XBox Series S controller overheating and lost support return

Hi,

Some help appreciated please as I've literally come to a dead end now with my retailer and Microsoft.

New XBox Series S delivered in November and unpackaged for the first time as a gift for kids in December. New controller overheated within seconds of the supplied batteries being inserted. Checked battery configuration - all correct - tried 2 further sets of brand new batteries and had exactly the same problem - batteries and battery compartment overheated to the point the batteries start to burst from their packaging and too hot to the touch - clearly a safety concern. Obviously removed the batteries very quickly and used an old XBox One controller instead in the meantime.

Anyway, contacted "Game" the retailer from whom we purchased the console who are a complete waste of time, lockdown or no lockdown. Took the faulty controller into the store who said they couldn't assist as it was purchased from Game online and not in the store, had no replacement in any case due to demand, and told us we needed to contact Game support. Fair enough, so what followed was repeated emails to Game support were either unanswered or answered with a stock reply "requesting photos" which were duly sent and ignored, no response via Facebook messenger or Twitter. You can't speak to anyone. Anyway, back to store, still not interested and suggested I contact Microsoft. I couldn't return the whole Series S + controller because obviously they have no replacement supply.



Anyway, the controller device warranty was registered on Microsoft so we logged a service request with them under the controller replacement process. Eventually got the service request registered and received a postage label from Microsoft to return the faulty controller via UPS back to Microsoft. Packed it up and posted it off. Happy days.

But after a couple of weeks we checked the service request status on Microsoft website for updates, which said it hadn't yet been received by them. So checked the UPS tracking status for the package, which had visited a couple of depots before saying it's whereabouts is unknown for the past 2 weeks and a claim had been issued. i.e. it's lost in transit. Although I was the sender of the package, Microsoft is the originator/source so UPS won't entertain speaking to me or process any claim on my behalf.

Unless I'm missing something, there appears to be no way of contacting Microsoft support to follow up on my service request to alert them that the package has been lost, or even that the controller was pretty dangerous in the first place and could be safety concern (which is, frankly, more the issue). You just go round in endless loops on the robot chat, phone lines don't get through to anybody and they're not available for controller support, and there's no email support available to contact anybody about the lost package or overheating controller. Nor do I even have the faulty controller to exchange anywhere! Absolutely ridiculous.

Any guidance is greatly appreciated!

Regards,

Dean

:)