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[dallow_bg]

This is actually someone I know who had shared his story with us at CAG over the course of 3 months. He finally got the "final" word back stating his account won't be unbanned, so now he's lost everything.

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=23483

So now, after being locked out of my account for over 3 months while it was migrated to Russia and being investigated, I’m now permanently banned from ever getting the account back online. And thus I lose the licenses for all my purchased Xbox Live Arcade titles, all my DLC, and can’t access any of my game saves unless I just want to play offline on this banned Gamertag.

I’m a 30 something, college professor who lives in the US, not a Russian hacker stealing Xbox Live accounts!

It's good to read his full blog post at the link where posts in detail dealing with the Exceptions Analyst after filing a complaint with the BBB.

Apparently users have flooded media and Stepto with his information. Hopefully they take notice.

 

[Auto_aim1]

That sucks, but something tells me it will be resolved soon.

 

[gravitybear]

That sucks, but something tells me it will be resolved soon.

what would that be?

 

[Auto_aim1]

what would that be?

This.

Apparently users have flooded media and Stepto with his information.

 

[hiro4]

what would that be?

Probably this media attention.
But this is going to be more of a problem in the future.

To be honest I don't even know if my xbox live account has been hacked with the FIFA fiasco since I haven't turned my Xbox on for a while.

 

[dallow_bg]

The fact that it had to come down to this. To reporting it to the media to get resolved (possibly) is ridiculous.
He's not the first and won't be the last, it needs to end soon.

 

[Spitz]

Apparently users have flooded media and Stepto with his information. Hopefully they take notice.

this!

and seems the media already did by reading the comments

 

[Hale-XF11]

Just read the whole thing. Makes my stomach churn. I can't believe how incompetent MS is with all of this. Wait, yes I can.

 

[firehawk12]

Is this the only way to get customer service now? Hope people help you out by tweeting at people who work at Microsoft?

 

[Wario64]

Is this the only way to get customer service now? Hope people help you out by tweeting at people who work at Microsoft?

Seems so, unfortunately

 

[Coins]

I didn't read the article. Could someone just explain the hang up? I had my account hacked by a Chinese dude and got it resolved within 2 weeks and even got to keep the Xbox live family account purchase the dude got.

 

[Bgamer90]

Is this the only way to get customer service now? Hope people help you out by tweeting at people who work at Microsoft?

In terms of this, I would say so.

When my account got hacked, the people I talked to on twitter were 100x more helpful than the people I talked to on the phone.

 

[Speedymanic]

Disappointed that MS have a taken a page out of Sony's book when it comes to locking people out of their accounts post hack.

Hang your head in shame, MS.

 

[RedNumberFive]

Is this the only way to get customer service now? Hope people help you out by tweeting at people who work at Microsoft?

Sadly, publicly shaming a company, especially with Microsoft, is indeed the only way to get a resolution. I was in a similar situation as this guy, an had to jump through an insane amount of hoops, open a BBB case, and write to Consumer Reports to get my licenses transferred. (This was prior to the online license transfer tool being made available.)

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Is this the only way to get customer service now? Hope people help you out by tweeting at people who work at Microsoft?

It's BS and Microsoft needs to be raked over the coals for this garbage.

 

[DaBuddaDa]

Stories like these keep coming out about Microsoft and I don't know how user experiences can be so varied. When I was hit with the FIFA hack I called support, talked to a great customer service rep after waiting on the line for only a couple of minutes, explained to him what the problem was, was given clear instructions and a timeline for the support ticket to be resolved and my account was returned to me three days later with my profile restored, my stolen points refunded and free 3-month XBL gold pass.

For what it is worth, when my 360 got stolen, in a 15 minute conversation with support, they locked my profile, reset all of my passwords, offered me a free month of live, reported the IP address of the stolen xbox to the police, and gave me a reference number so that when i got a new console, i could call them and they'd reactivate my profile for that console so i wouldn't lose anything tied to my profile, including all DLC and XBLA games.

