Letter to the Editors: MSN 8 - They Call this Support?

To some I come off as a Microsoft fanboy. It’s true that I believe the vision of Bill Gates and the dedication MS puts into its products makes them worthy our respect. However this mega corporation is not infallible. Even I have had problems with them. As recently as this weekend. What follows are actual transcripts of my experiences with MSN support after encountering a very simple problem. What happens when you are signed up for MSN accidentally?

Topic: I appear to have been signed up for MSN8 but I am an Extra Storage customer. I use MSN8 through someone else’s account on this computer.

James Hi, Peter.
Peter Hello James, welcome to MSN Interactive Online Support. I am Peter, your live Microsoft Support Professional.
Peter Can you please elaborate on the issue ?
James well I just got an email stating that my account info needed to be updated
James when I looked at billing it showed an MSN8 subscription.
Peter James, could you please provide me with your first name, last name, city, telephone number and the zip code?
James I use MSN8 on this computer
James James S****** 
James CENSORED, RI ZIPCODE
James 401XXXXXXX
Peter Thank you for the information, please wait while I locate your account.
Peter I appreciate your patience and co-operation.
James no problem
James actually my account is listed under ZIPCODE
James just noticed that
Peter Thank you for waitng.
Peter I have checked our database with the information you have given me and I have located your account "CENSORED@hotmail.com" which is MSN Software only plan for $ 9.95.
James that is incorrect
James as you will see I am a user under CENSORED@msn.com
James I did subscribe to Extra Storage last January and I renewed this year
Peter Thank you for the information.
Peter I would like to inform you that your account "CENSORED" is MSN Narrowband Unlimited Internet Access Account for $ 21.95
James that's right
Peter Do you wish to cancel your account "
Peter I am sorry for that.
Peter Do you wish to cancel your account "CENSORED@hotmail.com".
James I wish to cancel my account, subscribe to extra storage and have the charges corrected so that I can pay you guys the right amount
Peter James, can you let me know which account are you referring to cancel?
James CENSORED@hotmail.com's MSN8 subscription
Peter In order to assist you further, can I please have the last 4 digits of your credit card number? Please be advised that you should never give your whole credit card number over the internet.
James there are two on my account
James **** & ****
Peter Thank you for the information.
Peter Just to confirm that you wish to cancel your account "CENSORED".
James yes
Peter Please give me a moment to assist you.
Peter I would like to inform you that your account "CENSORED" is cancelled and the cancellation number is 86040525.
James ok
Peter Is there anything else I can assist you with?
James what do I do about the extra storage?
Peter Do you wish to sign up for Extra Storage Subscription?
Peter Since you have disconnected without responding I am unable to assist you. Please feel free to login anytime for further assistance. A Microsoft Professional will always be available to assist you 24 hours a day seven days a week.
James umm
Peter I am sorry for that.
James that's ok
Peter James, Do you wish to sign up for Extra Storage Subscription?
James I had an extra storage subscription until it was somehow converted to an MSN8 subscription in February
James I had already paid for the subscription.
Peter James, as per our records you changed your subscription from Extra Storage to MSN Software only plan on 02/02/2003.
James but I didn't, that's my point.
James and I have been paying for MSN8 though CENSORED@msn.com
James I want the last two months of MSN8 credited to my account, then I will re signup for extra storage
Peter James, I would have been more than happy to assist you with the Extra Storage Account however, my expertise is with MSN Internet Access Accounts and Billings.
James ok
Peter Since you were charged for the MSN Software only plan I am issuing you a credit for 2 months.
James my point is this peter. I have been charged 9.95/month for the last two months for a service that I am paying an additional 21.95/month for
James thanks :)
Peter Please give me a moment to assist you.
James sorry to get so testy, I am trying to get ready to leave
Peter Not a problem.
Peter James, I would like to inform you that, MSN tried to charge you for the MSN 8 account however, there are payment decline on your account and you have not been charged for that.
James I realize, I want the charges taken off so that they don't keep trying to hit the card
James I only put money in that account for bills
Peter James, MSN runs its billing cycle on every Friday and once your account is charged you can get back to us and I am leaving a note on your account that once you get back to us you should be issued a credit for two months.
Peter We are sorry for the inconvenience caused to you.
James ok
James I will contact you on Friday then
James thanks
Peter my expertise is with MSN Accounts and Billings.
Peter For your own records, I'll send you a copy of our chat. Thanks James, for using MSN Interactive Online Support, we're here 24 hours, 7 days a week.

