God Forbid They Should Help Us Out,We're Only The Little People

CreepinDeth said:
But the issue isn't just about MS. At least that's not how this topic started. Sure it wouldn't affect MS too much by taking a price cut but what about other companies? Not every company can afford to do that.
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We're not talking exclusively about MS, but we also aren't talking about every company everywhere.

First Post:
MR.KAZ said:
... big companies such as "Microsoft","Sony",etc.

... Microsoft and Sony are multi-billion dollar companies...
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We're talking about the "big" ones, the "multi-billion" dollar ones. Even then, I don't think anyone is asking any company to go bankrupt for their customers, but they should do what they can for them, and when you rake in billions of dollars worth of profit every year, you can afford to do more.
 
stealth toilet said:
We're not talking exclusively about MS, but we also aren't talking about every company everywhere.

First Post:
We're talking about the "big" ones, the "multi-billion" dollar ones. Even then, I don't think anyone is asking any company to go bankrupt for their customers, but they should do what they can for them, and when you rake in billions of dollars worth of profit every year, you can afford to do more.
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As far as MS goes though, they screwed up and lost just as much as they gained, maybe more. Granted that's not our problem but I can understand why they would charge. Which is why people should research before they buy any major hardware or software products. I knew that if I were to buy a 360 that it can die, but once they announced the extended warranty that made my decision easier. So I bought one.

It's also possible that all that money that they make goes towards R&D in order to make better products, where as the charge for customer service goes directly to customer service. I don't think any of us can really say what's right and what's wrong since we don't know how certain companies run their business. But if we don't agree with it then as a consumer you should just not purchase the product and consider alternatives.
 
Why should Kaz look at it from a business standpoint, when he is a consumer? And why are the two at odds? If a business's philosophy does not coincide with the needs and wants of the people who are receiving the product/service, then doesn't it make sense for the business to adjust its philosophy, and not the other way around?
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Because he's assuming that the business is catering to only him, and not itself.

It's been said many times already. If a major company keep taking hits, it won't matter how happy their consumers are when they have no money.
 
stealth toilet said:
Why should Kaz look at it from a business standpoint, when he is a consumer?
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Because if it's poor from a business standpoint, it won't get better for the consumer.
 
stealth toilet said:
And why are the two at odds? If a business's philosophy does not coincide with the needs and wants of the people who are receiving the product/service, then doesn't it make sense for the business to adjust its philosophy, and not the other way around?
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It doesn't make sense if the demands of the consumer are truly unreasonable. If Microsoft's gaming division, for example, simply cannot stay in the red and repair all 360's at cost, then it should not be done, whether the consumer wants it or not.
 
MR.KAZ said:
Greetings Junkies,

I'm not sure if this has been touched upon earlier,if so,please accept my apologies.

I was just wondering what your take is when it comes to customer service and teck support from big companies such as "Microsoft","Sony",etc.

If memory serves,Microsoft charges $49.00 for the above mentioned services.Is it just me,or is that extremely greedy?In all fairness,these companies are in business to make money,especially these days with the way prices on various items are constantly rising.

This is what ticks me off.Microsoft and Sony are multi-billion dollar companies.Would it kill them to offer free help for their customers?When I got my Dell computer it came with a 1 Year Free Service such as teck-support,fixing problems,etc.It's not like they will be declaring bankruptcy for offering free unlimited service for any of their products after the 1 year is up.C'mon.

To me it's just plain greedy.God forbid they should help out the customer who spent $300.00 on an X-Box that took 2 weeks of work to pay for.Am I wrong?
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I didn't read through this whole thread, but in response to your original post...

It would be way nice if all service was free. I would love that and it would be great.

But I don't think it is very realistic. Companies are in business to make a profit, and I doubt they would make much profit if they serviced everyone's equipment for life after purchase.

Stuff is expensive to have fixed, but that is just the way our society works.

As to the greed part. Well, sure, they are prolly quite greedy. Pretty much any big business is going to be greedy. That is what they are about....making money. It is just how everything works.

So, I guess I don't really have much of a problem with how things are set up overall.
 
stealth toilet said:
I think what Kaz is getting at here is that it would be nice if Microsoft would take a hit in the profit margin to provide their customers with full support for their products.
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But Microsoft would never take that hit. It's like I said in my first post. No matter what appearance Microsoft gives, they will get back that money. If they do "free" repairs on systems, they are going to charge more money on something else to make up that cost. Heck, I think they even make you pay shipping and handling as it is if you send in the system, even if the repair itself is free.

