Customer "service" - GOA you should be ashamed

[old.davidlqs]

I am posting this on behalf of a guildmate in the last desparate hope that someone, somewhere can actually manage to get someone at GOA to use their frigging brains.

The guildie in question has had his account closed and deleted (an account which includes a lvl 50 Inf), apparently for non-payment of an automatic renewal over 6 months ago (he was on the 3 month scheme). The story is a long one (those that are interested can read more EDIT lower down this thread (link was dead and may have been killing our website )

Basically the auto-renewal mechanism screwed up, GOA internal procedure didn't pick up on that for 6 months, and now the account is closed and GOA won't (or can't) re-open it. The guy WANTS to pay. Surely if they were able to they would just re-activate the account wouldn't they?

Or do GOA really have so little regard for us, the people that pay their wages, that even someone who has played 2 characters to 50 can expect no sort of customer service AT ALL? I emailed RightNow on this subject and was told last week that GOA had responded to my friend. NOT TRUE. My own account was closed this weekend, because the auto-renew failed. Fortunately(?) I was able to re-activate the account before my characters were deleted.

I think that GOA have screwed up here, and can't bear to admit it - they have deleted the account before checking what was going on (even while the account was "closed" it could still be used - go figure). I was recently invited back to Everquest for a free month, with the warning that my old characters might not still be available (it has been nearly 2 years since I last played). So I re-installed it and lo and behold, all my character were still there. Its REALLY saying something about how utterly appalling GOA customer service is when you can hold Verant up as a shining example by way of comparison.

If anyone is still reading this that can help / suggest a course of action then please do so, because in less than a month we'll lose a good, pleasant player. He's probably rezzed most of you (in Albion) at some point, and was really looking forward to knifing the rest of you in the back

 

[SilverHood]

another one...

 

[Brannor McThife]

GOA doesn't delete characters. EVER. Even if you're banned, it's just the account that gets closed.

-G

 

[old.davidlqs]

So why not let the guy pay what's due and keep playing then?

 

[Brannor McThife]

And honestly, you haven't stated what payment method you were using. Or if perhaps the issue was with your bank, or maybe your CC expired, or...or... But no. It's all GOA's fault, never anyone elses.

And most people post "in their favour" stating only their side of the story. I'm not calling you a liar, just that I take what most people say here with a pince (hell, a handful) of salt because 99% of the time, they're not giving the whole story and are ranting.

-G

 

[old.davidlqs]

You think I'm ranting now......

The payment method was the 3 month scheme (as stated in the post). You set it up to auto-renew. You forget about it. Thats how it's meant to work. It didn't work. My friend can't play anymore. Yes, its all GOA's fault - their systems screwed up, they failed to take a payment, they failed to address that for 6 months (during which time the account was used without a problem), now they've closed and deleted the account (their words).

Try apologising for an organisation that deserves it, not GOA.

 

[Meatballs]

You're link to the whole story doesn't work even if you register an account on that forum?

 

[aigan]

Ok - if there is a problem with the forum link I can give a few more details. I had been going to stay quiet in the hopes (feeble as they were) that GOA might actually do something about my problem!

I had some problems setting up my second account at the initial stages - I entered all my info etc, waited for days for my details - then contacted Rightnow for help. I was understandably wary about just re-entering my details again as my bank details etc had already gone in and I didnt want to be double charged. But after a couple of weeks, GOA came through (or so I thought) and sent me my Game login and Password, and Account Login & password email - and I started to play.

I had my account details on 3 month subscription auto renew - and never needed to look in my details - my account was working fine and I was happily leveling a number of characters up - including Adinirach, my recently attained level 50 and 900 Alchemy Infiltrator. This was 6-8 months ago.

Now - in came Shrouded Isles! Oooh - I thought, new places to hunt and craft! SO I got a copy, fought my way through the wonderfully organised and catered fro rush to register, and finally got to the account screen - to be hit with:

"Your account has been deleted!"

Hmm - it works fine - so I dont see that it can be deleted. I tried a few times again, then contacted Rightnow. They said:

"we reserve the right to delete anytime"
"your account was dleted on XXXX - we remind you that...."
"Your account is fine and working - have fun"
"It appears that you have not paid us any money - we reserve the right to...."
"Your account should now be OK, carry on"
"Your FIRST payment bounced and we reserve teh right to terminate accounts in the even of insolvency"
"Your account has been terminated"

etc
etc (approximations of the answers - this post is from memory cos I need to go to bed soon lest I melt into a small pile of goo!)

