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FINAL UPDATE 5/7: Credit Card Removal and Xbox Live

A

AsianriceX

Golden Member
So a while back I purchased some MS points online to grab some Rock Band songs. Little did I know that Microsoft makes it impossible to remove your credit card information once you associate it with your account without calling support.

After reading horror stories about long delays, dropped calls, and general incompetence from Microsoft's billing department, I decided to begin the process of removing my credit card information from my Xbox Live profile tonight.

30-45 minutes were spent on the phone, verifying my contact information and verifying that I do indeed want to remove my credit card information from my account. The CSR informed me that I will supposedly receive a call from a "supervisor" within 3-5 business days. He couldn't tell me why a "supervisor" will call me, but I assume it's because they want to reconfirm my decision or just make the process as hard as possible so I'd give up.

If all goes according to other people's accounts, the credit card info may or may not be removed after 30 days from the date the "supervisor" calls me.

Anyone else jump through all of these hoops for one reason or another (paranoia, stolen Xbox)?

Update 4/7:

They called on Sunday. Apparently the weekend qualifies as business days. The woman on the other line basically stated that it was a courtesy call to notify me that my request is being processed and she would answer any questions I had.

The process will take about 30 days, during which I should not use my credit card to purchase anything on the XBLM or any other Microsoft related sites (e.g. Zune Marketplace). She mentioned that some credit cards are taking longer than others to remove, why the process is dependent on the card issuer is beyond me. Last, I would be receiving another courtesy call once the request has been completed.

Final Update 5/7:

Hadn't received a call yet so I decided to check my status at http://billing.microsoft.com

My credit card now says (Removed) so I assume everything is OK. Woo hoo!
 
Originally posted by: AsianriceX

Anyone else jump through all of these hoops for one reason or another (lost credit card, paranoia, stolen Xbox)?
Click to expand...

No.

And you wouldn't need to remove your credit card from XBL if you lost the card, you'd need to call your credit card company and get a new number.
 
Originally posted by: mugs
Originally posted by: AsianriceX

Anyone else jump through all of these hoops for one reason or another (lost credit card, paranoia, stolen Xbox)?
Click to expand...

No.

And you wouldn't need to remove your credit card from XBL if you lost the card, you'd need to call your credit card company and get a new number.
Click to expand...

Hmm, very true. I'll take that out.
 
Go to billing.microsoft.com . Click on your partially shown credit card and on the next screen change your payment information. I know it removes that card if you put in another credit card, not sure if you can just outright remove it. Something to try though.
 
Originally posted by: nsafreak
Go to billing.microsoft.com . Click on your partially shown credit card and on the next screen change your payment information. I know it removes that card if you put in another credit card, not sure if you can just outright remove it. Something to try though.
Click to expand...



there is nothing there to do that. that system really sucks.
 
I like having a CC on file with anyone I do repeat biz with, it is convenient. I have I.D. theft protection, so I'm not that worried about someone jacking my info. For those like the OP, I'd take Raduque's advice for all future transactions.
 
It's precisely this reason that I gave them a credit card number for an account that I was closing in a couple of months. I went through this hassle a while back and my first dead credit card (lost) is still posted to my account along with the now defunct CC. I understand that they are trying to protect you from someone else cancelling your account or whatever but they are taking this all too far. Screw MS and their lousy way of handling this issue.

Now, if I need points or to re-up my subscription I just go and buy a card when I'm out and about as Raduque said.
 
Originally posted by: ITJunkie
It's precisely this reason that I gave them a credit card number for an account that I was closing in a couple of months. I went through this hassle a while back and my first dead credit card (lost) is still posted to my account along with the now defunct CC. I understand that they are trying to protect you from someone else cancelling your account or whatever but they are taking this all too far. Screw MS and their lousy way of handling this issue.

Now, if I need points or to re-up my subscription I just go and buy a card when I'm out and about as Raduque said.
Click to expand...

Exactly. This process is way too cumbersome than it needs to be and I wonder if they intended it to be this way or if there are circumstances unique to their business practices that forces them into such a situation.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not stressing over this as I already know that any info I provide online is replicated multiple times through backup systems, I'm covered by my CC's policies, and realistically there's no way to completely remove it, but why make it so hard for the end user to remove?

The least they could do is allow the user to mark a payment method as invalid without having to supply another payment method or providing fake information.
 
I am about to attempt to remove my credit card by calling support.

Does anyone have the number I need to contact to do this? It seems they make the number impossible to find on their support page as well.

I think it's shady. It's extremely annoying that I can't simply remove my card, yet it's SO easy to add a new one. I suppose they think if they make it hard enough people will just give up and they can keep charging.
 
Originally posted by: mikehartl
I am about to attempt to remove my credit card by calling support.

Does anyone have the number I need to contact to do this? It seems they make the number impossible to find on their support page as well.

I think it's shady. It's extremely annoying that I can't simply remove my card, yet it's SO easy to add a new one. I suppose they think if they make it hard enough people will just give up and they can keep charging.
Click to expand...

I called through the general support line.

1-800-4MY-XBOX

They have a friendly voice menu system and one of the options you eventually get is "Accounts and Billing" then "General Information" or something thereabouts.

Be prepared to give them all of the info you've registered with your gamertag. I logged in on my computer and brought up my profile details when I relayed the information to the CSR.
 
After reading this thread, I regret having put my CC in as a payment method. I did so because I wanted to buy some songs that night for Rock Band and didn't want the hassle of driving out to Best Buy to get a card. Also, I was thinking that if I bought the card in the store I'd have to pay tax, but as it turned out you still have to pay sales tax even if you use a CC online. I didn't realize that once it was in there I'd never be able to remove it... that is really ridiculous.
 
The problem really is more of an issue than many of you are giving credit to. I've worked in call centers and business analysis areas. The issue is on both sides and for several reasons.

These days your cc number is starting to become like your online Social Securty number - it identifies you. Online transactions (especially recurring ones) are often a company's only way to track customers. Simply removing it from the database creates issues and is rarely requested, so each request is individually handled. The procedure is going to be handled by someone fairly high up as no one at peon level could manipulate the credit card information.

There's a lot more going on behind the scenes than you'd think.
 
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