Microsoft unwilling/unable to delete Live ID & Gamertag

I spent 2 hours on the phone today, having to call back after call drops (perfect signal here) 3 times. All I want to do is delete a Live.com email address, as well as a gamertag associated with it.

The problem is that I purchased a Windows phone for the first time (Nokia Lumia 1520). Out the box, I mistakenly opened a new Live ID email account, which consequently created a default gamertag for my Xbox 360. Obviously, I didn't intend this, and I would
much prefer to view and track my gamertag that I created in 2006 (). Evidently, the revolutionary software of deleting an email account off of this device has not been invented yet (this was after calling Nokia). Nokia recommends I simply factory
restart the phone, which is ludicrous. Not only would that wipe my phone, but even if I back it up, that would mean that this Live ID that I DO NOT want would also be backed up, and hence, re-installed again.

So. That leaves one last option. To actually have Microsoft delete that Live ID. Well, unfortunately that doesn't work. After an hour plus on the phone, their walkthrough took me in an endless cycle of ineptitude and inability to delete that email account.
This is uncanny.

In fact, the representative kept insisting I reset my phone. The rep needed several reminders that that does not dismiss the fact that MICROSOFT CANNOT delete an undesired email account.

I asked almost 6 times to escalate this to a supervisor. Finally the rep got one. The supervisor had no clue why the email address would not delete, and stated it would move up the chain to a specialist, which would take up to 5-6 days to process.

I asked the supervisor to provide ANY act of compensation for this inconvenience. As a longtime customer, anything would have sufficed as an act of good faith..The supervisor denied being able to authorize that. I didn't even receive an apology.

This is sad. Due to this nonsense and lack of customer appreciation & user friendlines, I will most probably opt for a PS4 due to this. And also get rid of this Windows phone and go back to Android or Apple.

:)

 

Can't sign into xbox.com.au

I've contacted Customer Support and this problem has been solved.

They were unable to restored my Windows LIVE ID, and we either unwilling or unable to transfer my Marketplace purchases to another gamertag.

I have cancelled my Gold subscription, removed all credit card details and wiped the profile from my console.

 

HALO 5: GUARDIANS CAMPAIGN (SOLO) NOT RESUMING

If you are unwilling or unable to do the delete/reinstall please try deleting your gamertag from the console, then power cycle and re-add the gamertag. If that doesn't work then you may have to try my suggestion above.

 

Hey man, sorry to hear about the ordeal you've been through already regarding the issue. They are right, however. Going to need to reset the phone. Even if they could delete your Live account, the phone would just error out until you reset it. I would
recommend backing up any info you want to save, then do a reset. Set up the phone with the same Microsoft Account email you use for your primary Gamertag, then redownload the data you backed up. That should resolve the issue.

 

Thank you for your response. However, that diverts attention from my main concern, which is:

Why Microsoft refuses to delete a Live.com email address.

Is there something they're not telling? Such as, is this part of the TOU?

I doubt it, if it was part of the TOU to disable the cancellation of accounts, then why give ppl this illusion of false steps to cancel? If it is not an illusion, then they are just VERY BAD instructions.

I hope someone at Microsoft can respond here and explain why an email address/gamertag cannot be deleted. If not, I feel inclined to seriously consider taking my business, and gaming hobby, to another provider.

 

Xbox accounts are typically not deleted because they are platforms for 1st and 3rd party content licenses, mostly permanent fixtures in Microsoft's billing systems. You can, however, move Gamertags from one Microsoft Account email to another. As the licensing
platforms are affixed to the Xbox profile, this would leave the Microsoft Account available for closure. This is can potentially be a lengthy process given the specific circumstances you've named, which is why it wasn't the primary suggestion I made. Honestly,
the quickest and easiest way to get it resolved is to go through the phone reset process and attach your primary Microsoft Account to the phone, then just let this new Microsoft Account float in the background. UNLESS you want to keep the new Microsoft Account.
In that case, you'd need to move your new Gamertag onto a dummy email account, and then move your primary Gamertag onto the newly available Microsoft Account you already have registered to the phone.

 

(Weird, it duplicated my post. Apologies.)

 

I understand that Xbox shares information with 3rd parties. But at the end of the day, Xbox still OWNS gamertags. So all of this licensing jargon and red tape is Xbox's problem, and should not be the customer's problem.

