Why Does Blizzard Treat Its Customers So Poorly?
Blizzard sent me a notification that they had suspended my account because it “may have been compromised,” which it most certainly has not, unless their login process is remarkably insecure.
After numerous e-mail exchanges with long delays in the response times from Blizzard, almost two and a half weeks later, I’m still waiting for Blizzard to step up to the plate and respond appropriately by reinstating my falsely-suspended account.
From: wowaccountadmin@blizzard.com
Subject: World of Warcraft — Account Retrieval Instructions
Date: September 6, 2006 6:13:37 AM GMT+08:00
To: MeIt has recently come to our attention that the World of Warcraft account you are using may have been compromised. For security and privacy reasons, the account has been temporarily disabled. This message contains our Account Retrieval process, which will enable the rightful user of the account to resume their adventures in the World of Warcraft.
Please retain this message until you have completed the Account Retrieval process and are again able to log in to the World of Warcraft account. We strongly advise keeping all information relating to this issue as secure and private as possible, including the storage of all related documents and IDs, especially during the Account Retrieval process.
Failure to adhere to the requirements set forth in this message may impede the timely restoration of account access. You will need to fill out a form and return it via fax or postal mail, along with official ID, to Blizzard’s Account Administration department. For security reasons, we are unable to accept digital files of any kind. Please download our Account Retrieval Form from the Blizzard website at:
http://ftp.blizzard.com/pub/WoW/other/Account-Retrieval-Notary.pdf
Please be sure you are using the latest version of Adobe’s free PDF viewer, Adobe Reader©, available for download at http://www.adobe.com.
Please be sure to follow the account access retrieval instructions exactly and in their entirety to ensure timely processing of the document. We will contact you again once all information has been received and thank you in advance for your patience and cooperation in resolving this account issue. Please be sure to provide all pertinent data as soon as possible since Blizzard Entertainment is unable to offer any type of reimbursement for the time an account is locked for verification and investigation purposes.
Please take a moment to review the World of Warcraft Terms of Use at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/termsofuse.html which state that your Password is to be kept confidential at all times and you are solely responsible for the security of your Password. You may not disclose your Password to anyone, or allow your Password to be used by anyone other than yourself and/or your one (1) minor child. This includes, but is not limited to, compensated third parties accessing the account to advance characters in any way.
You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your Password, and you will be responsible for all uses of your Password, whether or not authorized by you. Also, note that the security of the Account is your responsibility. Furthermore, Blizzard Entertainment does not recognize the transfer of Accounts, and any authorized transfer of the World of Warcraft software (as set forth on the worldofwarcraft.com website) will result in the permanent deletion of the Account attached to that software. You may not offer any Account for sale or trade, and any such offer is a violation of this Agreement and may result in suspension or termination of the Account.
Thank you for your patience and anticipated cooperation in this matter.
Regards,
Account Administration
Blizzard Entertainment
www.WorldOfWarcraft.comCustomer satisfaction is a top priority here at Blizzard Entertainment, and we would like your feedback on the level of service you have received. Please feel free to provide such feedback at the following web address: [link omitted].
The next morning, I responded:
From: Me
Subject: Re: World of Warcraft — Account Retrieval Instructions
Date: September 6, 2006 7:38:18 AM GMT+08:00
To: wowaccountadmin@blizzard.comMy account had NOT been compromised. I’m in Asia on business and logged in for a few minutes to create a piece of refined deepwater salt. I’d accidentally logged in with my secondary character ([character name omitted]) first, then logged in with my main character to make the salt.
Please reinstate my account immediately and credit me for the duration of time my account has been falsely suspended. I’m teetering between appreciation that you’re proactive in account monitoring (ie.- it probably looks suspicious that I’ve never logged in from Asia before) and anger that you’re so quick to pull the proverbial trigger and ban my account. Please rectify this situation.
I’m fully unwilling to jump through a bunch of hoops because I logged into my WoW account from Asia.
