Cannot get support from XBOX, cannot process warranty return, cannot get someone on the phone

I've never seen anything like this, particularly from a major company. It's clear there's a problem with an expensive product (https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...ing-off/a0207446-d1c8-4ecd-9c81-4a1fcfe6941a) that is experienced by many people. I tend to agree with the assumptions in this linked thread that the power supply is faulty based on the crash behavior (almost always happens before the application's or OS's error handling can trigger). People are reaching out for support and can't get it (my notes above and a lot of chatter on twitter and the discussion forums about not being able to get support). I have a warranty order open (I even paid to expedite it, so beyond the money I spent for the system, I've paid for expedited warranty support) and I can't get a return label or in contact with anyone who can get the label to me. I'm not exactly clear on what I'm supposed to do next. Before the "independent advisors" post all of the xbox support call-back and chat links again, please read the note - none of them work.

I happen to have a Playstation 5 and, coincidentally, I had to send it in for warranty repair. There's a known issue with the disc reader. I was able to call Sony, get a tech on the phone, walk through some troubleshooting, and then get a warranty order created. As soon as the warranty order was created on my Playstation account, I received an email with tracking and a return label. They shipped me a return box. I printed the label, applied it to the box and shipped it. I received emails when they detected the shipment, when they recevied, when it was assigned to a tech for repair and when it was shipped back to me (with tracking). The process took forever (like 30 days) but they were in communication the entire time. It was painless.

I get that hardware fails... but when you take $500 from someone and offer a warranty (and especially if they pay for expedited warranty service) you need to handle you business and support the customer. Especially if you are as big and profitable as Microsoft.

I'm surprised The Verge or similar haven't picked up on the product and support issues yet. Feels like another "Red Ring of Death" debacle emerging. Your post (thank you for replying) has me concerned that this doesn't end if/when I ever get this warranty return processed. Discouraging.

Yeah discouraging for sure. Like I said, I finally got a hold of someone and they have approved a replacement. It's the same process as the repair, ship it back, replacement is issued and sent to me. Expedited the same as you. But in their defense(and I'll admit, I'm not not holding my breathe here) they waived the fee on expedited service and the tech informed me they will discuss compensation once I receive the replacement and ensure it's working correctly, his words were "this could free game pass ultimate or an Xbox gift card". Again though, I have yet to receive the shipping label, even though I've received the email with the ticket number and told the label has been created.

When I get home from work I'm going to go through the whole process again and note what I had to do to get the label, and then post here so hopefully that'll help you. I'll also say this. Just like with you're PlayStation, with the exception of having to dig n search for help getting the shipping label, the tech I spoke with originally was with the whole way. His name was Jonathon, he emailed me when the tracking number was created, I was notified when they received the console, when it started getting worked on(though I wasn't told who was working on it or what was done), received another email when it shipped, and then he emailed me again to tell me FedEx confirmed it was delivered to me and asked if the problem had been resolved. The only reason I'm not dealing with him now is because when I realized the console was having the same issues, it was very close to the time their tech support closed and I probably replied to his email after he left for the day(this is an assumption). I ended up calling cause I was pissed and that's when I ended up going from department to department until I found someone who would help.

Like you said, it's very discouraging. But I also think options are limited because of supply shortages. I imagine even repairs are difficult for the same reason. We will see what happens and I'll update you later with what I had to do to get that label.

No, you can't. None of the request contact paths on Microsoft or XBox work. See my original post.

Here's what you get when you go to the link you just shared:





From original post:

I went to xbox.com/support. There are no links to email or phone numbers available. When I try to use the sign-in process to get to a call-back or live chat, I get a blank web page. I've tried on Safari and Chrome on a mac. I've also tried on Edge and Firefox on a PC. In each case, I get a blank page.

I found a support numner on line, and it says to go to xbox.com/help. This takes me to a log-in page. After log-in, I get a blank web page with a URL that has contact-us/IVR in it. I've tried that on all four browsers across two computers. I only get a blank web page.

I tried to reply to the email I received, and I get a bounce back saying it's an unmonitored box

Only 1 thread was deleted and it was because you already has a post open.

This has been going on for at least 24 hours for quit a few people, with zero acknowledgement of the problem from Microsoft. As this is also stonewalling people from submitting refund requests, and some of the posts are even being deleted, it's certainly starting to appear intentional.