Microsoft Sacked Tech Support In Favour Of Volunteers

Microsoft Reported To Have Sacked Xbox Support Team Members In favor of Volunteer Force

Having a good support team in place, particularly for online services, is essential. Admittedly, they are often not the fasting or the most efficient things in the world, but regardless, if you want to operate online or have a product available to the public, you have to be prepared to deal with the problems.

It seems, however, that Microsoft has taken unusual steps with their Xbox Support. One which may affect the future and quality of the service provided to its customers.

In a report via Polygon, Microsoft has apparently sacked a significant number of its Xbox support team. What is (perhaps) worse, they have replaced these trained staff members with ‘volunteers’ from the Xbox community.

Ambassadors To Replace Hired Support Workers

While the support team did not work directly for Microsoft, they were subcontracted and did operate at their offices. The company has, however, made the unusual move to lay-off these workers and instead look for the technical support to be handled by the community itself. Such members will be deemed as ‘ambassadors’. While they will not be paid for their work, it is reported that they do receive some form of bonuses and rewards for it.

A small team has been kept on, but they are only to moderate the ambassadors. Therefore, any Xbox support query you have will not be dealt with by them. It will be dealt with someone like you who Microsoft has simply put in a position of trust and power.

Call me crazy, but I think I’d prefer to deal with a trained professional rather than a questionably competent enthusiast from the gaming community.

What do you think? Is this a good idea or not? – Let us know in the comments!