EA Bans Users for Asking for Refunds

[Colt47]

People are afraid of EA banning their account? What are they going to do? Lock us out of Origin that basically no one likes? I haven't bought a game from EA in the last three or four years and I can't be alone on that one. Not to mention anyone they ban from their system is now a paying customer of steam (if they weren't already).

 

[Rellik San]

http://i.imgur.com/VEJIVmk.jpg

Ok apparently this guy got a refund with little to no fuss so...what the fuck is going on.

What do you think of Origin & EA?
Answer should be gooks.

Regardless of him being an asshole I still laughed. EA have been acting like assholes to their customers a lot lately. I don't see the issue people have with giving them a little back.

because the little guy you deal with doesn't make these policies, he's just a front of house work a day dude trying to pay his bills like the rest of us and the last thing he needs is a load of abuse from a self entitled customer when all it takes is simply and politely explaining the situation.
Ever wonder what causes bad customer service? It's dealing with people like that for five hours that makes you wanna dick over everyone. Anyone who's worked in customer service knows exactly that.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Didn't this kind of thing happen...not too long ago with another EA game? I can't remember the game but I remember a story breaking about someone who ended up getting refunded for something only to find his/her Origin account banned outright.

Either way, the last few hours (days really) it seems like everything that's been said about EA has just painted them more and more as being an evil corporation. A lot of people called it years ago but hey, eventually they could possibly go under...maybe.

 

[fix-the-spade]

A chargeback is an extreme option and using it when you have recieved the product is illegal. Typically it is when you pay for something by credit card and the business goes busto without giving you the product.

That does depend where you are, here in Euroland it's perfectly legal to charge back on a product that is defective or inoperable if the seller refuses to offer a refund or return. Software is a bit of a grey area, but in the case of complete non-functioning like this it's more or less a certainty to get the money back.

Since the chances of actually getting a refund out of EA are slim to nil (current hold times on the phone are over 48 hours!), forcing a charge back is the only option if you want to see your money again.

What I want to know is, do these bans only run as far as SimCity or would be a blanket 'all your games are belong to us' type ban like they issue to forum users who are linked to Origin accounts? Given EA's history of handing out those bans anyone and everyone...

 

[VanQ]

I fail to see how a racial slur is a good thing. I also fail to see where EA were racist towards their customers.

Gooks isn't a racial slur in Australia. It's just a kind of general word we use to describe stupid people here or people that are being a jackass. It's not even considered a swear word around here, to be honest.

 

[Dryk]

I fail to see how a racial slur is a good thing. I also fail to see where EA were racist towards their customers.

Gooks isn't a racial slur in Australia. It's just a kind of general word we use to describe stupid people here or people that are being a jackass. It's not even considered a swear word around here, to be honest.

This is the first I've heard of it being either, but I assumed it was this. It doesn't make sense in context as a slur.

 

[VanQ]

I fail to see how a racial slur is a good thing. I also fail to see where EA were racist towards their customers.

Gooks isn't a racial slur in Australia. It's just a kind of general word we use to describe stupid people here or people that are being a jackass. It's not even considered a swear word around here, to be honest.

This is the first I've heard of it being either, but I assumed it was this. It doesn't make sense in context as a slur.

My mum used to be really strict about me using swear words but whenever I fell over because I did something silly or wasn't listening to her she'd always call me that or something along those lines. Dad did the same and he was even stricter about swear words. So yeah, that's just how I always thought it was meant to be used. I was honestly confused for a second what he meant when he said I used a racial slur and am just assuming that's the word he's referring to.

 

[idarkphoenixi]

People are afraid of EA banning their account? What are they going to do? Lock us out of Origin that basically no one likes? I haven't bought a game from EA in the last three or four years and I can't be alone on that one. Not to mention anyone they ban from their system is now a paying customer of steam (if they weren't already).

The only thing I ever bought from Origin was the DLC pass for Battlefield 3. I got the actual game from a retail store at about 1/3rd the price Origin was asking. I was tricked as well, the store owner assured me that I didn't need to use Origin to play it, which is the whole reason I sought out a physical copy in the first place.

I'd like to play Battlefield 4 for sure but there's no way I'm putting myself through their system again.

As far as this thread goes, EA has a habit of banning people out of nowhere. Don't forget they were handing out bans for anyone modifying the color filter on Battlefield 3. They ban you for any mod really, even if it's just for single player. They ban you just for badmouthing their service on their forums.

