Advance replacement/exchange program hidden fees

Was wondering if this is common:

I got a brand new XBox One on Christmas day, turned out to have a bad Blu-ray drive. Chatting with Microsoft support they offered the Advance Exchange/Replacement. As the retailer may take a while to process the return, I took the offer. They took my credit
card number for a $400 hold which I am fine with. But I now see a charge on my card for shipping - this was never mentioned to me.

I took the issue up with the cust service and they threw the fine print at me. Even spoke with the supervisor - they apologized if the agent had not taken my consent for the charge, but said they are not able to reverse the charge. They will review the chat
transcripts and work to improve their process for future customers. I did not get copies of my chat transcripts and they will not share those with me.

I am new to the Xbox world and I am considering returning my console to the retailer - is the product quality and customer service really poor all round, or am I just having a freak bad start? At this point I have spent more time on chats with support, setting
up etc. rather than actual gaming.

:)

 

Pointless Advance Replacement Program

I had a disk reading issue, my Xbox one didn't want to read discs and made a grinding sound. So I looked it up and it was an issue affecting some people. So i decided to get it fixed. In this process I found the advanced replacement program, cool i get sent
a new Xbox and then send mine in so I don't lose gaming time. Awesome, or so I thought. I set everything up, had a $400 hold on my card until I sent my old Xbox in. The day comes and I get my replacement console. And behold it has an error code. Still not
mad yet, but after over 2 hours with customer support and trying the offline update tool 4 different times to no use, I get told my issues is raised to tier 3 and I'd be contacted. I still was told to send my old Xbox in otherwise the automatic system would
still charge my credit card. Ok I'm getting a little angry, I did this process so I could still play. Well after 6 days, when FEDEX has confirmation of delivery of my package to the service department 2 days later, I still hadn't heard anything. So I call
customer support yet again and get told that my order isn't closed out because it hasn't been scanned in, oh and also the escalation team decided my problem isn't tier three, sent it back to the hardware people and told me I have to wait till this order is
closed out and do another advance replacement to get the faulty Xbox I was sent repaired, and I was not informed about any of this. If I hadn't called customer support I wouldn't have know. Now I'm mad. To top this off, after an hour on the phone, the exact
words of the customer service representative and again by his floor supervisor was "you're just going to have to wait". I have supported Xbox for many years now and never had an issue. Now I have put a hold on my bank account of $400, I don't have my old Xbox
that I could play digital downloads on, have a faulty Xbox sent to me by Microsoft, and get treated ridiculously bad by customer support. I any one reads this I HIGHLY RECOMMEND
NOT USING this process.

 

Xbox support is the worst

If you’ve purchased a game on disc and it doesn’t install on your console, you can exchange it within 90 days of purchase under the terms and conditions of the Microsoft Game Disc Exchange Program

For more info:
https://support.xbox.com/en-US/games/troubleshooting/disc-replacement-program

 

As far as the advanced exchange goes, that is something that yes, they do - we know about it here on the forums, but for folks who don't spend a lot of time here, that is something that the chat and phone reps definitely should be saying. They charge you
advance shipping on the console and send it right away, so you get your console sooner. If no one says that, it would be impossible for you to know.

As far as the all-around experience, I can say you are definitely having some bad luck, it isn't "the norm." Now, phone support has been hit and miss for some people, but the support here on the forums is great, and the console itself is fantastic. There
are the usual disc drive or hard drive issues, but compared to the 360 Red Ring era, the problems are much less. Surprisingly, I've heard that the expected failure rate with any new technology is roughly 2%-3%. So, across, for example, 1 million sales, it
isn't out of the ordinary to have some sort of issue with around 30,000 units. Seems high to me, but that's the factor I've heard, and it seems as though the One is well within that percentage. That doesn't make it any easier for a person experiencing the
problem, though, and the support folks have a responsibility you aren't hit with any additional surprises when you're trying to get something fixed for which you've spent hard-earned money.

Sorry you've had a bumpy start, but don't lose hope - the X1 is a great system, and I think once you get past this initial unpleasantness, you'll really have a lot of fun. Also, don't forget we're here for you on the forums to help with things like setup
issues or any random problem into which you might run, most times we can help you work through it without having to contact support. Good luck, and have fun!

 

I can say that I have done the advanced option and the guy I was doing it through did say there was like $15.00 charge for shipping. Sorry that the rep didn't mention that to you.

 

Thanks for the responses. I was just beginning to get hooked to my replacement Xbox One when it got bricked. It started with some freezes and I did the usual stuff I could find on the forums and with support (hdmi cable/port changes, cache clean, persistent
storage, hard reset). I am a newbie gamer and really had not been pushing the console to overheat or filling up my disk. At this point it seems to power on, but Kinect does not show lie signs and TV is blank. Support offered to set me up for a warranty replacement
and gave me free avatar coupon. Good thing the shipping is free for regular warranty repair. I am using the advance replacement again however as my little fella needs it soon for his birthday bash.

Still wondering if I am one of the few unlucky ones to have two major failures within 30 days - or is it a systemic issue. I noticed that my previous replacement box had a much lower serial number and wondering if they are sending out refurbished boxes from
the ones that failed back in 2013. More likelihood that those old refurbs would fail again. I have assembled PCs in the past with fairly cheap components, and I did not have any major failures on them.

Well this time the rep did clearly mention the $15 charge for the advance replacement - so that is a good sign.

 

I had such an issue with Customer support, I paid the drop-off expedited shipping option for a in warranty repair just due to the fact that on the site a box with be provided for you free of charge. Well I went to FedEx and they said that I have to pay for
the box which is another $15 on top of the shipping. I called the customer support and the guy on there told me to take it to another FedEx store, 15 minutes further away than the original one. So I did thinking the issue was resolved, but that FedEx store
said the exact same thing. I called customer support again and the guy was totally rude so I asked to speak to a supervisor, and he hung up on me. I requested another call and waited about 45 minutes for a call back, finally I was able to speak to a supervisor
and she told me that the website is outdated and has been that way for sometime, and then just hung up on me not asking me if there was anything else she could do. I would think that a technology company could update their website. For this reason only will
I never recommend a Microsoft product to anyone. I wouldn't wish the experience I had on my worst enemy. In the end it took half a week to be told that the website was wrong and about 4 hours on the phone.