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Ars Technica: Microsoft needs to fix Customer Service, too

Posted Feb 13, 2007 at 10:09AM EST by QJ Staff

Listed in: Xbox 360 Tags: customer service, Microsoft, Watchdog

BBC's "Watchdog" is investigating the Rings of Death, and the BBC TV show may just be one of many PR problems Microsoft may have to fend with. Ars Technica's Opposable Thumbs bites from another direction: Customer Service itself. The short story is: Customer Service is not being of service to our broken Xboxes.

The article was triggered by the Ars author's receipt of so many letters from people's experiences with MS Customer Support. The last straw was a "well-written letter" from a Northrop Grumman manager who explains that the entire tedium of talking to Customer Service, and going about fulfilling their requirements (for example, requiring him to fax in a bank statement) is costing him time and money - either of his paid leave or weekends.

"This is terrible to hear," the Ars author writes. "Your company's product has cost me time and money," said the Northrop Grumman manager.

Compelling argument or the Whaambulance Emo Edition? There is that cliche about losers only whining about their best (don't ask what winners do), but an Xbox 360 is an investment. Consider the multiple experiences of people cycling through new Xbox 360 consoles or sending them back to Microsoft for warranty repairs (and paying for the boxes). Now add the BBC investigation.

Now you can really see that these allegations of a Byzantine customer service don't exactly become a welcome sight for PR.

Said the Ars author:

Fix this. Hire better people for the phones. Stop treating people like you think they're trying to rip you off. Get replacement systems to people faster, and do it in a way that doesn't inconvenience them. Remember that this is YOUR problem, Microsoft, and not the customer's.

Cost-efficiencies of replacement vs. warranties aside, remember the two parts of the Hippocratic Oath. (a) First do no harm. And (b) a patient that b***hes to you is still your patient.

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Customer service in general is bad. I'm sure there are a few companies that are ok. But i've worked for a few centers that cater to some very large clients and the people they hired for customer service are in the same class as those that work in fast food.

The pay is marginally better, but it's never a job you care about, and is usually something you do just to get by for a few months until a real job comes along...or a semi-better call center

But, lot's of it is the companies fault as well, for not hiring enough people so there is constantly people "waiting in line" which makes them angry, very low pay, and most importantly stupid ass procedures that you are not allowed to deviate from, lest you receive a bad review and lose your job, and they are always things that make customers angry...go figure...

anyways, that's my rant...I try to avoid dealing with customer service, of any type, for this exact reason, and I know how it works

# My side — Guest 2007-02-13 16:58

My 360 broke last week and I have to sent it back. The first person that I spoke to could barely speak english so I called back to try to get someone else. The second agent was almost as bad but I managed to get a address for shipping. The amount of information you receive is minimal and you end up feeling like you are missing something. If you try to ask questions, you end up getting more confuse.

I now have to ship my 360 to a place that does'nt even have a phone number and the rest of the process is just a guessing game.

The main problem is that the agents over the phones are just there to give you an adresse for your shipment. That's it, no more then that. I'm sure it's a simple process but I, the customer, am left in the dark hoping I did everything right and it all goes well.

I should not feel like It's a huge burden to ask simple questions with simple answers. I'm not returning a hairdryer at Wallmart, I expect better service and communication.

# ... — Guest 2007-02-14 08:58

you're an idiot. actually, probably a sony fanboy making up that story to make microsoft look bad.

now i don't know about how it is in the u.k. (where this story comes from), but i sent my u.s. xbox 360 back 4 days ago to get fixed (ring of death). i called, talked to an american, negotiated for a free game for the trouble (pgr 3), got my info and hung up. 10 minutes total. today i got my postage-paid box to ship it back in. it's in the mail.

my point isn't that microsoft doesn't have a problem with 360s failing. they do, everyone knows that, even fanboys don't deny it. my point is that they handle the problems about as well as anyone could ask for. i had a launch system last over a year. that's longer than my first ps2. it sucks but all the beating it into the ground to make microsoft look bad is getting tired. they're handling the remainder of the problem as effectively as humanly possible. what else do you want?

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