Customer Service Hung Up On Me...

[DustyDemonNinja]

All i have to say is that customer service for this game is - unacceptable. I have tickets that have been open for over 3 weeks now. Then today I called customer service to ask that my cartel coins spent on the new packs be refunded due to the fact that I literally only got 3% new items out of the packs. The CSR I spoke to said "Sorry our specialist said you need to submit an in game ticket and wait for a response." To which i replied "Id like to try and resolve this if at possible now since I have had 3 tickets waiting for over a month now." She said "That sucks." and hung up the phone. I was more than patient and polite on the phone in dealing with them. This kind of treatment is simply unacceptable

 

What kind of people are you hiring over there Bioware?! I cant believe that you have people working for you that treat your customers this way, and not only that, how is having in game support tickets open for over a month remotely OK?

 

I then called back and spoke with a EA Supervisor named - who was very patient and polite, but still couldn't even begin to address my issue. Whats the point in having phone support if their hands are tied, and your in game support team takes months to respond.

 

I have been playing MMOs since 1999, and have been working in the game industry for over 9 years now myself and have never seen such poor customer support. ***!?

 

My account is now going to be F2P and ill be on the lookout for a new game. Ive invested time and money into this game since launch and to be treated so poorly just disgusts me. Bioware you should be ashamed of yourselves.

Edited February 10, 2016 by TaitWatson

[Petrockss]

I agree.

 

I'm waiting until the day before my monthly billing date then I'm done with SWTOR. They don't need my money.

[Jerqa]

I agree that the customer service for this game is rather appalling. I had to wait for well over a month to get an issue resolved back in December, and that included two phone calls to customer support. I'll be honest, I have played many MMO's over the years starting around 1997/98 and this game has had the worst customer service that I have ever had to deal with.

[lightSaberAddiCt]

I agree.

 

I'm waiting until the day before my monthly billing date then I'm done with SWTOR. They don't need my money.

 

Good luck with that skippy, cause they dont refund CC because your upset witb the drop rate. If you become aggresive on the phone with their CS, they also have a policy of just hanging up. Maybe, after hearing you need to submit a ticket, you started to raise voice, or make demands? Yes....no...maybe?

 

*edit: post meant to reply to OP

Edited February 10, 2016 by lightSaberAddiCt

[Jerqa]

I've been interested in Star Citizen myself and have been keeping an eye on it. I've been a Chris Roberts fan since the 90's with the Wing Commander and Privateer series' so pretty excited about this new universe to play in.

[Myracarrah]

The biggest issue with the EA/Ware customer service system is the CS aren't part of the development team.

Different buildings. Different companies.

 

So when you submit a ticket in game it lands on some EA employee's desk. They give a stock 'this is droid soandso, I am passing your problem up to a dev, and it should be fixed in a bug fix later' reply. After a certain amount of bug reports and issues, they bundle the problems together, and email it over to the devs at Bioware.

 

It's not like you are talking to a 'Guide' who knows a few command tricks to fix the issue. Guides would either use their commands or pass you up to a DM/GM who was a member of the dev team, who could either fix your issue on the spot. (summon you, reset your quest, restore your item, etc.) That bug was then submitted by the DM/GM and passed to the coding department (whom I am certain they had chained in the basement) for a fix so it didn't happen to others later.

 

SWTOR lacks the GMs who can restore, reset, and summon (among a ton of other things) so you are stuck waiting out the months for bug fixes. In other games the bug was still there for months on end, there was just a GM around to find a work around for you instead of being stalled until that particular bug made it's way to the top of the list.

[The-Kaitou-Kid]

You definitely weren't going to get a refund for those packs. It's unfortunate but we knew going in that the chance cubes A) were taking the place of bronze (common) items in the packs and B) could take up both slots in the packs just as bronze items could in the past. It even shows the chance cube on the icon in the Cartel Market and mentions them in the description of the item. So, you got what you paid for. It's always been random and you got a bit of bad luck. Again, unfortunate, but you're not gonna get a refund for it anymore than you would have if you didn't get the armor you wanted in a previous pack.

 

With that said, however, the CSR response as you told it is shocking to me and absolutely unacceptable. My experiences with customer support for SWTOR, especially over the phone, have been pretty positive but it's not hard for me to imagine somebody with that kind of attitude still managing to get a job in Customer Support. My honest suggestion would have been to mention it when you talked with the supervisor because regardless of if your complaint was something they could actually fix they shouldn't have reacted like that. It's just ridiculous.