At this point I honestly believed the majority of my problem was corrected and I happily left my house to go catch a matinee of the Matrix Reloaded (no comment). When I returned I found that I could no longer log into MSN8. It informed me that my account had expired. Once again I contacted support.

Topic: I can no longer log into MSN8

James Hi Susan.
Susan Hello James, welcome to MSN Accounts and Billings Interactive Online Support. My name is Susan, I will be your customer support agent for today. I will be glad to assist you.
James I was having a problem earlier and there seems to be further issue
James earlier
James I was mistakenly given an MSN8 account and was being charged for it.
James That account has been cancelled and a credit will be applied on Friday but now I can't log in to MSN
James I am a user under the account CENSORED@msn.com
Susan James, I understand that you were not able to log in to your MSN account.
James my email is CENSORED@hotmail.com
Susan I understand what you mean. I apologize for not being able to answer your question. My expertise is with accounts and billing related issues. Our Technical representatives will provide best resolution on this issue. I will give you the link to our Technical Support to assist you with your issue.
Susan http://msntech.webhelp.com/msntech/member/Login.execute.j?action=reactive
Susan Please save the link to your "Favorites" folder for future reference because the page I have sent you will close after ending this chat session. You can save the link to your Favorites by pointing the mouse on the page that appeared on the left side of your screen. Then right click on your mouse and choose the "add to favorites" option on the menu.
James ok thanks
James will they be able to see this chat?
Susan You are most welcome. This chat is monitored by MSN accounts and billing department. I suggest that you re-submit you concern regarding your connectivity again.
James ok thanks
James have a nice day
Susan You are most welcome. Thank you for allowing us to assist you with your connectivity issue, I hope you found our session today helpful. For your own records, you will be receiving a transcript of our session in your email. Thank you for your time and have a great day. If you will encounter any Accounts and Billing issues in the future, please log on again as there is always an MSN Interactive Online Customer Support Representative here to serve you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Ok fine. She can’t help me but she seems sure she knows who can. What the heck, let’s try it.

Topic: I can't log into MSN 8 anymore.

