One of the things that irks me about Microsoft, one of the worlds most successful companies, is that they let the customers do their quality control. Whether it is with their software (Vista) or with their hardware (XBox 360), they make improvements on their products when they get complaints, rather than doing a thorough testing beforehand.
That is one of the reasons I am REALLY DISAPPOINTED after paying over $400 for my new XBox 360. After a few minutes out of the box, it was evident that the wireless controller that came with my XBox was not working correctly.
I called the store I purchased the console from and they said that I had to deal with Microsoft directly - Microsoft has some special policy about that. Then I spent 20 minutes online looking for a solution to my problem (not mentioned) and then another 10 minutes on the phone speaking words into an automated system. (Picture that phone commercial where the guy on the bus yells his password into his phone "I ain't no hollaback girl!")
Finally, I spoke with a guy who didn't care what my problem was, who essentially said I HAVE TO PAY to have the controller shipped to Texas. What!!! There are 20 stores by me that have literally hundreds of these controllers, but I have to pay for the privilege to wait almost a month to use something I saved 6 months to buy.
While some say Microsoft's customer support is great in spite of their problems, I say the best customer support is not needing any.
Needless to say, I am disappointed.