The most surprising thing about all this is that considering the already horrendous release of SimCity, the last thing EA needed was even more bad press by banning anyone asking for refunds.

 

[x EvilErmine x]

Well I don't know what type of fucked up consumer laws you guys have in the rest of the world but I know for a fact that here in the UK if you get sold a product that does not conform to or function to the specifications that were advertised then you are entitled to a full refund.

I cant believe some people are defending EA on this one. Now let me say this now, I am not an EA basher. I don't hate on them coz it's the cool thing to do. In fact i own a few EA published games my self and have never really had any problems with them. Also I am not an EA fanboy, so don't even go there.

Having skimmed through the links posed in the article and the EA forums then I can say that I am aghast at the apathy and down right naivety of some people about there consumer rights. No wonder big companies can get away with so much, when consumer are willing to bend over and take it then why the hell would they not shaft them as hard as they can?
EA should have given this guy a refund. The fact that they even delayed is despicable. No wonder EA have a bad rep if that's how they deal with there customers.

 

[Silvianoshei]

This, chargebacks are generally big problems for companies because you have accused them of not providing the product.

But...they DIDN'T provide the product. They have totally failed to provide the product.

 

[Legion]

We get this every time there's a game that's popular to hate on. If you read it, they're only banning people who try to get charges reversed at their bank, which is common practice. You're not banned for asking for a refund.

I assumed it was going to be like this as soon as I saw the title. Either that or the person didn't ask for a refund but went onto the forums and demanded one in a thread.

While I can understand the anger people have with companies such as EA, it's no excuse to treat customer service people like crap, they aren't the ones who have screwed you over, they are just regular people trying to do a job.

 

[tsb247]

Oh EA... I want to like what they release, but I feel so dirty when I purchase one of their games; like a piece of my immortal soul is left behind on the counter and shipped via Fed-Ex to EAs patented, "Soul Blender," for use when their corporate higher-ups just need something to crush.

Joking aside, there's a reason that I never buy EA titles on release. I've come to expect this sort of thing from them. Sure, I may buy their titles a year or so later when the prices drop, but certainly never on release day, and there will always be the question of if I can bring myself to buy what they release.

 

[Thetwistedendgame]

The link isn't working for me. Don't know if my internet is acting weird or if the page was removed.

 

[Silvianoshei]

The link isn't working for me. Don't know if my internet is acting weird or if the page was removed.

I think it's crashed. For those who cannot access the site, here is the full text of the support convo:

Adrian: I am sorry for any inconvenience that this has caused. I can offer you a 15% off coupon from Origin with your next purchase.
Adrian: I am sorry, but I can not offer you a refund.
you: Why can't you offer me a refund?
you: Your product is defective
Adrian: Return Policy
you: I can call my bank and have the refund done that way.
Adrian: I can offer to assist you with any trouble shooting issues.
you: Why can Amazon users get refunds but I can't?
Adrian: That is understandable, but I must inform you that if you choose to dispute it, your account will be banned.
Adrian: I am sorry, but I can not speak on another company's policy.
Adrian: Now this just released.
you: I am at a loss of words
Adrian: So the servers are having issues, with more servers opening up as other countries release then we will show these issues resolving themselves.
you: Yes, but it is not capacity demand I am debating
Adrian: I can understand this causing frustrations and I do apologize for this.
you: Your servers are not the issue
you: The game/back end is
you: "Game updates" are not an excuse to hide behind
Adrian: I am sorry, but I am not able to process a refund.
Adrian: Is there anything else that I can assist you with?
you: You were offering refunds according to your press release!!!!
you: In response to the launch day trouble Hatam said " If you regrettably feel that we left you down, you can of course request a refund for your order at http://help.origin.com/contact-us , though we are currently still in the process of resolving this issue. "
you: Why lie??
you: I have done nothing wrong in expecting what is quoted.
Adrian: That is correct, that this is where you can request a refund, but as our policy is stating it is also the our discretion to process a refund.
you: http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/210/9330019.page#top
you: Process a refund.
Adrian: As I stated before, we are not able to offer a refund.
Adrian: Is there anything else that I can assist you with?
you: This chat text goes viral.
you: Thanks

What's the betting that the dude's name is not acutally Adrian?

