Why EA Support, Microsoft Xbox Live Support and Battlefield 3 suck

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Battlefield 3 is a great game don't get me wrong but it has all gone horribly wrong with the latest multiplayer ("rent a server" update.

Basically, hidden amongst this update, are a few multiplayer fixes that haven't been too popular but the main purpose of the update is to allow the masses to "rent a server" from EA at a cost. EA have used this as an excuse to slash the number of official EA/DICE servers available for BF3 multiplayer. As a result you have dozens if not hundreds of rented servers dominating the multiplayer match listings.

This might not be a bad thing if it wasn't for the fact that anyone can become a server admin and thus boot anyone playing on their server for any reason, at any time. The update has proved as popular as three month old stale bread.

In a moment of madness I applied the latest patch (all 1gb of it) so I could purchase the Back To Karkand expansion for 600 MS Points. The expansion is a 100kb file. Yes, you read correctly, 100kb. It essentially unlocks what is already hidden in the game or the latest expansion. I thought I could live with the multiplayer patch if I could get to play the DLC maps that people have been raving about.

Sadly, I have been unable to play the Back to Karkand DLC. EA say I have purchased it, and have access to it. Microsoft say I have purchased it. My Xbox lets me re-download it, but I can't play it. All the DLC maps say I'm missing, wait for it, DLC.

I chatted to an EA support guy who suggested clearing system cache, deleting saved games, starting from scratch and even to purchase the Back to Karkand DLC. In the end he gave up and suggested I contact Microsoft for assistance.

I contacted Microsoft and politely explained the problem and asked for my 600 MS Points back. They refused, saying the problem was all down to EA and that EA should assist me.

So, what do I do? Well I'm half inclined to take the buggers to small claims court - both EA and Microsoft - just for the fun of it. They'll probably be too busy to respond and I'll win by default. Surely I'm not the first person to have experienced such a problem? Regardless, EA and Microsoft are so big they don't really care about a few hundred MS points being spent on worthless, not working DLC. I guess all people like me can do is get angry and spread the word about these giant money grabbing corporations.