Money Refund for Servers Being Down

[ikinai]

Yes, I want free stuff, even though I'm stuck at work and not playing anyways and probably will be fixed by the time I get home and it won't have affected me anyways but want free stuff too!

[CrazyCanukk]

While I do not agree with the OP at all, I have to say these are some of the worst analogies I have seen someone try to use.

 

 

 

now ask yourself this question...

 

 

does he actually care what i think....

[McCamper]

I can see them giving us something if the servers are down for the rest of the day or for a few days but not for being down a couple of hours.

When LOTR servers were down for longer than they said they gave us some turbine points and added a few days to our subs.

[Kilora]

I agree, but it occurs to me why people flame others that complain. (Hang with me on this) Imagine we are all starving people at the end of the world (easy, right?). Nobody would want to listen to someone complain about the fact that everyone is starving. I know we're starving, you know we're starving..."Just shut up about it so I don't have to think about it" I would think. Problem is, nobody is looking for food so we all continue to starve.

 

Now if you hung with me on that, I think you'll see a little moral to the story. Or not...I tend to ramble about nonsensical things.

 

Can I say -- that was perfect. I agree completely.

 

Now -- let's all start looking for "food" :-D And make sure you tell me when ya find it!

[Perhelis]

Bioware should ignore you.

 

Not because you're just one customer, or because you are demanding things that aren't covered by the license. They should ignore you because they shouldn't encourage this sort of selfish behavior, and because it will give you a chance to learn that the world doesn't cater to your whims and that sometimes you don't get what you want and no amount of whining will change that.

 

You are an idiot Sir! With all due respect. As I said I am not expecting "money back". I expect to be treated as a customer. With respect.

 

Sure, if you want to be treated like trash because the LICENSE say so... be my guest! Just tell me this - you bought a new car, made 100 miles, it broke down. Should you be ignored by the car manufacturer because you are whining that your car broke down? And if you want them to fix your newly bought car then you are selfish bastard!

Edited April 11, 2013 by Perhelis

[Xeperi]

And we're pointing out that this is ridiculous.

 

How is it morally unsound for a company to NOT hand over rewards whenever there is an issue? Do you realize how many companies would be bankrupt if this were the case? Maybe YOU should show some reading comprehension -- it doesn't matter what is morally right. I think it's rather immoral to complain about something that is most likely a MISTAKE. Because of course, you've never made one of those.

 

 

Handing over goods when your company fails in any respect to the customer it failed is only a solid business practice. It IS ethical because it is saying, "we are sorry, take this for free and please keep using our service". Seriously, if I order curly fries and they give me onion rings, I guarantee I am driving away with a free order of curly fries. I have gotten a lot of free food and services by issuing legit complaints when I don't get what I paid for or what I REASONABLY PERCEIVED OR WAS LEAD TO BELIEVE I was paying for. Yet somehow Arbies, Burger King, Comcast (evil @ss comcast ffs), the landscaper, the car dealership and so on manage to not only stay in business for generations but win my loyalty as a customer.

 

I can't believe how many people here are real tools for eaware, ffs you are doing the damage control THEY should be paying for. SUCKERS

[Malastare]

That is EXACTLY my point!! If we do not complain we will never get better services or better customer support. If we agree to take crap every time something is not right, then we will be feed with crap!

 

That's not the way it works, you know.

 

As someone who does actually work for a huge internet service, I can tell you first hand: Whining customers don't make the service more stable. It's not as if I see uproar on social media and think: "Wow. I never thought about making the service stable before. I'll get on that right now!" This idea that the service will be bad unless customers are constantly complaining is patently stupid. And I don't use that word lightly.

 

On the contrary: Overly whiny customers just encourage us to put out fast-ugly patches to resolve problems instead of fixing things the right way. It teaches us that the customers are whiny and more often than not, they overstate their problems and that I shouldn't listen to their complaints. It proves to me that the customers don't actually think about the people supporting the service. They imply that I would knowingly, gladly create a crappy service if they weren't around to berate me. That proves to me that they don't even care about me. Why should I care about them? Why should I work overtime to fix their trivial loss?

 

Criticising the devs doesn't inspire them. It doesn't make them do their job better. Anyone who thinks that has absolutely no idea what they're talking about.

[Burchnall]

How is it morally unsound for a company to NOT hand over rewards whenever there is an issue? Do you realize how many companies would be bankrupt if this were the case? Maybe YOU should show some reading comprehension -- it doesn't matter what is morally right.

I'm not saying and never did I say its morally 'unsound' for a company to not hand over rewards whenver there is an issue. I would say its quite morally 'neutral' to do so as in either good nor bad. I'm saying its more morally sound and better for their long-term image as a company ... karma... if you will to provide small compensation as a goodwill gesture like 100 cartel coins when you are being paid money to provide a service and fail to provide that service even if you've written in fine print that your customer is not entitled to anything.