James Hi Arnel.
Arnel Hello James. Thank you for using MSN Interactive Online Support. My name is Arnel; I will be your Online Technical Support Engineer.
James I had a billing problem earlier. I was mistakenly signed up for the MSN8 software service and was being charged.
James They cancelled my account but now I can't log in even though I am a user under the account CENSORED@msn.com
James My email is CENSORED@hotmail.com
Arnel Please tell me if you are having difficulties signing in to your MSN 8 using your CENSORED@hotmail.com? How long has this been happening? What is the error message that you encounter when this happens?
James It just happened now, it says my account is expired.
James CENSORED@hotmail.com is the problem.
Arnel Please tell me if you already have cancelled this account? Are you now trying to sign in to your CENSORED@msn.com email account which is a member account under your CENSORED@hotmail.com email account?
James no
James let me explain.
James CENSORED@msn.com is a dialup MSN8 account.
James we use that account to dial up from home, I am a user under that account.
James I am trying to connect from my office and it says my account is expired.
James Her account is on and paid in full.
Arnel Please allow me a minute to check further on your CENSORED@hotmail.com account for me to be able to serve you better. Thank you.
James thanks
Arnel Thank you for the information. I have further checked on your account and found out that the account CENSORED@hotmail.com email account sign up last February 2, 2003 is already expired as of May 25, 2002. This have caused your issue on not being able to sign in to your member account to sign in and connect to the internet.
James err
James The account has expired because I told them to cancel it. I never signed up.
James I was always a member account under CENSORED@msn.com
Arnel I am sure that you can sign in to your member account using your CENSORED@msn.com for it is a current existing paying account right now. However, if you are going to sign in to a computer whose internet access is signed up under the CENSORED@hotmail.com, you may not be able to do so, for this account is expired.
Arnel If you are going to set up your CENSORED@msn.com email account as the primary account of your MSN 8, I am sure that you will be able to sign in.
James I am trying to sign in under CENSORED@hotmail.com on this computer where CENSORED@msn.com is the primary account.
James should I reinstall MSN8 or something?
Arnel You cannot sign in to CENSORED@hotmail.com email account right now for it has just expired it subscription. You will have to wait after this account is available for free account usage which is after 60 days.
James are you nuts?
James I have had this hotmail account for years
James it's a .net passport
James it's not going to become available for free usage.
James this is ridiculous. you are the third person I have talked to.
James I never signed up for MSN 8 monthly software plan. I want it taken off right now.
James We are paying 21.95/month for unlimited access.
James I am not going to stop using this email account because you don't know how to fix the problem.
James let me talk to someone else.
Arnel I understand your frustration regarding this issue. However, if you have currently added this account as a member account before in your MSN 8, what we need to do is to remove and re-add all your accounts in MSN 8.
James ok lets do that
Arnel This will refresh and resynchronize your account with the MSN server and should allow you to sign in and access your CENSORED@hotmail.com email account as a member account on your MSN 8.
Arnel We will need to use the Hot Key Fix in order to remove your account in MSN 8. Account Manager can remove their account by pressing CTRL-SHIFT-F11 in the sign in screen of MSN 8. Here are the complete steps to follow:
Arnel Before we proceed, please do move all your emails from your Folders on My computer and transfer them to your Inbox for you may lose them in the process. Just check all checkboxes on your Folders on My computer and then click on Put in folder button then select Inbox from the list to get your archived emails saved in your Inbox and with the MSN server.
Arnel After moving all your emails, Start your MSN 8: a. Press CTRL+SHIFT+F11. A new window opens. b. Click Remove Dialing Information. A new window opens. c. When asked, Are you sure you want to proceed with removing your MSN dialing information,? click Yes. d. Close MSN 8. e. Open MSN 8 and select Get Internet Access. Note The Connection Settings link is no longer available. f. Type your dialing information, and then click Next g. If needed, update any dialing rules, such as disabling call waiting, and then click Next. A new Microsoft .NET Passport window opens.
Arnel h. Type your .NET Passport password, and then click Next. i. Type your home area code and phone number in the two boxes provided, and then click Next. j. Select the access numbers you want to use by checking or clearing the associated check boxes, and then click Next. A Terms of Use agreement appears. k. To continue, you must agree to the terms of use, and then click Next. A Congratulations screen appears, confirming that you now have MSN Internet access.
Arnel Were you able to receive clearly all of the 11 steps (steps A to K) in order for you to reinstate your dialling credentials on MSN 8? Are you comfortable with them? I am confident that this will resolve your issue on your member account not being able to sign in to your MSN 8.
Arnel It has been a while since I've received a message from you. Are you still with me?
Arnel Are you still online with me?
Arnel Are you still there?
Arnel I am sorry we were unable to conclude our chat about your sign in issue on MSN 8. We are available 24 hours, 7 days a week. If you need further assistance, please come back and visit us again. For your convenience and future reference, your ticket number is 117978753, and you will receive by e-mail a detailed transcript of our chat, including all site links and services. Thank you for using the MSN network.

Topic: I was just talking to Arnel, I was disconnected.