Hmm - so, for 6 months I have played, allegedly without paying (if I havent paid, where has my money gone - it left the bank!) and they didnt notice? They never told me or did anything about it? Well thanks very much! And when I point out to them there is a problem, they go "OI - theres something odd here, lets ignore the detailed backgroud etc that we have been given, send a number of automated standard responses, close his initial Rightnow thread without warning status 'solved' without actually answering the questions, then keep running him around with the same answers again and again without actually reading the case history or even considering that we might be at fault here!"

Now - I have kept trying to point out that I believe the initial account problem may have caused this - by clearing off the first, failed registration I can see how their systems could get confused thinking a payment had failed. But then to let me play for about 8 months, thinking I am OK, then abruptly taking it away (JUST after I got to level 50!) and not being AT ALL helpful - GRRR!

I have offered to pay any outstanding monies - even though I dont believe there are any! I would be willing to just hand over the cash if it was sorted out, but despite repeat pleas for a reply that doesnt "remind me that GOA reserve the right...." and might possibly actually be from a person and answering even ONE of my questions........no luck.

A number of my guildmates even sent in supportive/query messages to Rightnow. Some got answers - Davidlqs got a reply saying that they had responded to me - which was a lie. I have just today got another "we reserve..." message today - TWO weeks since their last message, with a number of chasers, questions etc from me in between.

Frankly, they do not appear even willing to make an attempt at pretending that they care, It feels to me as if they just hope that if they keep spewing gibberish at me I wil eventually go away!

And now they want more money per account? Why? So they can do bugger all for more money? F A N T A S T I C!

Sorry - but I'm not a happy chappie. I have done everything I could to remain polite during my dealings with GOA, but it comes down to the fact that I am being punished for THEIR error! Even if there really was a payment problem, I have passed two successive renewal periods with no notification of this! They could at least just let me pay them what they think I owe them & let me carry on!

So - how would you feel if an account with a level 50 infil, 900 Alch & lots of kit; a 43 Theurge; a 24 Sorc; a 24 Merc; a realy fun 18 Friar and a pathetic little 10 Mincer with potential was just abruptly yanked away from you, deleted and account terminated, while your pleas were ignored and the fault wasnt yours?

Anyway - if they dont fix me soon, I'll be giving up entirely - so I hope to see those of you who know Aigan/Ellarin/Edoind/Imapurebuffbot/and some weedy lil alts including Weedy Telamon (of the Telamons guild - a DDS offshoot for fun!) sometime again in the future - but bearing in mind GOA's past history, including how they have treated otehr individuals apart from me, I dont hold up much hope!

Will try & get a link to a full history of my correspondence with GOA up soon.

Aigan - lvl 50 rejuv/enh cleric Excaliber server Dead Dragons Society

 

[Esoteric]

Ouch. Sounds to me as tho the chap did everything possible to solve it.

And I would hate to be a new person thinking of joining surfing bw now its trauling with complaints.

 

[Brannor McThife]

I think you missed the part where I said that GOA doesn't delete characters. Ever. Period. What was said was probably by someone who's first language is not english, and hence picked the wrong wording.

I quote, for you,

GOA reserves the right (at any moment and without prior notice) to reduce access or to block an account temporarily or definitively...

And,

10. Termination
* We may terminate this Agreement (including your Software license and your Account) immediately and without notice if you breach this Agreement or repeatedly infringe any third party intellectual property rights, or if we are unable to verify or authenticate any information you provide to us, or upon gameplay, chat or any player activity whatsoever which is, in our sole discretion, inappropriate and/or in violation of the spirit of the Game as set forth in the player rules of conduct, which are posted at address http:// http://faq.camelot-europe.com.

* If we terminate this agreement under these circumstances, you will lose access to your Account for the balance of any prepaid period without any refund. We may also terminate this agreement if we decide, in our sole discretion, to discontinue offering the game, in which case we may provide you, with a prorated refund of any prepaid amounts.

Now, you please show me where it says DELETE.

Ignore the "delete" bit in the Rightnow responses. So, if we/I understand correctly.

You thought you registerred 8 months ago?
You got your account details in your email and proceeded to play henceforth?
You remember watching the fees get taken off your bank account and were never overdrawn?
You have a screenshot where it says "Your account has been deleted"?
GOA refuses to reopen your account due to the fact that you didn't pay them in the PAST, and that your current details are correct and that the bank is willing and able to pay them?

Yes, it's late, and this is Barryswhine. I still don't quite get the whole picture here.

-G

 

[Basso]

Originally posted by Brannor McThife
I think you missed the part where I said that GOA doesn't delete characters. Ever. Period.