 

It's akin to how your not entitled to hear 'Thanks' from a customer at your job but it's still a nice thing to hear, isn't it? They don't say refuse to say 'Thanks' b/c they are not legally requierd to say thanks. That would be a bit...rude or insensitive. Rather, they might say thanks b/c its the right thing to do and out of appreciation. People who say thanks often say it when its genuinely meant b/c what they feel they ought to do. That small act of saying thanks also builds on their image and future reputation.

 

If two people need help in the future, the guy that always treats you nice and says thanks and the guy that is indifferent, who are you going to assist first if both their issues are of equal important/priority? It's because due to the kindness they've shown you, you develop a preference towards them. It wouldn't be terrible for Bioware/EA to give the 100 CC or even 50CC coins as a way of saying 'Sorry, but thanks for sticking with us! We appreciate our customers' as it would build good-will and make their customers like them more without providing any real economic harm as it doesn't cost them any money to 'give away' 50 CC coins and might encourage future purchasing of months worth of subs or CC coins as someone says longer in the game and ultimately make them more profit.

 

 

I think it's rather immoral to complain about something that is most likely a MISTAKE. Because of course, you've never made one of those..

 

Really? Its immoral to complain about a mistake? So If I was driving drunk and ran over your family, for example, which is an obvious and huge grevious error, complaining about that situaton would be immoral and thus so is the organization Mothers Against Drunk Driving? You'd never say anything to me about it, right? Since, after all. That would be immoral.

[Malastare]

You are an idiot Sir! With all due respect. As I said I am not expecting "money back". I expect to be treated as a customer. With respect.

 

You were.

 

They put up a notice about the outage and gave you the best information they had about when it would be resolved.

 

What more do you want?

[Izorii]

I think the main issue here was if they clock up all the hours every month and work out how much you pay per hour and then offered people a refund for the unexpected down time I doubt we would see more than a few pence. I just dont think its worth it.

[Mogic]

Not that I want to point out the obvious to the OP, but you act like their service being down isn't already costing them.

 

Any company that provides a service loses money when its offline. All those players not playing are also no spending money in the Cartel Market, not considering a sub, etc. Having a service down loses them money for every second its down. Which is more than enough incentive to get it up promptly. Its not like they are keeping it down just to screw with you.

 

Also whoever mentioned that they aren't communicating with us. They are, just don't expect some technically detailed briefing about why its down. Its down, do the details really matter? They don't have an ETA yet. I do enough troubleshooting to know that when this stuff happens until you identify what the problem is you really can't give an ETA on when you'll have it back up. And if past actions of this forum community are any sign, if they missed the ETA, every self-entitled loon would be here screaming.

[Skaol-dirtyd]

 

now ask yourself this question...

 

 

does he actually care what i think....

 

Well it would take the ability to think on a cognitive level to care, which you have shown you fail at based on your previous post. So with that being said I guess you would not care what I think because it would require the ability to comprehend and you again have shown a lacking in that dept based on the analogies that you used.

 

Have a good day.

[Andryah]

You are an idiot Sir! With all due respect. As I said I am not expecting "money back". I expect to be treated as a customer. With respect.

 

Sure, if you want to be treated like trash because the LICENSE say so... be my guest! Just tell me this - you bought a new car, made 100 miles, it broke down. Should you be ignored by the car manufacturer because you are whining that your car broke down? And if you want them to fix your newly bought car then you are selfish bastard!

 

You are conflating.. and now you are attacking other forum members and name calling. All this over some server down time.

 

And.. IMO.. your feelings of being disrespected are in fact self-inflicted feelings. Have you ever heard of the real world concept that things happen beyond anyones control or ability to prevent them? Do you actually sincerely think that Bioware wants the servers down and customers being denied game access?? Or is it just vengence you are looking for? Are you the guy who thows the food in the face of the wait staff if it's not exactly the way you want it as a customer? I don't think you are.. but you certainly are behaving that way IMO right here right now.

Edited April 11, 2013 by Andryah

[Xeperi]

Oh, you poor thing. You actually think that 'complaining' effects business and money decisions.

 

Sigh.

 

When people leave the game, stop buying CM stuff, unsub in huge numbers and go find a new game, THEN they'll pay attention to what's wanted.

 

Complaining has ZERO impact on mega corporations. They'll smile and make empty platitudes, and completely ignore what you're angry about.

 

That's why people lol at the complainers. Because you actually think that complaining has an impact on anything.

 

Mass complaints on a huge and very very public scale eventually cause severe branding issues which affects market share and can kill any company that is not a monopoly. Its why WALMART and pretty much every mega massively interf'ing galactic megacorporation has a return policy and why a 10 cent crackhead can make the 40k gm of a big-box chain break out into a cold sweat with threats to call the corporate office.

[Malastare]

Seriously, if I order curly fries and they give me onion rings, I guarantee I am driving away with a free order of curly fries.

 

Wrong analogy. In your example, you were not given what you paid for.

 

Better analogy: You rent a cabana on the beach for a week. Two of those days it rains. Do you expect the hotel is going to refund your bill for those two days?