Yeah, pretty much this ^

 

[brianmcdoogle]

For what it is worth, when my 360 got stolen, in a 15 minute conversation with support, they locked my profile, reset all of my passwords, offered me a free month of live, reported the IP address of the stolen xbox to the police, and gave me a reference number so that when i got a new console, i could call them and they'd reactivate my profile for that console so i wouldn't lose anything tied to my profile, including all DLC and XBLA games.

Same with with Sony and my PS3. Both experiences were great.

Customer service is always hit or miss for every company, and sometimes there are more misses for certain companies. Maybe I got lucky, but my experiences went fine. And, it helps how you conduct yourself on the phone; a lot of people are mean or impatient with customer support for no good reason, and the caller is usually their own worst enemy.

 

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

Disappointed that MS have a taken a page out of Sony's book when it comes to locking people out of their accounts post hack.

Hang your head in shame, MS.

It took 13 replies for someone to bring Sony's name into an issue that has nothing to do with them. I expected this to happen in the 1st 3.

Glances at users tag...

Speedymanic
Freelance PR For Microsoft
(Today, 02:17 PM)

Nevermind, now i see why you posted it.

 

[Neuromancer]

God damn that's inexcusable. It is weird though how some people get so lucky with their customer service and some people are so unlucky.

 

[Digishine]

That's just fucked up Legit customer get fucked like always

 

[Bgamer90]

Stories like these keep coming out about Microsoft and I don't know how user experiences can be so varied. When I was hit with the FIFA hack I called support, talked to a great customer service rep after waiting on the line for only a couple of minutes, explained to him what the problem was, was given clear instructions and a timeline for the support ticket to be resolved and my account was returned to me three days later with my profile restored, my stolen points refunded and free 3-month XBL gold pass.

It took about a month to get my account back. MS gave me a free year of XBL.

 

[Speedymanic]

Stories like these keep coming out about Microsoft and I don't know how user experiences can be so varied. When I was hit with the FIFA hack I called support, talked to a great customer service rep after waiting on the line for only a couple of minutes, explained to him what the problem was, was given clear instructions and a timeline for the support ticket to be resolved and my account was returned to me three days later with my profile restored, my stolen points refunded and free 3-month XBL gold pass.

Well, we are only getting one side of the story...

Not saying the guy is leaving info out, but something doesn't really add up when the majority get their accounts back with zero problems.

 

[Sir Abacus]

Try moving to another country. That plumbs the lowest depths of Microsoft's utter fucktardery.

 

[Deleted member 47027]

Stories like these keep coming out about Microsoft and I don't know how user experiences can be so varied. When I was hit with the FIFA hack I called support, talked to a great customer service rep after waiting on the line for only a couple of minutes, explained to him what the problem was, was given clear instructions and a timeline for the support ticket to be resolved and my account was returned to me three days later with my profile restored, my stolen points refunded and free 3-month XBL gold pass.

I had the same experience as you. Nearly perfect support. I don't know who these people are that have horrible experiences or how they can be so different, but hey, who knows.

 

[Speedymanic]

It took 13 replies for someone to bring Sony's name into an issue that has nothing to do with them. I expected this to happen in the 1st 3.

Glances at users tag...

Speedymanic
Freelance PR For Microsoft
(Today, 02:17 PM)

Nevermind, now i see why you posted it.

Doesn't take away from the fact that at least MS, in the majority of cases do return accounts unlike Sony who even refuse to accept an account could have been hacked.

 

[Lothars]

It's BS and Microsoft needs to be raked over the coals for this garbage.

Absolutely It's sad that they seem to get away with doing stuff like this without really any media getting involved or any backlash.

Doesn't take away from the fact that at least MS, in the majority of cases do return accounts unlike Sony who even refuse to accept an account could have been hacked.

So how bout all those accounts that are hacked involving Fifa and it seems like MS isn't doing anything about it or these russian hackings that it's taking users months on end to get accounts back if they get them back at all?

It's insane you would be on MS side in this.

