Existing Xbox Live Gold users are saying that their Gold memberships are expiring erroneously, with Xbox Support stating it's due to "stacking" many codes at once.

Update: A Microsoft rep has gotten back to us and issued the following statement :

We are aware that select customers experienced problems with their Xbox Live Gold memberships. The problem was caused by an update on the backend and has since been resolved. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Here's to hoping this doesn't happen to anyone else.

Original Story:

Over on the official Xbox forums, a number of existing Xbox Live Gold users are reporting that their memberships have suddenly ended and turned to Silver for unknown reasons. A few users are even stating that their Gold Tenure shows 0 even if they've been a Gold member for years.

NeoGAF user Senior Chupon has posted the following message on the Xbox forums:

I was trying to download Dungeon Defenders this morning since it's the Games with gold title for the 2nd half of March. I got an error that I was unable to download it and then a few minutes later I received an e-mail stating my gold account has been cancelled. I never cancelled this subscription. In fact I had redeemed a few codes in November bringing my expiration to September 2015. I tried phone support but that was useless and I got disconnected. I need my gold subscription re-established as soon as possible.

His post was followed by Meadhlyn just a few hours later claiming:

I had one year left on my gold subscription and 4 years of tenure now I'm silver and 0 years what's going on ?

Another user affected is Dog Brazil SPZN who states he received an email from Microsoft saying his account has been "cancelled."

Hi, On Jan/2014 I sign a 12 mounths gold account by U$39,99 That value was debited in my credit card at same mounth. After 2 mounths, Yesterday I received an e-mail from [email protected]?crosoft.com with information saying my account has been CANCELED. The point is: I didnt (sic) canceled it! And now? please can somebody explain to me whats (sic) happen? I want my gold signature 8 mounts (sic) remains back!

You can read the other affected users in the main "Managing my Xbox Live Account" page on the official Xbox forums.

Fortunately, there seems to be an answer -- though a little obscure -- to what's causing it; and even better, there's a "fix," too. Conversing with Chupon directly, he told me that after three hours worth of phone calls with Xbox Support, they gave him three codes to redeem, one 12-month code, and two three-month ones. Keep in mind the duration of his Xbox Live Gold membership has been restored and he wasn't given any extra Gold time (that duration was the present one he had before the issue occurred). Chupon also adds that the support rep said they "think this is caused when users stack many codes that are redeemed," and that "this is a known issue affecting others but that for it to be a known issue it has to have been reported by several people."

So, if this has happened to you or someone you know, best to let Microsoft know so this will be a "known issue. If ever you are one of the unfortunate few, go call Xbox Support. But just be prepared to wait an hour or two before it's resolved, though.

We've reached out to Microsoft concerning the issue and will update the post once a rep has responded.

Source: Official Xbox Forums, NeoGAF