Post by: Xbox-Scene on August 18, 2008, 05:44:00 PM
Microsoft Charges you 50 USD for 2 Months of LIVE Posted by XanTium | August 18 19:08 EST | News Category: Xbox360 |
| From consumerist.com: Quote
Full Story: consumerist.com |
Post by: jasdev on August 18, 2008, 06:03:00 PM
Post by: linkinworm on August 18, 2008, 06:41:00 PM
Post by: readmore on August 18, 2008, 06:43:00 PM
Post by: Casper1786 on August 18, 2008, 06:49:00 PM
Post by: Kerii on August 18, 2008, 07:04:00 PM
When my credit card expired and my subscription ran up, my account simply reverted to silver automatically.
I got a 1 month e-mail reminder before it happened, and another one when it did happen.
Wasn't really gaming much at the time so I let it sit for over six months like that.
Reactivating earlier this year involved nothing but updating the expiration date of the card on my 360, and then selecting a subscription plan.
This post has been edited by Kerii: Aug 19 2008, 02:06 AM
Post by: DCarnage on August 18, 2008, 07:14:00 PM
QUOTE(readmore @ Aug 19 2008, 01:43 AM) 
This story is 100% BS
No, this story is not BS. I had something similar happen to me. I had an expired credit card on my Live account. They tried to charge to it but no dice. I was going to let the Live account expire and just use point cards to do all my purchasing instead of by credit card... well, one day I went to enter my code in and it wouldn't let me connect to live, it just said to contact M$. It wasn't even a month past my expiration date, so I called them up and I asked them if they could turn my account back on so I could enter my points card and pay for Live, they said "no, you have to pay $50 to have your account turned back on." So I sucked it up, paid the $50 and told them change it so the account doesn't automatically charge my card next year. After next year, Microsoft can kiss my ass. They will not be seeing my money for Live again!
They did not revert my account back to Silver like I thought they would, they said I owed them for a month past my account expiring. And I couldn't just pay for one month, it had to be for a full year. I was really pissed. Lesson learned.
This post has been edited by DCarnage: Aug 19 2008, 02:18 AM
Post by: trentdadi on August 18, 2008, 06:52:00 PM
I had a bit of time so I looked it up.
QUOTE
You may tell us to stop using your Payment Method by calling Xbox Customer Support. If you do so, however, we may cancel your Service and/or any Other Items to which you are subscribed. Your notice to us will not affect charges we submit to your Billing Account before we could reasonably act on your request. You must keep all information in your Billing Account accurate and current.
To me it sounds like he abused the ToS by not keeping his Billing information accurate. They gave him his year subscription and they couldn't charge him for it hence they could not reasonably act on his request. He can say Microsoft is evil all he wants, but they have done nothing wrong as far as I am aware. I could be taking the ToS out of context somehow, anyone have any opinions on it?
QUOTE
6.6 Refund Policies. Except as stated otherwise, or as otherwise provided by applicable law, all charges are non-refundable. If you signed up for an annual Service and paid the annual fee with your Payment Method, we may provide you a full refund of the annual fee if you cancel within the first 60 days of your Service. Additional information about refunds is available at http://www.xbox.com/...nts/default.htm.
Also found that, he should try calling them up after hes paid his dues and see if he can get a refund.
Post by: leorimolo on August 18, 2008, 07:36:00 PM
Post by: MrFish on August 18, 2008, 07:38:00 PM
Don't ever pay for LIVE with credit cards; scratchcards are cheaper, can't re-bill you, and there's no chance of this kind of thing happening.
Post by: leorimolo on August 18, 2008, 07:19:00 PM
QUOTE(MrFish @ Aug 18 2008, 08:38 PM) 
Hell, at least they didn't kick him off for good, with no way to regain his account or gamertag, as I've seen happen in the past.
Don't ever pay for LIVE with credit cards; scratchcards are cheaper, can't re-bill you, and there's no chance of this kind of thing happening.
If you live outside of the US its pretty hard to find these for retail prices
Post by: DeMoN_DARREN on August 18, 2008, 07:57:00 PM
Post by: BewareTheidesofMarch on August 18, 2008, 07:36:00 PM
I talked to a supervisor and got the whole thing straightened out.
