Zune Customer Support Experience Not So Rosy

[Darius Wey]

Ryan Jonasson contacted us recently to share his first Zune customer support experience. While the issue was resolved, there were a few too many bunny hops. Read on to learn more.<br /><br /><em>&quot;Dec 18 Afternoon. Call 1-800-GET-ZUNE for customer support. Wait time was very fast, was talking to a person almost immediately. After the 1-time product registration (3-4 minutes) told them my earbuds had quit working. I described the problem exactly, that occasionally the right channel would cut out but if I wiggled on the &quot;Y&quot; connector in the middle of the cord that I could get the sound to come back, and I felt there was a loose wire in that connector. The tech I spoke to said that they would replace the earbuds but their computers were down that afternoon so he couldn't open the trouble ticket. They asked me to call back that evening and if I gave them my Zune serial number they would see that he attempted to open a ticket and would complete it. Total time on the phone: 25 minutes</em>.<br /><div style="page-break-after: always;"><span style="display: none;"> </span></div><br /><em>Dec 18 Evening. Called back on same number to try and open the ticket. Spoke to a tech almost immediately again but this time was told that the warranty didn't cover the earbuds, only the device itself. I told them that I was told they would cover the earbuds but since the computers were down earlier he couldn't open a ticket. Spent around 7-8 minutes on hold while my tech hunted down a manager. Finally came back asking more questions about what was wrong, was I sure it wasn't the jack in the Zune. I convinced him that I was positive it was the earbuds since I could put another set of head phones in my Zune and they worked fine, and I could plug my earbuds into my laptop and had sound issues. Was put on hold for another 5-6 minutes, finally was passed onto a Level 2 technician who again told me the warranty doesn't cover the earbuds but since I was told that afternoon I could get the replaced they would honor that statement. They took down some additional information on shipping addresses and such, and described the return procedures. They would send me a box with return instructions included, and I would send my defective earbuds back (and absolutely nothing else in the box or I wouldn't get those additional items back). When they received the box back they would send me a new set of earbuds. Or I could return the item to the store where I bought it and do a complete return. Told them no thanks, that I've gotten this loaded up with quite a bit of stuff and didn't want to go through that again. I wasn't too happy they wouldn't do an advance exchange but was content enough they would do the replacement so I didn't argue too much. Total time on this call: 27 minutes.<br /><br />Dec 23. Received a Priority Mail box with a replacement set of earbuds, no return information, no instructions. Holding on to the old set for now, we'll see if they ask for them back.<br /><br />All in all the earbuds were replaced, but the process should have been a lot easier.&quot;<br /></em><br />Have any of you contacted Zune Support before? If so, share your story by telling us the good, the bad, and the ugly.

[Vincent M Ferrari]

I don't get it...

Why <strong>wouldn't</strong> the earbuds be covered along with the device? :confused:

[Jason Dunn]

I just had my own experience with Zune support yesterday and it was not bad - the problem was I'm in Canada. I'll be posting about that soon.

[Damion Chaplin]

I don't get it...

Why wouldn't the earbuds be covered along with the device? :confused:


I agree. It's like saying the driver disc or the manual isn't covered by warranty. (OK, OK, there's no manual ;) ).

[Adam Krebs]

"not so rosy"? what was wrong with the way they handled it? He got right through, spoke for quite a bit of time, and got the replacement, without sending the buds back. The headphones are a piece of **** anyway (as are practically every set that come packaged with an mp3 player), and I assume this is the reason they're not covered under waranty (and, unlike the device itself, is not so easily or cheaply replaced.) Do yourself a favor and get a quality set of phones, and leave the complaining until there's a real issue. I thankfully haven't had to call customer service with mine, but I've had a number of horror stories with other tech support lines, as well as heard much worse about the Zune support.

[Ron_in_ohio]

Soon after receiving my Zune for Christmas I had so many problems with it, the reason I will explain later. For three days in a row I call and spent multiple hours on the phone each time fixing this or that. The on lady had me do the DRM files and update the firmware and soon transferred me to a Level 2 Tech support. Which I must say is a complete joke as well. After 3 hours on the phone he showed me how to do the master reset which solved the problems till the next day. Here I got so sick of the run around and waste of my precious cell phone minutes I took it back to Best Buy which exchanged it quickly. My new Zune “BaJumble” in Black this time which I like more than the white had all kinds of preloaded videos and songs and other things on it where my first one did not. I am thinking the first one was refurbished or something. I am currently fighting with Microsoft trying to get some kind of compensation for my time and cell phone minutes. If anyone knows how to get a hold of “management” at Zune please tell me. I hate the Customer Service if that’s what they call themselves. What a joke.

[Darius Wey]

"not so rosy"? what was wrong with the way they handled it? He got right through, spoke for quite a bit of time, and got the replacement, without sending the buds back. The headphones are a piece of **** anyway (as are practically every set that come packaged with an mp3 player), and I assume this is the reason they're not covered under waranty (and, unlike the device itself, is not so easily or cheaply replaced.)

But it's not so much a fact that the headphones can be cheaply replaced, it's just basic principle that a customer should get what he paid for. If Ryan paid $249 for his Zune, the basic headphones, the USB cable, and the documentation/CD, surely each should be in a reasonable condition to warrant fair use. The problem is, his headphones weren't, and Microsoft was a bit hesitant to replace it.

