Yeah, because the heads of M$ don't like to be told about how (badly) their employees are doing from the mouthes of the consumers. =O

Heh, if they'd just mean what they say about taking responsibility to ensure that every 360 owner has a fantastic experience we wouldn't NEED executive carpet bomb attacks.

Pointless warning from MS though - most people would find tracking down Gates' active contact info harder than using the appropriate channels. Prohibitively so.

I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank Kotaku for the MS exec's emails when I had my 360 issues. I went through the appropriate channels, but was butting heads when I felt my 5th repair (under extended warranty) justified a new (not refurbished) console.

So yes, it worked, but I agree you should try every other option before bothering the big guys, otherwise it will lose effectiveness.

If this is the same story I'm thinking of, the guy had already replaced his Xbox 4 or 5 times by going through the "appropriate escalation point". MS will have room to start making these kinds of requests once they get their shit ironed out.

lol thats so awesome. <3 gate

ah, forgot to clarifiy, I DID get a new one! :)

See, Microsoft's response to this story hinges on one single problem - their customer service dept has no clue what they're doing. I say until they sort out the customer service issues, everyone should take their problems directly to any MS executive they can get in contact with.

Bill Gates only works at Microsoft part-time now. He's focused more on global health. It would be appropriate to email him about the bunk malaria vaccine you got.

Told you guys, /sigh.

How much you wanna bet Gates is actually a lot cooler with helping out on messed up XBOX issues than Microsoft is with him doing it? Also, as editor of The Consumerist, I question why Microsoft didn't send this statement to us directly. Probably because we would have mocked them savagely.

As much as Microsoft's response sounds like bullshit, there is a little merit to it. If as many people went to Bill Gates as they did through the normal channels, then, yeah, the service would still suck exactly as much.

Actually, no. There is only one Bill Gates. Not an army of customer service people. So it would actually suck a lot more.

He seems like a nice guy though. I'm sure he doesn't mind.

The thing is the customer service is just plain rude sometimes, I had to wait over 2 months for my Xbox to come back.

I was asking for compensation from the supervisor and he said he didn't have to give me anything and wouldn't then later he offers me something. He just plain lied to me.

Its just stupid and unfair, there should be more money by MS put into fixing the problem once and for all -.-

Bill's always seemed like a nice guy to me. That, and he donates billions a year to charity.

I wonder what convinced him to make sure this guy a new console. It was a nice gesture, but really won't help the other people who are on their fifth or sixth console.

Sorry for the double post but Bill Gates actually respects his customers and will get things done.

I wonder what Steve Jobs would say if you send him a complaint over your iPhone.

@Ben Popken: Ouchie. Coulda had a story out of this one, but instead it ends up here. Burn.

As for Gates and M$oft, they're a huge corporation. There's only so much you can expect. If any other large multinational had a keystone product failure rate as high as the 360, their response would be the same at best and more likely much worse.

Go Bill!

Bill must have pounded on some dude's head for bit and he sent out this bitchy ass letter.

What do you expect? Their customer service sucks. You have to go outside normal channels to get anything done. I've had 2 bad experiences with them. One time, a Gamestop employee I knew a little ended up swapping my system for me (I didn't even ask him to- I just explained the situation) because MS was being a pain.

Let me see if I can translate:

"Bill Gates or Microsoft executives are not an appropriate escalation point for customer service issues. Customers experiencing issues with their Xbox 360 console should contact Xbox Customer Service. Our customer service team is well equipped to ensure that the repair process goes smoothly."

Stop calling Bill with your tech support questions! Please call our "customer service" line and wait on hold for an hour and a half before we have some idiot pick up the phone. They will then proceed to tell you your system is out of warranty and refuse to help you.

"That said, Microsoft stands behind its products and takes responsibility to ensure that every Xbox 360 console owner continues to have a fantastic gaming experience."

Unless of course you have installed third party hardware, like an extra fan, or a NYKO Intercooler, which breaks your warranty. Even if it's our updates that brick your system, we will point the finger at Nyko for all eternity. You are not getting your $400 back!