It happens due to the Auto-Renewal set up. You can easily fix this by not using a credit card on Xbox Live.
Just go to a store and buy a 12+1 month card.
Post by: 794 on August 18, 2008, 08:38:00 PM
i have cancelled a few XBL accounts over the years and have 3 current accounts on credit card auto-pay without any problems...
sounds like using the pre-paid cards would not be a bad idea though if you do not want to worry about keeping your information current or changing the service type near the auto-renewal date.
Post by: CandieCorpse on August 18, 2008, 09:17:00 PM
Post by: pezjono1986 on August 18, 2008, 09:43:00 PM
I called up M$ and spoke to someone who was able to cancel my account and hold with me on the phone while I typed in my 12 month card and activated it. No charges, no problems. I then added my up-to-date credit card and downloaded Braid
No fuss, no BS.
Post by: majik655 on August 18, 2008, 09:24:00 PM
QUOTE(pezjono1986 @ Aug 18 2008, 08:43 PM)
I just delt with this on last Friday. I had an old card on my account, they tried to bill me for a month straight (which I still had Gold access on my account). I had a 12 month card but figured I would keep rolling with this as long as I could. Then I wanted to buy Braid, so I went to type in my 12 month card to get it up-to-date and it would not accept it because I did not have a valid credit card on my account.
I called up M$ and spoke to someone who was able to cancel my account and hold with me on the phone while I typed in my 12 month card and activated it. No charges, no problems. I then added my up-to-date credit card and downloaded Braid
No fuss, no BS.
No fuss? no bs? kinda sounds like it was a fuss and bs to me anyway.
This has not happened to me so I guess I can't speak too much.. but if it did happen to me I would definently get a detailed reason as to why the weird charges. Of Course there are a hell of alot more people that do not have any issues at all and we hear about the 1 or 2 people that get screwed and those for some reason stick out over what hundred thousands? millions?
Post by: upsetspy on August 18, 2008, 09:28:00 PM
QUOTE(readmore @ Aug 19 2008, 01:43 AM)
This story is 100% BS
I agree, I had the same problem with an old XBL Gold account but the card was 'expired' and had no idea Id get billed again once the year ran out...when I saw the statement a month later then got the time to call it was about 2 month and they reverted it to silver and i had my money back in 2 days, no problems.
I cant fathom why i read all these problems with XBox and Microsoft support...Ive never had a single problem with customer support.
Am I just lucky??
Post by: troyBORG on August 18, 2008, 09:31:00 PM
QUOTE(DCarnage @ Aug 18 2008, 08:14 PM)
They did not revert my account back to Silver like I thought they would, they said I owed them for a month past my account expiring. And I couldn't just pay for one month, it had to be for a full year. I was really pissed. Lesson learned.
Same thing with 2 of my friends. They didn't have the $50 so when it came time for the 1 year instead of just kicking them back to silver, it says that the account is suspended until he pays.
Which is annoying cause when we wanna play Rock Band when he signs in it kicks us offline so if we do a random set list some of the DLC isn't DRM'ed to that box, so it will cause the game to freeze.
Post by: hamwbone on August 18, 2008, 11:01:00 PM
or better yet visit new york...
DOH!!!
Post by: steveju on August 19, 2008, 01:16:00 AM
QUOTE(leorimolo @ Aug 19 2008, 01:55 AM)
If you live outside of the US its pretty hard to find these for retail prices
Yeah, you always have to pay way less than the retail price. It's so damn annoying. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)Still more than the U.S. people though.
Post by: Mr N on August 19, 2008, 01:17:00 AM
QUOTE(hamwbone @ Aug 19 2008, 06:37 AM)
i cant wait till some of these people actually get real bills and find their cars hooked up to tow trucks or have their furniture loaded into a repo truck.
or better yet visit new york...
DOH!!!Amen to that
Post by: Martinchris23 on August 19, 2008, 02:02:00 AM
QUOTE(leorimolo @ Aug 19 2008, 02:55 AM)
If you live outside of the US its pretty hard to find these for retail prices
The wonderful thing about Xbox Live Subscription codes is that they're not region locked.
Go to Ebay.com and search 'Xbox Live 12 + 1'. You can purchase these codes for $40 and get them sent through to you via email. Pick someone with good feedback of course!
