16 replies to this topic

[Yovaneth]

Start from the bottom because I can't be bothered to reverse the entries! 33 days to get an answer that tells me to go stuff myself.

-Y-


Discussion Thread
Response (Nathan)
03/07/2010 09:33 PM

Greetings,

Thank you for contacting EA Customer Support.

I am sorry to say but there is no way to assist you in this matter. We cannot credit the points on your account.

If you have any other issues, feel free to drop a new ticket.

Sincerely,
Nathan
EA Customer Support
Customer
03/05/2010 02:12 PM

Hello Henry

I'm not asking for a refund, nor was I ever asking for one as refunding $5 (or whatever) would cost EA far more than the sum itself. To quote my original submission:-

'Is there any chance of crediting the 560 points to my online account ready for the next DLC?'

I know the transaction went through as I have the Paypal receipt for it.

-Dai
Response (Henry)
03/03/2010 06:53 AM

Greetings,

Thank you for contacting Electronic Arts.

Please be informed that we checked your account from the info you provided, and we are not able to refund your 560 points. Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience you faced this far.

If there is anything else I can help you with please let me know.

Sincerely,

Henry
EA Online Support
Customer
02/28/2010 02:44 AM

*********@hotmail.com
****-****-****-****-****
Dai Griffiths
**.**.****

-Dai
Response (Henry)
02/26/2010 12:57 AM

Hi Dai,

Thank you for contacting Electronic Arts.

In order to assist you with this issue, we will need some information from you. Please reply back to this mail with the following information:

- Your Account/User Name:
- Registration key code:
- Your full name:
- Your Date of Birth:

We look forward to your reply.

Thank You,

Henry
EA Online Support
Customer
02/24/2010 02:00 PM

I'd still like an answer to my original question. I paid five dollars and got nothing in return, not even an explanation as to what may have happened.

Thank you.

-Dai
Response (Henry)
02/24/2010 12:59 AM

Greetings,

This is Henry here following up your ticket.

First off all, please accept my apologies for the delay in response to this ticket. Since there was no communication on this issue for so many days, I would appreciate if you could add a note to this ticket and update us on the current status of the issue that you are or were experiencing. If the issue still persists, please provide more specific details on the issue, so that we can assist you further.

Again, I apologize for the inconvenience caused due to this issue.

Sincerely,

Henry
EA Customer Support
Customer
02/18/2010 03:35 AM

No response after 442 hours...? Perhaps 24 hours really means 2400 hours and I should wait until then before asking again?
Customer
02/09/2010 08:43 AM

No response after 226 hours...?
Customer
02/08/2010 10:03 AM

No response after 192 hours...?
Customer
02/07/2010 02:24 PM

No response after seven days?
Customer
02/03/2010 11:16 AM

No response after 72 hours....?
Customer
01/31/2010 01:15 PM

Before we go any further, I know this is entirely my own fault! I tried to buy the 400 points for Return To Ostagar but was having trouble getting to the correct screen. Eventually I thought 'sod it' and elected to buy the 560 points required for Warden's Keep as I could get to that page, reasoning that as I already have Warden's Keep, I could spend 400 on RTO and save the 160 for the next DLC. Well, of course you know what happens next.... I did eventually get to buy RTO directly, but as you would expect, the 560 points for Warden's Keep don't show up in my account as it would expect me to download it (I can't as I've already got it!). Is there any chance of crediting the 560 points to my online account ready for the next DLC? If not, as I said, it's my own fault anyway.

Thank you.

-Dai

[berelinde]

Had similar experiences with a tech support issue, so I know exactly what you're going through. I'm not even going to try to get back the 240 points I paid for, but never used. If ever they release something for 240 points, though, I'll have them to spare, I guess.

You were a lot more polite than I got to be toward the sixth time somebody told me that tech support was not equiped to handle technical issues. I think I actually said "OK, so tech support doesn't handle technical problems. Who should I talk to? Grounds maintenance?"

They sent a survey a few weeks later. I let 'em know what I thought.

Edited by berelinde, 08 March 2010 - 03:48 PM.

[Yovaneth]

Technically speaking, EA have now admitted to theft by refusing to provide the service/goods that have been paid for. Unfortunately I'm in the UK and they're in the US.... otherwise $5 it may only be, but I'm p!ssed off enough by their total lack of support to have had a go at them legally.