 

[hiro4]

After reading the blogpost, it seems to me the guy at the XBLPET is the real asshole here.
Just like the store manager that like to annoy his customers just because he can.

I had two run ins with MS customer service and while one of them went great (my 1st gen xbox RROD'd) my second one not so much. It finally solved it self, probably after they found out that what they did was so massively stupid even they couldn't even believe it.

They charged my expired credit card for Xbox live, 3 months after it had expired, giving me 1 month Gold each time. And then they had the nerve to ban my account since I didn't pay for gold. Which they basically gave me for free, since what company gives their product away knowing that the credit card was expired. Oh well, few months later they unbanned me.

 

[DaBuddaDa]

I had the same experience as you. Nearly perfect support. I don't know who these people are that have horrible experiences or how they can be so different, but hey, who knows.

My guess is not all hacks are equal. When they do an investigation on an account maybe from their end certain hacks are blatant and obvious and can be resolved easily, thus people have experiences like yours and mine. On the other hand, some other hacks may be more nebulous and hard to pin down and track and take a lot more research, time and effort to resolve.

The rep also said if saved credit card information was stolen and fraudulent charges appeared on the stolen card, it would be much more time consuming to resolve. Luckily (and smartly, it seems), I wouldn't trust any of these companies with my credit card number.

 

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

Doesn't take away from the fact that at least MS, in the majority of cases do return accounts unlike Sony who even refuse to accept an account could have been hacked.

Look, neither case is ok in my book, but at least Sony publically acknowledged the hack within a very short period of time. Has MS even publically said ANYTHING about this?

 

[Lothars]

Look, neither case is ok in my book, but at least Sony publically acknowledged the hack within a very short period of time. Has MS even publically said ANYTHING about this?

I don't believe so, It wasn't acceptable for Sony to take as long as they did to let people know about the hack but it's just as unacceptable for MS to seemingly turn a blind eye to this.

 

[DaBuddaDa]

Look, neither case is ok in my book, but at least Sony publically acknowledged the hack within a very short period of time. Has MS even publically said ANYTHING about this?

Apples and oranges. The Sony hack potentially affected every single user on PSN at once; it was a targeted hack affecting the entire system. The recent MS hacks only occur to specific, seemingly random individuals at varying times. Microsoft has acknowledged the hacks and the steps they're taking to improve customer service in various press outlets.

 

[Levyne]

I got hacked and lost a ton of points..

but I cut my losses and told Microsoft nothing!

 

[Noshino]

Doesn't take away from the fact that at least MS, in the majority of cases do return accounts unlike Sony who even refuse to accept an account could have been hacked.

mind posting some of the Sony cases?

And even then, has Microsoft even publicly acknowledged the problem?

iirc they were still very hush hush about it.

 

[Risk Breaker]

It took 13 replies for someone to bring Sony's name into an issue that has nothing to do with them. I expected this to happen in the 1st 3.

Glances at users tag...

Speedymanic
Freelance PR For Microsoft
(Today, 02:17 PM)

Nevermind, now i see why you posted it.

Every time someone opens a thread about the magical MS account hacks I wonder how long until Speedymanic posts. I think this is a new record, lol.

 

[Speedymanic]

Look, neither case is ok in my book, but at least Sony publically acknowledged the hack within a very short period of time. Has MS even publically said ANYTHING about this?

Sony were hacked. There's no proof that MS have been compromised/hacked. Also, they acknowledged the issue and said there was no breach on their end. It would be suicide for them to lie about something this.

 

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

I don't believe so, It wasn't acceptable for Sony to take as long as they did to let people know about the hack but it's just as unacceptable for MS to seemingly turn a blind eye to this.

That's what im saying...neither instance was pretty. I just don't understand why Sony was brought into this thread when it has nothing to do with it.

 

[alr1ght]

It's insane you would be on MS side in this.

Don't even bother with him. It seems to be you have get media attention to get anything solved.

It would be suicide for them to lie about something this.

 

[Coxy]

Well, we are only getting one side of the story...