Edited February 10, 2016 by The-Kaitou-Kid

[lightSaberAddiCt]

i am willing to bet all my cc that star citizen will never make it to release.

 

Still, some people will make a lot of money out of buying virtual items for a game that hasn't been released yet.

 

All the best

 

^^ qft

[Holocron]

I agree.

 

I'm waiting until the day before my monthly billing date then I'm done with SWTOR. They don't need my money.

 

Male sure you delete your credit card on file, because sometimes it will st go through if you wait until the last second to cancel.

[Keta]

I rarely buy cartel packs of any sort. So educate me (and others) please. Exactly what does the product description on the packs you bought say? Is there any promise of new items at all? If not that might be why you were getting resistance. "Working as intended?" is the snarky refrain.

 

The truth of the matter is that if your purchase experience is typical, then the packs need to be redesigned dramatically. I recall another thread from yesterday where the op received 27 cubes. So the two of you may be on to something.

 

As for your experiences with cs here, that's another story. If we presume, for arguments sake, that you're being 100% accurate then the hang up deserves a follow through and an apology. If the CSA actually told you correct policy, that is fine, but the hang up isn't.

 

Good luck in your gaming journeys.

[Keta]

I agree.

 

I'm waiting until the day before my monthly billing date then I'm done with SWTOR. They don't need my money.

 

You can cancel anytime and keep on playing until your subscription runs out (and afterwards as FTP). If you forget or the real world interferes, you could be on the hook for another subscription period.

[Holocron]

I am willing to bet all my CC that Star Citizen will NEVER make it to release.

 

Still, some people will make a lot of money out of buying virtual items for a game that hasn't been released yet.

 

All The Best

 

What makes you say that?

[Thoronmir]

I rarely buy cartel packs of any sort. So educate me (and others) please. Exactly what does the product description on the packs you bought say? Is there any promise of new items at all? If not that might be why you were getting resistance. "Working as intended?" is the snarky refrain.

 

The truth of the matter is that if your purchase experience is typical, then the packs need to be redesigned dramatically. I recall another thread from yesterday where the op received 27 cubes. So the two of you may be on to something.

 

As for your experiences with cs here, that's another story. If we presume, for arguments sake, that you're being 100% accurate then the hang up deserves a follow through and an apology. If the CSA actually told you correct policy, that is fine, but the hang up isn't.

 

Good luck in your gaming journeys.

No, there is no guaranty of any ratio of the quality of drops from a crate. There are no published odds on the likelihood of obtaining any specific quality of item. So, yeah, getting a refund was a total nonstarter, which--to me--suggests that the OP was trolling Customer Service. But, hey. Just because he has no basis to seek a refund doesn't mean he's not entitled to ask. And I agree that, regardless of the purpose of the call, the treatment he received (if accurately portrayed) is unjustifiable.

[DustyDemonNinja]

Good luck with that skippy, cause they dont refund CC because your upset witb the drop rate. If you become aggresive on the phone with their CS, they also have a policy of just hanging up. Maybe, after hearing you need to submit a ticket, you started to raise voice, or make demands? Yes....no...maybe?

 

*edit: post meant to reply to OP

 

Nope wasnt aggressive, and in fact John listened to the recording of my phone call and agreed that they should not of hung up and said he would take action about it. He was polite but clearly had his hands tied by someone up the food chain to actually do any fracking once of good.

[lightSaberAddiCt]

Nope wasnt aggressive, and in fact John listened to the recording of my phone call and agreed that they should not of hung up and said he would take action about it. He was polite but clearly had his hands tied by someone up the food chain to actually do any fracking once of good.

 

Then yeah man that is messed up, but regardless, they wont refund you the CC more then likely.

[Thoronmir]

He was polite but clearly had his hands tied by someone up the food chain to actually do any fracking once of good.

What ounce of good were you expecting?

[Relict_Nephilim]

As someone who works in the gaming industry in the 'community' field.

 

This is why I use SWTOR as a graphic novel and not a game. I come in, play the story and leave. I am a subscriber, for MAYBE 2 months out of the year, although this year it looks like it will be 1 month because of all the shenanigans with cubes and how short Chapter X is.

 

EA is pretty notorious for poor/abusive customer service. Not that their phone drones or GMs are really at fault, the game is virtually in maintenance mode (they wont call it that, but it is what it is) and they aren't ALLOWED to really solve problems or do anything at all other than kick the can down the road.

 

They wanted you to email or in game page, so that they could just send you a form response and ignore you and the issue as a whole. It's also why you haven't seen any sort of official response about the cube/pack issues.

