Officially done with Xbox Live.

[Worgen]

This is why I'm not stupid enough to activate auto-renew. At least you got most of your money back.

unless you buy gold time with a card its always set to auto renew

 

[Azaraxzealot]

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.

fine. then go play the playstation 3 onli-
OH YEAH!
...
tough break bro.

sorry, that was too funny not to say

OT: yes, that situation is fucked up, and unforgivable, besides, i only very rarely get gold in small, cheap increments so that i can play co-op with my girlfriend. well, there's always the PC, the Playstation, and the Wii, and MANY other devices you can play multiplayer with that don't charge you an EXORBITANT amount of money.

believe me, you're not missing much.

 

[Nautical Honors Society]

.

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.

Sorry man that sucks, I have never had a problem with live.

I do disagree with you though. It isn't over priced, it is moderated, and it has fine service.

Also dude just because we can afford $50 a year (A YEAR! That is $.13 a day, if you own a PS3 you can afford that) doesn't mean we are fanboys.

 

[DustyDrB]

Mine will run out in a few months. I only subscribed because they had a deal that made it super cheap back in October or...around that time, and I liked watching Netflix from my TV with it. Now I have a PS3 and don't need Live Gold. I've played games online with it for a total of maybe two hours (I think that's why my reputation is 3 out of 5 stars. I'm not really sure how that works. Or maybe people rated me low because I suckm

I've actually played my Wii online for much (much much) more than my 360. Never had any problems with it either.

 

[Azure-Supernova]

Unless you wreck the shit out of people online I'd take your money and ditch.

Never encountered Micro$oft's customer service first hand, but it can't be any worse than Alienware's.

 

[mjc0961]

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.

What? That's absolutely silly. That sounds more like a glitch if anything. Disconnecting your internet should not be read as your subscription being canceled, and I doubt it does on a regular basis, or there would be a lot more stories of this happening to people considering how long Xbox Live has been around. Hell, I've unplugged my 360's internet many times and never got charged anything for it. It was probably a glitch of some kind and some customer service guy either didn't know what he was talking about or was bullshitting you to try and cover up their mistake. Very odd indeed. At least you got your money back though, so that's something.

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.

Damn. If only SCEA's repair/replacement process was as awesome as SCEE's (hell, if only a lot of other companies were that awesome). We get the "we'll send you a box, you pack up the console in the box and send it to us, and when we get it we'll send you a different console" routine. My blu-ray drive broke, and it took 2-3 weeks to get a repaired console back.

 

[VanQ]

If more people on PSN had headsets and you could use cross game chat, I would have forsaken my XBox and XBLive years ago. Until then, XBL and Steam it is.

 

[mjc0961]

Also WHY DO YOU HAVE YOUR CREDIT CARD STORED?!

Because the only way to get it unstored is to call up customer service. If you have multiple cards, you can delete some of them online, but last time I used it, it required you to keep one on file and to get rid of the last one you had to call.

Also, everyone, please. We get it, PSN is down. The first instance of the "PSN is down" joke was predicable and unfunny. We don't need more.

 

[donkeydrop]

The OP is leaving out something important. The day in question must have been the last day of his subscription, which is also why he couldn't get a subscription without paying at least one of the $60 charges.

 

[Rayne870]

Yeah talk to your bank for sure, and talk to microsoft again, let them know you arent going to sit there and take it. try contacting the better business bureau and see what they can offer in terms of advice.

Edit: totally missed the part where you got your money back...somehow I missed it the first time and only saw it when reading other peoples comments.

I would say cool off and take a break from live. If you still feel the way you do later about it then by all means dont resub. It is good to hear you got refunded though.

 

[darkcommanderq]

Also WHY DO YOU HAVE YOUR CREDIT CARD STORED?!

Because the only way to get it unstored is to call up customer service. If you have multiple cards, you can delete some of them online, but last time I used it, it required you to keep one on file and to get rid of the last one you had to call.

Also, everyone, please. We get it, PSN is down. The first instance of the "PSN is down" joke was predicable and unfunny. We don't need more.

I find it hilarious that the OP is complaining about XBL (which in his case he has a right to do), but then goes on to say hes ready to jump on board with PS3 and the nonexistence multiplayer they have right now.

