An American Express/Microsoft Xbox 360 Adventure

As I explained in an earlier post I am working with good folks at American Express to share with the world my stories as I wander through life using their card, the American Express Platinum card. It’s the only card (credit or charge) I continue to pay for simply because of the benefits that come from it, especially when I travel. One of the benefits is their extended warranty program. American Express platinum extends the manufacturers warranty by a year. This is the first in what I hope will be a short series of my experience using for the first time the service.

A year ago tomorrow (the 17th of October) I bought my son for his 6th birthday a Microsoft Xbox 360 at Best Buy. Yes the X Box was also for me! In any event, they were hard to find at the time, so I ordered it online at bestbuy.ca and picked it up after work. I used the Platinum Card on this day because I was buying a product that I heard wasn’t the greatest when it came to reliability and I refuse to pay for extended warranties.

Fast forward a couple of weeks ago and the Microsoft Xbox 360 stops working. It randomly decides to stop reading certain games. Sometimes it reads them, others not at all. So, I called Microsoft and they told me, your device is under warranty, send it back and we will fix it, at no cost to you.

The next day, I printed the shipping label that Microsoft sent me and shipped it back to Microsoft.

2 days ago I received a call from Microsoft that in fact the device I bought shows a registration date of October 4, apparently 4 days after I bought it (despite what my best buy receipt and American Express statement show) and therefore the Microsoft Xbox 360 is no longer under warranty. I argued the best I could with the representative, but to no avail. They told me the device is not under repair and it will cost me $175 to repair- a hair less than I actually paid for it!

So, today, I used the new American Express twitter account to try to get some help. I pay for the card, the service is supposed to be available right? So I sent the tweet to @askamex. Rachel, a representative tried to help me but to no avail. She twice sent me links to sites that don’t exist. The third she sent me to wouldn’t accept a Canadian address. She did send me a phone number to call. So I called the number and after waiting on hold for 10 minutes I spoke to a representative who (in broken english) tried to help me out. It took several times to explain the story to him as he told me that if the unit is under warranty they can’t help. When I tried to tell him that Microsoft claims it isn’t under warranty so the issue is mute he had got a little lost in his call centre script.

In any event, he is supposed to send me some materials.

Stay tuned Bat Fans….

More as the story develops…