Oh Microsoft...

A couple of months ago I decided to return my Microsoft wireless racing wheel and get a new one (or have it repaired) since it was still under warranty. The problem was that right out of the box, the wheel was not centered so when I connected the wheel to the external power supply, the idle position would be about 15 degrees to the right of the mid point of the rotation. I first tried to ignore it since I was not using the wheel that often anyways but then I found a free retrofit announcement on their website that called for people to exchange their external power supplies. I figured it would be a good time to send the whole thing back and get a new system altogether since two components of the system have problems.

I called Microsoft XBOX Customer Service and after convincing the dumb-computer-program-who-pretends-to-be-a-cool-guy to connect me to a real person, I was able to talk to someone overseas. After spending 10 to 15 minutes explaining the situation, the guy started asking me questions quite unrelated to the problem. It appears that Microsoft has a list of questions that the customer service people start asking if they don't know what the problem is! I interrupted him and said that the reason I was calling was simply to have my wireless racing wheel replaced under warranty because the wheel does not work properly. He finally got the idea and said that I could do it. Then he gave me an address to send all the components for a full replacement. Apparently I was supposed to find my own box, wrap the whole wheel in bubble wrap and other stuff, and ship the wheel and its accessories to the repair center in Texas using a traceable shipping method (like FedEx). The worst part was that I had to pay for the shipping as well! Well I thought it was not worth arguing but I had to make sure I understood it correctly so I asked him twice about the address, the fact that I had to send all the components, and if the shipping charge was my responsibility. I did it the next day.

A week later, a package came back from the repair center in Texas. I opened it and there it was: my new wireless racing wheel in a bubble wrap without any other support in a huge box! How unprofessional. And the worst part was that the accessories were missing. No power supply, no table-top extension, and no pedals. So I called them again and had to go through the same process but this time when I explained the situation to the guy from overseas, he came back after a while and said that their systems are down for an upgrade and I needed to call back in a couple of hours. I called back in a couple of hours and he said that he understood the problem and he was going to send the missing components to me. After calling them several more times, another package came from the repair center. There was my pedals but still no power supply, and table-top accessories. I called them again and again and every time I was either promised that the components were coming or I was told that the system is upgrading (At 5PM our time?! What are they thinking) and I had to call back.

During one of these calls, I was connected to a Canadian based customer service center (and yes I can distinguish Canadian accent) so I started explaining the problem and my frustration with the whole process. She assured me that she will personally follow up on the issue and I just needed to wait for three days for the repair center to verify that I indeed sent the components and then they ask them to send those items back to me. After five days or so, I received the third package from the repair center and finally I got the power supply and the table-top. But wait, where is the power supply cable?!!!!!!

I didn't bother to call them again. I could do with a generic cable from one of my other electronic equipments. But the whole process was a disaster. Many times during this one month period I decided to just give up and forget about the racing wheel. And I think this issue would not have happened if the first person that I called knew what he was talking about. I would have sent the wheel only and would have got it back pretty quickly.

But here's the funniest part of the story: After two weeks that the problem was solved, I received an empty box from Microsoft with prepaid shipping labels to send my old wheel back! Oh Microsoft...

AP: Iran a Threat in Iraq

Stephen Hadley, Bush's national security adviser is a true follower of Condi Rice v1.0:

WASHINGTON (AP) — With al-Qaida's influence diminishing in Iraq, U.S. troops have much work to do in stemming Iranian support for militias, President Bush's national security adviser said Sunday.

"Iran is very active in the southern part of Iraq. They are training Iraqis in Iran who come into Iraq and attack our forces, Iraqi forces, Iraqi civilians. There are movements of equipment. There's movements of funds," Stephen Hadley said. "So we have illegal militia in the southern part of the country that really are acting as criminal elements that are pressing the people down there." (read more)

I have another theory: I think Iran is training Osama Bin Ladin and providing him with food and milk shake while the Saudi's are planning to bomb all mosques in Shiraz. At the same time Kim Jong-il is secretly praying with Ahmadinejad every Friday and gets a lollipop to suck on as the mullahs in Iran are putting some yellow cake in a Russian oven, which is making the feet of our troops in Germany yellow and putting American lives in danger.

Mr. Hadley, you and the people around you have screwed up. When you go to the other side of the globe in someone's backyard, expect them to re-act. Grow up and blame yourself instead.

See En En?

In the "most popular news" section today in CNN, you can find this piece of news titled "teacher denies bathroom break":

MAGNOLIA, Ohio (AP) -- A sixth-grader who was denied permission to use the restroom while taking a state achievement test this week had an accident in class, and a school administrator blamed an overzealous teacher.

The shame brought to the student, who had to urinate, was an unfortunate outcome of efforts to prevent cheating, said Sandy Valley Local Schools Superintendent David Janofa.

"There are no words we could say. We feel horrible about this happening," he said...

Another story, which ironically is ranked among the top stories today, is titled "wet woman says hummer pushed her in river" and it's a video about a woman who parked on the side of the a bridge and was pushed to fall 20 ft (7 m) in the river after another car hit her car while she was outside.

I have one question for CNN. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!?!?!??!?!?!?!