A Quick Fix (more like a finger in a dike)
Common fixes for that delay are said to be clearing the console’s system cache and rebooting. That can be accomplished by going to System Settings (from the Xbox dashboard), Memory, Hard drive, hit Y and choose Clear System Cache.
However, many have done this, rebooted several times and the XP packs are not returning. So as I said, it sounds like a problem on EA’s side in regards to how the XP packs are tracked and integrated into the game as well as applied to gamer accounts. That’s all fine, bugs occur in games, but their response has been less than acceptable.
The Fine Electronic Art of Tech Support
Gamers have contacted EA support about this issue. The support people have stated that they are unable to view purchases and that gamers need to contact Microsoft. Contacting Microsoft will usually get your problem elevated to a higher level tech support person who will ultimately tell you they are unable to help you and that you need to contact EA support (I went through this exact process with them in researching the article).
So the question remains: Who is tracking the purchases and who is applying the items to accounts? EA games generally require you to have an EA account and one would assume that is how they apply these XP packs. That being said, it would then be EA who is tracking the purchases and applying the packs to your accounts and failing to maintain it all properly.
A Lack of Transparency and Information
But since this is happening on the Xbox 360, it is also tied into your XBLA account meaning that Microsoft must also be involved since they must transfer money to EA presumably since they gathered the money for the Microsoft Points which are used to purchase the XP packs. So they must have some record of the transactions so that they know how much money they have to deal out to EA for each purchase (they do, see next page).
This is one of the problems with the convoluted system caused by EA’s tight grip and control on its games. The majority of content is now available only through in-game stores and not the standard Xbox Live Marketplace. This is an added level of complexity that makes it troublesome for gamers when they have problems and needs to be resolved in order to be more consumer friendly in my opinion.
A Failure to Communicate
Both parties have been contacted in regards to this matter since they are both finger-pointing. Neither bothered to reply to our attempts to gain comment or clarification on the issue.
The way I see it, there is most likely some lack of communication or delay between the EA servers and the Microsoft XBLA servers. However, one would imagine that a purchase of this nature would be listed in a gamer’s Microsoft account (accessible at billing.microsoft.com) and the XBLA account (accessible on Xbox.com - My Xbox - Account - Download History, or from the console itself). If it is then listed there and is not available on the account it appears that it is an EA problem.