Lee Hello James, thank you for using MSN Interactive Online Support. My name is Lee and I will be your Online Technical Support Engineer.
James Hi Lee. Is it possible to transfer me? Or do we have to start all over again?
Lee Since you have visited here previously, I will be reviewing your previous support session regarding this issue. This will help me understand how to assist you better. In the meantime, do you have any additional information that may assist me?
James He said I needed to remove all the member accounts and re-add them to fix the problem.
Lee Alright fine, James.
Lee Please allow me a minute more to better help you.
James Thanks.
Lee James thanks for waiting for me.
Lee To refresh and resynchronize your account with the MSN server and should allow you to sign in and access your CENSORED@hotmail.com email account as a member account on your MSN 8.
Lee Account Manager can remove their account by pressing CTRL-SHIFT-F11 in the sign in screen of MSN 8.
James ok
Lee Here are the complete steps to follow:
Lee Before we proceed, please do move all your emails from your Folders on My computer and transfer them to your Inbox for you may lose them in the process. Just check all checkboxes on your Folders on My computer and then click on Put in folder button then select Inbox from the list to get your archived emails saved in your Inbox and with the MSN server.
Lee After moving all your emails, Start your MSN 8:
Lee a. Press CTRL+SHIFT+F11. A new window opens.
Lee b. Click Remove Dialing Information. A new window opens.
Lee c. When asked, Are you sure you want to proceed with removing your MSN dialing information,? click Yes. d. Close MSN 8.
Lee e. Open MSN 8 and select Get Internet Access. Note The Connection Settings link is no longer available. f. Type your dialing information, and then click Next g. If needed, update any dialing rules, such as disabling call waiting, and then click Next. A new Microsoft .NET Passport window opens.
Lee h. Type your .NET Passport password, and then click Next. i. Type your home area code and phone number in the two boxes provided, and then click Next. j. Select the access numbers you want to use by checking or clearing the associated check boxes, and then click Next. A Terms of Use agreement appears. k. To continue, you must agree to the terms of use, and then click Next. A Congratulations screen appears, confirming that you now have MSN Internet access.
Lee I hope you are receiving the steps properly.
James I am
Lee Thanks for the confirmation.
James sorry I was just reading along
Lee No problem, James.
Lee All this information will go to your emails as well.
James and I should sign in with the CENSORED@msn.com account first like I was setting up for the first time?
Lee You will receive a transcript of our chat with all the links via email for your reference.
Lee Yes exactly.
James great thanks.
Lee Were you able to receive clearly all of the 11 steps (steps A to K) in order for you to reinstate your dialling credentials on MSN 8? Are you comfortable with them? I am confident that this will resolve your issue on your member account not being able to sign in to your MSN 8.
James I'll do that now
James yes
James thanks a lot
Lee I suggest that you try all of the steps that I have sent you and log back in if you require further assistance. You will receive a transcript of our chat with all the links via email for your reference. All we will need to assist you is your ticket number and the next agent will be able to access a record of our conversation. Would that be okay with you?
Lee Here at MSN your comments are greatly appreciated. When our chat is finished, please take a moment to fill out the survey that appears in a separate window.
Lee It's my pleasure chatting with you. Thanks for your patience. We will look forward to serve you in the future.
James have a nice night
Lee James, I hope that you have found our session today helpful for removing and adding the member. We are available 24 hours a day and are always glad to help. For your convenience and future reference, your ticket number is 117978753, and you will receive by e-mail a detailed transcript of our chat, including all site links. Thank you for using MSN Interactive Online Technical Support. We are available 24 hours, 7 days a week. If you need further assistance, please come back and visit us again.

In all fairness to Arnel, I did close the window by accident. However his solution (and Lee’s) not only didn’t work but ended up causing even greater problems. You see, an admin account can’t be deleted and you can’t change an admin account to a regular account unless that user has logged onto that machine before. He just had me clear everything so we could start fresh. Unfortunately that’s not the way it works. I decided to try online support again but I was getting frustrated.

Topic: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

James You are the Fifth support representative I have talked to.

