their ass.) So, now my request went through... 12 days after the initial call.

So, what does this mean? I won't get my box until Wed or Thursday. 2 effing weeks after the initial call. And then... how long will I have to wait to get my 400 dollar paperweight back? Who the hell knows?

As you can tell, I am quite pissed about this. When I asked questions about why this wasn't noticed before... I got a lot of "I don't know" responses. That's so reassuring...

No playing 360 this Memorial Day. I'll be lucky to get the ******* thing back by my ******** birthday.

The only customer service that's worse ... is Bellsouth... and now it'll be worse under AT&amp;T.

<span style="font-weight: bold">Dammit Microsoft Part IV: A New Hope?</span>
<font size="2">Originally Posted: May 31</font>

I am writing these so you guys know the b.s. they are putting me through...

So, I was supposed to get my box today... No, I didn't get it. So, I put in call number 4 to customer service. I decided that I wanted to skip the reps for a supervisor. Well, I had to jump through a few hoops to get there. I did get a tracking number for the box... and it is to arrive tomorrow.

I still talked to the supervisor to log a complaint that it took 4 phone calls and 17 days (as of tomorrow) to get my box.... and out if it I got a game. Kameo. I'll probably get it before I get my machine back.

I want to defend MS when I can. Most of y'all know I am an avid Apple Mac user and not really a Windows user anymore, so I can be somewhat biased against MS at times. But the Xbox360, I think is a great machine... when it works.

So, in the end... maybe...just maybe before my birthday next month, I'll have my Xbox back. Just about a month from when this **** started. In the meantime, I am having a blast with my Nintendo Wii..... not the most sophisticated hardware, but dammit, it works! Thank you, Nintendo.

Thank you to all who read my rants!!!!

<span style="font-weight: bold">Dammit, Microsoft Part V: Microsoft Strikes Back</span>
<font size="2">Originally Posted: June 8</font>

<span style="text-decoration: underline">Here's the good:</span>

I got my Kameo: Elements of Power in the mail today... a game I can't play until I get my 360 back...

<span style="text-decoration: underline">Here's the bad:</span>

I called Customer Service to get an update on my repair. They have no updates from the repair center. The representative says that he put in a request for a status from the repair center... I would hope that it would at least show that they received the box on Tuesday... I have copy of the the tracking I did via the UPS website that shows that it was received and signed for. So, now I have to call back around 24 hours... well, 24 hours from now, I am gonna be out drinking... So, I guess I'll find out on Sunday.... 3 days since it arrived at the repair center and NO updates... this is just getting worse and worse...

If this deal gets any worse and they can't get me an update, I am going to make them send me a brand new box... it's only right...

Anyway, umm, that's my rant for today.... This one may end up going past 6 parts...

<span style="font-weight: bold">Dammit, Microsoft Part VI: The Return of the Xbox360
</span><font size="2">Originally Posted: June 13</font><span style="font-weight: bold">
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Yes, by the title alone, you know that not only that Bill Gates is my father, but that my Xbox360 has finally returned... and get this: it works! The only issue is that the MAC address had changed (replaced the network card?) and I had to change the MAC filter on my router... oh, and my Connect360 software on my laptop isn't connecting at the moment... but I can fix that.

I will compile all 6 episodes into one giant episode before the weekend...

But to recap:

<span style="font-weight: bold">Broke: </span>May 15
<span style="font-weight: bold">Returned:</span> June 13
<span style="font-weight: bold">Number of phone calls to MS Customer Service: </span>5
<span style="font-weight: bold">Number of days until return: </span>29
<span style="font-weight: bold">Number of free XboxLive Gold months:</span> 1
<span style="font-weight: bold">Number of free Xbox360 games: </span>1
<span style="font-weight: bold">Number of episodes: </span>6 (of course)
<span style="font-weight: bold">Number of companies with better support: </span>I can't count that high.

Carry on. End of line.

<span style="font-weight: bold">Subplot: Microsoft makes me laugh...</span>
<font size="2">Originally Posted: June 5</font>

...after taking the 17 days to get me a box to send my Xbox back in... I got second box today. The very day my Xbox was delivered and signed for at the repair facility...

What makes this even more pathetic (and almost laughable) as that this box belongs to the original reference number which was supposed to have been closed...

I have to wonder if they have any idea what they are doing... yeah, you're right, probably NOT

That is all. End of line.

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<span style="font-weight: bold">I say:</span> Anyway, that's my Star Wars equivilent of a saga... perhaps my first three episodes were better than what Lucas wrote... (Yes, I went there...)....