Noobtip: If you have Xbox issues, don't consult Microsoft's chat reps.

"SonorousSpeedJoe" (SonorousSpeedJoe) 01/07/2015 at 23:55 • Filed to: None

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I am finally able to play Forza Horizon after going through a bunch of nonsense to have my Microsoft account's password reset. The lesson I learned is: always work with Microsoft over the phone, not with their chat reps. Full story after the jump; have a replica of Kenji's S13 hatchback from Initial D for your time.

Way back in the '00's, I made my Xbox 360 Gamertag with an e-mail address that I stopped using shortly thereafter, and said address somehow ceased to exist between then and now. On top of that, I forgot my password since I had the console set to remember it. I used the Account Recovery form to send password reset e-mails to another e-mail address, since I couldn't use the now-defunct one that the Microsoft account was named after, but it didn't matter what I put down for the Email Info, Account Info and Billing Info; since the defunct address that I used was from a provider other than Microsoft, I would get an automated e-mail that instructed me to fill out the form, as if I'd never submitted any information in the first place. So I was basically stuck in an endless loop, submitting the form over and over again to no avail.

I looked at the contact options for Xbox support reps in Xbox's site, and took the chat option. I was bounced from an Xbox chatroom to a Microsoft chatroom, and then escalated to long-form messaging with other representatives who needed me to create an Outlook account just to discuss my issue with them. I know that they were reading what I typed, since they'd make comments based on details that I gave regarding my issue, but they'd usually avoid giving direct answers to my questions - all I'd get is "fill out the Account Recovery form", which is what I had come to them for help with .

After a few days of them parroting the same response, I decided to check the Xbox site again. That 's when my dumb ass noticed the option for a phone conversation; I'd used this method a few years ago to resolve a different issue, but I stupidly assumed that they'd gotten rid of it when I couldn't find it earlier. So I arranged to have them call me, and I got most of everything sorted within half an hour - I explained my situation, verified some e-mail addresses and other info, and they escalated it to other folks who emailed me yesterday with all of the steps I'd need to regain access to my Microsoft account. In the end, the Outlook account that I had to make for the chat reps was deleted, and the Microsoft account that I already had is back in my control and has itself been changed to an @outlook.com account to avoid any future issues with using a non-Microsoft e-mail address.

I'll admit to being an idiot for not looking thoroughly enough to find the phone number for Microsoft's customer service, and for forgetting my password in the first place. That said, I think that the service reps who work the chatrooms need a lot more support from Microsoft to resolve customer issues; if the folks that I talked to over the phone didn't know enough, they certainly seemed to have easy access to folks who did.

As an aside, I made the Akina Speed Stars logo on the S13 in the pic, and it seems to be one of the more popular Speed Stars logos in the Storefront. I think that my replicas of the orange-striped Coquette in GTA IV (for the C6 Grand Sport convertible and C6 ZR1) have done about as well.

uofime > SonorousSpeedJoe 01/08/2015 at 10:29

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phone calls are always better than email/chat. Forces them to pay attention for more than 10s at a time and treat you like a real person

AM3R shamefully returns > SonorousSpeedJoe 01/08/2015 at 11:37

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I forgot my live account, this may just save it haha.

SonorousSpeedJoe > AM3R shamefully returns 01/08/2015 at 13:39

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I was so glad to have actually made progress over the phone after several days with the chat folks, you have no idea.