Officially done with Xbox Live.

[DaHero]

Recently I moved to a new state, a few days ago my flatmates went back to my home state to get the rest of our stuff we could not get in the move. When they came back we had a lot of furniture, so during the move we had to disconnect the internet several times to move around the storage boxes and furniture and the like.

We celebrate the night with a little SSBB and then a little while later me and my friend played some Gears. A day later I check my checking account and see a grand total of $240 missing from my account. I check the statement and apparently my Live subscription was cancelled and reinstated several times. Upon calling Microsoft for answers, after about an hour we discover that because we disconnected the internet Live read it as me cancelling my subscription and that "I" should have told them when I was going to disconnect. As if it were my fault.

Has this happened to anyone else? Am I out of line to say this is absolute shit? We got our money back yes, but we still did not get our subscription reinstated. I am no console fanboy but this is truly the final straw. I will be sticking to PC and PS3 for my online pay for now on. Xbox Live has always been a shitty, unmoderated, overpriced, mediocre service and I refuse to pay for this shit anymore.

And to all those console fanboys who completely miss the point of this thread who say, "Well, I have a job, so $60 a year is no big deal to me." That might be true, but when you are getting better service from something that is free, rather than something you pay for, something is seriously wrong.

Well you can always play on the PSN...oh wait...

So what PC games do you play? If you're short some I can help find some great free-to-play titles.

 

[Vault Girl]

Recently I moved to a new state, a few days ago my flatmates went back to my home state to get the rest of our stuff we could not get in the move. When they came back we had a lot of furniture, so during the move we had to disconnect the internet several times to move around the storage boxes and furniture and the like.

We celebrate the night with a little SSBB and then a little while later me and my friend played some Gears. A day later I check my checking account and see a grand total of $240 missing from my account. I check the statement and apparently my Live subscription was cancelled and reinstated several times. Upon calling Microsoft for answers, after about an hour we discover that because we disconnected the internet Live read it as me cancelling my subscription and that "I" should have told them when I was going to disconnect. As if it were my fault.

Has this happened to anyone else? Am I out of line to say this is absolute shit? We got our money back yes, but we still did not get our subscription reinstated. I am no console fanboy but this is truly the final straw. I will be sticking to PC and PS3 for my online pay for now on. Xbox Live has always been a shitty, unmoderated, overpriced, mediocre service and I refuse to pay for this shit anymore.

And to all those console fanboys who completely miss the point of this thread who say, "Well, I have a job, so $60 a year is no big deal to me." That might be true, but when you are getting better service from something that is free, rather than something you pay for, something is seriously wrong.

I think you have every right be angry. I'm not a console Fan girl but i have a PS3 and obviously right now the PSN has some problems. Its annoying, but really this is the first instance where the PS3 has let me down in terms of service. I have a friend who has a Xbox and he complains quite a bit about the service Xbox Live gives. Instances where he as been overcharged, banned, things have gone missing from his libary and they dont seem to care, stuff like that.


the argument that "It doesn't bother me cus i have a job" is pretty redundant. just because you have a job doesn't mean it pisses you off when money goes missing like that. Its money from a hard earned wage damnit!

I don't think its a case of which online service is better/which console is better. its a case of how that service treats you as a consumer. PSN has mostly been pretty sweet, so i can't complain and i'm a playstation plus subscriber. So apart from the network being down right nw, never had a problem with them with connection/service/payment or anything

 

[GiantRaven]

Out of interest, what does paying for live actually get you? I understand that's how you get the multiplayer but aren't the player's themselves required to start/host servers? What exactly does Microsoft provide in exchange for people's money?

 

[deathstrikesquirrel]

buy the subscription card as I am always disconnecting and reconnecting my Xbox (only have one ethernet cable ;_ and they can't charge me since they don't have any card information~ =P (at Microsoft)

 

[Zantos]

I use the cards, gives them less oppertunity to mess with my accounts. I've never had a problem with the Xbox Live service, but sucks that you did. Still, good that you got your money back.

 

[Misho-]

Out of interest, what does paying for live actually get you? I understand that's how you get the multiplayer but aren't the player's themselves required to start/host servers? What exactly does Microsoft provide in exchange for people's money?

That's one question I've always ask myself. I guess they let you play online "hosting" the service and taking money for it. In the PSN is the same deal but they don't charge you. Now with the Playstation Plus thing you pay but get little stuff (not worth it) in discounts or for free.
In this case I would say fuck the Xbox Live, get your money back (I think I saw that you did get it back) and move to another place for your entertaiment for now. Too bad we only have like 2 options when it comes to online play. 3 if you count the PC :S

 

[Weaver]

How does it know you've unsubscribed from your ISP?

 

[Verlander]

I used the GPS for 3 days

Um, depends on what you mean by "using the GPS". If you're using preloaded software with no kind of subscription (e.g. tomtom) there shouldn't be any internet usage. If you're using something that streams the maps off the internet (e.g. google maps) that's where the internet usage comes in ¬¬.

If you weren't, something else on your phone was nomming the 'nets. The GPS data itself comes from satellites (and base stations in certain countries).

