Why I Killed Office Live
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Some people might call it murder in the first degree, but I acted in self-defense. |
My story begins about five weeks ago, when I began testing Office Live Premium. Microsoft gave me a comp account, which I planned to use for a couple of months solely for testing purposes (the site consisted of hand-drawn bunnies). The Premium hosting normally costs $39.95 a month.
But I had little opportunity to truly use the account, other than to set up domain hosting and do some basic design, using Microsoft's built-in tools. I had wanted to give SharePoint Designer a go, as Office Live is really hosted SharePoint Server in action. Today, I put Office Live out of its misery--even though my own suffering lasted for some time afterward--by canceling the account. In my 12 years of having domains, I never had as much frustration and difficulty with a Web host as Microsoft's Office Live.
My ongoing problem had been one of access. I would get errors, either in Internet Explorer 6 or 7 (no non-Microsoft browsers are supported), when trying to log into my account. In November and early December, I dismissed these problems, chalking them up to heavy traffic. In mid-November Microsoft took all but one of the Office Live plans out of beta, and I expected glitches to follow because of heavier traffic.
This afternoon, I successfully logged into Office Live looking for information about the domain registrar. I had wondered about the domain registrar for some time. During the sign-up process, Office Live subscribers either create or transfer a domain. Given that Office Live Basics is free and Microsoft charges nothing for domain registration, the company is essentially giving away domains. I didn't want to use Microsoft's registrar, in part because I had no direct control over the information contained with the domain. I learned long ago that spammers mine WHOIS for valid e-mail addresses. If a domain's information is public, the e-mail addresses attached to the account will collect tons of spam.
Office Live's control panel offered no access or information about the registrar. A WHOIS search of the domain pulled up Melbourne IT as the registrar. Sure enough, all my information was out there for spammers to siphon.
During the process of moving around the Office Live control panel, I hit an error message. From there, I struggled unsuccessfully to access the account, even after closing out Internet Explorer and clearing its cache. I really would have let the glitches go and continued testing for another month, if not for my tech support call to Office Live. I called for information about the registrar.
After a short wait, a customer service representative came on and we discussed my account. I explained that I wanted to change registrars but keep Office Live. He said that I couldn't do that. To switch registrars, I would need to cancel Office Live. "You've got to be kidding!" He wasn't. Near as I could figure, Microsoft acted as a reseller--or maybe it was the other way around--for Melbourne IT. Microsoft would have to be removed from the process for me to gain complete access to the domain and transfer it.
So, the Office Live guy canceled my account and gave me a Microsoft authorization code I would use to obtain a key code from the registrar that would unlock my account. My own registrar already said that I would need to unlock the domain and obtain another authorization code to transfer the domain. I was to use the Microsoft code at Melbourne IT, as the first step. Slight problem: The phone line went dead on the other end, during the process of obtaining the key code. This left me with a canceled account, an unhosted domain and no access to the domain account with Microsoft's registrar partner.
Twenty-five phone calls and 85 minutes later, I finally reached Office Live again. Every call would go into a queue, but fail to connect after one ring. I was starting to boil from the lunacy of the situation at this point.
Finally, I connected with another polite Office Live customer service person, who kindly walked me through the rest of process. We obtained the necessary key code and unlocked the domain. I also gained direct account access. But there was another problem: She gave me wrong information, saying the key code was the same as the authorization code for transferring registrars. It wasn't.
I now had another problem and delay. By using the wrong authorization number, the registrar change failed, leading to another hour's wasted time. In the end, I went to Melbourne IT's Web site, figured out how to obtain the authorization code and called back my registrar to restart the transfer. As of this writing, I'm waiting for the process to complete. My registrar charged $37 for the transfer and private registration that will keep personal information out of the WHOIS database.
It was self-defense, or maybe a mercy killing.
I would like to think my ridiculous experience is unique, but commenters, please pipe in. If you've a story to tell, good or bad, about Office Live, let's hear it. Maybe your story will have a happier ending than mine.
Comments (36)
"Chocking" should probably read "chalking" instead up there.
Yet another Ray Ozzie Special then huh? (Me == long term Notes convict.)
Posted by Juha | December 30, 2006 3:13 AM
Yep - I've been fighting the office live interaction with ADP Payroll through Office Accounting 2007. It's amazing how failure-prone the login process is. There's also a massive disconnect between Microsoft and ADP.
Posted by Brian | December 30, 2006 5:32 AM
b/c MS made Office Live information public.
I got a spam mail @ my house that looked like a legit bill from MS.
When I contacted MS, it took 1 week to respond and tell me that they didnt bill me.
Then a month later they sent an email warning all office live users.
Posted by Forgotthename | December 30, 2006 4:05 PM
nice story, Joe
Posted by puppet | December 30, 2006 7:02 PM
What an honest shame.