"We are continually improving the design and performance of the Xbox 360 consoles to decrease the likelihood that a customer will experience the three flashing red lights. In the event they do, they are covered for three years under our extended warranty."

We are continually trying to fix our epic fuckup with the 360 by rushing it out the door to beat Sony. If we do ever manage to completely obliterate the RRoD, rest assured that you will not be getting one of those replacement 360s should yours break. We are perfectly happy sending you refurbished crap until you get sick of us. Thanks for calling Micro$oft.

@deadlizard: (Credit to Yahtzee) He'd probably tell you to swallow some razorwire, pull it out the other end, and start flossing.

I'm on my 5th 360 and the last three replacements led me to go higher up and it was the only way to get satisfaction. Microsoft's XBox customer service sucks and there is no exception. The regular Microsoft customer service is quite good actually but apparently we're all little kids playing games so we need to be treated as such. The next time my 360 goes down I won't be going through the regular channels as I now have a point person in escalations and will only deal with him or someone who will speak to me honestly without a script.

My launch console broke down 3 weeks ago.
Red rings, It lasted over 2 years which is I figure is pretty good concidering... anyways
Called Xbox support, the two days after DHL rang my door and picked it up. This was a friday, Thursday the week after the same guy from DHL delivered back to me with a completely new motherboard.
So Im not complaining, god knows how much electronics I've had that hasnt lasted 2 years

If I was Bill Gates I'd send them the fucking CIA instead of a 360.

@deadlizard: He would send you a pamphlet showing all the beautiful trinkets available at your local Apple Store. No, really.

Bill Gates is a fan of The Shins? Interesting.

I call bullshit. The article on the Consumerist's website says that Bill Gates email is billg@microsoft.com. Do you REaLLY think that his email address would be THAT freakin' easy to figure out? What a joke. I bet he doesn't even have an email address there.

Wait so I shouln't send this email asking how to create a text box in word straight to Bill Gates?

If I paid $500 dollars for a product, you damn well better believe I will go as far as contacting the founder when it breaks - and it's their fault via faulty design. =)

The perfect followup story:

Kotaku Readers to M$FT: Don't Tell Gamers How To Resolve Their Purchased Faulty 360 Equipment Problems

It was a little stunning to learn today that at least one disgruntled Microsoft PR person had decided to skip the common sense when dealing with a bunch of burnt out 360s and instead went straight to Kotaku to cry about it. Even more stunning, The anonymous MSFT employee apparently bitched and moaned about some customer getting the problem sorted out in record time (24 hours).

While Consumerist reader, and Xbox 360 owner, Anonymous MSFT PR worker was delighted with the outcome, it seems THE GAMERS were not so much. Today they've dropped us a friendly reply to remind everyone at MSFT that gamers really aren't your go-to method for your faulty Red Rings of Death resoltions:

FROM THE GAMERS:
***Bill Gates or Microsoft executives are an appropriate escalation point for customer service issues if the equipment issues are not able to be resolved, partially because of their shoddy methods of hiring outsourced, barely English-speaking customer service contractors with no concept of customer service (oddly, since their section is called "Customer Service") is unacceptable. The contracting of Customer Service", since is also just as subpar as the overseas contractors, is also unacceptable. Customers experiencing issues with their Xbox 360 console should contact Microsoft Executives if their complaints and issues are not resolved so that they understand that this is a serious issue on their hands. Your customer service team is ill-equipped, improper in handling and uncouthed to ensure that the repair (and customer)process goes smoothly.***

That said, Microsoft Gamers stand behind their lines in waiting for products to return, and takes responsibility to ensure that every Xbox 360 console owner continues to have a fantastic gaming experience whenever they recieve their replacements in the mail, while other gamers still play on the rival systems. We are continually improving the design and performance of the Xbox 360 consoles to decrease the likelihood that a customer will experience the three flashing red lights. Instead, they will experience three green flashing lights, so that we can argue that we won't have to fix any further systems. In the event they do complain, they may covered for three years under our extended warranty to shut people up, while they continue to look at other fine gaming examples, like Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, World of Warcraft, and eventually Starcraft II.