MS, and all companies, pass on as much cost as they can to the customer in order to make some kind of profit.

fhqwhgads said:
Because if it's poor from a business standpoint, it won't get better for the consumer.
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fhq hit it on the head.
 
Honestly? From nicest to evilest.

Nicest: Nintendo. Normally free or you need a credit card to play the "TRUST GAME". In this case, what they do, is make a pending charge on your credit card. Once you give you the good system, you send the bad system. (they pay for shipping) Once they recieve it, all credit card information is erased and Nintendo doesn't charge you a thing. This happened to me with a GameCube and a DS. Yet I have heard people say they had to pay at times? Which I never heard of from my experience from Nintendo.

Naughty: Microsoft. They tell you it's a 1 year warranty on your Xbox 360. Yet if it fails, they won't tell you this, but the second system only has a 90 day warranty...and they charge $75 to "upgrade" your warranty to a full year. (More like "Rape" your warranty) If it's out of warranty, you have to pay $99.99 plus tax. Some customers have reported that you have to pay for shipping! (I have NEVER had to pay for shipping when sending out an Xbox 360 and I've been through 5 of them!)

EVILIEST: Sony. Ugh, worst customer service on the entire universe. If your PS3 beaks, you are forced to pay $180! 1 Year Warranty on a new product!? Great! Yet do you have the RECIEPT to prove your purchase?? Probably not...3 out of 5 people throw away their reciepts. They want the reciept and serial number to prove it's you.
 
Yes, Nintendo has given me the best customer service. When my launch Wii died, I got a new one for free, and I was able to retrieve my Virtual Console titles for free (I lost my save files, however).

The only thing I had to do was drive a couple of hours upstate to a licensed repair center.
 
We got one of the licensed repair centers here in Waco. However, it's in the worst part of Waco. So it's not the safest place to be LOL When I walk in, they have a giant Super Mario Bros. 2 wall clock from 1988, but they will never sell it. It's been in there for over 20 years. Apparently, the lady's grandson is a collector I guess, from what she told me? I wanted to buy it so very badly.
 
Hi Guys,

You all make good and intelligent points.Creepin,I don't have my mind already made up,and I do listen to others,why do you think I ask so many,sometimes off the wall questions?So I can learn.

All I know is my brother is on his 7th 360!He didn't buy them used either.One or even two I could understand,but 7?!,that is ridiculous!I do understand these companies would have difficulty financially(but not impossibly)going the extra mile for their much needed customers.

If you are going to produce a product with a high pricetag,build it correctly.

I think it was the founder of McDonald's' think that said..."Take care of the customer and the business will take care of itself..."

I'm grateful for your opinions and help.
 
MR.KAZ said:
Creepin,I don't have my mind already made up,and I do listen to others,why do you think I ask so many,sometimes off the wall questions?So I can learn.
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Yeah, but this time it almost seemed like you didn't care what others thought, especially by the way you responded to homicidal Cherry. As if you had your mind made up. Either way, if you didn't then I apologize.
 
CreepinDeth said:
Yeah, but this time it almost seemed like you didn't care what others thought, especially by the way you responded to homicidal Cherry. As if you had your mind made up. Either way, if you didn't then I apologize.
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Hi Creepin,

My apologies if I mislead you guys.You and the other members have taught me a lot.If I didn't care what you guys thought,I wouldn't have asked all the crazy(Crazy But Sincere)questions.

My apologies to Homicidal,I was in a grumpy mood,and I shouldn't have worded it that way.It was rude and I apologize.I shouldn't have taken out on him,it's not his fault that I was in a mood.However I still stand by what I said,I just went about it the wrong way because my emotions got the best of me.

Like I mentioned before I do care what you guys think,otherwise I wouldn't stay in this forum,and you guys are correct,sometimes I come on too strong with my beliefs,and for that I'm sorry and I regret the way I snapped at Homicidal,he has every right in the world to express his opinion.

In closing I want to thank the forum for your help and patience.I always speak with my heart,but sometimes It comes out the wrong way.

