Xbox 360 Live Account Problems

What a nightmare...

I got an Xbox 360 last month, in order to be able to play various games with you guys and girls, and I set-up my account using my Windows Live account. All went well and for a month I was happily playing [URL="http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/need-speed-prostreet/"]Need For Speed: ProStreet[/URL] and [URL="http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/battlefield-bad-company/"]Battlefield: Bad Company[/URL] online, earning Achievements and 'building up' my profile on each game...

A month later, my "1 Month Free Trial Membership" expired, so I went into the Marketplace and tried to re-upgrade my Membership from Silver to Gold, and that's when I realised: my Xbox 360 Live Account is American;

I need an American Credit card (with an American Billing address) to be able to upgrade my account, or to buy Microsoft Points...
...I only have access to the American content, too. :(

...riiight. So I can't upgrade to Gold. Great. *sigh*

A little bewildered, I contacted Xbox Customer Service and explained my 'situation' to them, and asked if they'd kindly change my Account, so that I had access to the UK Marketplace and not the US Marketplace.

[quote=Xbox Customer Service"]I apologize for the inconvenience. I understand that you want to change the country information you have on Xbox Live. Unfortunately, you cannot change the country information on Xbox Live because it is already permanent on our database and we at support line cannot change the information that you have entered on Xbox Live. Thank you for your time and understanding.[/quote]

So I [I]can't[/I] do anything about this...?

[quote=Xbox Customer Service]Unfortunately, once you create an Xbox Live account, you cannot change the country in which you would like to be billed. When you create an account, you must enter a country in the appropriate field. After you enter a country, that field is locked. You cannot modify this field if they decide that you would like to be billed in different currency. This is because of a limitation in the Billing system. If you would like to be billed in another currency, you must cancel the account and then create a new account by using enter the appropriate country.[/quote]

I didn't enter (or select) a country when I set up my account; I was never given the option to do so.

It was set to "United States" and the drop down box could not be modified, so I had to use a friends address in order to be able to continue with the set-up process. I had no choice but to do this if I wanted to continue the registration process and I didn't think it would cause any problems (I have a UK Xbox 360), what does 'my address' matter...?

So I told them this, and asked if anything could be done.

[quote=Xbox Customer Service]I am sorry to hear that you are having issues with the country in which your account was registered. I understand that when you created your account, you use your hotmail account.

When you used an email address or Windows Live ID to create your account, it also determines your country. If your email address is registered to the United States, it will prompt you to create an account in the United States.

Unfortunately, by canceling your subscription, you will lose any remaining time on the service in addition to your gamertag and game rankings. They cannot be transferred to a new account.[/quote]

What!? So because I was [I]forced[/I] to register my account to the United States, and because Microsoft are unable to change my settings and/or information due to 'limitations' with their 'Billing system',
my only solution is to cancel the account (sacrficing my GamerTag, GamerPoints and Achievements) and create a new one!?

I don't think so. I explained that I wouldn't mind creating a new account, as long as they 'carried over' my GamerTag, GamerPoints and Achievements)...

[quote=Xbox Customer Service]We appreciate your time writing us regarding your concern and we are sorry for any inconvenience. I understand, you would like to reinstate or reimburse the gamerpoints and achievements you have accrued when you create a new account.

I am sorry, but this is not possible. Gamerscore points and achievements that have been achieved for each game are tied to your Xbox Gamer Profile and each profile should associate with one Xbox Live account. So, when you create a new account, you have to start from the scratch and collect gamer points and achievements as you progress through the game to be tied up on your new profile.

When you create a Gamertag on Xbox Live, you create a virtual person that represents your personality, when you delete the account where your gamertag tied up, you virtually kill the virtual person that you created -along with the demise of the character come his reputation, achievements, and acquired virtual assets and skills. And like in real life you cannot recreate a deleted character.[/quote]

"[U]In real life[/U] you can not recreate a [U]deleted character[/U]."

Oh, the irony!

Sure, you wouldn't be able to recreate a 'deleted character', unless you had the tools to do so and you could remember the specifications and/or information required to build the 'character'...

...but the beauty of this situation is that the 'character' has [U]not yet[/U] been deleted, so all of this information is accessible, and the tools are still intact.

Therefore, I put it to you, Xbox Customer Support, that;

"In real life (:lol:), you [U]can[/U] recreate another character, if you have the tools with which it was made, and if you have the original to 'copy' from.
...and you do."

So, until this is resolved, I won't be on Xbox 360 Live. :neucoffee:

To be continued...