Independent profile. Not owned, sponsored or endorsed by Microsoft.

Microsoft Reviews, Complaints & Contacts

Microsoft Corporation, headquartered in Redmond, Washington, makes Windows, Microsoft 365, Xbox, Surface and other products and services. This page explains how to get a refund, cancel a subscription, trace an unknown charge, recover a locked account and spot fake support calls that misuse Microsoft's name, with BBB and Trustpilot figures and the 2023 Xbox children's-privacy settlement. 624 published complaint reports are linked to this profile. Complaints are allegations by the people who filed them.

REVIEWS & COMPLAINTS624on USAComplaints · none in last 3 yrs · latest 2015
PHONE(800) 642-7676Customer service
WEBSITEmicrosoft.com
HEADQUARTERSRedmond, WA
PROFILE CHECKED2026-11-06
Submit a Complaint Read reviews & complaints ↓ Call (800) 642-7676 Official website ↗
VERIFIED

Contacts

PhoneAddress

Customer service & general contact

Show all 12 contacts

Customer service & general contact (continued)

Cancel, billing & returns

Corporate & press

VERIFIED

Locations

  • HeadquartersOne Microsoft Way Redmond WA 98052-6399
EDITORIAL

Company Information

BBB, Trustpilot

Legal name
Microsoft Corporation
Business type
Software, cloud services, gaming and devices company (Nasdaq: MSFT)
Website
microsoft.comSource: Microsoft Support Contact Microsoft page, checked 2026-11-01
Headquarters
Redmond, WASource: Microsoft Form 10-K, cover page, checked 2026-11-01

Microsoft Corporation is a publicly traded company that files annual and quarterly reports with the SEC, so its address, business lines and pending legal matters are disclosed publicly.

The more pressing question for many visitors is whether a call, e-mail or pop-up really comes from Microsoft. Microsoft's support article on fake tech support says it does not send unsolicited e-mails or make unsolicited calls asking for personal or financial information or offering to fix your computer, and that its error and warning messages never include a phone number. If a pop-up shows a number to call, Microsoft's advice is not to call it.

EXTERNAL SOURCE

Independent Sources

Shown for context — not merged with USAComplaints' own numbers.

BBBComplaints in the last 3 years
320 reviews · 7,156 complaints · BBB business grade A+ · average customer rating 1.05 / 5
TrustpilotAll reviews on the www.microsoft.com page
4,159 reviews · TrustScore 1.2 / 5
EDITORIAL

Complaint Themes

Xbox 360 repair or red-light failure wordingWindows, Vista, XP or Office wordingUnauthorized or fraudulent charge wordingCancellation wordingBilling descriptor wording (Microsoft Online, MS.net, Xbox Live bill, adCenter)Hotmail, e-mail account or MSN mail wording

Themes summarize what people write about most often. One complaint can touch several themes, and some complaints (a positive report, or one later retracted by its author) fit none, so themes are not a count of complaints.

CONSUMER ALLEGATION

Reviews & Complaints on USAComplaints

USAComplaints currently maintains 624 historical complaints about Microsoft, published between 1999 and 2015. No approved complaints have been published on this site during the last three years. For a current reputation snapshot, see the independent sources on this page.

Show 15 more on this page
EDITORIAL

Complaint record: BBB, Trustpilot and the complaints filed on this site

BBB. Microsoft is not BBB accredited. Its BBB profile in Redmond, WA carries an A+ letter grade and lists 7,156 complaints in the last 3 years, 2,883 of them in the last 12 months. Customer reviews on BBB average 1.05 out of 5 stars from 320 reviews; BBB says customer reviews are not used to calculate the letter grade.

Trustpilot. The Trustpilot page for www.microsoft.com shows a TrustScore of 1.2 out of 5 from 4,159 reviews; Microsoft has claimed the page.

On this site. 624 published complaint reports are linked to this profile. They name Microsoft or one of its own products as the subject: Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, Hotmail and MSN, Windows, Office, Bing, Surface, and card charges billed as Microsoft Online or MSN. The posts listed as naming a brand of this company are Skype complaints, all written after Microsoft completed its purchase of Skype on October 13, 2011. The posts are dated 1999 to 2015, most of them 2002 to 2013, and are allegations by the people who wrote them. Posts about prize or lottery e-mails and phone callers that only borrowed the Microsoft name are not linked to this page.

