Follow up on My Fight with Microsoft
Update: See the blog post Score One for the Little Guy and Kudos to Microsoft for the latest news.
A few weeks ago I posted a story of how Microsoft turned me over to a collection agency for a past due invoice that 1) I never originally received, 2) for an account canceled a year before the said invoice was issued, and 3) no one from Microsoft is willing to talk with me about to answer my questions. As a final straw and an attempt to put the matter behind me, I paid the invoice even though I still feel the invoice is the result of an accounting error made by Microsoft.
The blog post got the attention of a large number of people. People were tweeting about my story and some popular web sites picked up the story. The increased traffic to my web site brought down my server for 4 hours and I scrambled to get the site up and running again as quickly as possible. But more importantly the blog post caught the attention of some Microsoft employees.
Two employees contacted me regarding the matter and offered to help. This was great news. I had hopes that I would finally have my questions answered. After all, that’s all I really want at this time, is to have my questions answered.
One of the Microsoft employees made some progress in finding a person to help figure out the mess. It looked like I would finally have some answered. Then the collection agency called again. Yep, instead of Microsoft following up with me directly they asked the collection agency to call me.
The agent I spoke with was the same person I spoke with last month. He said Microsoft ask him to call me to see what can be done to “smooth things over”. I told the agent the same thing I told him last month. All I want is to talk with someone from Microsoft who can explain to me what happened. All I want is answered to my questions.
It is not about the money. Paying Microsoft $134 is not going to bankrupt White Peak Software. But what I really want is to speak with someone who can answer my questions regarding the matter. It’s doubtful that will ever happen since Microsoft seems to prefer hiding behind contractors and collection agencies with limited information then to talk with me directly.
The fact that Microsoft will not talk with me directly makes me trust Microsoft less. Because I do not like doing business with companies I do not trust, it is likely the $134 I paid last month will be the last dollar Microsoft ever receives from me. The ironic part in all of this mess is Microsoft could have saved my trust in them as a consumer with a simple phone call.
At the end of the day it is about providing great customer service and this is something that Microsoft has failed to do.
May 18th, 2010 at 12:38 pm
Dude, there is nothing to stop the collection agency people from lying to you… About everything. They will lie and say anything to get you to send them money. It is legalized extortion, really.
STOP TALKING TO THEM. TELL THEM TO CEASE AND DESIST. Preferable with a certified letter.
As long as your talking to them Microsoft cant contact you- this is a common clause in such contracts. Collection agency has no rights, only msft does and then only if the debt is legitimate.
You’ll never hear from Microsoft as long as you continue to be a sucker….. As long as you keep talking to you handler at the collie tion agency they think they are getting closer to getting you to pay.
If you don’t believe me, go read any coverage on this issue not written by a collection agency.
May 18th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Joe, I had no plans to talk with the collection agency again. I have moved on. Stay, Microsoft contacted me saying they were looking into the matter and would follow up. But instead of following up directly Microsoft asked the collection agency to call me. It’s piss poor customer service at it’s best.
There has been an interesting turn of events since posting this latest entry. I’ll post another other follow up as soon as I can. Long story short, I’ve been told Microsoft asked the collection agency to contact me and ask for a specific document. The agent who called did not do this. This makes the story even more interesting to me because Microsoft could have asked me directly for the document. What document is needed has not been disclosed to me.
May 18th, 2010 at 4:11 pm
Ok…So are you going to upgrade your computers to vista or not?
May 19th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
I never ever would have paid the bill if the error was that of Microsoft’s. Period. You went above and beyond, even before paying. You have given me another reason to never upgrade any MS software… I was contemplating Win7, but I think I will stay on XP forever now.