Around two to three years ago, I discovered a broken connector on a USB sync cable for my Pocket PC. In three minutes, HP requested my address and shipped a new one out to me, without question. I received it two days later via courier at no cost. Now, in my opinion, that's excellent customer support. You could argue that I could have replaced that USB sync cable with a quick $10 purchase at my local accessory store, but I wanted to make sure I got what I paid for.

[blazingwolf]

That's definetly not the worst customer service story I have ever heard or expierenced. While it would have been better for a no question asked return he certainly got what he should have.

My expierence was quite a bit better. The person who answered the phone for me was very curtious and handled my problem in about 15 minutes. No complaints from me on this one. :)

[Adam Krebs]

But it's not so much a fact that the headphones can be cheaply replaced, it's just basic principle that a customer should get what he paid for.

Alright, fair enough. Perhaps I was a bit quick to judge, and yes, a customer should get what (s)he pays for. But negative reviews of customer service reps are usually based on severe incompetence. Not getting a pair of headphones is not worthy of more than a mention in one of the regular posts. Unless it's something along the lines of not getting a faulty device replaced or a serious issue, which I understand they've been pretty good about, it really isn't that big a deal. If you've ever worked in a calling center (or any kind of tech support in general), you'll know the frustration of dealing with idiots and rude people all day long. The decision not to get him the headphones is a company policy. A dumb policy, yes, but not the fault of the representatives, who, as I read it, were quite courteous and proper. His wait times were short (a rarety), and he actually got his problem fixed, unlike some of the other horror stories I'm reading about.

As for ron_in_ohio, I know it sucks to be on the phone for that long, but you chose to use your cell phone minutes, rather than use your home phone (or steal a friend's). I have no sympathy in your crusade to be compensated. It's a travesty it took that long for you to get the issue resolved, but you could've gone to Best Buy at any time, which as you note quickly solved your problem.

I equate these complaints to a restaurant patron not tipping/requesting their money back because the waiter put too much ice in their water glass. It ain't perfect, but errbody, chill out! It could be much worse.


I heard Queso Compuesto's call to tech support, which seemed to be handled in a variety of ways depending on which person he got. I think it's great to finally hear a black voice on the menus that have long been dominated by white-sounding females (and to a lesser extent, males), although I wish it weren't such a blatant attempt to seem "street".

[Jason Dunn]

Not getting a pair of headphones is not worthy of more than a mention in one of the regular posts.

I think, to be honest, that we just got a little excited because that was the first detailed email we had gotten about someone dealing with Zune tech support - I agree that he had a pretty good experience with the tech and perhaps the "Not So Rosy" title painted things in a more negative light than positive. I have my own recent experience with Zune tech support I'll be posting on today.

I heard Queso Compuesto's call to tech support, which seemed to be handled in a variety of ways depending on which person he got.

Yeah, I keep meaning to post on that - I'm less interested in the actual tech support call than in the way Zune tech support is handling this skipping issue.

I think it's great to finally hear a black voice on the menus that have long been dominated by white-sounding females (and to a lesser extent, males), although I wish it weren't such a blatant attempt to seem "street".

I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed that. I think it's a nice change, and it somehow made it seem friendlier. Though being whiter than white myself, and living in Western Canada, I don't know anyone that talks like that. ;-)

[Adam Krebs]

I'm seeing that customers who are frustrated with technical support are not so much frustrated with the representatives (who seem to respectful, nice, etc.) but with the issues of the device itself. It's too bad you can't get the support you wanted with your two Zunes, but if I read correctly, you're going to CES. You should e-mail Cesar to get a ticket to the Zune party, and try to see if you can get a replacement. I'm sure they don't want anyone causing a fuss during their most important PR event of the year.

Thanks for re-thinking the title of your post. It just really irks me that even slightly negative comments about the Zune experience seem to attract the Swarm, making the issues see much larger than they actually are (like the criticism of the wireless feature being limited is seen as a negative for the Zune [even though it can be hacked, thus voiding that claim], and iPod's lack of the feature at all receives no criticism). This is not to say we shouldn't be critical of the Zune experience, as it's pretty obvious a number of the features were too rushed. On the contrary, we should try to improve the device through constructive discussion. Overreacting about not replacing headphones (which seems to me the only reason he wouldn'tve got them in the first place was because their computers were down) is not constructive. Discussing and criticizing the ideas behind this decision is. I would like to see your thoughts on the skipping issues discussed in Queso Compueso and by SportsUnit (who seems to be on the brink of murder because of it).

In the meantime, good luck with your replacements, and I'll look forward to hearing how it goes.

[Ron_in_ohio]

mysekurity....I know I wish I had used a land line however my life is on the go, wireless this wifi that...my only other option is my LG-CU500 and truthfully you are right...but I work for a rather large cooperation, not so large as Micro$oft, and we gladly hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to claims in the name of customer satisfaction. That’s business, either good or bad, that’s the way things go. Upon receiving one that worked properly I am back on the bandwagon, it must have been a bad-apple excuse the pun. I tip well and only wanted to hear "look this is what we are going to do for you" instead no apology was offered. Its cool, my new Zune rocks and the only thing I need now is dvd to wmv freeware. Cucu worked like a champ and the only thing keeping me from spending the 30 bucks is the patience of waiting for something just as good to come out minus the watermark. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
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