Sincerely,
MR.KAZ
P.S. If any of you happen to be some sort of Internet Mob,please don't whack..or in this world,delete me! :lol
 
MR.KAZ said:
All I know is my brother is on his 7th 360!He didn't buy them used either.One or even two I could understand,but 7?!,that is ridiculous!
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No offense Kaz, but 7? That really is a lot. Is he really taking care of them? I mean, does he have them in a well-ventilated area that's several feet off the carpet? Does he have them plugged directly into the wall (bad) or does he use a surge protector (which is better)? Does he keep the system horizontal (good) or vertical (bad)? There's a few suggestions he might want to take just in case. It can't hurt to be more careful.
 
Fine I'll give a serious answer AKA feed the trolls. It's very simple.

Companies exist to make money to appease the stockholders and nonmembers richer. If you don't like it fine, don't buy from Microsoft. They have a multitude of people calculating profit margins and they know just how much to charge to maintain good demand.
 
Um ... you're acting more troll-like than Kaz. He may start a lot of weird threads, but he's usually polite and respectful toward other members, even if he may not like them. You've been unreasonably hostile.
 
Joyling said:
Um ... you're acting more troll-like than Kaz. He may start a lot of weird threads, but he's usually polite and respectful toward other members, even if he may not like them. You've been unreasonably hostile.
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Who is? Man, you way lost me with that comment.
 
Mai Valentine said:
No offense Kaz, but 7? That really is a lot. Is he really taking care of them? I mean, does he have them in a well-ventilated area that's several feet off the carpet? Does he have them plugged directly into the wall (bad) or does he use a surge protector (which is better)? Does he keep the system horizontal (good) or vertical (bad)? There's a few suggestions he might want to take just in case. It can't hurt to be more careful.
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Hello Mai,

I gotta say, that's a pretty thorough checklist.In my brother's defense,he takes very good care of his entertainment systems,not just his 360.He's always makes sure everything is dusted and neat,which makes his bad luck with the 360 pretty puzzling,but it's true,the man he takes care of his stuff as if it were his religion!

He gets the proper warranty's and everything.In all fairness,the store he bought it at is always willing to exchange it(Good luck trying to get a refund these days!)

I'm not a lawyer,but I guess technically he might have grounds to take Microsoft to court just on principle,but I highly doubt it.It would cost him way more than the system is worth.Besides,even if Microsoft offered to settle out of court(Highly Unlikely),they could still drag this out in court for years.Once again,I'm not a lawyer,but I could imagine my brother and his lawyer walking into the court room only to see like ten million lawyers on Microsoft's side.

Then again,these days I imagine these powerful companies would not spend their money on a team of lawyers for a matter as small as this.Again I'm not a lawyer,but I'll bet if some billionaire like Donald Trump wanted to take them to court,they would most likely take him more seriously than my brother,or any other average citizen.It's a shame,but money is power,no matter which way you slice it.

Thank you all for taking the time read my complaints. :lol

Sincerely
MR.KAZ
 
mrs_enigma said:
Who is? Man, you way lost me with that comment.
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She was talking to FF7 Master.

FF7 master said:
Fine I'll give a serious answer AKA feed the trolls. It's very simple.

Companies exist to make money to appease the stockholders and nonmembers richer. If you don't like it fine, don't buy from Microsoft. They have a multitude of people calculating profit margins and they know just how much to charge to maintain good demand.
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If you don't want to respond you don't have to. Either do it respectfully, or don't post at all.
 
Mai Valentine said:
But Microsoft would never take that hit. It's like I said in my first post. No matter what appearance Microsoft gives, they will get back that money.
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Right, I agree. That's the mentality Mr. Kaz didn't like, and he couldn't understand why people were defending it, vis a vis "it's a business."

In reality, Microsoft won't lose profit just to be nice. Agreed. But that doesn't change the fact that they can and should.

Homicidal Cherry53 said:
It doesn't make sense if the demands of the consumer are truly unreasonable.
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Right, I agree. As Creepin stated, it would not be reasonable for every business to adopt this policy. 10 years down the road it may not be reasonable for Microsoft to. But, it is reasonable for paying customers to expect a certain level of service and accountability from a company's products. And in Mr. Kaz's position it is reasonable, after 7 consoles, to expect a company to finally deliver what they initially promised. In the specific and current case of Microsoft, it is reasonable to expect a lot more than what they are currently delivering (overpriced hard drives and wifi adapters for starters).
 
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