Sean Hello, James. Thank you for using MSN Interactive Online Support. My name is Sean, I will be your Online Technical Support Engineer.
Sean I look forward to assisting you today.
James The problem is this. CENSORED@hotmail.com was mistakenly given an MSN8 subscription. I had this cancelled and they will be crediting the account. But now that it is cancelled I cannot log into MSN8 as a member account.
James All mention of MSN8 has to be removed from CENSORED@hotmail.com as it is confusing the service.
Sean We are part of a globle chat support, there is a nother Sean in one of our center overseas.
Sean I understand that you are unable to log into MSN 8 as a member account.
James Please
James before you jump to any conclusions read everything that has gone on so far today.
Sean Thank you for the information. I will do my best to help you resolve your issue.
James I have done everything they said.
James Including a complete reinstall of MSN8
Sean We apologize for any inconvenience that you may have experienced. Please allow me a moment while I check your account in our database.
Sean James, I am glad to inform you that your account is working fine.
James woah
James are you sure?
Sean Yes James.
Sean James, since this account is still active in our database, I suggest you to contact our Customer Service. Please contact Our Customer Service by calling on 1800-386-5550. I can assure you that our MSN Support Team will be able to assist you further with your issue.
Sean It was a pleasure chatting with you about MSN 8 accounts.
Sean For your convenience and future reference, your ticket number is 117984290, you will receive by e-mail a detailed transcript of our chat, including all site links and services.
Sean Thank you for choosing MSN Internet Access as your online service provider. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you need further assistance, please come back and visit us again.
Sean I hope you have a nice day!

At this point I am more than a little annoyed. I call support. The guy on the other end, whose name I can’t remember, tells me he will delete my account on his end and it may take a while. Ok… I go and work on some other stuff away from the computer. Later that night I come back and surprise, surprise!

Topic: CENSORED@hotmail.com has still not been deleted from my account and I cannot delete it.

James Hi Sarah.
Sarah Hello, James. Thank you for using MSN Interactive Online Support. My name is Sarah, I will be your Online Technical Support Engineer.
Sarah I look forward to assisting you today.
James So basically I'm still having the same problem I've been having all day.
James I can't log in as CENSORED@hotmail.com and I cannot delete the account in order to re-add it.
James The last support representative said he deleted the account but it's still there.
Sarah I understand and I will do my best to resolve this for you. Just to confirm your issue, you are unable to remove the account "CENSORED@hotmail.com " from MSN 8.
James right
Sarah James, please allow me a moment to go through your previous chat sessions to assist you more efficientlu.
Sarah Thank you, James, for your patience.
Sarah James, can you please let me know what exactly happens when you try to delete the "CENSORED@hotmail.com " account from MSN 8.
James it says Error Deleting this User
James Could it be because I am an account manager?
James And if so, how do I change my status if I can't log in?
Sarah No, James, I will assist you with getting this issue resolved for you.
James Ok thanks.
Sarah The pleasure is all mine.
Sarah James, I will now explain your issue to you.
James ok
Sarah James, our database shows that your account is expired for this account and since you are paying a subscription for this account, you will need to get this error rectified.
James but I never signed up for the service
James I had them cancel it today because it was a mistake
James I spoke to two accounts reps. and your the fourth tech support person
Sarah Thank you for letting me know.
Sarah James, can you please let me know what exactly happens when you launch into the MSN 8 sign in screen and press CTRL+SHIFT+F11 together?
James it asks me if I want to clear all the accounts
Sarah James, do you then select "Yes"?
James yes
James and then I re-setup the whole thing
Sarah James, can you please let me know, re-add your account does the "CENSORED@hotmail.com " account come up automatically and also can you please let me know after you remove and re-add your account back which email address do you use, is it the hotmail address or the msn address?
James ok
James when I re setup I use CENSORED@msn.com
James CENSORED is still there
Sarah Thank you for all the information.
Sarah James, I will now provide you with some simple steps to remove this account from MSN 8, while you are signed into your msn account.
James ok, I’ll try
Sarah Here we go with the steps.
Sarah 1. Sign in to MSN 8. 2. Click Help and Setting. 3. Click Member Accounts and Billing.
Sarah 4. Click Remove Member Accounts. 5. Click Remove next to the account you want to remove. 6. Click Save Changes.
Sarah 7. Click OK. 8. Click done when you are finished removing accounts.
James then it says "Error Deleting This User"
Sarah Thank you for all the information, it has enabled me to understand your issue perfectly. James, I will now explain to you as to why you are expriencing this issue and provide you with some simple steps to resolve this.
Sarah The reason why you are experiencing this issue is because of some damaged files in your MSN 8 software. In order to resolve your issue you will have to refresh the settings by re-installing MSN 8 to your computer , since this will refresh all the settings and rewrite the incorrect settings properly. After that you will need to delete this account by following the steps I ahve provided you with earlier.
Sarah I will guide you through all the steps you will need.
James well I'll try that but please forgive my skepticism
Sarah That is alright. I understand your concern.
Sarah James, can you please let me know whether you installed MSN 8 through the CD or web link?
James the web link
Sarah James, you will need to re-install MSN 8 through the web link, please do not uninstall MSN 8.
James ok
Sarah I will now provide you with the web link to download MSN 8.
Sarah http://client.msn.com/msn8/download/en/us/
James ok I see it
Sarah That is great. Click on install and then the "Save" button to save the installation file.
James ok I have it
Sarah After you re-install MSN 8 to your computer, you will then need to follow the steps I sent you earlier to remove the account from MSN 8.
Sarah If you need to clarify anything regarding the steps I have sent you please feel free to ask me.
James no seems fine
James I'm going to try this now
Sarah That is great and I am sure that you will be able to get this issue resovled.
James thanks
James have a nice day
Sarah The pleasure was all mine.
Sarah I hope that you have found your session about removing accounts helpful. For your convenience and future reference, your ticket number is 117978835 and you will receive by e-mail a detailed transcript of our chat, including all site links.
Sarah Thank you for using MSN Interactive Online Technical Support. We are available 24 hours, 7 days a week. If you need further assistance, please come back and visit us again.
Sarah Goodnight and take care.

