No Failo 3 From Microsh*t

I am sad to report that I, as well as countless others, will not be getting our promised free copy of Halo 3 . The gist is this: Microsoft had what appears to be only a few hundred copies of Halo 3 available for the promotion (Switch an xbox live account from an original xbox to the 360 between Nov. 21 and Dec. 24th and get a free copy of Halo 3). After talking to XBOX customer service I found out that over 4000 people registered for the promotion; around 1000 qualified for the free copy of Halo 3. It was verified by 2 (or was it 3?) supervisors that I did qualify but they ran out of copies (while supplies last). The thing that gets my panties all twisted up in a knot is that I registered about a week after the promotion started (it ran about a month). I don't know how many copies they had to give a way but I'm thinking it's substantially less than a thousand. Offering a couple hundred free copies of Halo 3 at christmas time constitutes a drawing more than it does a promotion that's worded "Do "Y" and get "X" free!"Why couldn't Microsoft have worded their promotion something like this: “The First 500 people to transfer their original Xbox account to a new Xbox 360 will receive a free copy of Halo 3”? Because they wouldn't have sold FOUR THOUSAND XBOX 360's, that's why. This is such a scam on Microsoft’s part. By stating “Transfer your account…get a free copy…” you imply that there are more than just a hundred copies available. We’re talking about Halo 3 at Christmas time for cryin’ out loud! AND why they couldn't have told me this during my first call to customer service instead of 6 or 7 calls later? UGH! Ok, I have to finish packing for my move.

Oh Halo Where Art Thou?

The ongoing saga of my free Halo 3 game continues. To recap: For the holidays Microsoft ran this promotion: Switch an xbox live account from an original xbox to the 360 between Nov. 21 and Dec. 24th and get a free copy of Halo 3.

It's now Feb 8, 2008 and I've yet to recieve the game. I've called customer support 5 times and spent over two hours on the phone (mostly on hold). At first I believe there was a language barrier as I was unable to communicate clearly that I wasn't waiting for a "replacement disc" for a damaged disc I sent them. Over and over again I had to re-iterate that they, Microsoft, ran a promotion for which I was eligible. You can read my previous posts on this topic here at to find out more details on my previous attempts to correct the situation.

Here's the latest! Got a customer service rep named "Danielle" (which I don't believe was her real name due to the fact that she pronounced it two different ways). I give her a reference # for my previous call (with Jeff). She looks over what I childishly imagine is detailed information regarding my situation. She asks how she can help me; I tell her I still haven't recieved my copy of Halo 3 yet to which she replies "You haven't recieved your Halo 3 replacement disc?".

I slowly put the barrel of the gun in my mouth. I begin to pull the trigger...

I decide against the good 'ol U.S. of A's version of seppoku and continue my conversation with Danielle. I try my best to fill her in. She has no idea what I'm talking about. Promotion? She can barely pronounce the word let alone define it. I ask her if I can email her the link to the promotion's web page. She say's they cannot accept emails from customers. I spend the next several minutes trying to get her to this web site:

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/h/halo3/promotions/buyxboxgethalo.htm

Don't let ANYONE tell you that something is impossible. Because, by gum, we finally got her there! Here's where it gets interesting. She looks over the page for a few seconds and is now a veritable treasure trove of information regarding this promotion. Here's the long and short of it:

They ran out of discs and had to get more. The latest shipment of discs went out on the first of February and will probably be arriving by February 5th but for sure no latter than February 15th. If, by some act of God, my disc doesn't arrive by the 15th, I should not hesitate to call again.

I asked her, out of curiosity why had I been told on several different occasions that my disc would be arriving on several different dates. Her response was a kind of speaking in tongues. Instead of trying to bridge our communication barrior I was struck with the profound need to end the call and put my head in a vice.

More to follow.

ALL ABOUT ME: New News On The Delay Of My "Free Halo 3"

Today I recieved a "Halo 3 Essentials: Disc 2" in the mail today to appearently replace a faulty disc (I've never owned Halo 3). Livid doesn't begin to describe it. I've explained to them over and over during the course of THREE previous calls that I don't need a "repair" disc, that I'm eligible to recieve a free copy of Halo 3 for a promotion they ran.

Anyhow, I called up the super friendly people at 800-4-MY-XBOX after recieving my "H3E:D2". This time I talked to a very nice guy named Jeff. English is his first language (Look, I don't care if you're lime green, come from venus and breath out of your ass while talking through your eyes, as long as we can communicate clearly to each other and you can understand what I'm saying, we're good). In two minutes Jeff was able to accomplish what had previously been a herculean task. He found out that they're running about a week behind on sending out the free game. He said that I should recieve it in the next couple of days and that if I don't have it by the first to give them another call. Why couldn't the first person I talked to tell me this? Why did I have to tell them several times that I've never owned Halo 3, that I'm just trying to get my free Halo 3 disc for this specific promotion? Updates forthcoming as needed :)

ALL ABOUT ME: Free Halo 3 promotion proves, so far, to be an exercise in nothingness

I finally made the decision to purchase the Xbox 360 when I found the following promotion: If you own an original Xbox and currently have an Xbox Live account and you purchase a 360 between November 1st and December 24th and transfer your live account from your old Xbox to your new 360 Microsoft will send you a free copy of Halo 3.

I was waiting for the right sale/incentive to make the jump to purchase the 360 and this was definitely it. A free copy of what amounted to this generation’s version cabbage patch kid? I’m so there. So on November 27th I picked up an X360 pro. I went home and registered on the Xbox.com site for the promotion and transferred my Xbox live account to my new 360. Woo Hoo! Now I just had to wait “through January 18th” to receive my copy of H3.

Nearly two months later and by January 16th I still hadn’t received my free copy of Halo 3. I had what I guess you’d call a premonition that I wouldn’t be receiving my game on time so I decided to call 800-4MY-XBOX to see what the status was. The long and short of that first call is that it took them forty minutes to tell me my disc would be arriving on the 18th.

As you might have guessed, the 18th came and went and I’m still Halo-less. I called Xbox customer support on the 20th and spoke to a very nice service rep. I’m going to stop right now to mention that everyone I’ve talked to at 800-4-my-xbox is frighteningly polite, which is fine because I’ll take unnaturally nice over commonly discourteous any day. They also keep referring to the free copy of Halo 3 as a “replacement disc”. During each call I have to inform them at least once that it is not a replacement disc but a free promotional disc. Anyhow my call then gets forwarded to a supervisor named Miss Chiqui (pronounced cheeky) who graduated with a doctorate in warm fuzzies. She is extremely polite, sweet, and helpful (I’m fully convinced that Xbox customer service reps are the direct descendents of the Stepford Wives). She tells me that she’s extremely sorry that my replacement disc hasn’t arrived and will send out another one. I decide that if it’s easier for them to say “replacement” instead of “promotional” then who am I to correct them? I thank her for her kindness and understanding.
I also decide after getting off the phone that should I end up with two Halo 3 discs that one will be auctioned off to benefit small animals.

So about a week goes by and I still haven’t received Halo 3. I put in another call to the Xbox help-line and after being put on hold for a merciful 5 minutes or so I’m told that it will take up to six weeks for my disc to arrive. Hoo Ha Marines! Looks like I’m Call of Duty bound for another 6 weeks or so. That’s ok because I can hone my much need-to-be-honed CoD4 skills.

I’d love to hear from others who participated in this promotion. Have you received your free copy of H3 yet? I will update as soon as 1) I get Halo 3 or 2) I call customer service again. Stay tuned.