Another EA horror story.

[Glassesguy904]

Damn. I used to love EA back before the current console generation. Anyways, it makes sense that they would ban you. From a business standpoint anyways. You gave them money, and they don't want to give it back. Then when you DID get the money, they figured that you would probably be a problem down the road and decided to end you as a customer right then and there. I know there's probably an actual legal reason for this mess with a much more complicated explanation that sounds much less sinister, but it's EA. I can honestly say I wouldn't put it past them.

 

[ChildishLegacy]

HARGLE BARGLE WARGLE EA!!!!!!!111!!!!

Agreed - HHAAAARAAAAAGH RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH EAAA!!!!

But seriously, you agreed to whatever you agreed to when you downloaded origin and paid for this. Also, ALWAYS play a F2P game before spending money on it. Always. Even if its just to check that the damn game works for you. That's just common sense.

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

I did the math on some of the payment options for one of EA's online games. What I found was a bit... hard to swallow. Some of the payment options pull a little bait-and-switch on you as you click your way through them.

Say, you want to pay forty bucks for forty bucks worth of Smurfberries/Battleforge Points, and then you get only the equivalent of ten bucks transferred to your account. That's a pretty steep hidden surprise markup, maybe in sync with France's new rich guys 75% tax, but totally unacceptable.

I let them - that is 'support' - know. Sure enough, we could mail back and forth a bit without going anywere, then I got invited for a chat session (yay), and the only thing I learned I never really thought about before was this: Judging from the names and the trouble ticket handling processes, I am now pretty sure EA support is based in India.

They have generally no power over anything, and no clue about anything; it's a proper shame. They were nice and friendly and kind but totally and utterly useless. To be honest, it felt like fighting with the limited parser of the very first Infocom or Magnetic Scrolls text adventures. Hell, it felt like Level 9's Gnome Ranger!

In the end, they suggested I post my findings on EA forums, but we all know how that is bound to turn out. So, as I am not inclined to post it to EA forums, people will keep getting ripped off, big time, and EA's communicated position is that it's an issue best discussed with their partners in crime, but they don't seem to respond to any sort of human communication. Maybe I should try smoke signals or death rays from orbit.

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

HARGLE BARGLE WARGLE EA!!!!!!!111!!!!

Agreed - HHAAAARAAAAAGH RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH EAAA!!!!

But seriously, you agreed to whatever you agreed to when you downloaded origin and paid for this. Also, ALWAYS play a F2P game before spending money on it. Always. Even if its just to check that the damn game works for you. That's just common sense.

*ahem*

I never agreed to ORIGIN, my EA account got transmogrified into an ORIGIN account when I wasn't looking.

As usual, I had printed out the EULA/EUALA/EXECUTIVE KOALA for the contract I agreed to, and, in short, it says this:

"EA can do anything to my melonfarming sorry ass any way they please. If I don't like it, I should just roll up and die."

And that's that. Not too surprising, but still good to know.

 

[HardkorSB]

So, a couple months ago I saw a link on Mojang advertising Minecraft gear on the EA game "Battlefield Heroes" the game looked fun and as a free to play game, I thought I would pay to get some good starting gear and the minecraft stuff, maybe help Mojang. So I spent $20 on the game before I even downloaded it.

So I download the game but when I tried to login. I got "error 1001 unable to connect". After spending a couple days do everything it says to help solve this problem on the website and then contacting EA support and running every diagnostic tool in their arsenal, I still was not able to connect to the game. Finally I asked for a refund. They kept telling me it is not "their policy to give refunds." Again went through the trouble shooting steps to try and connect to the game with support and nothing worked. Again I asked for a refund, another refusal. Finally I threaten them I would call my bank and dispute the charge.

They finally caved in and gave me a refund. THEN THEY BANNED MY ORIGIN ACCOUNT.

Why don't you talk to someone working for the Escapist?
Maybe they would like to do a story about it and make it a bit more public?
And don't say the "EA has done enough shit, nobody cares" stuff. People who are customers of EA will care. EA will care after they'll start losing money because of this.

 

[-Samurai-]

You spent $20 on optional gear for a game you didn't have yet, and weren't sure you could run without error? And this is EAs fault?

And here I thought the irrational EA hate couldn't get any more irrational.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

Yeah, I read up until you claimed they said refunding wasn't their policy before turning on them. Refunds are a legal obligation as far as I'm aware or concerned, they can't legitimately say "no givsees backsees" without a shit storm occurring. As for the 'fraudulent' behaviour of yours, that's bullshit.

Like I, and others, have said: cause a shit storm for them, not to win back your account but to piss them off for being dicks.

 

[Ragsnstitches]

Furthermore, I'm sure the problem was entirely on their side, and that you did nothing wrong that you didn't put in your original post.

Judging that their reasoning for his ban was "Fraud refund Battlefield Heroes" it would appear that your sarcastic response is probably right on the money... unintentionally.

Yes, of course, because there is always only one side to every story.

You choosing to believe he's lying is no different from someone choosing to believe he isn't.

Yes there's always two sides to every story, but that doesn't mean we can just dismiss a story outright because we can't get the other side.

No, but we'll certainly accept it outright without getting the other side.