Wow, can you imagine the spin machine that the PR Department will attempt, when gamers laugh at the previous PR reminder? That MSFT PR rep, I suspect, may be retarded, and he or she is probably just is THAT retarded.

Did anyone read that Consumerist story at all? The guy said at first, he had a problem and it was taken care of. Two years later, he had the same problem again. Except instead of calling customer service right away like he should have done, he immediately went to Bill, totally bypassing the way things should work. But let's all dump on MS's support when the guy was the one that overreacted in the first place...

Of course their response was not to address those issues with him. MS' customer service is extremely lax but there are other companies out there with even worse support (Dell/Alienware are good examples). Bill Gates could have given this guy a 'corporate speech' about how he has to go through the proper channels but he proved why he's an excellent business man.

@FearlessUser:
Or... Let's dump on Microsoft for dumping their products on the consumer at full price!

...Faulty products, that is...

My Xbox360 Elite red ringed today when trying the demo for the new Conflict game. The game crashed literally 5 seconds into the demo, and the system had just been powered on. It wouldn't turn back on for like an hour, but now it's running "fine". I ran Assassin's Creed for almost 2 hours straight, and am now running Gears on it and the ring still hasn't re-appeared. I'm hoping it was just a bug triggered by that shitty demo, but I already contacted MS support in case. It's funny too, because I never play my 360; I literally have it on maybe, a few hours a week and that's when I'm using Media Center. Luckily I still have my PS3 and Wii to play, if I end up sending it in to Microsoft.

@Soldier_CLE:

True true true.
People should start trying to do this...maybe then Bill would push MS to actually fix the hardware flaw instead of just dealing with it like they are.

@Soldier_CLE:
Sure, why not. I just think it's kind of dumb to rip on customer support when some guy goes nuts and goes as high as he can in a company right off the bat instead of starting at the bottom like he should. That might have something to do with my new job though... Hmmm...

Its hard enough trying to get a used or refurbished because i know a lot of people that have had bad experiences with MS customer service, but if people continue to do this then it will lose effectiveness

@notalkjustrock:

Saying that Bill Gayes works "Part Time" is kinda funny....

*Imagines Bill Gates filling out a timesheet*

Funny.

@FearlessUser:

Dude wouldn't have to do that if the thing didn't break...again. I know if my PS3 broke...twice for that matter, I would definitely try contacting someone "up there" instead of speaking with some lame CSR again, half of the time those people don't sympathize, they just see it as "another" call. It obviously worked for dude...I don't see the problem at all, well I do - the problem is the console...not the action the guy took.

screw that, if it gets the job done faster Ill email Gates.

*edit...that "gayes" must have been a Fruedian slip... I *honestly* meant Gates... **waits for fanboys to slam**

"We are continually improving the design and performance of the Xbox 360 consoles."

I wish they would improve on the DVD drive. My Halo 3 Special Edition 360 sounds like jet throttling to afterburner when games load up.

I seem to remember a time when M$ didn't recognize that the 360 was so prone to failures, and that it charged its customers for repairs of a now known defect. Sure they may have changed their ways, but the fact remains the product is still prone to this breakdown and even more so that people are having difficulties dealing with the so called "Support Center".

I think escalating to the higher-ups should be reserved for people in extreme circumstances so we as consumers maintain our trump cards so they are effective tools, but that is our prerogative. NOT M$'s! We don't need them to tell us what is an is not appropriate. There is a time and a place for everything.

@Bgrngod: Of course. Google his e-mail address, there are references dating back years. It's not exactly rare - Earthlink's founder uses his first name@earthlink.net, the guy who used to own the company I work for has firstnamelastname@domainname.com, etc etc.

After all, why obfuscate your e-mail address when you can dump 90% of the incoming e-mails to your "VP of customer service" or somebody else beneath you?

I'm amazed someone even got through to him. I mean, the old billg@microsoft.com address has been floating around the net for so long I was sure it was fake. Whatever it is, I'd imagine he has full-time staff sorting and filtering it.

Great story for PR though.