They do after 6 months according to themself

I once had a problem with renewing my account and adressed this problem to them though RightNow. In the reply they stated that they dont delete any chars before after 6 months

 

[Danya]

They guarantee no delete for 6 months. AFAIK neither Mythic or GOA have ever actually deleted a character from a closed account.

 

[talen_sun]

Originally posted by Brannor McThife
I think you missed the part where I said that GOA doesn't delete characters. Ever. Period.

OK, maybe the *characters* are not deleted. The POINT is -

Aigan PAID for the account.
He has NOT broken the CoC.
GoA F***ED up the first payment over EIGHT months ago.
GoA Belive he has NOT paid.
The payments have left the bank.
GoA have closed or to quote one the mail they sent Aigan - *DELETED* the account.

Now, this may mean the characters are still available, but point is, he has done NOTHING wrong, yet GoA still will not do ANYTHING about it.

Sorry Bannor, but as much as I put up with the negative attitude on BW, and the flaming, I would ask you stop being an idiot and look at what has happned, THEN say it is Agains fault, the banks fault, or someone else fault except GoA.

Personally, I have never had a problem with GoA, and I am often one of the first to defend them.

Yes, they have the right to terminate the account at any time without reason. The main point is that Aigain has made every possible effort to tell GoA what has happened, but yet they ignore this and say "Tough, pi** off, we don't care".

Now do you understand??

 

[Ziva]

Aww... that sucks m8... hope they will solve it for u..

There is however something i don't understand; even though i use autorenew too i still check my payments when the renewaldate comes just to make sure things go ok. A number of things can go wrong so u better check it from time to time.

But if u are sure u paid for your account and u have proof from your bank to verify this can't u send this to GOA to backup your story? Maybe they can do something about it.

Anyway good luck!

 

[Cyradix]

I had the same problem. I have 2 accounts, both on auto-renewal. One day while trying to log on I got the "account closed" message for 1 account. I solved it by filling in the payment info etc again. Both account are on a 6 month scheme and paid by VISA.
I haven’t seen many complaints about this problem here so it could be a payment glitch by the bank. A friend of mine who is with the same bank had the same problem. It was in the same week because we started our subscription both right after beta.
This doesn’t however rule out a problem with the renewal system. Worth checking out though!
We wouldn’t want this to be the last drop that causes the angry mob with burning torches to storm the GOA office….

 

[Melodic]

i have 2 accounts - the auto renewal always works with one and has NEVER worked with the other, but I always get an email to say my subscription was terminated.

 

[talen_sun]

/bumpage

 

[Brannor McThife]

Originally posted by talen_sun
Sorry Bannor, but as much as I put up with the negative attitude on BW, and the flaming, I would ask you stop being an idiot and look at what has happned...

That is exactly my point. Neither you, nor I, nor anyone other than the person in question and GOA knows mostly what has happened. GOA see things from their side, he sees them from his. And they're both biased in their own favour.

Saying that I am being an idiot shows that you cannot grasp the simple fact that I am trying to be objective and find out all the FACTS, not speculations. I prefer to watch the bandwagon train pass me by till I know where each one came from and where it's going to.

-G

 

[old.Verata]

Have you tried sending GOA a copy of your bank statement showing the payments coming off your account?

Tbh it seems highly unlikely that GOA would overlook the fact that you hadn't paid for 6 months and then promptly delete your account.

Can you log into the account? Is the account available but with no characters on it? Are you sure the message wasn't "Account closed" ?

And on side note, why post this on BW? No-one from GOA reads these forums anyway. I know you've done it already, but the only way you're going to get this solved is through customer support. Posting a whine on BW doesn't help at all...

 

[Jebelious]

i had mine on auto renewal as standard on the 6month thing, money never went out of my account and it never updated, i just decided after 6/7 months to play again: my chars were still there etc and now i just pay per month instead of auto repay it is alot easier and you know you have paid

 

[old.davidlqs]

Originally posted by Brannor McThife
find out all the FACTS
-G

Good luck with getting any of those from GOA mate - the best you can expect is an automated response along the lines of :

"We have received your desperate plea for help and will be sending out a stream of these email things until you give up and go away"

If there isn't enough information for you in Aigan's 1st post (which accurately summarises my busted link ) then I don't know what you want. Of course this could all be lies, part of an elaborate plot to overthrow the evil forces that command GOA, but frankly I've got better things to do with my time than INVENT shit like this.

This was a last throw of the dice basically, much, much more in hope than in expectation.

GOA could be hosting MMOFree-money-for-everyone and I wouldn't go near it now.