BBB, Trustpilot and this site count complaints differently, so their figures are shown side by side and never added together.

Had an experience with Microsoft? Tell other people what happened.

Submit a Complaint
EDITORIAL

Microsoft: refunds, cancellations, unrecognized charges and calls using its name

"Microsoft" covers Windows, Microsoft 365 and Office, Xbox, Surface, Bing, Outlook and many other services, so the right route depends on what you bought and where. These are the routes Microsoft itself publishes.

  • Contacting Microsoft. The Contact Microsoft page at support.microsoft.com/contactus asks you to sign in and pick a product, shows self-help first and then offers live chat with a Microsoft specialist.
    More detailShow less

    By phone, Microsoft's Global Customer Service phone numbers page lists these numbers for the United States, without saying which product each one handles: toll-free (800) 642-7676, (800) 865-9408 and (855) 270-0615, and the toll number (305) 418-9136. Xbox has its own contact page at support.xbox.com/en-us/contact-us/emerald. The (425) 882-8080 number in Microsoft's annual report is the corporate headquarters line, not customer support.

  • Microsoft 365 and other subscriptions. Microsoft's subscription refund policy says that in most cases you can get a refund if you cancel within 30 days of the first purchase or before the first renewal charge, whichever comes first. You can also get the most recent renewal charge refunded if you cancel within 30 days after paying it, but only once per Microsoft account for each subscription product. In the U.S., Microsoft 365 Premium and Microsoft 365 Pro also give a prorated refund if you cancel within 14 days of the first purchase; Basic, Personal and Family plans do not offer prorated refunds in the U.S. The policy does not limit any other rights you have under the law. To cancel, sign in with the account used for the purchase and go to Services & subscriptions, then Manage, then Cancel; the page says not every cancellation earns a refund and eligibility is decided automatically during cancellation. If no refund is issued, Microsoft 365 usually keeps working until the end of the paid period. The policy does not cover prepaid subscription codes bought at a retail store (the store's return policy applies) or subscriptions bought through Google Play or the Apple App Store, which those stores refund.
  • Xbox subscriptions such as Game Pass. Xbox says you can cancel at any time; turning off automatic renewal stops future charges and keeps your benefits until the paid time runs out. You may be able to cancel immediately with a refund, but not every subscription charge can be refunded.
  • Apps and games. Microsoft's refund article says digital goods, including apps, games, add-ons, subscriptions, movies, TV shows and books, are not refundable unless the offer or applicable law gives you a right to a refund. For games, including Microsoft Store games on a Windows PC, you sign in on the Xbox "Request a refund for digital games" page, choose the item and give a reason; Microsoft says processing the request may take 72 hours, and approved refunds generally reach the original payment method within 3 to 5 business days. Xbox says game refunds are typically granted for requests made within 14 days of purchase if you have not played the game much. You can ask up to 90 days after purchase, but not every request is accepted, most in-game currency and consumables cannot be refunded once bought or used, and you lose access to the game while the refund is processed. Decisions are final, but a denial can be appealed by replying to the decision e-mail. A pre-ordered digital game can be cancelled in your order history up to 10 days before launch; after that you may be billed and must request a refund instead.
  • A charge you do not recognize. Microsoft says to open the Manage your payments page of your Microsoft account dashboard and select Investigate; Xbox notes this works only for Microsoft Store charges from the last 60 days.
    More detailShow less

    Common explanations Microsoft lists are a subscription that renewed automatically, a family member buying with your card, a previously declined charge going through, a pre-order or split order shipping, and an in-app purchase. If you think someone has your card details, Microsoft says to contact your bank or card provider and report the card as stolen or compromised, because only disputing the charges will not stop new ones.

  • Locked out of your account. Microsoft's account recovery page says its support agents cannot send password reset links or access or change account details. Try Microsoft's Sign-in Helper tool first; if that fails, fill in the account recovery form.
    More detailShow less

    Microsoft says it reviews the answers and replies within 24 hours to the working e-mail address you give, and you can resubmit the form up to two times a day. If two-step verification is on and you cannot use any of your backup verification methods, Microsoft says it cannot help.

