Cancelling XBox Live? It's harder than you think

Why is it so hard to cancel an XBox Live subscription?

It took me ages to work out how to do it. I assumed I could cancel online, since that's how I signed up. But oh no, it's not that easy. I hunted through the various XBox sites and couldn't find an easy answer, so in the end I turned to Google. Finally discovered that you can only cancel your account by ringing them up, waiting in a queue and then having to put up with a phone op trying to talk you out of it.

While I was on the phone I asked the (American) operator why it was that I could create an account online, add new credit cards, purchase points, change my contact info and do anything else except cancel.

He said it’s because if members could cancel their accounts via the internet “other people migh be able to falsely log in to your account (we call them hackers) and cancel your XBOX live account without your permission.”

I couldn’t help laughing at him. I said I know what a hacker is, and if Microsoft’s system is so insecure that they fear hackers might login in and cancel my account I’m glad i’m shutting it down, since it gives me no confidence at all in thier ability to securely protect my credit card and personal contact info, nor to safely process payments or other transactions online. I suggested that what he had offered me was the most flimsy excuse imaginable for a system blatantly designed to minimise cancellations by obscuring the process.

Now we’ll wait and see if the cancellation was actually successful or if they’ll just tap my credit card next week anyway when the renewal date rolls around...

So my question for Microsoft is: What's the real reason why you don't allow members to cancel their accounts online?

For those trying to cancel, some phone numbers
US: 1-800-4MY-XBOX
Australia: 1800 555 741