I work in techsupport myself, for a large software company that produces functional testing tools. The entire train of events tells me that EA's techsupport couldn't care less about the customers because EA couldn't care less about its techsupport employees. For myself, I'm very proud of the fact that within my company I'm always in the top three for positive customer feedback and usually at the top - and the entire company is way above the accepted international support levels. But then again, my company always backs its employees, especially in the case where you get a shitty customer who is obviously wrong or trying to pull a fast one. The customer is not always right. You feel valued, which makes you want to give the best support you can, which very rapidly escalates into a positive feedback loop. I cannot ever see EA pull that stunt off.

-Y-

Edited by Yovaneth, 08 March 2010 - 05:20 PM.

[Yovaneth]

Here's an update:-

-Y-

It's my understanding that according to the laws of the United States, what you have just done is admitted theft in that you have taken money (I have the receipt to prove that) but will neither refund me, nor supply goods in return. It may be that because I am not a US citizen, you consider this to be a perfectly acceptable act. Apart from the act of simply closing the support case, do you have any response to this?

[Eleima]

Don't get me wrong, I'm the first to bash EA tech support when they've done something wrong, and it sure seems as they haven't exactly been fair to you (and that's a polite understatement). However, the last experience I had with them was when I purchased Shale, hadn't seen that I had a code for the DLC, and managed to get them to re-credit the Bioware points to my account so that I could use them for Return to Ostagar.
It's a shame that they can't treat you with the same deference and just credit you with the 560 points, it's ridiculous. This is the problem with DLC, there never was this kind of problem when you bought a finished product, when they weren't doling it out, bit by bit. Of course, back then, you had 6 floppies or a CD in a box, and that was it, but still.
This is plain disrespect of the customer, I really hope you manage to make them budge. The best of luck!

[Chevalier]

Yovaneth

If you don't get a good response form EA you might wish to report it to the Better Business Bureau at http://www.bbb.org/us/


Good Luck!

[-JR-]

Good Lord, that's almost as bad as Blizzard. Keep us updated, I really hope you nail 'em.

[Yovaneth]

Yup, they just closed the case on me without a response. Interesting how EA think it's okay to commit theft and then admit to it, being so sure of no comeback.

Chev: I'll try the BBB but I'm no US citizen.

-Y-

[berelinde]

Don't think you need to be a US citizen. You just need to have had dealings with a US company, which you have.

[Yovaneth]

It's logged. I don't expect anything to come of it though but I could be very pleasantly surprised.

-Y-

[Yovaneth]

Well, the BBB have accepted it as a valid complaint and have contacted EA. I set my expectations down into this region here:-


































EA will consign it to the bit bucket.

-Y-

[berelinde]

Probably, but you did all you could.

[Yovaneth]

Nothing - but nothing - is ever going to persaude me that contacting the BBB had nothing to do with this. Thanks, Chev!!

-Y


Response (Adam T.) 03/12/2010 02:07 PM Hello,

Thank you for contacting Electronic Arts Customer Support. I apologize for the inconvenience you are experiencing and for the delay in my response. Your issue has been escalated to me and I will be happy to assist you in this matter.

As the lower tier agents had mentioned, they can not credit points to an account, because they do not have the authority to do so. I do apologize for that not being made clear. As I am a senior level agent within the Technical department here at EA, I do have the authority to grant your request. As such I have added 1000 points for your account as compensation for the extremely long wait time for a response and your troubles. I do hope this helps solve the problem.

Feel free to contact us again if you have any other questions regarding this issue. You can update your support request by clicking on the My Questions link on http://support.ea.com.

Sincerely,
Sebastian T.
EA Customer Support Tier 3.

[berelinde]

I'm happy to see that you received appropriate compensation. Good for you!

[Yovaneth]

The points are in. My parting shot....

-Y-

I guess the case can be closed at this point.

As one support engineer to another (I do techsupport and consultancy for a very large software house - no, not that one), I regret to say that EA's techsupport unfortunately leaves a lot to be desired. Had I provided the sequence of answers that I received here and over the same time period, I would have been facing severe disciplinary action.

[Eleima]

It's good to see that your plea didn't go unanswered, ultimately, but it's a shame that you had to jump through all those hoops to get satisfaction... Hopefully, notifying the BBB will have some impact on them.

[-JR-]

Holy crap, something someone did actually worked!

I feel inspired, empowered... Well, not really, but congratulations!