Yep, this is going to be second xbox live rant in a short time. I'm someone who has always been an avid fan of xbox live and all its offerings, oftentimes even defending it against those who spoke ill of it. But right now, I am incredibly pissed off with Microsoft's policy for it.
Here's the deal. In October of last year I cancelled my credit card, which logicially blocked any transactions as well. Strangely enough, however, xbox live was still being deducted every month. Appearantly this was because it's a subscription service and until I cancel it myself it would continue to get deducted each month. I found this to be quite strange, but hey, if that's how it worked then I was just gonna leave it alone. Not too long ago, however, I missed a payment for my Visa bill, which resulted in me having to pay the outstanding amount of 2470+ euros in one go. Sucked as hell, but I managed to pay it with some help of my parents. It was then that I made the decision to switch to prepaid for xbox live and simply not run any risk with my (cancelled) credit card at all.
So I went out, bought a pre-paid card, did the whole process of filling it in on xbox.com, and was greeted by an error message. Figuring it was a temporary error--and the fact that it stated to try again later--I decided to try again the following day. And once again I was greeted by the exact same error. After a couple more attempts on the websites (xboxlive.com and xbox.com), I decided I'd give it a go on the console itself. This time I was greeted by a more detailed error message, which made me frown quite a bit. Turned out my current payment plan was no longer valid. So I deided to check my e-mail to see if I'd gotten anything from them about this. Turned out, that on January 27th they tried to deduct the monthly fee from my Visa card but were unable to because the transaction was being blocked. So now all of a sudden payments for xbox live could be blocked? Very strange.
Of course this means that I now had an outstanding amount of 6.99 with xbox live, and until I paid that amount I wouldn't be able to switch to a pre-paid. But as I said in my previous blog, I have no credit card anymore, and that is the absolute only option for me to pay the outstanding fee. My girlfriend tried to help me out by letting me use her card, but that wasn't possible either because she lives in the U.S. and I live in The Netherlands and it's not possible to change the country on your xbox live profile. So I simply have no way of paying the outstanding amount, and as such I can't switch to pre-paid either. I also found out that after a while they will suspend my account, which means it'll become completely innacessible. What this means for all the XBLA games I bought, I don't know, but I fear the worst.
So yea, my xbox live profile is now lost in limbo basically. The only way for me to continue playing online is by making a new profile and using my pre-paid card on that. Of course this means that my gamerscore will be reset to zero, and even if I can still play my XBLA games on my old account, it'll still be a cumbersome process. But I really really hope that MS doesn't go as far as blocking my ability to play the XBLA games I purchased because that would make me swear off xbox live altogether. I can live with having to create a new account to play games online, and even with the fact that I will have to start all over with my gamerscore, but if they go as far as disabling the games I bought fair and square I will be pissed off beyond believe.
What I don't understand is that they won't let me use my bank account to pay for my xbox live. Even the smallest companies out there have allowed me to use a bank transfer to pay for things. Hell it's how I'm paying for my iTunes purchases. Yet the single largest software company in the world doesn't even offer this option, at all. There are so many people out there who do not own a credit card for various reasons. Think of all the extra subscribers they could get if they allowed money transfers from banks!
I don't know who I'm more pissed at right now. MS for not allowing me to pay the fee any other way, or Visa for blocking the transaction without prior notice. Whatever the case, unless I get a new credit card (which I won't for a long time to come if ever), I will never again be able to use my xbox live account as it stands. Great. Just fucking great.
P.S. I also found out that when I move to the states, the only way for me to keep using my dutch account would be by importing xbox live codes. Since I can't change the country on my profile, I won't be able to use a U.S. credit card. So if you have xbox live and ever plan on moving to another country, prepare to either import the cards with codes for your account, or kiss your xbox live profile goodbye.
Xbox Live Rant #2
Yep, this is going to be second xbox live rant in a short time. I'm someone who has always been an avid fan of xbox live and all its offerings, oftentimes even defending it against those who spoke ill of it. But right now, I am incredibly pissed off with Microsoft's policy for it.
Here's the deal. In October of last year I cancelled my credit card, which logicially blocked any transactions as well. Strangely enough, however, xbox live was still being deducted every month. Appearantly this was because it's a subscription service and until I cancel it myself it would continue to get deducted each month. I found this to be quite strange, but hey, if that's how it worked then I was just gonna leave it alone. Not too long ago, however, I missed a payment for my Visa bill, which resulted in me having to pay the outstanding amount of 2470+ euros in one go. Sucked as hell, but I managed to pay it with some help of my parents. It was then that I made the decision to switch to prepaid for xbox live and simply not run any risk with my (cancelled) credit card at all.
So I went out, bought a pre-paid card, did the whole process of filling it in on xbox.com, and was greeted by an error message. Figuring it was a temporary error--and the fact that it stated to try again later--I decided to try again the following day. And once again I was greeted by the exact same error. After a couple more attempts on the websites (xboxlive.com and xbox.com), I decided I'd give it a go on the console itself. This time I was greeted by a more detailed error message, which made me frown quite a bit. Turned out my current payment plan was no longer valid. So I deided to check my e-mail to see if I'd gotten anything from them about this. Turned out, that on January 27th they tried to deduct the monthly fee from my Visa card but were unable to because the transaction was being blocked. So now all of a sudden payments for xbox live could be blocked? Very strange.
Of course this means that I now had an outstanding amount of 6.99 with xbox live, and until I paid that amount I wouldn't be able to switch to a pre-paid. But as I said in my previous blog, I have no credit card anymore, and that is the absolute only option for me to pay the outstanding fee. My girlfriend tried to help me out by letting me use her card, but that wasn't possible either because she lives in the U.S. and I live in The Netherlands and it's not possible to change the country on your xbox live profile. So I simply have no way of paying the outstanding amount, and as such I can't switch to pre-paid either. I also found out that after a while they will suspend my account, which means it'll become completely innacessible. What this means for all the XBLA games I bought, I don't know, but I fear the worst.
So yea, my xbox live profile is now lost in limbo basically. The only way for me to continue playing online is by making a new profile and using my pre-paid card on that. Of course this means that my gamerscore will be reset to zero, and even if I can still play my XBLA games on my old account, it'll still be a cumbersome process. But I really really hope that MS doesn't go as far as blocking my ability to play the XBLA games I purchased because that would make me swear off xbox live altogether. I can live with having to create a new account to play games online, and even with the fact that I will have to start all over with my gamerscore, but if they go as far as disabling the games I bought fair and square I will be pissed off beyond believe.
What I don't understand is that they won't let me use my bank account to pay for my xbox live. Even the smallest companies out there have allowed me to use a bank transfer to pay for things. Hell it's how I'm paying for my iTunes purchases. Yet the single largest software company in the world doesn't even offer this option, at all. There are so many people out there who do not own a credit card for various reasons. Think of all the extra subscribers they could get if they allowed money transfers from banks!
I don't know who I'm more pissed at right now. MS for not allowing me to pay the fee any other way, or Visa for blocking the transaction without prior notice. Whatever the case, unless I get a new credit card (which I won't for a long time to come if ever), I will never again be able to use my xbox live account as it stands. Great. Just fucking great.
P.S. I also found out that when I move to the states, the only way for me to keep using my dutch account would be by importing xbox live codes. Since I can't change the country on my profile, I won't be able to use a U.S. credit card. So if you have xbox live and ever plan on moving to another country, prepare to either import the cards with codes for your account, or kiss your xbox live profile goodbye.
that sucks, thank god i don't have to deal with this crap cuzz i don't own a 360
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