It’s probably needless to say but the reinstall didn’t work.

Topic: last time

James ok
James I have been dealing with this problem all day. All I want is to be able to log in to MSN8 with my CENSORED@hotmail.com account.
James There were 5 techs and 2 billing guys before you.
James Please read everything before you say anything.
Terry Hello James , thank you for using MSN Interactive Online Support. My name is Terry, I will be your Online Technical Support Engineer.
Terry Could you please let me know have you added this account in MSN 8?
James yes
Terry Thanks James.
Terry I have checked your all the session. As you have done al the troubleshooting steps and the issue still persists, I would like you to do is to contact our Second level of Technical Support Department at this toll free number.
Terry The number is : 1-800-386-5550.
Terry James, It was a pleasure chatting with you today about your issue of email, for your convenience and future reference, your ticket number is 117990231, you will receive by e-mail a detailed transcript of our chat, including all site links and services. Thank you for choosing MSN Internet Access as your online service provider. We are available 24 hours, 7 days a week. If you need further assistance, please come back and visit us again. I hope you have a nice day!

So I call support and they say it’s not a technical issue. She gives me a ticket number which is suppose to keep me from repeating myself ad naseum. Of course that doesn’t seem to help our next contestant.

Topic: Ticket #117990765

Nickey Hello James, welcome to MSN Interactive Online Support. I am Nickey, your live Microsoft Support Professional.
Nickey I shall try my best to help you, James. Just give me a moment to check the ticket number that you have given me.
Nickey James, may I know if this ticket number was given to you by the Technical Support team?
James  it was
James  they wanted me to contact you
Nickey Okay.
James  they said you needed to remove the reference to MSN8 from my account
Nickey May I know the problem that you were facing when you contacted our
Nickey Technical support team?
James  I can't log in as a secondary account
James  I never subscribed to msn8 byoa because we had narrowband
James  but I was being charged for it for the last two months
James  so I contacted you guys and the support guy expired the account but now I can't log in
James  as a secondary user.
Nickey Okay, just a moment, James.
Nickey James, may I know the software that you are using to connect to the Internet? For example : MSN 8 or MSN Explorer>
James  MSN 8
Nickey Okay, just a moment please.
Nickey I would need to check your account, James.
Nickey May I please have your MSN Subscriber ID? For your information your MSN Subscriber ID is the first part of your MSN e-mail just before the '@msn.com'. For example : if "abc@msn.com" is your email ID, then "abc" is your subscriber ID.
James  I am not an msn subscriber that the whole problem
James  CENSORED@hotmail.com is listed as one but it shouldn't be
Nickey Okay, one moment, James while I check this email ID.
Nickey James, is "CENSORED@hotmail.com" the secondary email address that you are unable to access?
James  yes
James  the primary account is CENSORED@msn.com
James  the reason I can't access it is because CENSORED@hotmail.com says it has an expired MSN8 account.
Nickey Thanks for giving the information about the primary ID. Just a moment while I check that too.
James  the reason it is expired is because I never signed up for it and I contact billing earlier today to fix that.
James  I have a ticket # for that if you like
Nickey No problem, James.
