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MS Enhances Console Warranty too
While earlier today we reported on MS offering replacement discs for recent games they published, we're now giving you the heads up for their new warranty policy on the console itself. First off, they're supplying free shipping both ways should your console call it quits. Now, if you send in a console after the warranty has expired, you'll have to still pay for repairs, but will get another year's warranty with it. On top of that, the console you get sent back, within five business days, will be the one you sent, for the most part. Finally, the customer service representatives will be providing a much better experience for consumers should they contact MS with an issue. Sounds like Microsoft is taking action and showing they want to be known for the way they treat those who aren't getting the best results from their 360. You happy to hear this, or is it about damn time?
Wii Warm Up: Where do you shop?
We know lots of gamers who have pretty adamant stances either for or against certain retail outlets, so we thought it might be an appropriate bone upon which we could throw down this fine morning. Let's not pull any punches. Where do you shop -- and what stores will you avoid unless there is absolutely no alternative? Share your experiences, the good and the bad, and hey ... you can throw in some ugly if you feel so inclined.
Miis, Virtual Console games transfered to replacement Wii
When we sent a malfunctioning Wii back to Nintendo, the company returned a crisp, new Wii with all of our Mii data copied over. Additionally, Nintendo transfered our Virtual Console points to the new system, and we could re-download previous VC purchases for free. (We also had to re-download the other, always-free channels.)While the VC transfer isn't news -- CVG noted it late last year -- more than a few Joystiq staffers were surprised. Nintendo deserves some credit for the smooth process, but we expected this to happen; we'd be angry if the company ate the Wii Points with the hardware exchange. The Mii transfer was a bigger bonus, preserving our 2040-rated tennis pro and our beloved Big Poppa.This exchange is just one customer service replacement without incident. (The glitchy Wii was a personal system, so we went though the regular customer support channels instead of calling PR contacts.) What are your stories?See also: Ring of Death: An Xbox 360 story -- Part 1Ring of Death: An Xbox 360 story -- Part 2
A heart-warming tale of Customer Service gone right
You know, it's so rare to hear about great customer service. It is, it really is. That's why this story of one individual's problem with the Wii's optical disc drive is such a great story to read, not only for us fanboys, but for anyone who's ever had a horrible time dealing with customer service. So what makes this story so special?Well, upon calling in with the problem, the Nintendo CSR (customer service rep) found out that the individual in question lived in Redmond and provided directions to Nintendo's local repair center to take the console. Upon arriving, it only took a mere 25 minutes for the individual's Miis, Wii Points and save data to be transferred over to a new Wii. Nice, pleasant customer service. Ain't it grand?[Thanks Kian!]
The Big Box Project: Broken 360 in a big box
For some of us, we've experienced a bricked Xbox 360 and had to call the semi-helpful customer support people. During launch Microsoft kindly shipped out a box, paid for shipping both ways, and were cheerful if you had a defective 360. All was right in the universe. But now you have to supply the box and pay for the shipping ... dirty devils. The creator of the Big Box Project has a similar story, he too had a broken 360 and wasn't happy about having to pay for the box and shipping. So, he decided to turn the tables on Microsoft. Customer service promised that they'd use the exact same box sent to them to ship back a fixed Xbox 360. Now he is raising money to send his 360 (and possibly others) in a ginormous container so Microsoft has to pay big bucks to get it back to him. You know, shipping freight size containers costs lots of cash.And we ask, what's your opinion on this little project? Is his plan going to work, should Microsoft use the same crate sent to them, or is this one big money making hoax? Vent, discuss, and speak your mind.[Thanks, dpcough]
Customer service stories
Mike Antonucci of the San Jose Mercury News describes his recent customer service interactions on his company blog. He contacted Comcast and Sony about a problem with a PS3, and Microsoft for another unspecified issue. With Microsoft, after a lot of time on hold, he got stuck listening to someone with limited English skills perform an unhelpful script. Comcast and Sony yielded better results, clearing up his issue.While these three results are one person's anecdotes, do you have any other customer service stories to add to the fire? Which companies have been helpful, and which wasted your time?
Blizzard -- Holiday support hours
Tseric announced today the Blizzard support hours for the upcoming holiday long weekend. For those of you who can't access the official forums, the post is re-printed below and continues after the break. What have your experiences been like with Blizzard's support team, both in-game and through their email and support forums? I've personally only used their Mac support forums, where the team has been incredibly responsive to the userbase. Let us know how Blizzard's been treating you, and if you think their support hours will have any affect on your gaming experience.From the forums:The Warcraft Series (including World of Warcraft) Battle.net Open Technical Support Forum Live Technical Support will be available for a half-day this coming Friday, December 22th from 9:00AM-3:30PM Pacific Standard Time (PST) and will be closed on Monday, December 25th due to the national holiday. Please note that while the Technical Support department will be unavailable, our GM Department will be available at all hours throughout the holiday season.
Live iPod/iTunes Phone Support
At Slate, Timothy Noah tracked down an actual customer service telephone number for iTunes. Here's the dish: With your iPod serial number in-hand, call 1-800-275-2273, Apple Care Service and Support. Enter 70 at the recorded greeting. If rejected, enter 70 again. When prompted for a product name, say "iTunes". When prompted, say either "Macintosh" or "Windows" depending on the type of computer you're using. When asked if you're calling on behalf of a school, say "no". (Or "yes", if you are, you know, calling on behalf of a school.) After all these steps, Noah promises you a live person at the other end.