Not saying the guy is leaving info out, but something doesn't really add up when the majority get their accounts back with zero problems.

what information are you basing this statement on? Do you have any figures to back that up since you're stating it as a fact?

 

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

Sony were hacked. There's no proof that MS have been compromised/hacked. Also, they acknowledged the issue and said there was no breach on their end. It would be suicide for them to lie about something this.

lol how else could this have happened...divine intervention?

 

[Amneisac]

Nothing quite as dramatic as this, but I have also been without my account for almost 3 months because when it was hacked originally the rep on the phone misspelled my contact e-mail address. They create a new live account (just a XXXXX@live.com e-mail address) and you have to use the contact e-mail to reset the password and reclaim the account.

Since that e-mail address is wrong, and apparently only the MEN IN BLACK (Account Investigation Team) can change that field, I have been through 3 investigations and every time I get to the same point and the e-mail address is still spelled incorrectly. I'm about ready to just give up.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

I got hacked and lost a ton of points..

but I cut my losses and told Microsoft nothing!

That a boy lol

If the going gets tough, just leave your CC info out there too

I hope this gets patched up like now.

 

[DaBuddaDa]

lol how else could this have happened...divine intervention?

There is a major difference between individual accounts being hacked and the entire network, including account information, as a whole being hacked.

 

[Speedymanic]

mind posting some of the Sony cases?

And even then, has Microsoft even publicly acknowledged the problem?

iirc they were still very hush hush about it.

Someone on here lost his account after he hacked. Can't remember who it was unfortunately.

They have acknowledged the issue.

 

[Levyne]

That a boy lol

If the going gets tough, just leave your CC info out there too

I hope this gets patched up like now.

Well I changed/erased everything I could regarding passwords/cc/verification/auto log-in, but I meant it was NOT worth it to contact microsoft, best case senario is that I'm locked out for 4 months and then maybe I'll get my points back after, worst case is that I lose access...

 

[Noshino]

I don't believe so, It wasn't acceptable for Sony to take as long as they did to let people know about the hack but it's just as unacceptable for MS to seemingly turn a blind eye to this.

Sony at least stop their whole service (which meant loses for everyone) to prevent any further damages. Microsoft isn't even willing to do that.

Apples and oranges. The Sony hack potentially affected every single user on PSN at once. The FIFA hack only occurs to specific, seemingly random individuals at varying times. Microsoft has acknowledged the hacks and the steps they're taking to improve customer service in various press outlets.

The difference is that with the PSN hack, there is a chance that you might be affected, with this recent 360 hacks....well....every hacked one does.

Also, like I said before, I don't recall Microsoft publicly acknowledging the problem.

 

[Lothars]

Sony were hacked. There's no proof that MS have been compromised/hacked. Also, they acknowledged the issue and said there was no breach on their end. It would be suicide for them to lie about something this.

Guess what? They lied about RROD's, so it's not impossible or even out of the realm of truth for them to lie about this.

 

[Speedymanic]

what information are you basing this statement on? Do you have any figures to back that up since you're stating it as a fact?

reading various threads about the issue on this and other forums. Do you have any figures to dispute my claim?

lol how else could this have happened...divine intervention?

Social engineering, phising, poor security practiced by the user, keyloggers, etc, etc, etc.

 

[brianmcdoogle]

One thing I would like is to have a console pin that can be entered every time the console turns on. I know you can have it set to enter in your entire password when you log in, but my password is long and cumbersome, and I won't shorten it for this convenience. It would be nice if there was just a simple 4 digit pin, like an iPhone having a pin to unlock the device that is separate from an iTunes password.... if any of that made sense.

 

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

There is a major difference between individual accounts being hacked and the entire network, including account information, as a whole being hacked.

I get that...but he/she said that there was no evidence that MS was hacked/comprimised. One account or all of them...still counts as a hack/being comprimised. That was my point.

 

[Noshino]

Someone on here lost his account after he hacked. Can't remember who it was unfortunately.

They have acknowledged the issue.

Mind providing a link to their official statement?