Credit cards and perpetual subscriptions are a recipe for disaster....
Post by: smdtherock on August 19, 2008, 03:16:00 AM
Post by: ynwa on August 19, 2008, 05:22:00 AM
I then remembered i had 2100 points on that account so thought i would pay it but when i rang back and got another guy who said forget about it, re-enabled my account and i just entered the code without having to pay the 2 months balance.
Post by: biscoito on August 19, 2008, 05:25:00 AM
Post by: hawkolugy on August 19, 2008, 05:10:00 AM
QUOTE(majik655 @ Aug 19 2008, 05:00 AM)
No fuss? no bs? kinda sounds like it was a fuss and bs to me anyway.
This has not happened to me so I guess I can't speak too much.. but if it did happen to me I would definently get a detailed reason as to why the weird charges. Of Course there are a hell of alot more people that do not have any issues at all and we hear about the 1 or 2 people that get screwed and those for some reason stick out over what hundred thousands? millions?
Why would you complain if nothing was going wrong? Who takes the effort to go post something on a forum if everything is going as it should, and even if you would who wants to hear that it is working as advertised over and over and over again...so something going wrong gives someone motivation to speak out when, unless something is exceptionally good, they do not have reason too.
Post by: robo989 on August 19, 2008, 05:47:00 AM
You're all obviously a bunch of kids who have used your parents visa card, and just "forgotten" about it.
Well I'm afraid this is real life, and if you want to use credit cards and what not, you need to understand that there are implications for things like...
NOT PAYING YOUR BALANCE ON TIME
AUTO-RENEWELS
If you're not familiar with this kind of shit, then more fool you.
I'm surprised this has even made it as a "story".
The person even admitted IGNORING REMINDERS TO PAY.
Ahhhhh this post is a waste of time you lot aren't even 18 are you? Silly little kids, need to shut up and grow up.
Post by: luther349 on August 19, 2008, 09:27:00 AM
Post by: z3ddicus on August 19, 2008, 12:24:00 PM
Also, why does the headline read "Microsoft Charges you 50 USD for 2 Months of LIVE"? That is a completely false and misleading headline. He is still getting 12 months of Xbox Live for his 50. He is paying for the 2 months he is deliquent and the following 10 months.
This post has been edited by z3ddicus: Aug 19 2008, 07:27 PM
Post by: MrFish on August 19, 2008, 12:46:00 PM
QUOTE(leorimolo @ Aug 19 2008, 02:55 AM)
If you live outside of the US its pretty hard to find these for retail prices
Just buy them off the internet and pay with Paypal. Even with their conversion charges, the tanking dollar means you're still saving 50%.
QUOTE(z3ddicus @ Aug 19 2008, 07:24 PM)
Also, why does the headline read "Microsoft Charges you 50 USD for 2 Months of LIVE"? That is a completely false and misleading headline. He is still getting 12 months of Xbox Live for his 50. He is paying for the 2 months he is deliquent and the following 10 months.
RTFA. They charged him $50, then didn't give him his ten months.
Post by: g8crapachino on August 19, 2008, 12:29:00 PM
This story proves that no matter how asinine and fundamentally flawed a story may be, there will always be people suddenly coming out of the woodwork claiming the same thing. You simply can't prove anyone's story either way and since it's Microsoft it makes people feel smug to jump in and bash.
When my account expired it automatically reverted to Silver. When I paid again it reverted back to Gold. It was as simple as that. That was my experience and the experience of a multitude of others. Those people suddenly claiming otherwise have yet to provide a plausible explanation as to why they were treated differently and why they waited until this news article was posted to suddenly claim the same thing happened to them.
Post by: PHC oMaLz on August 19, 2008, 01:15:00 PM
QUOTE(Kerii @ Aug 19 2008, 02:04 AM)
Sounds like bull.
When my credit card expired and my subscription ran up, my account simply reverted to silver automatically.
I got a 1 month e-mail reminder before it happened, and another one when it did happen.
Wasn't really gaming much at the time so I let it sit for over six months like that.
Reactivating earlier this year involved nothing but updating the expiration date of the card on my 360, and then selecting a subscription plan.
You might want to check your cc again cause i also had a situation like yours and I was told i need to pay for a 6 month sub. and if i wanted to i could by a year sub after that to cont. with a gold membership.
