Got XBox Live? I guess you cannot move!
Tags : Microsoft Xbox360 Xbox Live
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A few months before I left Ireland to move to the USA I purchased an Xbox360 and setup an Xbox360 Live account, part of the process was filling in my credit card details and billing address which included Ireland as the country. Before I moved to the USA I sold my Xbox360 and games and then purchased a brand new one over here so I wouldn't have any region and NTSC/PAL issues.
Fast forward on a year and the account has expired and the Irish credit card that was used to setup the account no longer exists so I receive an email letting me know that I need to provide new credit card details but what should be an easy matter of filling out a few fields on a form and updating my address details hits a brick wall. The COUNTRY field is not editable, it's fixed to Ireland, this means that the credit card verification fails so I can't renew my account.
Ok, maybe it's time to call xbox support. They answer, I give my details and tell them the issue and their answer is that I cannot change the country. I tell them that people move countries all the time, they must have some method of updating account information, they tell me that they have no way of changing the country,
Apparently once the xBox360 Live account is setup the country you select is permanent. Their solution to the problem is to delete the account and have it setup again and this sounds like a reasonable solution until you ask about all the items that you have purchased on Xbox Live that are linked to your account.
Their answer is not a good one, Once the account is deleted you will lose all the items your have purchased and they cannot be transferred to the new account but you will be able to repurchase them on the new account. Ok, what about a refund... nope their system cannot provide refunds.
This is ridiculous, who designs a system that makes it impossible to change the country field in a users account details? People do move countries and not just to the USA but all around the world.
What makes this a really laughable situation is that I want to give Microsoft money for something and they are refusing it, without the update to the country in my account I cannot use the Microsoft Live marketplace to purchase new games on the Xbox Live Arcade, I cannot access the Xbox Live video marketplace to purchase and download movies and I can't play any of my xbox Live games online without my subscription account.
So if you have an Xbox Live account then make sure you cancel any plans you may have in relation to moving countries.
Bookmark :
A few months before I left Ireland to move to the USA I purchased an Xbox360 and setup an Xbox360 Live account, part of the process was filling in my credit card details and billing address which included Ireland as the country. Before I moved to the USA I sold my Xbox360 and games and then purchased a brand new one over here so I wouldn't have any region and NTSC/PAL issues.
Fast forward on a year and the account has expired and the Irish credit card that was used to setup the account no longer exists so I receive an email letting me know that I need to provide new credit card details but what should be an easy matter of filling out a few fields on a form and updating my address details hits a brick wall. The COUNTRY field is not editable, it's fixed to Ireland, this means that the credit card verification fails so I can't renew my account.
Ok, maybe it's time to call xbox support. They answer, I give my details and tell them the issue and their answer is that I cannot change the country. I tell them that people move countries all the time, they must have some method of updating account information, they tell me that they have no way of changing the country,
Apparently once the xBox360 Live account is setup the country you select is permanent. Their solution to the problem is to delete the account and have it setup again and this sounds like a reasonable solution until you ask about all the items that you have purchased on Xbox Live that are linked to your account.
Their answer is not a good one, Once the account is deleted you will lose all the items your have purchased and they cannot be transferred to the new account but you will be able to repurchase them on the new account. Ok, what about a refund... nope their system cannot provide refunds.
This is ridiculous, who designs a system that makes it impossible to change the country field in a users account details? People do move countries and not just to the USA but all around the world.
What makes this a really laughable situation is that I want to give Microsoft money for something and they are refusing it, without the update to the country in my account I cannot use the Microsoft Live marketplace to purchase new games on the Xbox Live Arcade, I cannot access the Xbox Live video marketplace to purchase and download movies and I can't play any of my xbox Live games online without my subscription account.
So if you have an Xbox Live account then make sure you cancel any plans you may have in relation to moving countries.





Comments
Posted by Tim Tripcony At 12:33:39 AM On 02/13/2007 | - Website - |
Posted by fawaz At 09:09:36 AM On 08/20/2007 | - Website - |
Posted by Hoeks At 06:02:41 AM On 08/20/2007 | - Website - |
Posted by samthedog At 02:35:30 PM On 10/16/2007 | - Website - |
First phone call: the guy said no problem, took my information, and then made me hold for 20 minutes. He told me everything should be fine. I checked, and it wasn't. So I called again.
Second phone call: I told him straight away that I moved to Canada, and I need to update my account from US to Canada. He said no problem. About 30 minutes of back and forth and he told me that it was impossible. So, I suspect their policy is to play ignorant. When I finally confronted him about it, he told me that it was Microsoft policy no to do this. To this, I told him to change the policy (futile, I know), but he said "sorry, I can't help you, is there anything else you need help with." He was trying to ignore me!
After asking him again to change my address, and being refused, he told me to blame the Canadian government. I was so taken back. That's rediculous. There's Xbox Live in Canada, and the US, so obviously, there is no barrier. I mean, if it was trade laws, then technically, I shouldn't be able to buy anything in the US. If I go and buy something online from a US company and have it mailed to me, no problems. Why is this so difficult?
If it's for tax reasons, then why can't they just charge me the Goods and Services Tax, and change my account. I would be OK with that.
As it sits, I have a few hundered dollars worth of stuff in my XBL account that will stagnate. I can't buy anymore points because I don't have a canadian address, on my credit card. Which, by the way, I can use just fine to pay for my XBL yearly fees. If I could just by more MS Points, I wouldn't care, but this is rediculous.
If anyone from Microsoft reads this: Your policy stinks. If there was ever a good time to buy a Wii, I think it's come.
Posted by steve At 10:59:32 PM On 09/06/2007 | - Website - |
I tend to think now of American States as different countries, I find that helps to explain all the weird differences in laws etc.
Posted by Carl Tyler At 02:04:29 PM On 02/13/2007 | - Website - |
I attempted to delete my unneeded hotmail account in an effort to tidy up my online clutter. I was denied. I contacted India and after 3-4 hours on the phone I met the same end. I was told to allow it to expire by not accessing it for 120 days. I told them to pretend 120 days had lapsed and to initiate the process that deletes the account. They couldn't do it. Couldn't do it or wouldn't do it? Being that they wrote the admin software and designed the Hotmail system I suspect that "couldn't" is a relatively remote possibility. This leaves "wouldn't" which equates to unfriendly business practices towards consumers which should lead to a legal review of Microsoft consumer policy.
If email policy is this aggressive I can only imagine what it will be like when Microsoft controls online access to your financial accounts.
Posted by MS is due for a correction At 04:26:41 PM On 10/06/2007 | - Website - |
i used to love my xbox 360 and had bought about 20 000 points.
all this hassle is turning me rite off the 360 and buying more points.
great way to piss off good customers.
Posted by ed At 01:02:33 AM On 06/16/2007 | - Website - |
Are they so stupid indeed ???
Posted by Makis At 04:43:32 PM On 10/14/2007 | - Website - |
Posted by Lars Berntrop-Bos At 05:05:09 AM On 02/13/2007 | - Website - |
Posted by deadlybrandpt At 11:58:20 AM On 10/19/2007 | - Website - |