Atari customers getting testy
Atari's reputation for solid customer support (relative to say, 2KSports) is being put to the test in their community forums where fans are complaining about car trouble in Test Drive Unlimited, particularly: No sure-fire way to run into friends/clans members in free roam, plus The car trade feature has been disabled as a temp fix to a data loss problem, which effectively disabled an achievment. According to reader Aragom, Atari has acknowledged these issues and ultimately promised a patch in November, but the extended silence didn't relieve the road rage? These guys were the gold standard for customer service at the TLU release, when we praised their prompt response to complaints and feedback-friendly approach. Is this as good as it gets for the pissed and the patchless, or are people being just a little too testy with Atari?[Thanks Aragom]
Do you love your cable guy?
"Love" might be a strong word, generally if we need to have someone work on our system we're just happy if they show up on time, do their work and leave with no traces they were ever there...other than perfectly working HDTV service. Despite that somewhat tenuous relationship, this New York Times article is focusing on the part of the service beyond adding more channels and extra features, customer service. From the techs coming to the house or the callcenters, now that many people can get TV from their phone company or phone and internet from their cable company all of them claim to go the extra mile to keep customers happy. Of course there is the occasional disastrous video of a sleepy tech but while most service calls are a bit more low key, a bad experience can definitely lead customers to look elsewhere with more competitors fighting for their attention.[Via digg]
Poll results: (Insert game) killed my 360!
The results from last week's vote are in. In case you were indisposed, the topic of said vote was whether or not you've had any problems with your 360. Everyone has read the widespread reports that the 360 is a bug riddled, heat generating fire hazard, and we thought 360 Fanboy should weigh in on the topic, too -- especially considering the recent reports of Dead Rising zombifying our favorite console. The overall result? The majority of our readers -- 62% -- have a working 360 with no problems whatsoever. Add the votes with minor problems and the total goes up to 74%. The rest of the numbers is where things get tricky. Looking purely at the numbers, our sample of defective 360s is much higher than the single digit defect rates published by Microsoft -- 723 readers have had to replace a 360 at least once, totaling about 20% of our overall poll. Keep in mind that this is absolutely not a representative poll. It's a non-scientific poll that's relatively easy to skew. Still, even if these numbers are bogus, they have the power to create a negative perception. Whether or not Microsoft decides to recall any 360s -- as some of our readers have suggested -- one wonders if they should at least make some sort of statement to assuage the fears of their users. The comments generated varied from sob stories to utter disbelief that so many 360s fail. Unfortunately, people with hardware problems are much more likely to comment on them than people without, which in turn raises the overall perception. One constant in the thread was that once problems start, it's a sign that your 360 may be on the downslope. Also, should you find yourself on the phone with Microsoft, make your opinion known, it may (or may not) get you a break on repairing your box -- this guy even managed to get three free wireless controls. And finally, I'd just like to add that I have now clocked many hours in Dead Rising without a hitch. Our hearts go out to those of you with dead 360s, and we hope for a speedy repair.
Apple turns the most customer service frowns upside down
I couldn't resist the headline, but can you blame me? This tech stuff can be a doozie on consumers, but it seems that Apple just received the highest rankings in a customer support satisfaction survey released by the ACSI (American Customer Satisfaction Index). This 2006 second quarter report found Apple's industry-leading satisfaction rating on the rise to 83%, up 2.5% from last year (funny: in my student adventures, an 83% leading the class is typically considered a bad thing). The industry overall saw a slow increase in satisfaction, with Dell leaping over 5% to their 78% mark, and even HP and (surprisingly) Gateway seeing mild improvements.Check out the full list of results - which includes plenty of other industries like automotive and even search engines - for more details of which companies are putting smiles on their customer's faces.
Chromehounds and the Ring of Death
Unfortunate reader Tim has an update on his Chromehounds problem (read part one of his sad tale here):I recently told you guys about chromehounds killing my box. After reading the comments and your reaction, I blew it off as a coincedence. It recently started working again for no reason. As I had already paid for the repair and was awaiting a box to send MS my shiny broken 360, I decided to try and put chromehounds in again. I got through about 30 seconds of the opening cinematic and BLAM! the screen turned into a strange grid and there was a blaring beep. I turned off my xbox, and when I started it again, Lo and behold: the accursed "ring of death" was back.Double coincidence?
Yet another Xbox 360 petition
This one wants Microsoft to extend the warranty. They're also asking people to file complaints with the Better Business Bureau if your box crapped out in 3 months and a day.
Sprint opens, closes data leak on customer service line
It sure feels like Sprint usually just can't buy a break when it comes to quality customer service. This time around, JD Power's sometimes basement-dwellers have been called out for an automated line that was just a little too ready and willing to dish out customer data to anyone who called in. Basically, you'd call the line, enter any Sprint customer's number of your choosing, and promptly be asked to verify the customer's compu-spoken name and home address --among other juicy details -- while calling another number would spit out their bill balance. Understandably, this raised a ruckus in the user community; to their credit, Sprint patched the system rather quickly and issued a statement to that effect -- but not without going into full CYA mode, pointing out that "this process operated well within the bounds of applicable federal and state privacy laws."
New Customer Service Forum
Questions are frequently asked on the official forums that only receive a response saying that it's an issue that needs to be reported to a GM in-game rather than on the forums. Well, now people have a place to ask such questions on the forums, where everyone can see them - the customer service forum. The forum is frequented by Blizzard GMs and is littered with official Blizzard responses. There are already some helpful sticky posts here - one listing solutions to common problems and another displaying this week's most common issues. Technical issues should still posted about in the technical support forum (or the Mac technical support forum) and the bug report forum remains the best place to report specific bugs, but the customer service forum provides a place to discuss in-game issues that are not technical in nature.
