Don Lindich’s Sound Advice Blog

There are apparently some serious problems with a mandatory update to the Microsoft zune, so be careful if you have one. I recently received this email from a frustrated Microsoft zune owner, someone I have corresponded with for a while and was formerly one of the biggest Microsoft/Xbox/zune fans I have ever encountered. If it was enough to get him to ditch his zune, it HAS to be bad…

Don,

I just wanted to share an experience that I had. I few weeks ago Zune.net released an upgrade for the zune software (ver2.5). I downloaded the software and that’s when it all went wrong. The mandatory update does not function with the operating system on my PC. (Running windows xp home.) I get an error message no disk followed by some random code. I waited, and checked the site for over two weeks waiting for a patch to be released. Nothing was ever released. The only reason I assumed that there would be a fix is because I did a Google search for the problem and found out that thousands of people are having the same issue that I am. Some of these people have actually fixed it on there own.

After not seeing the update yesterday I broke down and called the dreaded tech support line for zune. The first person I talked to had me jump through the standard tech support hoops, (reboot, uninstall and reinstall etc.) for TWO blessed hours. I finally cracked after she told me my problem was unique, and that she hasn’t seen it before. I immediately asked to speak to her supervisor. After speaking to her, and listening to a few more solutions, she admitted that this was a known problem and that she has not received any good information about a fix for the problem. I asked her what she was doing for the other people and I was told that Microsoft was asking people to send in the zune player in for service, in spite of the fact that the issue is known to be a software issue. They said the repair cost to me would be 109.00 since I am out of warranty. I then asked her what would happen next in light of the fact that my problem was software related and a hardware fix would not correct any issues for me or anyone else. I was told that this would be the end of the line as far as support that she and Microsoft would be able to extend to its clients.

So I found out that Microsoft does distribute software that is not compatible with their own windows xp or vista operating systems, and they are not dedicating the resources needed to support the Zune community in a way that is conducive to someone spending 300.00 for an mp3-media player. At this point I have put my Zune on EBay, and all the accessories will go with it as well. I’m all done here. Could all of you iPod users scoot over just a little bit, so I can fit on your bandwagon?