Microsoft Help Me!

More details ahead.

Why would it work? does anything automated at Microsoft works?

Tzahi got a call today from Microsoft’s rep who apologized for the mix up with the support issues.

To be honest, I can’t blame him – when every single automated system is broken I can only assume their CS reps are drowning in work. I truly do not envy him.

After the call he sends an email with instructions on how to submit a password reset form – again, not the issue I reported, but I decide to play along in hopes that it somehow helps resolving the issue.

The way things are going so far, I’m starting to believe that by the end of it I’ll have a new password for my account, 500gb of storage on outlook and a date with Cortana – but still won’t be able to log in to MSDN because the account is suspended.

I couldn’t stop laughing when I got this email from the guy at Microsoft Global Escalation team. I then called Tzahi at 10 past midnight just to laugh with him on the phone for another half an hour.

This whole story reaches new levels of absurd on a daily basis.

To which I replied

At this point I’m not sure if this is real or just a really elaborate prank.

It only took 3 weeks, but I managed to talk to someone at Microsoft who actually has access to their support ticket system.

Not only that, but we also verified I can in fact receive emails from Microsoft support and that the previous problems were not caused by delivery failures on my end. (shocking, isn’t it?)

Let’s hope this saga is nearing an end.

So apparently, if you want to get Microsoft Support attention on Twitter you need to be rude, obnoxious and use a HUGE FONT with RED BACKGROUND.

So once again, a promise that the support team will communicate.

Will they actually keep their promise and give Tzahi or me a freaking call for a change? We’ll see…

Stay tuned!

It’s been over 24 hours since submitting my last support ticket and using a Yahoo email account for correspondence.

Want to guess what communication I go from Microsoft? Yes, none.

Even the spam folder is empty.

In case you’ve missed that, those of us who don’t have their account suspended and can actually access the support cannot reply to support tickets because the form is truncated above the submit button. This replicates on Windows 7/10 on all major browsers (yes, IE11 and Edge included!)

If you ever find yourself in need to reply to a support ticket (and have it ignored), Tzahi made a short video demonstrating how to fix the issue on IE11 (although it should be applicable to any browser, it’s just a rendering bug)

My account is still suspended. I have gotten zero communication from Microsoft – so far nothing is new.

Another thing that is not new is the fact Tzahi can still see personal information of other Microsoft users through the support ticketing system.

Maybe it’s time to email them and point out the fact their personal information is leaking from the support system – you know, the thing both me and Tzahi tried communicating to Microsoft for almost a week now through multiple messages and support tickets.

Just for the sake of argument, I agree to open a new email account and try submitting a support ticket again.

Actually, that was not for the sake of argument – the only reason I agreed to it was because the support guy refused to offer any other solution…

Here we go AGAIN – lost track of how many of these tickets I’ve submitted already.

Stay tuned for updates…

The second person I talked to tried to convince me that the only way to resolve the unresponsiveness from Microsoft would be to send yet an additional ticket, but from a NEWLY created email address.

Also, just to reemphasize on that conversation – Microsoft support representatives do not have access to support tickets… what?!

After several attempts at the horrible call routing interface, I manage to speak to someone at support who actually sounds like he is willing to try and resolve this issue…

Only to have the call drop.

Our 2nd try went even faster. some sort of a feed-back loop prevented the automated system to guide us to the right department.

Our first try at calling MS corporate office – was not successful. apperantly, you should not choose the windows option if you wish the call to continue.

With no actual help by MS support, me and Tzahi have started sharing the website in social networks.

The website was shared on Twitter, Reddit and Hacker News. Funny thing is I wasn’t even the one to open the discussion on Reddit.

This discussion was the highest upvoted on the r/microsoft subreddit – wonder why.

Too bad it was removed shortly after – guess on r/microsoft it’s only ok to praise Microsoft and not point out things that need URGENT improvement.

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Check back in a few days for updates…

I cannot say it was a COMPLETE waste of 0.20€ in Skype credit. At least I now have a new lead to solving the curious case of the unresolved support tickets.

Another day, another closed support ticket without any communication. Tzahi decides to have another go at reaching out for Microsoft Support on Twitter.

To his surprise, Microsoft Support replied within a few minutes and with a response that is not totally out of context!

Could we be nearing the end of our journey? Keep reading to find out more!

Microsoft support can’t seem to answer one out of five support tickets, but at their very least their Tweeter bot is doing a good job at following up on contacts.

Being a nice person, Tzahi decided to let his voice be heard.

Well, click baiting aside – the short answer is yes. At this point I can say with full confidence Microsoft customer support representatives flat out lie to you.

Got home from a short vacation and checked the status on the latest support ticket submitted to Microsoft – the one James ENSURED me will get a response.

Want to guess what the response was? Nothing – and the ticket was closed.