Dear Xbox 360- 

Goodbye, old friend.  You provided lots of wasted time.  But it's time to say goodbye.  Your maker has called you in to a better place.  A place where you'll be whole again.  A place where I don't fear for the safety of my discs.  You'll be missed.  Oh, you'll be replaced, don't worry about that.  But there will be that two week period where I will be devastated.

OK, maybe not devasted.  Actually, hardly inconvenienced even, since I have a backlog of original non-BC games that I need to play while my 360 is getting fixed or replaced by those lovable techies from Microsoft.  Thankfully, I'm still under warranty, so that's something.  But this is the second 360 that's gone kaput on me, and I'm a little frustrated.  That frustration was alleviated a little bit by the halfway-decent customer support people I've talked to.  If Microsoft is outsourcing (and that actually is an if - I don't know that they do or don't), then kudos to them for finding decent people around the globe to help a brother out.

Good customer support in any industry is hard to find these days, and it shouldn't have to be.  Why do we settle for half-asleep, angry support techs who couldn't give two shakes whether or not our Bunn coffee-makers are spewing out mocha lava?  Why do we roll our eyes, rather than demand a superior or a boss?  When did we start to accept malcontents as the norm?

If you don't like having to sit through six minutes of an automated menu over the phone, don't gripe to your loved ones or your coworkers.  Complain to the people that can make a change - the business in charge of that system.  They are giving up friendliness and humanity in exchange for convenience and to save a buck or two.  And they're going to keep on doing probably even when we complain.

One common complaint about outsourcing these individuals is the so-called unintelligible accents.  This isn't the 1800's, people.  The world is a much smaller place metaphorically, and cross-cultural and lingual mixes are going to happen.  Period.  If someone has an accent, don't be rude, but certainly ask them to enunciate or pronounce something in a different fashion if it will help.  But having this redneck "in America we speak American" attitude doesn't solve anything.

And finally, praise the good customer support people you do find.  Everybody appreciates a little good will, and telling people that they are doing a great job is a simple way of reaching out.