 

Downtime is part of the MMO subscription. It is assumed that it will happen.

[Ohamsie]

You see what happens when the servers are down Bioware? We have to resort to making bad car payment and mortgage analogies to amuse ourselves. Fix the servers!!!!!

[fungihoujo]

So it is $0.2...

 

Yes, of course - you all can quote licenses etc... but it really is not about "hard wording". It is only about how we are being treated. Every player can take only as much before one goes to another game. Especially that the choice is vast. And this is not how you build a steady and happy body of players and develop any product. This is how you actually lose customers... and one thing is for sure: happy customer = paying customer....

 

If you're looking for an mmorpg that never has downtime- good luck.

[Asavar]

I'd personally give you the 10 cents you're losing for the downtime if I knew you, then smack you for being a moron.

[ronniehenlau]

You were.

 

They put up a notice about the outage and gave you the best information they had about when it would be resolved.

 

What more do you want?

 

2 hours in? An ETA.

[Kilora]

Handing over goods when your company fails in any respect to the customer it failed is only a solid business practice. It IS ethical because it is saying, "we are sorry, take this for free and please keep using our service". Seriously, if I order curly fries and they give me onion rings, I guarantee I am driving away with a free order of curly fries. I have gotten a lot of free food and services by issuing legit complaints when I don't get what I paid for or what I REASONABLY PERCEIVED OR WAS LEAD TO BELIEVE I was paying for. Yet somehow Arbies, Burger King, Comcast (evil @ss comcast ffs), the landscaper, the car dealership and so on manage to not only stay in business for generations but win my loyalty as a customer.

 

I can't believe how many people here are real tools for eaware, ffs you are doing the damage control THEY should be paying for. SUCKERS

 

 

Really? So when Comcast has a small issue, they give you something free? I'd LOVE to see that! How about Comcast giving me a DOCSIS 2 modem while I'm paying for a 100mbps connection? They tried to charge me an extra $50 to have someone come out and "check" the modem and give me a new one. When my power was cut becasue the lovely worker didn't realize my NEIGHBOR was supposed to be cut -- I had no power for ~2 hours. They even tried to charge me to have it turned back on.

 

Surprisingly, when I get the wrong meal at a restaurant? I NEVER assume I will get something free. I don't even want it -- I'd just like you to fix the mistake, and give me what I ordered. The local Panera, that NEVER puts chicken on my salad, ALWAYS asks me if I want a cookie for free. Nope, I don't. Just put the chicken on the salad and I'll be off. Why? Because people make mistakes, and it BARELY inconvenienced me.

 

YOU WERE NEVER LEAD TO BELIEVE YOU WERE PAYING FOR 24/7 SERVICE WITH ABSOLUTELY NO INTERRUPTIONS EVER. You're an example of what is wrong with the world --all of these crybabies who assume that they deserve something the SECOND something goes wrong. GOD FORBID someone make a mistake? I've never seen this kind of whining over an MMO having unexpected downtime before, at least not until the downtime went into the DAYS.

[Infernixx]

Mass complaints on a huge and very very public scale eventually cause severe branding issues which affects market share and can kill any company that is not a monopoly. Its why WALMART and pretty much every mega massively interf'ing galactic megacorporation has a return policy and why a 10 cent crackhead can make the 40k gm of a big-box chain break out into a cold sweat with threats to call the corporate office.

 

So, complaining about an EA game is going to tarnish its sterling reputation with the public?

 

......lol

[Arlbo_Nabbins]

I am payable player and I pay my subscription every month. Recently however I see that the servers are being down quite often (like now - servers are down and no ETA or no explanations are given to us).

 

Therefore, I want to get some form of refund as the service I pay for is not being delivered. I do not want necessary my money back but some kind of gratification for for constant screw-ups should be on place i.e. cartel money.

 

When you subscribed you agreed that you would not get a refund.

 

If my company would treat its customers as Bioware we would be bust by now!

 

Companies do not generally give refunds for short interruptions of service, especially for non-essential services.

[Omisri]

Ok, so let's work this out

 

To sub for a month lets say you pay $14. For a whole day without the server you are looking at a 0.45 return.

which is the equivalent of around 80 cartel coins.

 

gg

Edited April 11, 2013 by Omisri

[Andryah]

Mass complaints on a huge and very very public scale eventually cause severe branding issues which affects market share and can kill any company that is not a monopoly.

 

^^^^ exaggertion.

 

Do people want the servers in and MMO down? NO. Do most MMO players understand it happens and is unavoidable? YES. Do most MMO companies compensate with free time if the downtime is significant.. as in runs to many many consecutive hours or days? YES. Do most MMO companies compensate for downtime on the order of a random hour here or there over time? NO.

 

TL;DR Perspective. It's a relevant factor in real life.. and that includes MMO play.

Edited April 11, 2013 by Andryah

[Mogic]

So, complaining about an EA game is going to tarnish its sterling reputation with the public?

 

......lol

 

They can do better. It must be true, I read it on the internet.