I filed a complaint to M$ and the acualy rebust me for 5 months on the 6 month sub
Post by: MrFish on August 19, 2008, 02:51:00 PM
QUOTE(g8crapachino @ Aug 19 2008, 08:05 PM)
when my account expired it automatically reverted to Silver. When I paid again it reverted back to Gold. It was as simple as that. That was my experience and the experience of a multitude of others. Those people suddenly claiming otherwise have yet to provide a plausible explanation as to why they were treated differently and why they waited until this news article was posted to suddenly claim the same thing happened to them.
I'll wager you use scratchcards, not a recurring credit card subscription. Hence your subscription works the way you'd expect it to, and not in the wacky legacy-from-LIVE-for-the-black-Xbox way that the credit card subscriptions do.
If you search here, you'll doubtless find a tonne of people complaining that they've had their account canceled, locked, or had to pay through the nose to get it back, and the thing they'll all have in common is that they paid by credit card. The whole scheme is slightly asinine, because credit cards last 5-6 years, so 16-20 percent of your customer base will be using a card that's not good for the rebill. Add to that the scratchcard scheme giving you customers the impression that they're making a one-off purchase, and hilarity ensues.
I've seen, with my own eyes, accounts that have been cancelled for the rebills bouncing because the credit card expired, which is why I only use scratchcards.
Post by: hassle on August 19, 2008, 02:57:00 PM
The only way i see this being legit is if they gave you a gold account without charging you... and Microsoft isn't that generous
Post by: MrFish on August 19, 2008, 04:40:00 PM
QUOTE(hassle @ Aug 19 2008, 09:57 PM)
i dont understand how this happened? ive had an expired card on my account for almost a year, and i have bought 3 or 4 1 month cards from blockbuster and used them without a problem. its a prepayed account, and iff they cant charge your card you dont get the gold account. SO HOW THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN?
The only way i see this being legit is if they gave you a gold account without charging you... and Microsoft isn't that generous
Did you ever pay for your LIVE Gold subscription (not Microsoft Points) with that card? And did you remember to downgrade to LIVE Silver manually, or cash-in a LIVE Gold scratchcard before the billing date?
If you answered yes to both questions, you'll see no problems.
If you answered no to both questions, you'll see no problems.
If you answered yes to the first, and no to the second, then something quite unexpected happens.
Post by: Mushy2000 on August 19, 2008, 05:10:00 PM
http://consumerist.c...box-live-member
Please stop posting this garbage...
Post by: Kerii on August 19, 2008, 08:00:00 PM
QUOTE(PHC oMaLz @ Aug 19 2008, 12:51 PM)
You might want to check your cc again cause i also had a situation like yours and I was told i need to pay for a 6 month sub. and if i wanted to i could by a year sub after that to cont. with a gold membership.
I filed a complaint to M$ and the acualy rebust me for 5 months on the 6 month sub
I'm looking at it right now sorted by keyword Microsoft, there's the one from March when I resubscribed, and all the other ones look fine.
QUOTE(robo989 @ Aug 19 2008, 04:47 AM)
This is a BS story. No, I mean sure its true, but you have no right to be contesting these charges.
You're all obviously a bunch of kids who have used your parents visa card, and just "forgotten" about it.
Well I'm afraid this is real life, and if you want to use credit cards and what not, you need to understand that there are implications for things like...
NOT PAYING YOUR BALANCE ON TIME
AUTO-RENEWELS
If you're not familiar with this kind of shit, then more fool you.
I'm surprised this has even made it as a "story".
The person even admitted IGNORING REMINDERS TO PAY.
Ahhhhh this post is a waste of time you lot aren't even 18 are you? Silly little kids, need to shut up and grow up.
I once overdrafted my checking twice in the same day for a $40 penalty each. I don't blame my bank, it was my fault for not being aware my checking account was empty.
Post by: Devedander on August 19, 2008, 11:03:00 PM
To all those saying it was his fault and these are fines like an overdraft, have you found this "about to go to collections" surcharge anywhere in tos or paperwork? Somehow I doubt it...
This isn't like a late penalty or fee as everyone seems so quick to say, its a tier 1 rep making something up on the spot like a best buy employee making some bogus reason up for denying your return or warranty.