Nickey Just a moment while I help you resolve this, James.
James  thank you
Nickey You are welcome, James, I would suggest you to follow the steps of 'remove user' and then 'add user' for the account 'CENSORED@hotmail.com" in MSN 8.
James  that doesn't work
James  MSN 8 Internet Software Monthly plan
James  this subscription needs to be removed from my account
Nickey I understood that, James, that has already been removed from your account. I am trying to help you resolve the issue of 'not being able to login using the ID CENSORED@hotmail.com" .
Nickey Okay, do you use the account "Iv407@msn.com"?
James  ok let me try
Nickey Okay.
James  I have access to it
James  it still says Error Deleting User
Nickey Have you given manager rights to the account "CENSORED@hotmail.com" under the primary ID?
James  yes
Nickey Just a moment.
James  "MSN 8 Internet Software Monthly plan" is still showing up on my billing.microsoft.com
Nickey James, to help you resolve this issue, would it be okay if you revoke the manager rights to "CENSORED@hotmail.com" and login to the Internet using "Iv407@msn.com". You could then check the emails received on "CENSORED@hotmail.com".
James  yes
James  but I can't revoke them
James  because CENSORED can't log in and I since I reinstalled the program it won't let me change status as he hasn't logged in before
Nickey Could you try logging in using "CENSORED@msn.com"?
James  I am logged in
James  under that
Nickey One moment, James.
James  the change status button is grayed out
Nickey Okay.
Nickey Just a moment.
Nickey James, I have tried all the alternatives to help resolve your issue. Would you like me to give you the phone number of our Technical Support Engineers who will help you to resolve this issue?
James  no I have it
James  So there is no way you can remove the reference to the subscription from my account?
Nickey It has already been removed automatically, James.
James  The why does it still show up as expired on my billing site?
James  Can you change it from expired to cancelled?
Nickey There are only three options : "enabled", "suspended" and "expired". So, "expired" here means that the account is cancelled.
James  Well can I have my account reactivated until I can talk to a level 2 billing person on Tuesday then?
Nickey Which account would you like to be reactivated, James?
James  CENSORED@hotmail.com
James  I'll have to wait till I can talk to someone live on Tuesday to get this resolved and I need to be able to log in till then.
Nickey You can login using "CENSORED@msn.com", connect to the hotmail site and then you can access the account "CENSORED@hotmail.com".
James  hrm
James  I can't use CENSORED's account all the time.
Nickey James, the phone support team is open on Mondays. You can speak to them since they have the necessary tools to reactivate an account which has been cancelled unless in case of cancellation due to non-payment.
James  Monday is a holiday in the states
James  fine.
Nickey James, please note that their hours of operation are from 5 am to 10 pm PST weekdays and 8 am to 5 pm PST on weekends.
James  thanks for all your effort
Nickey You are most welcome.
James  Have a nice day :)
Nickey You too, James.
Nickey For your own records, I'll send you a copy of our chat to enable you to save all the information that I have sent you.
Nickey Thanks for using MSN Interactive Online Support, we're here 24 hours, 7 days a week.
Nickey Have a good night and a great day ahead .
Nickey Bye.

Totally fed up with the whole thing I change the credit card on my account and pay for the damn subscription. Now I just want to reactivate it so I contact support again.

