Stuffleufagus

When my XBOX live accounts work, I love XBOX live. I used to buy movies on it - before they banned my credit card for life just because it expired.

I love almost everything about my XBOX Live experience except for their support, which completely sucks, and is without doubt, the worse I have ever experienced from a large company.

Yes - worse than my mortgage company, my water company, whatever.

XBOX Live is a great service - but they do not offer great service.

Once your credit card is expired, and Microsoft attempts to bill it and it fails, then that number is locked out - seemingly forever, according to the live “help desk”.

Then you start getting random email messages, like the one I got today:

This mail is confirmation that your subscription to Xbox Live 12 mo. Gold Membership has been cancelled on Thursday, April 03, 2008.

If you have questions about this cancellation, or if you want to reactivate your subscription, please go to www.xbox.com/support or call Xbox Customer Support at 1 (800) 4MY-XBOX.

Canceled? WHICH account? I have several. Canceled? I canceled nothing.

I have NO CLUE what this email refers to.

Microsoft has no clue how to resolve credit card issues in XBOX Live - really - do a Google Search for it (30,800 hits).

I don’t have credit cards. I have one ATM card that works like a credit card. For me to change that number I need to change bank account numbers. Microsoft - why should I change bank account numbers, get a new ATM card, AND order new checks just because your software and/or operators cannot figure this shit out!

Credit Cards expire. So do debit cards. Deal with it, already. Really - just fucking deal with it. Work with me.

Search this blog, or the XBOX Live forums - you will see how long I have been fighting this idiocy.

And. I. Am. Just. About. To. Stop. Fighting.

And as an owner of three XBOX systems I think I am a customer worth keeping. But Microsoft has to do the work now. I’m tired of working to make sure I can give them money.

That’s just unacceptable.

Microsoft, you HAVE to know about this problem - I’ve talked to you about it for a year. Just fix it! Don’t just teach your Indian Tech Support to just tell me to “get a cash credit card at the grocery store”. That is bullshit. Teach your call center employees to help me.

Or lose me forever. You are on the brink. And right now, you are disappointing me.

And many others, if you believe in search results.

My number is right up there in the about box - call me. But only if you can fix your systems to use my completely valid debit card. The same one I can still use to buy Microsoft Points via the XBOX. I just can’t buy XBOX Live with it. Really. Your systems are that broken.

If you work at or for Microsoft and you can fix this, then please call me. PLEASE!

written by rob tags: Credit Cards, Debit Cards, Microsoft, Microsoft Points, Support, XBOX Live

BIG. 18 pictures stitched together make for a large image (but shrunk down to about 4MB if you want to click on it).

This used to be the largest mall in San Antonio, I think.  Robert Scoble of FastCompany.TV toured it (and I was lucky enough to go along) a couple weeks ago.  His videos should be up soon.  Some of the photos I took today might be in that video.

I went out and shot over 150 still pictures today (I walked all the way around this thing in motorcycle boots - 1.3 million square feet is huge).  Motorcycle boots because a) it was wet and drizzling a bit, b) I rode my motorcycle, and c) I knew it was an active construction site and I needed proper footwear).

Just the one "small" section behind the trees in this photo above is the old Montgomery Wards store. It is framed in yellow here:

This should give you some sense of the scale - at least if you have ever been in a Montgomery Wards in a major mall.  Huge footprint.

Rackspace expects to have 5,000 workers in this building in the next couple of years - and tens of thousands of servers.

But don’t worry about parking - there are a LOT of parking spots - almost the entire parking lot on the right of the photo is two story (the other parking is underground).

It took me almost an hour to walk all the way around this thing and get every part of it in pictures.

This sucker is giant.

I can’t wait until Rackspace grows into it!

written by rob tags: FastCompany.TV, Rackspace HQ, Robert Scoble, San Antonio