Using my own experience to measure up the validity of the OPs complaint I can't imagine the other side of the argument will change this scene all that much. EAs Customer Support are, and I'm totally convinced this is the case, a highly paid crack team of griefers. I have never ended a phone call with an EA techie or Customer support without feeling like a fucking chimp in a zoo. They are just infuriating... do they treat all their customers like lobotomised neanderthals or was I just unfortunate?

You know that stereotype of the obnoxious pock faced teen who spits in your burger at fast food joints? If I was to generalise all of EAs customer support based off of my relatively extensive dealings with them, they would be something far more abominable.

I have long since stopped purchasing EA games or using EA related services because of these kind of things... there is only so much shit I will take and EA seems hell bent on mining turd mountain to exhaustion.

 

[LordLundar]

No offence, but I have difficulty going into full "Anti-EA Rage" mode here. The core game for Battlefield Heroes is a free game with purchasable stuff for it. This isn't a case of shelling out $60 for a game that has no demo available and trying to be civil in getting a refund only to be told "tough shit". You had every opportunity to find out before hand if it would work, fully point out that the battlefunds (BFHeroes currency) is non-refundable in writing, and your threat to contact your bank to dispute the payment is a fraudulent refund because you did agree to the transaction. Charge disputes are meant to be used to counter charges applied that you did not approve of, not to use a club to wave around to get your way.

So yeah, if I were in their shoes, I would ban your account as well. Continuously caving to people for their own stupidity only invites further abuse.

 

[742]

put it on every social network you possibly can. warn people so they dont suffer this shit, and cost those pieces of shit money in the process.

and yes, it very probably is one sided: i experienced something very similiar when NWN2 came out-my key didnt work, refund and replacement CD key requests were refused. i did finally get another key a couple months later, but i never confirmed that that was the only problem or if the new key even worked because i had already grabbed a crack (for the game i purchased legally at full price. i think i even pre-ordered. it was a huge pain in the ass.) and decided i didnt like the game. i still regret not going public and absolutely fucking screaming about it.

buying something for a f2p game he hadnt played yet was foolish*, yes, but not criminal, and hes no less entitled to the shit he bought. theres no reason the game shouldnt have worked on his computer. he took their word about the system requirements. they did not live up to their side of the advertised traits of their product (is that legal? im not sure thats legal), which he essentially bought a premium version of (would you not be raising fucking hell if he bought the premium version of d3 and then didnt get the extra shiny crap, and they banned him when he asked for it?). they fucked him. they fucked him hard. then they fucked him again for asking them to stop it. this is not okay. my advice would be to go to every social networking site you can, then hire a lawyer. there must be at least one lawyer EA has shat on this way.

*foolishness borne of enthusiasm, which is kind of what advertising is fucking for, and kind of exactly what they fucking want. they really should be supporting this sort of thing rather than shitting on it.

 

[zombiesinc]

EA seems to go out of their way to avoid actually providing customer support via their customer support line, it's ridiculous. And by EA I don't mean the people you speak directly to, those poor guys... I'd hate that job.

Back when Mass Effect 3 was released, I had some issues with EA's customer "support" as well. I had pre-ordered ME3's limited edition but when I received it I was missing the Online Pass and pre-order bonus item codes. Initially I didn't care because I didn't realize I more or less had to play the multiplayer to reach 100% Galactic Readiness. When I realized that I decided to us their online chat customer support. Talked to some guy and after many round-n-round-again questions he was able to get me new pre-order DLC/item codes but said he was unable to do anything about the Online Pass. Free stuff was great 'n all but I wasn't too keen on spending money on an Online Pass when I should have received it in the first place. So, when he said he couldn't help me I called EA's customer support. After some more dancing around he came back to me and said he wasn't able to give me a code. I was dumbfounded. He even went on to suggest I call up EB Games and ask for a code from them... yeah.

So, in the end I had to purchase the Online Pass. Not a lot of money, sure, but a very disappointing and somewhat frustrating experience. As someone who not only purchased the game, pre-ordered it and bought the limited edition, you'd think that'd be more than enough to encourage them to y'know... do something, I dunno, helpful?

 

[Sexy Devil]

Well OP, you just learned the hard way why we all tell EA to eat a healthy supply of dicks. I suggest you take the standard boycott route like the rest of us.

 

[Tippy]

You're probably sick of hearing this but it's the damned truth: If you buy an EA game, you know exactly what you're in for.

They don't provide proper customer service without a long, difficult fight and try to bully you into believing it's never their problem/fault. It's part of their customer service handbook.

I too learned my lesson the hard way - despite providing them with ridiculous amounts of proof that I had bought Battlefield 3: Limited Edition, I was told that I simply didn't "have it" and I needed to buy Back To Karkand in order to play the maps. It took 3 full weeks of fighting, arguing and waiting for responses from EA to finally get my B2K key.

 

[Clearing the Eye]

Suuure. You are just an innocent victim of the big bad EA monster. Didn't do anything wrong and told us the full story, I'm most certain.

-_-

 

[Chaos Marine]

I find it impossible to sympathise with you because you gave money to EA. Some may call that a petty reason, I call it entirely justified. Complain on reddit or something, but even that website is saturated with "EA are dicks" stories.

And if everyone followed your reasoning, companies would get away with so much more crap it's not even funny. Go look at some of the Jimquisition episodes. For an English git, he's got his head on straight most of the time (That is a joke stemming from the fact that I am Irish and we're supposed to hate the English).