Alfred Hello James. Welcome to MSN Interactive Online Support, my name is Alfred, your online Microsoft Support Professional.
James  Hi Alfred. I updated the credit card info on my CENSORED@hotmail.com account and I need my account reactivated.
Alfred Okay James, I need to locate your account on our system to help you.
James  sure
Alfred Can you confirm, "CENSORED" is your email Id with MSN?
James  CENSORED@hotmail.com is my id
Alfred Thanks for the confirmation.
Alfred Please wait while I locate your account.
Alfred Thanks for waiting.
Alfred I have locate your account, "CENSORED@hotmail.com" and as per our records you are subscribed to MSN 8 Software only plan which is expired due to payment decline.
James  I have since paid
James  paid even
James  sorry it's 2AM
Alfred The expiration date shown on your credit card is 11/2004.
James  correct
James  I just added that card to the account
James  it ends with ****
Alfred Okay James, there is a settlement of all your pending dues done today on 5/26/2003.
James  right
Alfred You would need to contact our phone support team to reactivate your account.
James  listen Al.
James  I had the account expired in the first place!
James  Earlier today.
James  I only paid it to get it turned back on until they could find a resolution to the problem.
James  I need it turned back on right now.
James  Tomorrow is a holiday and the phone support for billing will be closed.
Alfred Yes,James.Your account would be activated. But I am not authorised to enable any expired subscriptiions. You need to contact our phone support team who can do it for you.
Alfred Please contact our Customer Service department at 1-800-386-5550 (toll free in the U.S.).
Alfred Please note that their hours of operation are from 5am to 10 pm PST weekdays and 8am to 5pm PST weekends.
James  So you can cancel accounts but you can't reactivate them?
James  Don't you have a supervisor there?
Alfred No, James. I am not authorised to cancel any account too.
James  How come the other guy could cancel my account then?
Alfred James, I am only authorised to cancel duplicate accounts.
James  I want to talk to your supervisor.
Alfred Okay James, Plese wait for a moment.
James  Thanks.
Alfred Thanks for waiting.
Jordie Hello James, I am Jordie.
James  no problem
James  Hi Jordie
James  I'm having a small problem.
Jordie Please wait while I read the chat and understand your issue.
James  I had one of your reps cancel my account because I hadn't signed up for it. Now my account doesn't work and everyone is telling me to call phone support.
James  sorry
Jordie Okay James, by reading your issue I understand you want to re-activate your MSN account.
James  I am supposed to be a secondary user on another account, not a primary user.
James  I do right now. Until I can talk to someone at phone support.
James  They're closed tomorrow because of the holiday.
Jordie Okay James, I understand your concern regarding your issue.
Jordie Unfortunately at this time the range of our support services are not as extensive as our customer service call center.
James  Alfred just told me that he was not authorized to cancel accounts.
Jordie You need to contact our Customer Support Professionals via phone.
James  What's going to happen to the person who cancelled my account?
Jordie Okay James, can you tell me which account our representative cancelled?
James  he cancelled my MSN8 subscription.
James  I have the chat in my inbox
Jordie Okay James, can you provide me the email Id of the cancelled account?
James  CENSORED@hotmail.com
Jordie Okay James, as you have multilple subscriptions under your account, the representative must have cancelled your account.
James  ok
Jordie Please understand that due to limited support boundary, we cannot be able to re-activate your account.
Jordie I really apologise for the inconvenience caused to you.
James  ok Jordie. Thanks for all your effort in this matter.
Jordie I assure you that our Customer Support Professional would definitely help you.
James  ok
Jordie Is there anything else I can help you with?
James  have a nice day/night
Jordie Same to you.
James  no thank you so much. Alfred was very helpful as well
Alfred Thanks, James.
James  bye
Alfred Please feel free to contact us again if you have any further problems.
Alfred For your own records, I'll send you a copy of our chat. Thanks James, for using MSN Interactive Online Support, we're here 24 hours, 7 days a week.

All that and my problem still can’t be solved to Tuesday if at all. I really wish I could end this story on an up note but the fact is I still can’t log in. I called accounts support and was told that they couldn’t even apply the credit to my account. The transferred me to another support department who told me the account had already been credited but I’d have to wait 90 days to read my account as a secondary user. Fine! Whatever! I go to billing and see that the supposed credit is in fact my payment for these services I never requested.

All that took 30 minutes on my cell phone mind you. At peak rates. Arrrggh!

I don’t even have the head to talk to them anymore. I think I’ll just wait till Saturday to call.

Post your own horror stories below.

Comment On This Story

To Submit a Letter to the Editors Click Here