Channard's Journal: MS still won't let you remove your credit card from Live.

You can argue till you're blue in the face about which the better online service, Microsoft's XBox Live, or Sony's Playstation Network. I think they both have their merits. What I can say for certainty is that there's one respect in which PSN beats Live hands down. And that's the ease by which you can remove your credit card from the service. To remove a credit card from your Playstation Network, you log into your account and select an option in the billing section. To remove your card details from Live, on the other hand, is virtually impossible. This isn't the first time this issue has been mentioned. But having spent about eight months or so trying to get this card removed, I thought the issue could do with highlighting again. Here's how my attempts to get Microsoft to remove my credit card from my Live account went.

It all started in March. I decided to get my credit card details remove my from Live account for two reasons. Firstly, I was concerned that if my console got stolen, someone could buy an unlimited number of Live games using my card. Secondly, I'd bought a few too many Live games myself, games that, on reflection, I could have done without. Getting points by buying MS Point cards from stores would require me to think about what I was going to buy and whether I really wanted that particular game.

So I had a look around in the account management section of Live on my console. While there was a change card option, there was no way to actually remove the card. Which seemed slightly odd, so I did a Google search. The general consensus seemed to be that you had to ring Microsoft to get your card removed. I did this, and after explaining, I was told it would take thirty days to get the card removed. Which seemed odd, but I decided to give them the time to do this.

Fast forward to a couple of months later - and I check my Live account. Lo and behold, the credit card is still attached to the account. I ring up again, to ask why it's not been done. I'm told that it should have been removed, and they can't understand why it hasn't. But they say they'll open another call. Now, bear in mind, the original call itself hasn't been fixed, but they say they have to open a new call. Having worked in a call centre myself, I suspect they could re-open it, but they don't want to have a long-open call screwing up their call statistics.

A while later, there's still no joy. Each time I've called, I've been told someone would contact me to confirm it had been done, but never received a call to this effect. I ring up again, and escalate it to a supervisor. Who promptly advises me that the card has been removed and that it's just showing on my console for ID purposes. On reflection, I should have called bullshit on this, but I let it go. Daft, I know.

But as luck would have it, a short time later, Duke Nukem 3D is released on to Live Arcade. Having ignored the vast majority of Live releases to date, I decide that, having had fond memories of playing it the first time around, I want to buy that game. And so, since I'm heading into town anyway, I make a mental note to pick up a Microsoft Points card. Actually, hang on a minute, I think. This also presents me with the ideal opportunity to check that my card has been cancelled. So I try to use my card to add some points to my account. And hey presto, it works. The supervisor I spoke to earlier either didn't know what he was talking about, or at worst was deliberately lying to get me off the phone.

Back I go to Microsoft. Again, they say they'll get it sorted, and that someone will call me soon. A week later or so, I check the progress, and the call's been closed. Microsoft claim they weren't able to contact me, despite having two contact numbers of file, neither of which I received a call on. They proceed to open yet another call, and this time I do get a call from a real live person shortly afterwards. Progress? Like hell. The person just tells me that the issue is being investigated. So they closed the previous call because no-one could call me to tell me it was being dealt with?

Eight or nine months since I called, there has been still no progress. Most recently, I've been promised the issue would be sorted within three days, only to ring back and been told that this isn't the case, and that they can't say how long it will take to sort. I've spoken to several different supervisors, and even tried to get put through to the billing people who can actually remove the credit card. Only to be told that they aren't contactable for some strange reason. How difficult can it be just to go into an account record on their system, click on the credit card details and click remove, for crying out loud? It just beggars belief that Microsoft are utterly unable to deal with such simple request.