Fair Go and MS
Microsoft Xbox - Money for Nothing (Source: Fair Go)
In the last couple of weeks Fair Go has received a minor deluge of complaints from angry young gamers all over the country. They're all under 18, all Microsoft Xbox users and they are all grumpy - and rather mystified.
Xbox users buy Microsoft Points, which they can then use online to purchase updates, games, movie trailers and other cool stuff.
But in June, something changed and now when under 18s try to download stuff they get a very annoying message: Can't retrieve information from Xbox LIVE. Please try again later. Status Code 80153065.
It turns out that Microsoft have made a significant change, to prevent under 18s downloading "mature content".
They've done it for very good reasons, but we think they've made a complete mess of it. Instead of preventing access to mature content under 18s now can't get access to any content at all - not 15 rated, not G rated, nothing at all.
That's really annoying, but what makes this much worse is that Microsoft haven't stopped under 18s buying points they then cannot use.
We think the information they've provided to Xbox users is completely inadequate, and when we took this up with Microsoft, we were amazed at the dismissive response they sent us.
Microsoft Statement, 21/07/2009.
* Microsoft has taken an initiative in New Zealand to ensure people under the age of 18 cannot access mature content.
* We are working to limit access to content to the appropriate age group in New Zealand. This will take some time due to technical reasons.
* We are working to remove the ability for people under the age of 18 to add points until we can resolve this issue.
* People affected by this issue can be refunded via our customer call centre, which can be contacted through www.xbox.com/en-nz/support or on 0508 555 592.
At Fair Go we love having battles with corporates so it's no surprise when they are rude to us, but we find it quite remarkable that a company can behave so arrogantly toward its customers, especially young customers it will need in the future.
We were taken aback at how difficult it was to get a decent response from Microsoft, but we thought we should keep trying. Finally, after three attempts over a week, here is a rather fuller statement from Microsoft, and one in which they actually say sorry. Well, nearly.
Media statement: Fair Go
July 27, 2009
Statement from Xbox LIVE
We regret any inconvenience that this update has created and we are working on developing a solution. This is not a simple matter and we are unable to confirm when that may be, but we will communicate developments with our young gamers.
Until we can restore downloads of appropriate content for under 18s, we are also working on removing the ability for people under the age of 18 to add points that can't currently be spent. We encourage anyone affected by this issue to contact us via our customer call centre for a refund on their Microsoft points purchased. The details are www.xbox.com/en-nz/ or on 0508 555 592.
Our advice - It's very simple, buy a Play Station.
Originally Posted by hueybot3000
Might get another, if I win one of the prizes up for grabs in the Aug netguide 
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