Brand new Titanfall bundle - broken disc drive and poorly-constructed controller, and ...

@Ganner87 I am still waiting, and yet again they had a zombie convince me that EVERYTHING was fixed and that they fixed an error in the data form. Lies and more lies, they PROMISED for about the 200th time that the order would be fixed in a day and I would
get a new xbox one in 5 days. They have not even fixed the service order and it has been 2 days, no advocacy team, same old shenanigans as before they had a convincing zombie(support member) lie to me. I finally thought they had a decent worker on their hands
but I guess not! I will make sure every single person I know does not buy an xbox one. There goes $500 per customer Microsoft, your gonna lose a lot more money thank you thought you would gain by purposely sending out faulty consoles after all!

 

Since I last posted I've had my console exchanged through Zavvi. However the replacement is faulty too - the fan makes a high-pitched whining noise, certain parts of certain games hang while loading and the controller rarely connects. I've tried to arrange
an advance exchange through MS but, just like they couldn't do it when I had problems with my first console (because the Titanfall bundle 'wasn't on the system') they can't do it now either - whenever I try to arrange an advance exchange the agent says that
it's been processed fine but then when I look on myservice.xbox.com the order has the status 'Order Cancellation Failed'. MS suggested that this was due to my bank flagging the charge as suspicious, but when I phoned my bank they told me that that wasn't the
case, and since then it's happened another five times. My issue has been forwarded to the 'advocacy team' (which, in my experience is the shadowy zone where complaints go to die) and I can expect to hear back from them in a week. Even if they do get back to
me thought (which they won't) this will be FIVE WEEKS AFTER I FIRST BOUGHT MY CONSOLE. Buying an Xbox One has literally caused me more stress and frustration than buying a house did!

 

I write more as a Solicitor than an Ambassador here, but your first port of call should always be the retailer.

I'm not going to bore with the intricacies here, but in short: You have a contract for sale with the person/company that sold you the product. If the product is not fit for purpose you bought it for, you have the right to have it replaced or refunded. There's
no option about for Zavvi or anyone else about that, it's basic consumer rights.

You also have a right under warranty for a repair by Microsoft, but that's really a second line and just not necessary (or the best option)with a newly bought product. As you've seen warranty repairs don't provide an instant result like contractual returns
do.

Take it back to the seller. Get your money back. Buy a new one from somewhere else (just in case that supplier got a bad batch, or the batch was damaged in transit etc).

 

This is the exact reason i buy from "Game". If anything goes wrong (which it has ... 1 x headset and 1 x controller ) i go in and explain that Microsoft support said i should return the broken stuff to the retailer and they should provide a replacement ,
which they did both times without any issues at all.

 

@admittingFaun82 I'm having the same issue I bought the titanfall launch bundle through amazon and never used the disc drive cause I just downloaded stuff then 31 days after purchase I bought a game disc and it didn't work sense I was one day out of my return
policy I contacted MS and tried the advanced exchange. Then when I logged in to check the status it said order cancellation failed. When I contacted them no one knew what it meant except for the fact that a new unit wouldn't be shipped to me. They eventually
blamed my bank but when I called my bank they said they approved all the charges and even still saw them posted on my account. I confirmed that I had been charged and called back in. Now they said that they can't even refund it to process another order and
so they are raising it to a tech team to look at but that they only communicate via email so that I'll have to just wait for them to do something. So this thread isn't very reassuring.

 

HooksaN is correct. If you buy something in the UK, your contract is with the retailer. Some will try and fob you off and tell you to call the manufacturer, but legally it is the retailer's responsibility.

For the best protection in the UK, buy online and use a credit card if the goods are over £100. That gives you the following protection: -

1. Sale of Goods Act. The goods have to be fit for purpose and last a reasonable amount of time. If a fault develops in the first 6 months the goods will be considered to be inherently faulty and it's up to the retailer to prove otherwise. Even though retailers
such as Amazon only have a 30 day return policy on their website, that does not mean that you can't return faulty goods after 30 days. Where goods arrive faulty or damaged, the retailer must cover the return shipping costs too.

2. Distance Selling Regulations. If you buy online, you can change your mind and return the goods for a full refund without giving a reason as long as you do so within 7 days of receiving them. You are allowed to examine the goods, which means you're allowed
to open the box, so a retailer should not insist that goods still be sealed. There are a few exceptions, such as buying computer software that can be copied, but most things are covered by this.

3. Consumer Credit Act. If you buy something over £100 and pay with a credit card, the credit card company shares equal liability with the retailer, so if, for example, the retailer goes out of business and you can't get a refund/repair/replacement from
them, the credit card company is liable to take care of you.

Sometimes you will have an issue with a retailer trying to fob you off, but you have to stand your ground. The law is the law.

In some cases, you might prefer to contact the manufacturer and have them sort your issues out, but that's your choice - not something the retailer can force upon you.

