Schrodinger's Xbox One

Picture the scene, the sun is shining, it's my birthday, my son is playing at my feet with his wooden blocks. I unpack my lovely shiny new Xbox One, bought for me my beautiful, kind, understanding wife. It boots up, it looks so pretty, I dance over to the
disc slot and I insert a game... CRUUUNCH CRUUUUNNNNNNNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH, CLUUUNNKKKKKKK......

Happy birthday, your present from Microsoft is an all expenses paid trip into our returns process...

A quick bit of Googling shows up that this is a super common problem and Microsoft are sorting it out quick smart and by means of an apology they are offering a free game to those affected so they can 'Keep Playing'. Great customer service I think... how
wrong I was...

So the expedited return process is actually something I effectively have to underwrite with a credit card (no mention of that in all of the newspaper articles), but hey MS are taking a risk sending out a console before getting the other one back, so I can
see their point there.

Here's the problem, the free 'Keep Playing' game was for a limited time only (also never mentioned in any article I can find), I have the exact same problem as a stack of people who bought their console a few months before me, but when chatting to support
there is nothing for me by way of an apology. To add insult to injury I am told on more than one occasion that I should be thankful for the Advance Exchange programme as a normal repair would take 2 to 3 weeks, this is apparently meeting me half-way.

You have got to be kidding me? I should be thankful that Microsoft are willing to try and replace the thing that they sold me that is broken before I get it out of the box?

It's weird if you think about it, if there had been no 'Keep Playing' offer, I probably wouldn't be here moaning, but instead I now feel like a 2nd class customer, just because my birthday is in June not November.

If Microsoft know there are still potentially broken consoles out there and they are letting them be sold. Why are the people buying them not being treated in the same way as the customers who have already fallen for this devilish trap?

Feel pretty let down (and I don't even really want any of the games that were given out as free downloads), it's more a matter of principle.

On a side note, [Mod Removed] from customer support is very nice.

:)

 

Xbox Ambassador Issues

I am able to log into the Ambassadors.xbox.com website and answer chats and review gamertags and gain XP; I am at Level 4. However, my tenure appears to be frozen, I have no Laurel Wreath, and I cannot access TheAmbassy forum area (despite it being referenced
in the Level 3 Enforcement Loot - "Ambassador Playdates"). At present, it is clear to me that being active does not increase my tenure so I wonder whether being inactive might do so. The tenure is what is stopping me progressing at the moment.

More importantly, I am concerned that there may be important information that I am missing or incorrectly advising because I am unaware of clarifications that may exist in TheAmbassy .

How does one get this resolved?

I feel like schrodinger's ambassador cat - both one & yet not - but I cannot be sure until someone actually looks!

 

Xbox One Late Pre Order

also these 2;

Xbox One Day One Edition Console with Ryse and Dual Charging Station | Microsoft Xbox One | SimplyGames

Xbox One Day One Edition Console with Battlefield 4 and Dual Charging Station | Microsoft Xbox One | SimplyGames

 

I understand your frustration. My console was being super loud when it was installing a game....almost like a turbine engine sound. I opted for the advance exchange, but luckily for me, it only took about 11 total days to get the replacement. My advice
is to hang in there. While some consoles out there are defective, stay with Xbox. The Xbox One is an amazing console (when it works.)

I read a thread awhile back mentioning a temporary fix. He said to turn the Xbox upside down and tap the bottom of it. It worked for him. Don't bang on it, though, as Microsoft might notice and not repair your console. I never had this problem, so do
it on your discretion only...

 

I do understand your frustration at the fact that you did not get the free game. The main reason that it was discontinued, as it was a limited time thing, only mentioned by xbox. It was not meant to cause any issues with people by having it cancelled. The
reason it was cancelled was due to the fact that like any great thing most company's do, there are always that large group of people, who abuse the amazing privilege for their own gain. The advanced exchange places that charge as it is sending you a working
system to keep you playing and enjoying the experience the Xbox One. That money holds that xbox for you, ensuring you get it as quickly as possible, If by any chance, it gets charged before you can send the console back. You can call phone support or even
chat in to chat support and they can escalate the situation. That way you will get it refunded so you will get your money and your xbox back. They understand that it can be irritating, but it is a method to prevent someone from scamming like they did with
other privileges such as the free games that were temporarily given out.

 

Believe me, I feel the sting there. I am currently on my third console right now. To be fair the second one was more or less my fault, but I understand what you're saying.

It's awesome Riley was nice and was able to keep it as positive as it could have been, considering the circumstances. Having been a first adopter several times myself I can tell you from experience that what it really comes down to is the quality of the
support you receive when problem does arise. And they will arise, with sometimes alarming frequency. Just 9 short years ago there was the infamous Red Ring of Death that plagued the first production run models of the Xbox 360. In the first year alone I
went through 5 360's. Each time was a standard exchange option that involved me waiting for the box, boxing it up, shipping it in, waiting for a repair/swap, and then waiting for it to get back to me. That first year I maybe saw 4 months of actual play time.
The rest of the time it was busted or in transit.

So the new Advanced Exchange option, while steep, is a very refreshing option. It gets to you a lot faster, you don't have to worry about finding a box (as they don't send them anymore they just send an email with a shipping label), and you're sure to get
a new unit instead of maybe just getting it repaired, or worse yet, they send it back with a note saying they couldn't find anything wrong.

The keep them playing promotion ended up being something that became very abused. People were calling up and setting up repair orders for units and just sending back the new ones because all they wanted was the free game. So like anything bad apple typically
does, they spoiled it for the bunch. It's not a matter of MS not caring, it's a matter of protecting themselves and their assets. And while it may not seem like much to you or I, every one of those free codes that was given out isn't free. MS has to pay
the developer a kickback for every code they generated. So you can see why they'd want to put the kybosh on that.

I will stop my rant now, but I hope some of this shed some light on the inner workings.

 

Yeah I totally understand the reasoning behind the charge on the advance exchange program, I don't have a problem with that at all.

I was also a victim or the RROD back in the day with the XBOX360 (although mine was well out of warranty by the time it happened).

I guess the problem here is just that the disc drive being broken is so debilitating to the gaming experience, when you buy a 4 game bundle with the 3 games you really want to play all being physical copies.

What should have been an amazing exciting experience of finally getting my hands on the console and playing with it, has turned out to be massively frustrating and a real let down.

The free game offer was a lovely offer of good faith from Microsoft that genuinely impressed me when I heard about it in terms of a good customer service experience (and like you say I appreciate that it wasn't free to MS), so then finding out it had been
discontinued (for whatever reason - and I am sure that people abusing it played a massive part!) has just left me even further deflated by the whole experience.

I guess my major gripe is that 5 or so years ago my circumstances were different and I had a lot of free time, but with a 14 month old in the house sneaking time to slap on my headphones and play on my console is one of my precious luxuries. It has just
been tainted a bit by this whole episode. Plus it's the first time the missus has bought me anything like this as a present and she is kind of angry that it was broken right out of the box. Tough to tell her 'that's what we get for buying early'.

There's bigger problems in this world for sure and I will get over it, just feel let down a bit I guess.