Posted by Max Rubin | December 31, 2006 6:38 AM
My experience has been very much the same. Advertised functionality missing. Programs to integrate that dont work. Customer Service people who send you to other customer service people.
The concept is fantastic. I had high hopes. I WANT it to work. To have a pivate and pulic network and share information across them is a great asset.
Perhaps Microsoft should give it to someone else to develop then buy it back later.
Posted by Richard | December 31, 2006 7:53 AM
Melbourne IT is terrible...
I have had a domain locked up with them since 2000, and still no end in site....
Sometimes you have to make hard decisions....
Posted by Steven | December 31, 2006 8:22 AM
My company has had to deal with Melbourne IT on several occasions. I'd like to say that getting control from their resellers get easier after time... but it doesn't.
Posted by Mike | December 31, 2006 8:35 AM
I hated the fact that I couldn't use my fav. browser Firefox and the fact that I couldn't put up ad banners and buttons on my side bars using their online publishing tool.
However, I am not complaining much and am actually quite happy with it all the same because I am using Office Live Basics, which comes with a FREE domain name (forever) and FREE hosting. I don't ask for much and I am happy with any free stuff I get.
Posted by Adam | December 31, 2006 8:38 AM
I have a Windows Live domain I have not touched because it sucks.
But your registrar jacked you out of a whole lot of money. There are other domain registrars out there who will transfer your domain for free, give you private registration for free to and then extend your domain registration for a couple of more years.
$37 is ridiculous.
Posted by Nyikayedu | December 31, 2006 9:01 AM
MS has enough corporate arrogance, they probably host the service on one of their own OSes.
You'd think they would have learned after Hotmail, but apparently not.
Posted by Doug Brenner | December 31, 2006 9:29 AM
What type of domain extansion are you paying $37 for transfer ? I would think that is ridiculous amount.
Posted by FunStuff | December 31, 2006 9:34 AM
So basically you had a bad experience with the registrar that Office Live uses and cancelled the account without giving the service a chance. Sounds pretty immature to me.
Posted by Ross | December 31, 2006 11:15 AM
Have you tried google apps for your domain?
http://www.google.com/a
?
Posted by Bill Gates | December 31, 2006 11:49 AM
Hi. I use MS Office Live Basics. Why? Because it is free. I have little or no money, so I can't afford to have my own domain name.
I love the idea of Office Live, but it really stinks. It doesn't let me edit the page-design myself. It just gives me these awful layout choices. I am not proud of how my site looks, because the layout is so bad. Check my site out at www.verani.org. Email me at verani [at] verani.org with comments about the layout...
Posted by Ioannus de Verani | December 31, 2006 12:01 PM
Isnt this just typical Microsoft case ?
It sounds nice but doesnt work, aka like everything from them.
Posted by Gusti | December 31, 2006 12:02 PM
Riight-- Google Apps... are you kidding me? Do you even know what Office Live is? Please surf elsewhere fanboy.
Posted by Bill Gates || | December 31, 2006 12:04 PM
Bill Gates II, lets Compare the Free Google Apps with the Free Office Live:
Email: Both have it, but Google gives you 2 gigs vs 500 mb
Calendar: Both have it
IM: Not sure if your domain has it in office live
Web Page: Both have it
Portal Type Page: Google has a custom start page.
Domain Registration: Both, but Google charges $10/yr, but also gives you control over the domain from day 1.
Integration with ad system: Office Live only
Browser Support: Office live only IE, Google Apps IE, FF, & Safari.
Now, if you want to pay MS money every month, you do get some extra features, but because Google does not have a for pay option yet I can't do it.
Posted by Bill Gates III | December 31, 2006 1:33 PM
In my honest opinion MS's days as software leader are almost over - I've been monitoring various posts all over the net, and a lot of people seem to agree with me...
Posted by Adriaan | December 31, 2006 1:51 PM
I'm surprised that anyone is surprised.
Is not Microsoft's real meat and potatoes Windows, as in Vista? Would Microsoft want there to be any other products, Microsoft or otherwise, that detracts attention from its new -- ever more bloated, even more intrusive, not really desirable -- o.s. product?
Posted by Ric | December 31, 2006 1:58 PM
So basically you had a bad experience with the registrar that Office Live uses and cancelled the account without giving the service a chance. Sounds pretty immature to me.
So basically, Ross, you ignored Joe's problems accessing the service -- you know, the prerequisite to "giving the service a chance" -- so you could make a point. Immaturity or poor reading comprehension... I can't tell which you sound to me.
Posted by Maturity Police | December 31, 2006 3:30 PM
So basically you had a bad experience with the registrar that Office Live uses and cancelled the account without giving the service a chance. Sounds pretty immature to me.
