Finally!!!

I finally got them. The Three Red Lights. Wasn't a big deal though, I had been waiting on them since August. I was actually getting disappointed that it took so long. Microsoft has been trying to divert attention to customer service. They're trying to focus everyone from the Red Rings to how they take care of problems. So far my experiences have been horrible. Each time I have to sit through that ridiculously cheesy "Max" automated menu system, I die a little inside. The voice is way too lame and upbeat, and half the time, it doesn't even recognize what you're saying. I've dealt with Microsoft five or six times now, for customers who don't exactly know what to say to the person on the other end. Each time I've been taken care of by someone who is obviously outsourced labor. Let me tell you, that is not positive experience. First of all, they read you a ridiculous list of things to try like...making sure the power is plugged in, check the video cable, take off the hard drive and put it back on. I understand that they're trying to get the problem resolved without having to send the system back, but if I was getting Red Rings I'd assume that the power plug was in. The main thing is though, if I'm going to be treated like an idiot, I'd like to be treated like that by someone who I don't have a hard time understanding. It just adds to the frustration when I have to ask multiple times what was said.

My call this time was much more enjoyable as I got to talk to "Sarah." The hold time was much longer than I expected and the fact that they warned me about high volume of customers made me feel this is a much more widespread problem that Microsoft wants people to think it is. That and the fact that every opportunity, Microsoft tried to push me to get online to fix the problem. I'm sure that they want to save labor by having me type in all my information, but when my 400 dollar system is broken, I'd much rather talk to someone instead of fumbling around looking through some website trying to find the right links and having to log into Microsoft Passport (which they make you do). So it looks like I won't be able to finish Lost Planet anytime soon and Blue Dragon is on the backburner due to the three to four weeks its going to take me to get my system back. I'm extremely thankful that I bought a PS3 this past weekend, and I can forsee Sony's system getting a lot more attention from me the next few months and I'm not sure if the Xbox 360 can get it back next month. Two things about my return. Please let me get an HDMI system back instead of one they fixed, and please let it work and not have Red Rings immediately when I take it out of the box. Finally, I'm beginning to think that Peter Moore didn't just leave Microsoft for more money. I'm thinking he saw this problem and realized it was more headache than he wanted to deal with. Now I'm wondering who's going to step in for Microsoft to stop the bleeding?