I understand you have provided an option to this issue, I get that. Thank you.

But stop for one second, and must listen to that, from a customers perspective (or any perspective for that matter):

"In order to avoid reencountering an undeletable Xbox gamertag, please wipe your phone."

Sir, if that's "user-friendly" and good business from Microsoft's perspective, then I already know what type of quality to expect moving forward.

Thanks again. If you encounter any other advice on this, please post back to share.

 

A customer's perspective is my only perspective. That's all I am, myself. I hear you though, it seems like things like this should be easy enough. I'm just giving you the reasons I've come to understand myself. It would be nice if the phones simply had
a "disconnect from Microsoft Account" feature somewhere in the settings. If you're trying to let Microsoft know that you'd like this feature to be present on Windows Phone, I might recommend making a post in the Wishlist/Feedback forums, because that is a
good idea, and it should be made known by all those with Windows Phones who would like this feature.

Also, my reference to 3rd parties was regarding license ownership. Like when you buy a game from the marketplace that is licensed from a publisher other than Microsoft.

 

[quote user="XDinoTheGreekX"]

Thank you for your response. However, that diverts attention from my main concern, which is:

Why Microsoft refuses to delete a Live.com email address.

Is there something they're not telling? Such as, is this part of the TOU?

I doubt it, if it was part of the TOU to disable the cancellation of accounts, then why give ppl this illusion of false steps to cancel? If it is not an illusion, then they are just VERY BAD instructions.

I hope someone at Microsoft can respond here and explain why an email address/gamertag cannot be deleted. If not, I feel inclined to seriously consider taking my business, and gaming hobby, to another provider.

[/quote]

So what you are really saying is you created a new email address and GT that you wont ever use, and instead of doing a reset you are freaked out that you cant close the account? And you can close an account by going to

Account.live.com You cannot delete the gamertag but you should be able to close the account easily provided it has no memberships attached to the account

 

Klokkwork, thank you for your time and attention. x24hrs2livex, all of which you ask and suggest has been covered here. Thanks.

 

you can cancel an account and once 180 days has past then that account will close so long as you don't sign into it, with having to reset the phone that is simple, this needs to be done because the phone is fully setup with an account and a hard reset would
be required to set the phone up with another account, gamertags do not get deleted though, only in batches when Microsoft does them once every few decades lol.

 

Something's seriously wrong here, with this information.

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First of all, setting up a Live email address does NOT set up a new gamertag. That's not accurate at all. YOU have to establish the connection between the Live account and your gamertag, and this can ONLY be done through either the Xbox console or the Smartglass
app.

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But don't worry. You can fix this. Do what Nokia says and restore your phone back to factory default. Save ONLY your music and photos, and be sure to list the apps you installed. DO NOT save any phone files.

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Once the phone has restarted, assign your account that is on your Xbox Live account NOW. This is your email address, so the association is already there. Once you verify the setup, you should have your gamertag of XDinoTheGreekX.

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As for the new Live email address, simply ignore it.

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By the way: you can also re-associate your existing Gamertag email address with the new Live email address, if you want.

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That's as best as I can do to assist. Good luck.

 

^^ Upon selecting 'Create New Live ID' on the phone boot up, it assigns you a personal Xbox Gamertag. For example, it assigned me 'Player1234567' or something to that effect. So a) I was not aware that I could not associate my real Gamertag with a new Live
ID. b) I figured worst case scenario, I could simply delete that Live ID off the phone..However it was not clear to me that this would only be possible through an entire phone reset. And some mentioned, hey, just back everything up. Well, guess where you're
told your back up is stored at? Yep. The Live ID you initially created So go figure. And as I now put on my tin foil hat, I will add that this is a clever way to stranglehold ppl into an email account, all while siphoning all of their personal data to
a 'secure' cloud storage. *Takes off tinfoil hat.. Gentlemen, I hope this has appeased your skepticism on this debacle. And not for nothing, at least Nokia concurred that it will be addressed that an email account cannot be removed without resetting the
phone. Then again, didn't Microsoft just buy Nokia? LOL.

 

Oh, my mistake.

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I had assumed when he was on the phone, he was speaking with Microsoft.

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Never did the sign up on the phone.

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My apologies.