  • Skype. Microsoft retired Skype on May 5, 2025; you can sign in to Microsoft Teams Free with your Skype credentials to bring over contacts and chats. Microsoft's Skype page set the end of Skype subscriptions for May 1, 2026: subscriptions running past that date are cancelled and converted to Skype Credit, and holders of those subscriptions can ask Skype customer support for a refund instead.
  • Calls, pop-ups and e-mails that use Microsoft's name. Microsoft says it does not call you to offer support unless you asked it to, its error and warning messages never include phone numbers, and it will never ask you to pay for support in cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or in gift cards.
    More detailShow less

    Do not call a number shown in a pop-up. Report such contacts to Microsoft at microsoft.com/reportascam and to the FTC. Many older posts filed under the Microsoft name on this site describe prize or lottery e-mails and callers that only borrowed the name; they are not linked to this page.

If Microsoft does not fix it. If you paid by credit card and the charge is wrong, you can dispute it with your card issuer; under the Fair Credit Billing Act, send a written dispute to the billing-error address on your statement so that it arrives within 60 days after the first statement showing the charge was sent to you. If the money came out of a bank account or debit card, tell your bank or credit union at once: the CFPB advises reporting an unauthorized withdrawal within 60 days after the statement showing it was sent, because after that you could be held responsible for unauthorized transfers made later.

More detailShow less

If you paid through PayPal, use PayPal's own dispute process. You can also report the problem to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, to your state attorney general's consumer protection office, and to BBB, which forwards complaints to the company. Complaints on this page are allegations by the people who filed them.

EDITORIAL

Regulator actions: FTC and Justice Department

Xbox Live children's data (COPPA), 2023. Status: closed by a court-approved settlement. The Justice Department, together with the FTC, sued Microsoft in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington (case 2:23-cv-00836). The complaint alleged that Microsoft knew certain Xbox Live users were children but still collected personal information, such as phone numbers, before notifying parents and getting their consent; that its notice to parents was incomplete; and that when children started but did not finish creating an account, Microsoft kept their information longer than the COPPA Rule allows, according to the FTC sometimes for years between 2015 and 2020. The court entered the stipulated order on June 9, 2023, and the Justice Department announced it on June 12, 2023. The order entered judgment for a $20 million civil penalty and requires Microsoft, among other things, to delete within two weeks personal information collected from a child to seek parental consent if the parent does not give it, to run a parental-consent process for accounts created before May 2021 whose holders were still children after the order took effect, and to tell video game publishers when personal information it shares comes from a child under 13. These were allegations resolved by settlement, not findings by a court.

More on regulatorsShow less

Activision Blizzard merger challenge. Status: dismissed. In an order issued May 22, 2025 (Docket 9412), the FTC noted that on May 7, 2025 the Ninth Circuit had upheld the district court's refusal to grant a preliminary injunction against the deal, and dismissed its own administrative complaint as being in the public interest. This was a competition case, not a consumer-protection case.

Other matters. The contingencies note of Microsoft's latest annual report (Note 14) describes a final decision of the Irish Data Protection Commission, issued in October 2024, alleging that LinkedIn's targeted advertising violated the EU's GDPR and assessing a fine. LinkedIn appealed in November 2024; after a preliminary hearing in December 2025, the court ruled on the standard of appeal, a ruling the Commission may appeal. The note says Microsoft also faces other claims and lawsuits in the ordinary course of business.

Where U.S. consumers can report a problem. The FTC handles complaints about deceptive billing, children's privacy and fake support calls at ReportFraud.ftc.gov; your state attorney general's consumer protection office takes complaints about companies doing business in your state.

PUBLIC RECORD

Court & Public Records

United States v. Microsoft Corp. (Xbox Live; COPPA civil penalty)

Settled

U.S. District Court for the Western District of WashingtonDocket 2:23-cv-00836Source ↗

Settled

These were allegations resolved by a settlement.