 

[Mike Fang]

This does get a bit tricky. If a person asks for a refund, they usually do so while returning what they purchased...but if what you want a refund for is a digital copy of a game, how do you return THAT? Sure, you can delete it from your computer, but how could EA be sure you did? Or that you didn't save a backup copy to discs or a flash drive or an external hard drive? There's a number of ways people could swindle EA if they had a mind to, so it becomes a question of how the company can ensure that the person they've refunded wasn't playing the game they got the refund FOR. Bit of a tricky situation.

On the other hand, if EA is threatening to NOT refund the person AND ban their access, that's different. Not only different, but also asinine and no way for paying customers to be treated by the company they're giving their patronage.

 

[Colt47]

People are afraid of EA banning their account? What are they going to do? Lock us out of Origin that basically no one likes? I haven't bought a game from EA in the last three or four years and I can't be alone on that one. Not to mention anyone they ban from their system is now a paying customer of steam (if they weren't already).

The only thing I ever bought from Origin was the DLC pass for Battlefield 3. I got the actual game from a retail store at about 1/3rd the price Origin was asking. I was tricked as well, the store owner assured me that I didn't need to use Origin to play it, which is the whole reason I sought out a physical copy in the first place.

I'd like to play Battlefield 4 for sure but there's no way I'm putting myself through their system again.

As far as this thread goes, EA has a habit of banning people out of nowhere. Don't forget they were handing out bans for anyone modifying the color filter on Battlefield 3. They ban you for any mod really, even if it's just for single player. They ban you just for badmouthing their service on their forums.

The most surprising thing about all this is that considering the already horrendous release of SimCity, the last thing EA needed was even more bad press by banning anyone asking for refunds.

They are banning people for Modding a game in single player? Do they even understand what they are doing anymore to their consumer base? They have more than people playing mindless sports games, they got future developers and others who want to cut their teeth on improving or changing the games they like to play. Attacking the modding community by banning any kind of game adjusting modification is just a recipe for hurting the future of the industry as a whole, as a great deal of the developers out there today started off making mods for games like the Unreal series, Sim City, the Warcraft-Starcraft series, Elder Scrolls, and a whole bunch more.

 

[WoW Killer]

This does get a bit tricky. If a person asks for a refund, they usually do so while returning what they purchased...but if what you want a refund for is a digital copy of a game, how do you return THAT?

It's an online-only game. You return it by voiding the key and freeing up server space for somebody else. Actually that's probably all the customer service guy meant when he said the account would be banned.

 

[idarkphoenixi]

They are banning people for Modding a game in single player? Do they even understand what they are doing anymore to their consumer base? They have more than people playing mindless sports games, they got future developers and others who want to cut their teeth on improving or changing the games they like to play. Attacking the modding community by banning any kind of game adjusting modification is just a recipe for hurting the future of the industry as a whole, as a great deal of the developers out there today started off making mods for games like the Unreal series, Sim City, the Warcraft-Starcraft series, Elder Scrolls, and a whole bunch more.

I suppose in their mind they think that if people are off enjoying say: Some community-made missions for Mass Effect 3. Then they are less likely to buy developer-crafted content. It's all about profit in the end, shocker. It's archaic but that's how they work. Force you into the Origin system, force you to always be online ect...It means that whatever they push on you, it's the only option you have for extra stuff to do.

Clearly it works too. I mean, it's not like Skyrim or Arma have had massive benefit from the modding community and resulted in a huge increase of people buying the game.

 

[KelDG]

This does get a bit tricky. If a person asks for a refund, they usually do so while returning what they purchased...but if what you want a refund for is a digital copy of a game, how do you return THAT? Sure, you can delete it from your computer, but how could EA be sure you did? Or that you didn't save a backup copy to discs or a flash drive or an external hard drive? There's a number of ways people could swindle EA if they had a mind to, so it becomes a question of how the company can ensure that the person they've refunded wasn't playing the game they got the refund FOR. Bit of a tricky situation.

On the other hand, if EA is threatening to NOT refund the person AND ban their access, that's different. Not only different, but also asinine and no way for paying customers to be treated by the company they're giving their patronage.

It is not really a tricky situation though. The game was not working, a refund was asked for and it was not given.

If a refund was given, that account would have been disabled (you are not really paying for a game in this case, you are paying for access to a server). Even if the customer does not delete it off their hard drive, the game would not operate as it needs access to the server to function.