 

If you are looking for a new game, you wont find anything compared to the story driven content in SWTOR (The reason I am here), but there are several really solid games out there, EVE Online, Gigantic, Destiny... all have their faults but are solid games and do not have the 'abuse the customer' mindset of any game run by Bioware/EA.

Edited February 10, 2016 by Relict_Nephilim

[DustyDemonNinja]

Then yeah man that is messed up, but regardless, they wont refund you the CC more then likely.

 

I'm removing my credit card information from the account and calling my bank to have them dispute the charge, they are really good about stuff like this. Sorry Bioware, but either way you're not getting my money.

[lightSaberAddiCt]

As someone who works in the gaming industry in the 'community' field.

 

This is why I use SWTOR as a graphic novel and not a game. I come in, play the story and leave. I am a subscriber, for MAYBE 2 months out of the year, although this year it looks like it will be 1 month because of all the shenanigans with cubes and how short Chapter X is.

 

EA is pretty notorious for poor/abusive customer service. Not that their phone drones or GMs are really at fault, the game is virtually in maintenance mode (they wont call it that, but it is what it is) and they aren't ALLOWED to really solve problems or do anything at all other than kick the can down the road.

 

They wanted you to email or in game page, so that they could just send you a form response and ignore you and the issue as a whole. It's also why you haven't seen any sort of official response about the cube/pack issues.

 

Thanks man, you provided an example of the casuals they have decided to cater to. People that MAY pay for 2 months out of the year for "story" rather the regular subscribers for OPs, yeah great business decision I must say.

[Thoronmir]

I'm removing my credit card information from the account and calling my bank to have them dispute the charge, they are really good about stuff like this. Sorry Bioware, but either way you're not getting my money.

So ... you intend to dispute the credit card charge for the Cartel Coins you purchased. Did you not receive the Cartel Coins?

[DustyDemonNinja]

Thanks man, you provided an example of the casuals they have decided to cater to. People that MAY pay for 2 months out of the year for "story" rather the regular subscribers for OPs, yeah great business decision I must say.

 

Either way, they are clearly showing how unprofessional they are. In both development (a patch riddled with bugs as well as finding a major game breaking issue the day of shipping the product) and in customer service. The movie may have given them a subscriber boost because of the Star Wars hype that they can ride for a bit, but at this rate, this game will get shut down sooner than later.

[DustyDemonNinja]

So ... you intend to dispute the credit card charge for the Cartel Coins you purchased. Did you not receive the Cartel Coins?

 

Yes I will and I will dispute that I did not receive the items as advertised. My bank has VERY good dispute policies, will be no problem. I also have the recording of the customer service calls to show that I attempted to rectify the issue with the business and they refused.

[Relict_Nephilim]

Thanks man, you provided an example of the casuals they have decided to cater to. People that MAY pay for 2 months out of the year for "story" rather the regular subscribers for OPs, yeah great business decision I must say.

 

To be fair, I may only be a sub for a month or two, but I spend several hundred dollars a year on cartel packs (150$ yesterday)... So yea, I am a casual with a lot more money than time. But abusing me with chance cubes and screwed up lottery boxes that are NOT what they are advertised to be isn't a good way to keep me coming back.

 

ESO is also a good game, but since they lied to their player base for a year before going F2P I don't play that one. To me, how a company treats its customers is important. I guarantee, if they treat their customers this way, they treat their employees worse. It is a company culture thing, and not easy to change.

[Thoronmir]

Yes I will and I will dispute that I did not receive the items as advertised. My bank has VERY good dispute policies, will be no problem. I also have the recording of the customer service calls to show that I attempted to rectify the issue with the business and they refused.

I don't spend CC on packs. How did the items fail to meet what was advertised?

[beattlebilly]

I'm removing my credit card information from the account and calling my bank to have them dispute the charge, they are really good about stuff like this. Sorry Bioware, but either way you're not getting my money.

Best of luck, hope you don't get in trouble for disputing a charge you willingly made on a product you willingly used.

Yes I will and I will dispute that I did not receive the items as advertised. My bank has VERY good dispute policies, will be no problem. I also have the recording of the customer service calls to show that I attempted to rectify the issue with the business and they refused.

What didn't you get as advertised? And unless the CC's were bought fraudulently and you can prove it, they will not refund them, according to their policy. So while I sympathize with the RNG hell you went through, I really hope your bank calls horse apples and denies you because you did this willingly, knowing that RNG is hell with the Cartel Packs.