Update: BioWare Responds to TOR Cancellation Problems

[Greg Tito]

Update: BioWare Responds to TOR Cancellation Problems

Customers claim they are unable to stop payment on their credit cards through BioWare's website.

Update: BioWare reported to The Escapist the problem was strictly a website display issue and it was resolved shortly after it was identified, sometime yesterday afternoon.

Original: With a release date of December 20th and a purchase of The Old Republic coming with a month of free game time, tomorrow is the point when many customers must decide whether to keep paying a monthly fee or to cancel their subscription. Unfortunately for some people who have decided to forego the $15 monthly charge, BioWare's website is making it difficult to unsubscribe. The button to "Cancel my Subscription" will not display for some customers on their account page and BioWare has acknowledged they are investigating the problem. Many are concerned that the problem will magically be fixed after credit cards are charged and are angry that community managers are locking or deleting threads [http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=199118] which offer a direct link to the cancellation page.

[gallery=620]

"We are currently investigating the missing cancel button issue that some of you are reporting," stated S1-H8 in a thread that now seems to be deleted in the TOR official forums.

"It's obvious that either you purposefully removed the 'unsubscribe' button or it's just a browser bug, but either way, you are as a company morally responsible to ensure that your customers are able to cancel if they wish," posted a customer with the handle of Xugos [http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=204008].

Upon hearing these reports, I checked my own account page and found the cancellation process and button to appear just fine for me. I've contacted BioWare to see if these reports are bogus or if they have a statement for whether cancellation requests will be honored before a new charge is placed on customer's cards. I will update this post as soon as I hear from them.

In the meantime, if you really need to get out of The Old Republic, community managers at BioWare recommend canceling your subscription the old fashioned way - with a phone! [http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=198479] Oh the horror! What have we become?

Thanks to Kyle Baran for the tip.

Permalink

 

[twistedheat15]

Cancel over a phone?! What is this, the 90's? *flys off in anger in a jet pack*

 

[kaizen2468]

I just read this, and went to the website to check. The cancel subscription button is right there at the bottom.

You are subscribed to a 30 day recurring plan.
Change subscription plan

You will be billed on 02.04.2012.
Show your payment history

We have a VISA ending in **** expiring 08/2012 on file. C
hange billing method

To extend your play time, you can also redeem a Game Time Code.
Game Time Code

Cancel your subscription

 

[wooty]

A phone? A phoooone? You mean...that thing that was solely developed for updating facebook? Yes, I'm familiar with this device in a way.

Hmmmm, wonder how long it will take before people start saying "ITS EA'S FAULT!!! MONEY GRABBING ******** ****** **** **** ******* EVIL ****** ****** ****** TURTLES!!!"?

 

[spartandude]

I just read this, and went to the website to check. The cancel subscription button is right there at the bottom.

You are subscribed to a 30 day recurring plan.
Change subscription plan

You will be billed on 02.04.2012.
Show your payment history

We have a VISA ending in **** expiring 08/2012 on file. C
hange billing method

To extend your play time, you can also redeem a Game Time Code.
Game Time Code

Cancel your subscription

"The button to "Cancel my Subscription" will not display for some customers" know the meaning of "some" not all still a few

 

[fix-the-spade]

Cancel over the phone?

Greg, if you've ever experienced a phone call with an EA owned support line, you will know that you have more chance of meeting Elvis having a beer with JFK than you do of ever getting anything useful achieved over the phone with EA... doubly so if what you want is them to stop taking your money.

Any time someone tells you to use the phone to deal with EA and money, they are essentially telling you to piss off.

 

[kaizen2468]

I just read this, and went to the website to check. The cancel subscription button is right there at the bottom.

You are subscribed to a 30 day recurring plan.
Change subscription plan

You will be billed on 02.04.2012.
Show your payment history

We have a VISA ending in **** expiring 08/2012 on file. C
hange billing method

To extend your play time, you can also redeem a Game Time Code.
Game Time Code

Cancel your subscription

"The button to "Cancel my Subscription" will not display for some customers" know the meaning of "some" not all still a few

Yeah but a bug affecting some people certainly isn't fraud. And like a few others have stated, a phone call will help anyone who wants to cancel and doesn't see the button, and also those who don't want to cancel aren't affected at all. Hardly fraud IMO.

