While trying to find a solution to my Xbox live problem, I found some information online about getting through to escalated XBox live support. So far it hasn’t been very useful, and I haven’t tried the big-guns yet, but here is what I know:

Tier 2 Support

First, I found here that you can try calling ‘X-Box Escalated Support’. Their number is 866-506-3826. They have limited hours, between 6 am and 4 pm PST, which is a bit of a pain if you live on the east coast and have to do any amount of commuting. You’ll need a support reference number, so make sure you called Tier 1 support and got one.

In my experience, when I call (within their hours of course) and give my case number, it goes straight to a busy signal. Not helpful, or friendly. I’ve tried in the morning, mid-day, and even the evening. I had to work from home one day to try it, and I never got through to a human.

Another note about that number: When you say “operator” or “agent”, or give anything that doesn’t match the expected response to the computer’s question, the system responds with “Thanks for calling microsoft, goodbye”, then hangs up on you.

So, if you give that number a try, give the computer exactly what it expects to hear, and good luck.

Tier 3

I found a reference online to Tier 3 support in Washington as well. Their number is 1-888-236-0927, and you’ll need both a support reference number and an extension to get through the computer system.

I haven’t had much luck with this number either, but then again, I don’t have an extension. I’ve been making progress trying to guess one though! Entering an invalid extension twice gets you a message saying “please hold for the next available agent”, and it puts you on hold. I thought, I was making progress, but after 25 minutes of listening to annoying music, I had to admit defeat and hang up. Ugh!

However, today I did some research online and found out a bit of a pattern for the extensions. They all start with 70 and have four digits. I found a few complete extensions online, but when I tried them, they were disconnected or the people at those numbers had moved to new jobs.

Here are the extensions I know about, please comment on more if you have them:

  • 7033 - Went straight to voice mail, so I left a polite message
  • 7034 - Went straight to voice mail, so I left a polite message
  • 7035 - Invalid extension
  • 7036 - Brad, no longer in this position
  • 7040 - Empty mailbox, can leave a message but no name associated with box
  • 7041 - Unrecognized
  • 7075 - Frank, moved to a more internal management position
  • 7087 - Unrecognized
    The Big Guns

I haven’t gotten this far yet, but if you are really pissed, you can always try bringing in the big guns. I found contact information for a few Microsoft executives online. I haven’t tried contacting them yet, but if this is unresolved next week, I’ll give it a shot:

  • robbieb@microsoft.com- Robert (Robbie) Bach- PRESIDENT, ENT & DEVICES DIV
  • donm@microsoft.com - Don Mattrick- SVP, INTERACTIVE ENT. BUSINESS
  • jabell@microsoft.com - Jeff Bell - CVP GLOBAL MKT INTERACTIVE ENT
    Other Ideas

I’m out of ideas, so if you are reading this and have a suggestion, please let me know!