At least the OP got his money back from Microsoft. What if some peoples credit cards were STOLEN in this whole sony fiasco? You wont even know till it comes up at an indeterminate date.
Xbox live isnt perfect, but at least it works.

 

[JET1971]

I dont like the idea of locked in subscription based services for consoles. one of the reasons i am PC only for gaming. I believe that if you have no choice then it should be free. but then again i buy a game like BF2 and can play it online 8 years later, and its the same for any game i choose to play thats on PC unless its like WOW where its always pay to play.*

I suggest you console players demand more, and really use PC gaming as your baseline! the console makers are out for your money, overpriced low end hardware, locked software, forced into 1 network, delayed patches... I do enjoy gaming on a console but this gen consoles and whats possible with what they allow... No they dont get my money.

*edit, I can play WOW anytime i want too and not spend a penny for the subscription. its just not an official server and doesnt have the updates or support. so even if WOW shuts the servers off WOWtards can still get the fix! and i dont like WOW...

 

[tthor]

yay, viva la resistance! down with xbox!

note, i actually don't want xbox to stop existing. all the homophobic gaybashers should have someplace to game in peace...

 

[InfiniteSingularity]

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

I know this isn't an XBL v PSN topic, but it's the best way to explain:

The Xbox Live service is better than PSN because you pay for it - Microsoft actually does shit to improve the service and make it actually work because they get money for it; it's an incentive for M$ to put some effort into it. It's not a shitty free service like PSN, where Sony doesn't care about it because they get no money for it - they only make it free to make you buy a PS3, and then realise the PSN is shit but it's too late because you've already given them your money for your console, and they'll do fuck all to help you because there's no money in it for them. Yes, XBL costs money - like $80 a year, which is around $1.50 a week, which is around 25c a day - less then your standard arcade machines per use. Which is worth it, because M$ actually puts some effort into making it worthwhile. So it's not very much to pay at all for a system which is of actual quality (Also if it costs money, it means there are much less people who make multiple accounts to boost them/whatever)

 

[lapan]

I only use subscription cards. It costs me the same and saves me many troubles.

 

[pyramid head grape]

Hell to all online multi player games.

 

[Baneat]

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).

Actually phones use the 3g to increase the refresh rate and accuracy of the GPS signal, I think it's called assisted GPS, so even if you have the maps pre-loaded you'll be on the net. It's not needed for a car GPS because the accuracy needed isn't so great, but my phone can tell me the direction pointed, what side of a side-street I'm standing on, and is accurate to around 1m radius of my position. When the assistance is removed, that tanks down to a 15m radius, and updates less often.

OT: People call PSN shit, what's wrong with it? So far all I've noticed is fewer advertisements than my Live! service

Oh, minus the part that shows it's not working >.>

 

[Blood Countess]

I only use subscription cards. It costs me the same and saves me many troubles.

This is how I would do it if I decided to pay for the live service which I don't. I play WoW and only buy a month time at a time from their site, no auto renew cause I know that would be a bad idea

 

[pyramid head grape]

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

I know this isn't an XBL v PSN topic, but it's the best way to explain:

The Xbox Live service is better than PSN because you pay for it - Microsoft actually does shit to improve the service and make it actually work because they get money for it; it's an incentive for M$ to put some effort into it. It's not a shitty free service like PSN, where Sony doesn't care about it because they get no money for it - they only make it free to make you buy a PS3, and then realise the PSN is shit but it's too late because you've already given them your money for your console, and they'll do fuck all to help you because there's no money in it for them. Yes, XBL costs money - like $80 a year, which is around $1.50 a week, which is around 25c a day - less then your standard arcade machines per use. Which is worth it, because M$ actually puts some effort into making it worthwhile. So it's not very much to pay at all for a system which is of actual quality (Also if it costs money, it means there are much less people who make multiple accounts to boost them/whatever)

To be fair both are crap LOLz because I am never on them nowadays anyway.
Xbox live Improves?? I stopped using my Xbox live (around 6 months ago) because off no improvement LOLz like this one update were 9GB are permanently stolen form your Hard drive for future updates I never play online games this is a massive kick in the balls Also if you only got a 20GB hard drive

 

[Sensenmann]

I don't bother with XBL. They're making gamers pay to use their internet connection.