So basically, Ross, you ignored Joe's problems accessing the service -- you know, the prerequisite to "giving the service a chance" -- so you could make a point. Immaturity or poor reading comprehension... I can't tell which you sound to me.
Posted by Maturity Police | December 31, 2006 3:30 PM
OK, so I'm the Maturity Police, not the Double Click Police... so sue me.
This at least gives me a chance to wonder where all the people are who think Joe's a Microsoft shill. Or is it that he's a basher? Can't keep the troll score straight around here.
Posted by Maturity Police | December 31, 2006 3:33 PM
I really rather like Office Live. Very "customer" oriented. Something new at Microsoft?
Gives small biz "one place to go" for supporting their customers, email campaigns, project management, product information, contacts. And, they can do it from any computer in the world!
Ray Ozzie's fingerprints are all over this and it's a very nice first edition. Free is nice, too. Especially when you can get your own domain, 25 email addresses and a website to create.
Couple this with the FREE Accounting Express 2007 and you've got some great tools!
Sorry, I have to pause for a moment and catch my breath. I am just not used to praising this huge company who has lost touch with its customers with its OS and its Office applications.
Keep up the good work, Ray! Next step: Write a program that sees elephants in the room and naked CEO's on up!
Posted by Ray Myers | December 31, 2006 5:29 PM
Nice comments. M$ is going down in 2007. Just wait until the Apple Fanboys are the majority.
Posted by WhyDoYouBother? | January 1, 2007 3:37 PM
I had a similar experience with MS ad service ... login problems, then they ignored by budget setting and I got 80K hits, and a $500+ bill for the first day (Should have been $5-$10). Finally I canceled the account which, took over a month and many phone calls. In the end I have to say it wasn't a good experience.
-G
Posted by GTM | January 2, 2007 11:50 AM
I appreciate your comments on this topic and the narrative on the harrowing efforts you put forth to solve an apparently simple problem. I had been think of changing over but that thought has now been killed off like yours. Thank you again for saving me from a similar experience. Doug
Posted by Doug Hawkins | January 3, 2007 7:59 AM
Joe,
The problems you experienced with Office Live are being suffered by many. This MS product has really suprised me. It was introduced even before the most basic elements were worked out. It makes you wonder if MS is heading for bigger problems in the future.
I created a Tips and Tricks page to help OL users get around a few of the problems but the problems just seem to be growing.
Who Knows?
altArtifact
Posted by altArtifact | January 13, 2007 6:26 PM
you experienced with Office Live are being suffered by many. This MS product has really suprised me. It was introduced even before the most basic elements were worked out. It makes you wonder if MS is heading for bigger problems i
Posted by beauty skin care | January 25, 2007 4:03 PM
I found this great domain name and made the big mistake of using Office Live to register it (yea, free my ass). Now I cannot even login into myu account and be able to cancel or whatever ... so that domain name is not mine now, and is nobody's.
Posted by didn't know i was suicidal til i tried office live | February 5, 2007 9:13 AM
I have a similar tale of woe - cancelled my office live account and tried to transfer my .co.uk domain that they provided with it. The Microsoft provided instructions DONT WORK for .co.uk domains - both Microsft and Melbourne IT support are completely useless if they bother to reply at all - After several weeks of trying I have given up on them and contacted nominet directly to retag the domain.
Posted by Adrian Colquhoun | May 3, 2007 7:31 AM
Office Live is a disaster. I found that quote from an MS employee on and MS employee blog.
Now to my own experiance. You can only use THEIR website builder.
Problem is that IT DOES NOT WORK. The program opens but that's it, no button work and you can't build a website. Since you can't build a website it is totally useless.
That has been my experiance and the experiance of others.
AND, the tech support team is unable to resolve it. What a total Pain in the a**!
Posted by Office Live Sux | May 20, 2007 10:03 AM
Seriously for £4.99 I will host your domains on a nice linux server away from them nasty windows servers. Lets way up the pros
Office Live Jollyhosting
Support within 4 hours More cash free
ftp More cash free
use any browser Nope free
templates only Yes No
Use ads Nope Yes
www.jollyhosting.com
Posted by Dave | May 22, 2007 4:03 AM
this Office live is pathetic in use. It provides us a space of 520 MB to store our data. Does anyone think that space is enough to full fill our business needs.
They had not provide any way to connect with the database and if we are not able to connect to the database then I don’t think so it is of any use.
Same on Microsoft. Before launching something they must had considered every prospective.
Posted by Ishaan | April 14, 2008 2:48 AM
I wanted to write Shame not same*
Posted by Ishaan | April 14, 2008 2:58 AM
I had a customer who lost their password with a Windows Live account and we haven't been able to get anyone on the phone or to respond to emails for over 3 months!
What's worse is that now they've basically lost their domain name to the beast...
Any suggestions on recovery?
Posted by Justyn | February 24, 2009 1:53 PM