1.15.2008:
80169d94
10:41 AMI was playing Rock Band with Mike this weekend, and on a whim, I decided to check the XBox Live Marketplace to see if any new tracks had been released for download. Well, wouldn't you know it - there were! And what's more, they didn't SUCK like the last batch (who the hell wants to rock out to and spend hours becoming the master of ANY song by Fall Out Boy?)
"Dude, Hard to Handle by the Black Crowes!" I yelped. "I'm totally getting that!"
"Ok, then, do it," Mike said.
So I did it. But Microsoft wouldn't let me.
About 15 times, I saw a message saying that there was some sort of problem buying points with the stored credit card in my account, and to try again later. I figured they were still suffering from the huge surge of new subscribers from the holiday season, so I just took a deep breath and decided that I could wait a day or two before gettin' all sassy on the mic Chris Robinson style.
So, I tried again later - today to be precise - and saw that damn message again - "Status Code: 80169d94". A quick Google search for the code reveals that I'm not the only person with this problem - apparently, everyone who thought like I did that it might not be a good idea to go sticking their phone number out on the Xbox Live directory is having issues buying points, because the details of their personal information in their account and the stuff on their stored credit card information don't match.
Okay, then - A quick call to Microsoft should fix this.
The call was not quick, nor did it fix anything. I'll save you yet another agonizing tale of outsourced tech support mispronouncing my last name about 240 times across four different conversations with four tiers of support... But it looks like it'll be 3-4 "working" days before they can simply remove a bit flag from their database that says "this Joe guy is actually who he says he is."
And here's the thing - as an aggravated consumer, my heart and my brain are telling me to just cancel the stupid service and be done with it... But goddammit, the allure of shakin' my money maker with ribbons tied on my arms and leather pants on my booty singin' "Mama, I'm sure hard to handle now" is just TOO strong.
So it's off to the store with me for some stupid prepaid cards with scratchy backs.
**** Update, 1:45PM ****
So, I went up and bought some prepaid cards - two 4000 point cards and a 12 month membership card. I went and attempted to redeem the membership card:
Status Code: 80169d94.
I tried to redeem the points card.
Status Code: 80169d94.
I called stupid XBox Live support. I told the outsourced young man that I had a reference number, I gave it to him, he escalated me to his supervisor. I told the outsourced supervisor all the crap that was going on, and after pretty much doing nothing for 30 minutes, he pushed me over to an American Microsoft representative, who attempted to help me troubleshoot the issue. We deleted and recovered my gamertag... No dice. We tried redeeming the code online through the web interface... No.
So basically, the only way this can possibly be fixed is when the queue finally reaches me and the DBA in charge of actually going into the physical database and updating the live record to remove this flag finally does that job.
I spent years writing software for a living, and more years managing people who write software for a living. I know for CERTAIN that there is a much, much, much easier way to accomplish this task.
Anyway, the entire source of my aggrevation doesn't stem from the fact that a fraud flag was placed on my account - after all, i did enter a fake phone number and my PO Box as my personal information, and that doesn't jive with the credit card's records.
My aggravation comes from knowing that whatever measures were put in place to update Microsoft's system to adhere to the new fraud prevention measures now enacted in many states in 2008 are so fumblingly stupid that the fix takes 4 days. I'm also really pissed that it extends past credit card information and into prepaid cards... When my subscription runs out, I'm going to be bumped out of XBox Live with no recourse, and all of my 2 years of playing on that service and all of the accomplishments and achievements will be nil.
Not to mention that all my downloaded tracks for Rock Band will be useless, since I won't be able to log in and verify ownership.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
*** Update 1/17/08 3:21 PM ***
It is fixed! If this ever happens to you, just call them and escalate the issue. Tier 1 can't help you - get to Tier 2 and tell them what's going on, and they'll put a request into a queue. Even the American dude said "there's nothing else I can do with that" so I believe this is the best recourse.
Hard to Handle, here I come.
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6 Comments:
I've had the same problem trying to get the Addon maps for Halo3 its nice to see how much they wont let people give them money. Thanks for mentioning the prepaid cards Ive been close to getting them.
This is basically how my call went, any suggestions?
So Basically my call was pointless...
"Hello?"
"Yes Hello, I'm calling about a locked XBL marketplace account, Status Code 80169d94"
"So What are you trying to do when your in the marketplace"
"Buy points, redeem card, download, anything basically"
"Could You please confirm your adress and gamertag?"
(I give them my adress and Gamertag)
"And could you please verify the last four digits of your credit card?"
(I give them the last four digits)
"Actually I contacted the email support and they gave me a service request number"
"What is this number?"
(I give them the Service Request Number)
"Ok, could you please turn on your Xbox and go to the dashboard"
(I got to the dashboard)
"Please test your Xbox Live Connection"
(I test the connection, Perfect, as usual)
"Here let me put you on hold"
(I wait for about 6 minutes, and then they transfer me to someone else)
"Hello"
"So what exactly are you trying to do on the marketplace?"
"Download, buy points redeem card"
"And what is this Status Code your getting?"
"80169d94"
"Now what is the number of the card your trying to use?"
(I give them the card, they say its good)
(It basically goes on like this, I go through two more guys, no help, I get nothing out of them, they see my account in locked status but say they can't do anything to unlock it because they didn't put it on? What?)
I honestly see no solution to this other than give up my gamertag, start a new account losing all my achievements, gamerscore, friends, and ranks that I spent countless hours working for.
No no no, don't do that.
Ask for the call to be escalated. You will get a floor manager. Tell them you need to speak to someone higher. You will get some flack, but just tell them you've already spoken to someone in "billing" and that's where you need to go.
You should get an American at this point - THIS is the guy / girl who can actually help you. They will research your account, notate it to have the flag removed. After about 48 hours, you should be good to go.
I had the same phone call too. They actually told me that they were not allowed to tell me what city or country they are in. I asked the call attendant if she even owned an xbox and of course she says "no". I've called and had my calls escalated but it's been a week and still nothing. "Please Microsoft, take more of my money! It wasn't enough that the xbox cost me $450, now you don't want any more of my money? I pay and I pay but I don't receive anything in return. How the fock do these guys stay in business?
I stumbled upon this post through google, as I have the same error. My story goes like this: I bought a pre-paid 12 month live card, go to redeem it and get this error. So I call them up and go through a bunch of crap with the first guy for like a half an hour. He puts me on hold and speaks to a 'supervisor', and then tells me I can either create a new gamertag OR wait a month for them to call me back... Forget this, I call back and this time I get to speak with someone in billing. We go through the usual crap and she tells me it will be "3-5 working days for them to call me back". Well, it's been 3 days and I figure I'm going to call back again. This time, I speak to someone in billing again, and he tells me it will be "5-10 days" for them to call me.. This is absolutely ridiculous.
Guys i have the same propleme as you and its not the first problem i have with crappy microsoft and reading to your comments convince me to sell this @!#$%? and buy a PS3!!!!!!
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