 

Thank you HooksaN and SigmaTheDJ for your input and advice - useful stuff to know.

Unfortunately in this case I'm not prepared to go to Zavvi to try and return it again, as last time I returned my Xbox One to them it took them three 'attempts' to turn up at the correct address to collect it. Obviously, Microsoft aren't being any more helpful,
but I thought that if I could at least get to the point of getting an advance exchange then at least that process would be smooth and easy to deal with. But no, I couldn't even get to that point, and it's all (as the support person I spoke to admitted) a matter
of serial numbers not matching on the system. (As has been explained, the Titanfall consoles aren't 'on the system' and they don't have any equivalent stock to replace them with. Apparently it's not relevant that the 'Titanfall console' is literally the same
piece of hardware as the standard Xbox One console - they won't exchange a 'Titanfall console' for a standard one because the serial numbers won't let them.)

I work in a university library, and if one of our students had a problem with their library account that meant that they couldn't take out books or access other parts of the library service, we'd figure something else out and come up with an ad-hoc solution
even if it was inconvenient for us, rather than prioritising the integrity of 'the system' over providing the promised service to the customer. But clearly, to Microsoft 'the system' is more important than the customer. I just cannot believe how inflexible
they've been with me over this.

I've contacted support 50+ times by phone, by Twitter and by chat over the last month, and although some of the staff I've spoken to have been very polite and well-meaning, they've not had the power to actually *do* anything. Except refer my case to the
shadowy 'advocacy team' who, if I'm lucky, will send me one email asking me to do something I've already mentioned that I've tried, and then fail to respond to my reply. It is literally the worst customer service experience I've had in my life.

In any case, I'm having to do a standard repair now, which will be much less convenient for me but *** me right? I'm only the customer.

 

Check your private messages.

 

@SigmaTheDJ

Surely buying over the counter is the best choice (ie Game) at least you can stand your ground and not budge till you get what you want. Unfortunately for me I bought mine on my catalogue and they have a 28day return policy and I've had problems with the
PSU, kinect and console since late Jan. I've used both the advanced exchange and standard repair and the send to return time is within 2weeks. I think its bad for people in this thread to have Microsoft tell them spiel about serial no.s etc when ur willing
to give ur credit card details and basically order a new unit or accessory. Just for example, had a faulty powerpack for HP laptop, I ring them up they send me a new one, no fuss, no heartache, job done

 

P.S. The advanced exchange for the first faulty kinect was next day delivery.

 

Hey gang! First, I agree with the idea of swapping it with the retailer first (it's always possible to arrange pickup/delivery from your place of business, I know lots of folks who do that) but I completely understand if you've had bad experiences with Zavvi.

Aside from that, to everyone experiencing this issue, if Xbox Support doesn't seem to have the resources or info available to help, I suggest you try the "escalated support" number - this is a support line that gets past the initial lower-level support techs
that may not be as well-informed. You will STILL need your original support reference number from the first time you called. So, the process is:

1. Call "regular" support (which you have already done numerous times)

2. Make note of your support reference #

3. Call 866–506–3826 (the "escalated support" number) and enter your ref # to speak to a higher-tier tech who can and should (hopefully) be able to move the process along for you!

Hope this helps!

 

Just buy yourself a new console from a high street retailer, and return the faulty item back to Zavvi for a refund. This is exactly what I have done, and if I'd have waited for a replacement console from Zavvi I'd have been waiting 3 weeks as this is how
long it took them to see the returned item and refund!

Both Zavvi and MS were absolutely incapable and incompetent throughout my issues - and I FULLY agree with the poster above who stated that MS didn't seem arsed about the customer service issues involved as their system was more important.

Absolutely bonkers.

 

Thanks everyone for your replies and advice. As I mentioned in my last post, I went ahead and got a standard repair. But guess what? This one's broken too! So this is my third console that hasn't worked correctly! Initially the problem was that it kept ejecting
discs at random (and trying to eject discs even when there weren't any in the drive) but after a while that seemed to stop happening so I was quite relieved. But then I found that when a disc is inserted into the console the disc drive is constantly 'working'
reading the disc, even though the game is installed and I'm not even playing it. So it looks like this one is going back now too, and I'll be on my FOURTH than two months after having purchased my first console.

I have now literally spent many, many times over the amount of time I've spent playing Xbox One contacting support, and at this point I'm incredibly *** off. If they're still unable to process an advance exchange for me I'm going to be fuming, as while I
was prepared to settle for a regular repair last time this has gone on for far too long now. Hopefully having the direct number for the escalated support people (thanks Jaymo1978) will help, but based on my experience with the 'advocacy team' so far, I doubt
it.

 

Jaymo1978 - Unfortunately the number you provided doesn't work. Is it because it's a US number or something? (I'm in the UK.)

 

Hmm... It is a U.S. number, but I thought it would still work - did you include the +1 country code?