Case details: United States v. Microsoft Corp. (Xbox Live; COPPA civil penalty)Show less

Closed by a stipulated court order. The Justice Department, together with the FTC, sued Microsoft in the Western District of Washington. The complaint is listed under June 5, 2023; the court entered the stipulated order on June 9, 2023, and the Justice Department announced it on June 12, 2023. The FTC's case page shows the case as closed. The order entered judgment for a $20 million civil penalty and imposed injunctive relief to settle allegations that it violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the COPPA Rule in connection with Xbox Live. The complaint alleged that Microsoft collected personal information, such as phone numbers, from users it knew were children before notifying parents and getting their consent; that its notice to parents was incomplete; and that when children started but did not finish creating an account, Microsoft kept their information longer than the rule allows.

In the Matter of Microsoft Corp. and Activision Blizzard, Inc. (FTC Docket No. 9412)

Dismissed

Federal Trade Commission (administrative proceeding)Docket FTC Docket 9412Source ↗

Dismissed

The Commission concluded that the public interest is best served by ending the administrative case and dismissed the complaint.

Case details: In the Matter of Microsoft Corp. and Activision Blizzard, Inc. (FTC Docket No. 9412)Show less

Closed. This was the FTC's challenge to Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard, a merger case rather than a consumer-protection case. The Commission's order issued May 22, 2025 recites that on May 7, 2025 the Ninth Circuit affirmed the Northern District of California's denial of the FTC's request for a preliminary injunction to block the deal.

EDITORIAL

Who operates Microsoft and what the name covers

Microsoft Corporation is a Washington corporation headquartered at One Microsoft Way, Redmond, Washington 98052-6399, and its shares trade on Nasdaq under the symbol MSFT. Its annual report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2026 lists about 223,000 full-time employees, about 121,000 of them in the U.S., and three business segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing.

For consumers, the name covers Windows, Office and Microsoft 365, Outlook and the older Hotmail and MSN e-mail services, Bing, Xbox (including the Xbox 360 console and the Xbox Live online service) and Surface devices. Microsoft also owns businesses that keep their own brands: it completed its purchase of Activision Blizzard on October 13, 2023, according to its Form 8-K, and closed its purchase of Skype on October 13, 2011. Microsoft retired Skype on May 5, 2025 and moved users to Microsoft Teams Free.

More company historyShow less

Many older complaints about Xbox concern the Xbox 360 hardware failure signaled by three flashing red lights. In a July 5, 2007 announcement, Microsoft extended the warranty for that failure to three years from the date of purchase, promised to repair or replace affected consoles free of charge including shipping, said it would reimburse owners who had already paid for that repair, and took a pre-tax charge of $1.05 billion to $1.15 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2007.

VERIFIED

Company Relationships

  • Affiliated withActivision Blizzard, Inc.
  • Affiliated withSkype
EDITORIAL

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get a refund on a Microsoft 365 or other Microsoft subscription?

Cancel it from your Microsoft account. Sign in with the account used for the purchase, open Services & subscriptions, select the subscription and choose Manage, then Cancel; Microsoft tells you during cancellation whether you qualify for a refund. Its policy says that in most cases you can get a refund within 30 days of the first purchase or before the first renewal charge, whichever comes first, and that you can get the latest renewal charge back if you cancel within 30 days after paying it, once per Microsoft account for each subscription product. In the U.S., Microsoft 365 Premium and Pro also give a prorated refund if you cancel within 14 days of the first purchase. Prepaid codes bought at a store follow that store's return policy, and subscriptions bought through Google Play or the Apple App Store are refunded by those stores.

Can I get a refund for a Microsoft Store app or game?

Only in some cases. Microsoft's refund article says digital goods are not refundable unless the offer or applicable law gives you a right to a refund, and points to the Microsoft Terms of Sale for details. For games, including Microsoft Store games on a Windows PC, sign in on the Xbox "Request a refund for digital games" page, select the game and give a reason; the request may take 72 hours to process. Xbox says game refunds are typically granted for requests made within 14 days of purchase if you have not played much, and that requests made later, up to 90 days, may be refused.

What should I do about a Microsoft charge I do not recognize?