That's the thing, it's a GPS programme, but it has a feature which connects to local news sites to update traffic reports, and change the journey accordingly. Something which you can't turn off. Nokia is a **** of a company

 

[MostlyHarmless]

I gave up on it when I realized that I couldn't use Netflix because my Gold ran out. So that's $20 for 3 months and $10 a month for Netflix. I just my laptop. Haven't touched my Xbox for a while.

 

[JWRosser]

Oh dear...I haven't logged on to Xbox Live in about 3 weeks due to not having a wireless adapter. I shall quickly go onto the website and log on because that's awful!

 

[The Wykydtron]

Subscription cards FTW!

Yeah that's all i've got to say on the matter...

 

[Hybridwolf]

I'm damned well lucky from the sounds of it, I have to replace my 360 twice, and each time the customer service was reasonable. I could at least understand them and they were slightly more sympathetic then most services I've had the joys to experience. I've never been over charged, but I don't use the automatic system and I find the system is good enough. So all I can say is, you got your money back, you're alterntive console online system is in a rotten mess and lets face it, steam is propely the best in this situation. That, or go buy the subscription cards and don't leave it in the hands of machines.

 

[Veldt Falsetto]

Microshaft's customer service is as appalling as the accents of their inexplicably located and poorly paid staff are indecipherable. The whole thing is ridiculous; even getting through to a human being is next to impossible. The only bonus is that it's afree number. There is no excuse for being treated like this at all. If there was an alternative I'd ditch XBL, i'm fuck tired myself of having M$ fingers in my wallet every time i turn the console one.

Unless you play Halo and Gears, PS3 and PC are both good working alternatives, infact my ps3 blu ray disk drive broke on the same day my friend broke his bank card.

We both rang on the same day, I rang and the Sony customer services treated me like a normal person and said, we'll deliver a new Ps3 tomorrow morning, straight away, just bag up your old one and we'll do a straight exchange and guided me through cancelling my games subscriptions and things too.

The bank...treated him like an idiot, oh and he didn't get a new card for a week...

My playstation was brought the next morning, 10 am.

 

[deathstrikesquirrel]

Microshaft's customer service is as appalling as the accents of their inexplicably located and poorly paid staff are indecipherable. The whole thing is ridiculous; even getting through to a human being is next to impossible. The only bonus is that it's afree number. There is no excuse for being treated like this at all. If there was an alternative I'd ditch XBL, i'm fuck tired myself of having M$ fingers in my wallet every time i turn the console one.

Unless you play Halo and Gears, PS3 and PC are both good working alternatives, infact my ps3 blu ray disk drive broke on the same day my friend broke his bank card.

We both rang on the same day, I rang and the Sony customer services treated me like a normal person and said, we'll deliver a new Ps3 tomorrow morning, straight away, just bag up your old one and we'll do a straight exchange and guided me through cancelling my games subscriptions and things too.

The bank...treated him like an idiot, oh and he didn't get a new card for a week...

My playstation was brought the next morning, 10 am.

to be fair, breaking your bank card accidentally is no easy feat. If his bank card had stopped working from him swiping too hard or carrying with his cell phone, they probably would have treated him with respect but breaking it in half... I can understand why they might be a taaaaaaaaaaad condescending.

 

[darkcommanderq]

Well good luck playing on the PSN because its still down. What do you want an 'overpriced' 'mediocre' service, or no service at all.

Also WHY DO YOU HAVE YOUR CREDIT CARD STORED?! Its only once a year to renew just pay when you need to. I have no idea WTF you did, but it does sound like you did something silly. You pay once for the account fee for the year and thats it. I have no idea how you got charged several times.

As for PC, DO IT!!!

 

[PlasmaFrog]

It happened to me as well, fortunately though, it was only eigthy dollars. We were having ISP conflicts that resulted in Microsoft racking up a bill. They, naturally with them being Microsoft, denied all claims of any fault on their part and insisted that it was my ISP provides fault, telling me that I should take it up with them.

It's Microsoft, the guys who refused to give any form of compensation when thousands of X-Box systems were lost to the red ring of death, a mistake that was entirely on their part due to faulty system handling and poorly designed heatsink and fanning systems.

F*** you Microsoft, F*** you. The only reason why you still exist is because you're a major player in the entertainment and computing industry.

 

[bushwhacker2k]

What? Call them back, there's no way they just went "well you should have given us a little call when you were disconnecting "

I haven't had any problems with Live but I don't believe they'd yank money that easily, give them another call instead of using it as an excuse to bash something. GET YOUR MONEY BACK! >:O

 

[OutforEC]

Anything with 'service' in the title is a dead giveaway that sometimes things don't go as planned. This is true in all cases; PC, Xbox, PS, and any other 'service' you can think of. Yeah, it's annoying. Yeah, it shouldn't happen. But it does. However, if you look at the big picture, it *really* isn't that critical, they (meaning the CS rep you spoke with) tried to do right without putting her job in jeopardy (and if you've ever worked a call center, being canned is literally a phone-call away...), so just be glad that it didn't go nearly as badly as it could've.