This is really a tale of three customer service centres. Two good, one epic fail. It all started back in December when my Guitar Hero III controller stopped working. It wouldn’t connect to the PS3 and just flashed its connection lights endlessly. I went to the Activision website and went through their FAQ for troubleshooting such problems with no success. I sent a message to them stating the problem I was having and what I had done to try and rectify the situation. They replied with a checklist of things to try from their FAQ, which I had already pointed out as having been a dead end.

Giving up on that direction and being fairly certain that the device needed to be returned, I went through the RedOctane website for a way to contact them. Other than a phone number based in area code 310 there was little to be found. Eventually, I stumbled on a return form and filled it out. Then I waited…

I had filled out the request for return on December 21st and it took until January 9th just for me to receive and e-mail saying, “Yes, we will take back your package. Please ship it to this address.” What? It took you 11 business days to tell me you want me to pay to ship my warrantied product back to you? Bah! Unbelievable. I ended up taking the guitar back to the retailer where I purchased it. They took it back even though the warranty had expired while I waited for RedOctane to get back to me.

After such a ridiculous experience, imagine my sense of panic two weeks ago as some proverbial cracks started to form in the foundation of my Rock Band guitar. At first it was dropping held notes unexpectedly and eventually the strum bar pretty much died and up/down strumming ceased to work.

I went to the Electronic Arts website and quickly found a Rock Band support centre. After filling out a user account and telling them what was wrong with the guitar, I was offered two options. I could either send back the guitar and wait for them to receive it and send a new one back to me or I could let Electronic Arts put a $125 hold on my credit card, send me a guitar immediately with return postage, and if they received my broken guitar back within 28 days the hold would be cancelled. A week later I had a new guitar waiting for me at the purolator depot and soon my old guitar will be on a truck destined for sunny Etobicoke, Ontario, where I presume they have a retirement home for old worn out guitars.

Finally, as pointed out to us by completionist user Tim, Playstation Network Store has dropped its Canadian pricing to match those south of the border. As you may have read in the past, I was never a fan of the price disparity. I’d like to think that my article forced Sony to wake up and change their policy but of course that would be a horrendously exaggerated overstatement…but one that I’m willing to make. Jumping on the PSN store on May 1st confirmed that Rock Band DLC songs had indeed dropped to $1.99 each, down from $2.99. How could I resist buying the Smashing Pumpkins “Zero”? I’m only human. I also picked up Echochrome, which looks like an amazing game, for $9.99. Board posts around the internet seem generally impressed that Sony has listened to their customer feedback and are quick to point out that Microsoft has yet to follow suit, though they probably should. Also, consumers from other regions, mainly Europe, are asking when they will see some parity between pricing based on their currency and the U.S. Dollar. Here’s hoping that it’s coming for you guys soon.

So there you have it…two examples of customer service done right and one example of a train wreck being swept up by a tornado and dropped back down into a shark filled ocean.

I don’t have much to add, seeing as how Chris pretty accurately summed up our customer service adventures, both fair and foul. I’m sure there’s a lesson to be learned from all of this, but I can’t quite figure out what it is. Maybe that when you’re the only option (Xbox Live, Guitar Hero), it’s tempting to let customer service go to hell, because really, where else are people going to go? But when you’re the new kid on the block (Rock Band, Playstation Network), going that extra mile really can make the difference. I’m kind of a stickler for customer service, and let me tell you, if Activision pulls one more stunt like that one, they’ll be joining KFC and Vtech on Julie’s Official Boycot List.