 

[Lunar Templar]

call ... a human? o.o?

you mean there's actual life forms on the phones there and not a machine? i call BS on that -.-

 

[Something Amyss]

community managers are locking or deleting threads [http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=199118] which offer a direct link to the cancellation page.

Woooooow. That's kind of suspicious.

[gallery=620]

"It's obvious that either you purposefully removed the 'unsubscribe' button or it's just a browser bug, but either way, you are as a company morally responsible to ensure that your customers are able to cancel if they wish," posted a customer with the handle of Xugos [http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=204008].

Morally? Try legally. However, it's clear you can still cancel by phone.

Oh the horror! What have we become?

Whoops. My bad. >.>

I just read this, and went to the website to check. The cancel subscription button is right there at the bottom.

The allegation is that it's not there for some people, not missing for everyone.

"It's there for me" in response is like saying there's no Disc Read Error on the PS2 because you never got one, or no Red Ring of Death for the XBox 360 because you never got that.

Nor does it not affecting you make it an unforeseen bug automatically.

Any time someone tells you to use the phone to deal with EA and money, they are essentially telling you to piss off.

But remember, folks, regulating business is bad!

 

[ASnogarD]

I knew my silly habit of immediately canceling subs to a new MMO would be usefull one day... about 4 or 5 MMO's later

I tend to cancel the sub immediately to ensure I dont forget about the bloody thing if I do quit, dont want to note some wierd payments only to remember I had a sub to xyz MMO.

 

[fix-the-spade]

But remember, folks, regulating business is bad!

Ah, well, I'm a filthy European communi-facist, so I wouldn't know about that since the government seized control of all our businesses.

 

[Deathfish15]

IS this really news? I mean, you're going off speculation and heresay. I honestly think the reports are as bogus as those saying they were "getting banned for just going into high leveled locations", when with what Bioware came out with the WHOLE STORY, which was that they were exploiting the game and well over 1/2 the people that said they were getting banned were NOT in fact banned.


Think that it may be just the Browser itself that is the issue. For example, with No-script on Firefox, the button will not be there and many website links won't work if you don't have allowed permissions for that page. Please, do some research befor posting rumor.



P.S. If you, as a reporter, checked this in a personal fashion and found it to be false, then why don't you chage the title of the article, or something to the effect that this is total junk the way you make it out like Bioware are criminals.!

 

[Zen Toombs]

...Phone? What is this "phone" of which you speak? All I have is this portable gaming device. *pulls out I-phone*.

In all seriousness though, Bioware keeps making me sad. Please stop making me sad, or I'll have to not take part in your fun products.

 

[General Vengeance]

Thanks, that just confirmed I'll never buy this game or purchase any games published from EA or LucasArts.

 

[Vampire cat]

Yeah, this is one of those things that should NOT go wrong, and if I happened to have my subscription extended due to something like this I would fully expect to have my money returned and the subscription cancelled with out any major fuzz... Then again, maybe they are pulling a Wargaming.net move, by using completely cock tactics to make more money...

This isn't what would turn me off the game though... The many game-play videos on YouTube is what turned me off... I LOVE Star Wars, I really do... I still can't find it appealing enough.

Cancel over a phone?! What is this, the 90's? *flys off in anger in a jet pack*

Can... Can I have one of those? I'll even make myself angry, if that's what you need! *thinks of Sniper: Ghost Warrior* ... Getting angry alright...

 

[Domehammer]

xbox live requires you to cancel over a phone. I don't see issue with having to use phone to cancel something.

 

[Brainst0rm]

So, when you say "BioWare faces fraud accusations" you mean "BioWare faces anonymous whining on their forums". I realize article titles are supposed to grab attention, but there's a line between spin and deception, isn't there? A line which can be crossed?

This article in particular is not really deceptive. But it's something I am noticing on the Escapist. What the article title implies tends to be a bit distant from what the article is. Am I being clear? When I hear "fraud accusations" I think lawsuits, lawyers - official stuff. Not some helpless saps who don't know how to pick up a phone.

 

[monnes]

There was not a 'Cancel Subscription' button when I cancelled earlier today, I had to use a link someone thankfully linked in a thread which was almost immediatly closed.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Excellent. I'm sick of Bioware being painted as the "good guys" all the time. Face it.

They work closely with EA.

They released DA2.

How are they still receiving goodwill from gamers?