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Just wanted to share the great experience I had with Microsoft Live support earlier this week, because I know that I was under the impression going in that it would be completely painful.

The backstory is that my wife and I paid for her younger brother's XBLG for several years as a yearly birthday present. I don't remember how far back it goes, but it was a while, and the arrangement pleased everyone involved - he got his XBLG and we didn't have to shop for him. Earlier this year, though, when he got his first real job out of college, he decided that he wanted to pay his own way; not sure why he didn't just change the billing on the account he had, but he decided to create a new one. My wife and I forgot all about it, though, and the autobill for the new year kicked in back in July even though her brother didn't use the account any more. Of course, I discovered this in the middle of our "Holy God the baby's coming" time, so I just now had time to deal with it.

I called the support line on Thursday afternoon, prepared for a long wait on hold and the news that there was nothing they could do. However, I was connected to a rep within two minutes; after explaining the situation and giving all the particulars of the account (gamertag, Live ID, billing address), though, I was informed that there actually was no way to refund the money after so long a time. I was prepared for that, and was willing to accept it, but then I was surprised - the rep suggested that even though one month of the prepaid Gold was done and dusted, she could email me codes to make up for the other eleven months that were prepaid so I didn't lose all my money. Fifteen minutes later I had an email, and ten minutes after that I extended my own Gold account all the way to 2013.

Long story short, big kudos to Microsoft. They might not always do everything right, but I was really impressed at how they handled my situation and wanted to share the experience.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

All I can really offer is, "Nice" and yeah, I've had some decent experiences with them all around too. Prompt red ring of death service, answered my questions pretty swiftly, and have always been really polite. Good support goes a long way. I know they push online, but with such good on-phone results, why would I?

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Games on the Go
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy: Four Warriors of Light
Baldur's Gate

Too much to play, so little time!

Greg