I don't have my XBox 360 console back in my own hands yet, and I doubt I'll be playing Halo 3 at home anytime soon. I've noticed a LOT of quirky things going on with the status of my repair on service.xbox.com, and have experienced a significant amount of frustration while talking to service representatives when trying to clear up the confusion. Here's the approximate series of events that have happened so far:
- XBox 360 console breaks
- I promptly receive a shipping box from XBox in about 3 days
- I send my console in and UPS states it is delivered on 9/12/2007
- I check the status of my repair online at service.xbox.com and note that it has arrived at the service center
- I check the service site again and notice that the serial number of my console under repair has changed.
- I call customer service to find out why the serial number has changed. I am told that my console may have been "swapped" with a repaired/new one, but they aren't allowed to tell me for sure. I am also told that my console, or a working/repaired one, will arrive at my house on 9/20/2007 or 9/21/2007.
- According to service.xbox.com, I no longer have any XBox devices registered with my Live ID. I'm sorry, did I just lose my Xbox 360?
- The 20th and 21st pass. I receive an email on 9/23/2007 saying that my console has arrived at the repair center.
- On 9/23, I call customer service to find out why I was just notified that the device arrived at the repair center, when in fact it was delivered on 9/12/2007. I also ask about why I was told that I would receive it by 9/21/2007 and it hasn't arrived.
- On 9/23, I am told that my console will arrive within three business days. I am given a UPS tracking number to track the shipment.
- I check the tracking number on UPS.com, and it is the old tracking number from the original shipping box that was sent to my house prior to 9/12.
- I call customer service back on 9/23 and tell them that I was given the incorrect tracking number for my shipment. I am told that my console has not been shipped and that it is still at the repair center. There is no tracking number. The rep does not know when my console will be shipped. I wanted to ask about why service.xbox.com says that I no longer have any devices, but what's the use?
Thanks Microsoft for being incompetent, secretive, and providing a poor service web site. I really don't care about the fact that my XBox 360 broke. What I can't stand is the facade of being able to "check your repair status online", and the incompetent, poorly-trained service reps who can't give me a straight story on what my repair status is. You'd think that they're all looking at the same screen and all have the same information.
I understand that Microsoft is being blown out of the water right now with XBox 360 repairs. But that doesn't mean that their customers have to be given incorrect information. At the very least, do not allow customers to gain any information about their repair status if you can't guarantee it will be reliable. It's clear that either the reps are idiots or they have been trained very poorly.
I have no idea when I'll get my console back. If I call customer service again, I just need to be more direct with my questions. "When will I get my console back?" should be adequate. At least you'd think so.