Guitar Hero support update:
Oct. 8th, 2009 07:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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techrecoverySomeone who commented on my previous post said that they were charged for shipping both ways on a warranty claim for their GH controller. Apparently the policy has been changed, I am getting a mailing label sent to me, and return shipping on my replacement controller is free. So, yay. Sucks to be you, and I'm sorry they did that to you. Everyone else can rejoice in the knowledge that they're likely paying more for their controllers to cover the free shipping on warranty claims, I guess:)
Hopefully the replacement controller will work better when I get it.
Getting through to their support people via phone was hard. I'd normally do this via the web, but that seemed even harder -- there's a part in their support claim process where you have to pick what product you're contacting them about by selecting it from a pulldown which apparently is populated with every product Activision has produced in the last decade or so. At least I didn't see Kaboom or Keystone Kapers in the list, so I'm pretty sure it's only recent stuff. But seriously, 100+ items in the pulldown, every package variant, and even t-shirts.
I gave up trying to find my product, and I called the number the email told me to call for troubleshooting. First, I got stuck in their voice activated voice mail system. I'd get through a few steps and then the robot wouldn't be able to understand what I said. After not understanding after three attempts, it would hang up on me! WTF? Not connect me to a live person. Bad choice, Activision. After calling back twice and getting hung up on by the voicemailbot because it failed to understand me saying the word "Three", I finally somehow managed to get it confused at a different menu level where apparently it was programmed to connect me to a live person.
I got a static-y connection to someone with (I think) a Russian accent, who stumbled through a script. Eventually I was able to get them to understand that the issue was with the controller and was a hardware issue, not a software, connectivity, or calibration issue. Working through their script was fairly tedious, and they tried to get me to troubleshoot things that were not the problem, and I'd explain patiently that that was not the problem, reiterate what the problem is, and then they'd proceed robotically to the next step in the script. If I wasn't me, I would have lost patience and cussed them out at several points, but I stayed cool and kept it professional, and they were eventually able to help me, although it really felt like I was dealing with a mildly retarded robot. I feel sorry for people who are required to read scripts and can't even vary what they're required to say. I equate that with slavery, honestly.
They got me a RMA number, and said they'd send me a mailing label to my email address. Then they said that I just need to send in the part of the guitar that has the problem. More wtf communication breakdown here: I could *not* get their callcenter rep to understand that the neck was not the problem. They kept insisting that I only need to send them the neck. I kept repeating that the problem was with the whammy bar, which is part of the body of the guitar, but they say I need to send them the neck only, and that they will be returning a whole new guitar to me. I really don't understand this, and since I need to send it in the original packaging anyway, I'm going to send the entire guitar, just to make sure they don't come back and tell me that I failed to send the correct piece. I guess I'll keep the strap.
So... I don't know how long it takes their processors to email me the mailing label, but I don't have it yet... I did confirm that they have my email and mailing address and contact info correct, so hopefully in a few weeks I'll have everything straightened out and will be rocking with a rigid, stiff, turgid whammy bar that could pound a ten penny nail through a two by four, and can pleasure women from across the room.
Hopefully the replacement controller will work better when I get it.
Getting through to their support people via phone was hard. I'd normally do this via the web, but that seemed even harder -- there's a part in their support claim process where you have to pick what product you're contacting them about by selecting it from a pulldown which apparently is populated with every product Activision has produced in the last decade or so. At least I didn't see Kaboom or Keystone Kapers in the list, so I'm pretty sure it's only recent stuff. But seriously, 100+ items in the pulldown, every package variant, and even t-shirts.
I gave up trying to find my product, and I called the number the email told me to call for troubleshooting. First, I got stuck in their voice activated voice mail system. I'd get through a few steps and then the robot wouldn't be able to understand what I said. After not understanding after three attempts, it would hang up on me! WTF? Not connect me to a live person. Bad choice, Activision. After calling back twice and getting hung up on by the voicemailbot because it failed to understand me saying the word "Three", I finally somehow managed to get it confused at a different menu level where apparently it was programmed to connect me to a live person.
I got a static-y connection to someone with (I think) a Russian accent, who stumbled through a script. Eventually I was able to get them to understand that the issue was with the controller and was a hardware issue, not a software, connectivity, or calibration issue. Working through their script was fairly tedious, and they tried to get me to troubleshoot things that were not the problem, and I'd explain patiently that that was not the problem, reiterate what the problem is, and then they'd proceed robotically to the next step in the script. If I wasn't me, I would have lost patience and cussed them out at several points, but I stayed cool and kept it professional, and they were eventually able to help me, although it really felt like I was dealing with a mildly retarded robot. I feel sorry for people who are required to read scripts and can't even vary what they're required to say. I equate that with slavery, honestly.
They got me a RMA number, and said they'd send me a mailing label to my email address. Then they said that I just need to send in the part of the guitar that has the problem. More wtf communication breakdown here: I could *not* get their callcenter rep to understand that the neck was not the problem. They kept insisting that I only need to send them the neck. I kept repeating that the problem was with the whammy bar, which is part of the body of the guitar, but they say I need to send them the neck only, and that they will be returning a whole new guitar to me. I really don't understand this, and since I need to send it in the original packaging anyway, I'm going to send the entire guitar, just to make sure they don't come back and tell me that I failed to send the correct piece. I guess I'll keep the strap.
So... I don't know how long it takes their processors to email me the mailing label, but I don't have it yet... I did confirm that they have my email and mailing address and contact info correct, so hopefully in a few weeks I'll have everything straightened out and will be rocking with a rigid, stiff, turgid whammy bar that could pound a ten penny nail through a two by four, and can pleasure women from across the room.
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no subject
Date: 2009-10-08 11:10 pm (UTC)I like drumming in Rock Band better anyway so it's no skin off my nose.
(Before anyone suggests it, yes I know you can use the RB drums in GH BUT it only works in lefty mode on beginner)
no subject
Date: 2009-10-08 11:15 pm (UTC)- They have no intention of repairing it
- It takes longer to argue than to replace the whole thing
- Sending the neck only as proof costs them less in postage
My World Tour guitar developed a soft downwards strum after only a few months so it took more travel before it would click down than up, and they tried to run me through troubleshooting too. Eventually I gave up.
no subject
Date: 2009-10-08 11:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-10 12:14 am (UTC)"Wah! This shirt is too tight around my neck, it's missing one sleeve, and the one it does have is placed so I can't get my arm into it!"
"Sir, have you tried putting your head through the hole with no sleeve?"
*rustle rustle* "Oh, hey, that works better--what is is it, a defective shirt or something?"
The truly scary thing is that I bet they *have* had that happen....Or worse, the response is 'Well, that worked better...but now I have all this cloth up around my head and I can't see!'
no subject
Date: 2009-10-10 01:13 am (UTC)