Start with Microsoft's own tool: on the Manage your payments page of your Microsoft account dashboard, select Investigate to see which Microsoft account made the purchase (Xbox says this covers Microsoft Store charges from the last 60 days). Common causes Microsoft lists are a subscription that renewed automatically, a family member using your card, a previously declined charge going through, a pre-order or split order shipping, and an in-app purchase. If you think someone has your card details, Microsoft says to tell your bank or card provider the card is compromised, since disputing the charges alone will not stop new ones. For a credit card charge you still dispute, the Fair Credit Billing Act requires your written dispute to reach the card issuer's billing-error address within 60 days after the first statement showing the charge was sent. For a debit card or bank withdrawal, tell your bank or credit union right away; for a PayPal payment, use PayPal's dispute process. For other help, use Contact Support on Microsoft's support site or the U.S. customer service numbers Microsoft lists.

A caller or pop-up says it is Microsoft support. Is it?

Treat it with suspicion. Microsoft says it does not call you to offer support unless you asked it to, and that its error and warning messages never include a phone number, so do not call a number shown in a pop-up. Microsoft also says it will never ask you to pay for support in cryptocurrency or gift cards, and that its support agents cannot send password reset links or change your account details. Hang up, close the browser window, and report the contact to Microsoft at microsoft.com/reportascam and to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. If you already paid, call your bank or card issuer right away.

How do I cancel an Xbox subscription or get a refund on a digital game?

Xbox says you can cancel a subscription such as Game Pass at any time: turning off automatic renewal stops future charges, and you keep the benefits until the paid time runs out. You may be able to cancel immediately with a refund, but not every subscription charge is refundable. For a digital game, sign in on the Xbox "Request a refund for digital games" page; refunds are typically granted for requests made within 14 days of purchase if you have not played much, and you lose access to the game while the refund is processed. Xbox calls refund decisions final, but you can appeal a denial by replying to the decision e-mail.

What did Microsoft say about the Xbox 360 three flashing red lights failure?

On July 5, 2007, Microsoft extended its warranty for Xbox 360 consoles that showed a general hardware failure signaled by three flashing red lights to three years from the date of purchase. It said it would repair or replace those consoles free of charge, including shipping, and would reimburse owners who had already paid for that repair. It also announced a pre-tax charge of $1.05 billion to $1.15 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2007 to cover the costs.

What was the 2023 FTC and Justice Department Xbox settlement about?

It settled federal allegations that Microsoft broke the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) on Xbox Live. The government alleged that Microsoft collected personal information, such as phone numbers, from users it knew were children before notifying parents and getting consent, gave parents incomplete notice, and kept data from unfinished child sign-ups longer than the rule allows. Under a stipulated order the court entered on June 9, 2023, announced by the Justice Department on June 12, 2023, Microsoft was required to pay a $20 million civil penalty and accept injunctive relief, including deleting within two weeks the data collected from a child to seek parental consent if the parent does not give it, and telling game publishers when shared data belongs to a child. The case, filed in the Western District of Washington, is closed. The allegations were resolved by settlement, not decided by a court.

Is Microsoft BBB accredited, and what does BBB show?

Microsoft is not BBB accredited. Its BBB profile in Redmond, WA carries an A+ letter grade and lists 7,156 complaints in the last 3 years, 2,883 of them in the last 12 months. Customer reviews there average 1.05 out of 5 stars from 320 reviews; BBB says customer reviews are not used to calculate the letter grade. The profile shows no BBB alert or government-action notice.

Why do older Skype complaints appear on this page?

Microsoft owned Skype from October 13, 2011, when it announced that it had closed its purchase of Skype Global S.à r.l. Skype complaints written after that date are therefore linked here as related posts; earlier ones concern the previous owner and are not linked. Microsoft retired Skype on May 5, 2025 and lets users sign in to Microsoft Teams Free with their Skype credentials. Its Skype page set the end of Skype subscriptions for May 1, 2026: subscriptions running past that date are cancelled and turned into Skype Credit, and their holders can ask Skype customer support for a refund instead.

How do I reach a person at Microsoft support?

Microsoft's Contact Microsoft page asks you to sign in so it can get you the right help, and has a Can't sign in link for people who cannot access their account. After you select the product you need help with, it shows self-help options first and says additional help is available if you need it, including live chat with a Microsoft specialist. The page lists no phone number.

CONSUMER ALLEGATION

Related Complaints

Names this company in a role other than the primary subject — not necessarily current or complete.

Show 15 moreShow less