Microsoft support sucks

I think your lament is an all-too-common one for many folks.

It's like I always say to my clients.... Let your voice be heard via your checkbook.

I am no longer buying Windows based products even though I prefer pc over mac. However, that being said, good customer support/service trumps everything else which is why Apple is going to be getting my business from now on. Microsoft is a licensing company that publishes software (and not the other way around). Yet many of their products and services are purchased directly by consumers from Microsoft and still they fail to honor their commitment to these customers as well. I get it. I feel your pain. But as I said, let our voice be heard via your checkbook. I'm migrating all my systems over to MAC. I realize this may not be possible for many but that's going to be my ultimate solution.

Best of luck.

I concur. I build my own PC's and upgrade parts ALOT. After so many upgrades I have to contact Microsoft because I cant activate my Windows. They are so F'ing worried I am going to cheat them. Jack-asses to be sure. And yet I overpay for their beta garbage. That they quit supporting and force me to buy another beta.

I get it - I feel your pain. But it's like I've always said (to clients, friends and anyone else who'll listen): When you want your voice heard, speak the universal language of money. Vote with your checkbook. Sadly, often the only way companies hear the cries of its otherwise loyal customer base is when those cries stop - and the dollars stop flowing. Better companies take a more proactive approach to customer satisfaction rather than one that's reactive. It's what separates the wheat from the chaff, so to speak.

As for me...although it pains me somewhat to say it, I'm rapidly becoming an Apple convert. It's not because I perceive their products to be so far superior than their windows counterparts (because I don't believe this) but their support experience certainly is far superior to what is being offered by Microsoft and its licensees. Dell, HP et al try to do what they can to provide what they believe to be good support but the reality is that buying a piece of equipment made by one company that is licensing the operating system made by another equals too many hands in the soup. Seems more logical, if not more efficient, to deal with one company for both. Microsoft has made a foray into manufacturing their own machines but it's a half-baked effort because of their contractual agreements with their licensees which causes all of the above to have to share the same kitchen - hence the half-baked product (excuse the obvious and somewhat lame pun but it serves the purpose to illustrate my point).

Microsoft is very profitable and I suspect they're focusing more and more on their large corporate and institutional customers rather than the individual end user. Apple seems to have a greater vested interest in the latter - as well as the former.

Breath deeply and carry on.

Sure....you can get a number for 'your corner of the globe' but that won't do you any good. I dare you or anyone else to be able to get a live human being at Microsoft to talk to you. Microsoft has been going downhill for some time now and it's too bad because I prefer Windows over Apple any day of the week. But sadly, I've begun the transition to Apple - which means replacing 3 computers, a tablet and my smart phone. I'm an I.T. professional for over 30 years and I never thought I'd see the day where I'd switch to Apple - but here I am and here I go. The reason why is obvious: Apple supports its products. Unless you're a mega-corporate user, Microsoft doesn't want to talk to you. This is because they license their O/S to various manufacturers. Part of that licensing agreement is that the manufacturer has to give you support. But even in the case where one buys software from Microsoft directly - one still has a daunting task ahead of them to try and get someone from support on the phone. And don't be foolish enough to write this off to COVID because I've seen this downhill trend with Microsoft Support (an oxymoron) happening long before the pandemic started. Microsoft, like most American corporations, continue to fatten the pay grade and bonus structures of upper management while the peons (and customer) below suffer for those excesses.

I leave you with this thought: In recent history we've heard the term "too big to fail" - and now I've taken poetic license and rephrased that adage: Microsoft, like AT&T and many other over-sized conglomerates, have become "too big to succeed".

Is anyone at Microsoft listening? I highly doubt it. But as market share erodes and ground gets lost to Apple, the brain trusts in the hallowed halls of Microsoft will be sitting there scratching their heads like a bunch of Resus monkeys wondering how it happened - and then continuing on to dismiss it since they'll get their bonuses and golden parachute bail outs regardless of whether the business succeeds or fails.

Like everything else in America these days, the corporate 'culture' (if one could even call it that) is becoming increasingly dysfunctional by the second.

My father used to say that common sense isn't so common. As always dad, you were right.

Agree. Microsoft has become a money hungry company with NO actual support. They continue to direct my sign-in to a defunct account. I became so frustrated with the time and effort to solve my problems that I was forced to pay twice for the same service by opening a second account even though the first was still active Still they want more money for the same services withoujt offering real support. I cannot pay three times for the same service.

They will not fix problems. They will not help. They want money. That's it.

You ain’t kidding it’s terrible, my mothers email and Microsoft account was hacked and encrypted with ransomware. It’s been a month since we first caught wind of it. It started when I couldn’t access my original Xbox account, and this strange email appeared to prompting me to sign in instead of my moms email account. They encrypted their email onto my mothers they basically own my old Xbox account with all my games and information on it, now it’s only accessible through the hackers email account. I wish customer service would step their game up, I’ve been hacked before and this was when they had actual people talk to you on the phone. Now it’s automated, it sucks, and it’s no help