Thank you in advance for your prompt reinstatement of my account and for issuing me an apology for the false account suspension,
- Dan
They didn’t respond (within approximately 3 business days), so I sent them another e-mail:
From: Me
Subject: False Suspension of WoW Account
Date: September 9, 2006 1:48:21 PM GMT+08:00
To: wowaccountadmin@blizzard.com, support@blizzard.com, billing@blizzard.com, wowtech@blizzard.com, wowgm@blizzard.comDear Blizzard,
I have yet to receive a reply from any Blizzard representative regarding my response to this e-mail, which I sent three days ago. If you, the recipient of this e-mail, do not have the ability or authority to reinstate my account please escalate this issue and forward this communication to someone who does.
To this point, I haven’t been notified as to why my account has been suspended beyond being told that my account “may have been compromised.” I would like to be informed of the precise reason Blizzard believes my account has been compromised, and more importantly, I would like my account reinstated immediately.
I have never, at any point in time, given, sold, or transmitted my password or account information to any other person or third party. I have never, at any point in time, allowed someone else to play my characters, even momentarily. I have never, at any point in time, bought or sold in-game items for real-world money or real-world items.
I have reviewed the Terms of Use, and find that I have not violated any section thereof.
I feel that it’s unreasonable to expect me to print and fill out a form, photocopy my driver’s license/passport, have a notary notarize the documents, and then send an international FAX to reinstate an account which I created with only my credit card information. The fact that I’m responding from the e-mail account which I have associated with my WoW account should indicate to you that I am indeed who I say I am.
Further, you can easily verify my statements by calling the [hotel name omitted] in [location omitted] [phone number omitted] to verify that I am indeed here as a guest and have been here as a registered guest since last week.
[link to the hotel’s web site omitted]
While I can understand how/why an account which has never been used outside of the United States suddenly logging in from Asia could be viewed as being “suspicious,” I am in Asia on business and I logged in to create a craft item which has a 72-hour cooldown period. With the exception of logging in to download the game patches, I logged in to my account precisely once, to make the previously mentioned trade item.
I appreciate the efforts to protect my account information and the non-trivial amount of time I’ve invested in this game, but I cannot appreciate or accept this Blizzard policy which is based on ambiguous suspicion and demands that I go to such absurdly extreme measures. I don’t understand why Blizzard feels it’s necessary to demand that its customers should spend the time, effort, and money to reinstate a falsely-suspended account through this poorly-conceived process when accounts can be created without having to provide any form of legal identification.
Further, I actually find it to be incredulous that all it takes to get one’s account suspended is to want to play the game while one is traveling on business. Are all business travelers who live in the United States and log in from outside the U.S. uniformly treated in this heavy-handed manner? Is this *actually* a uniformly applied Blizzard policy?
I am in disconcerted awe that Blizzard demonstrates such an aggressively negative attitude and posture towards to its legitimate customers and has implemented such mind-bogglingly customer-abusing policies. I signed up to play the World of Warcraft game, not to play real-world games involving jumping through beaurocratic hoops based on bad customer service practices.
I’d like to encourage you to do the right thing: reinstate my account, credit me for the time I’ve paid for (but was unable to use because of this false suspension), and start treating your customers with some respect.
You may call me at the [hotel name omitted] in [location omitted] to discuss this issue.
I anxiously await your proper action and response,
- Dan
Two days later (the next business day), Blizzard responded (with a very form-letter sounding response):
From: wowaccountadmin@blizzard.com
Subject: World of Warcraft - Account Retrieval Issue
Date: September 11, 2006 1:09:52 PM GMT+08:00
To: MeGreetings Dan,
Thank you for your follow-up email. Unfortunately, we have not yet received a fax or postal mailing for your Account Retrieval process. Please check the numbers you are dialing below, as our fax numbers have recently changed. If you have sent a fax to the correct numbers, it may have been illegible to the point that we were unable to identify the sender to request a re-fax. If you do not receive a reply from the Account Administration department within 48 hours of a transmission, please resend your fax and notify us of the refax at wowaccountadmin@blizzard.com. Feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns regarding this process.
Fax numbers: (949) 725-7972 & (949) 725-6341
Any inquiries concerning this account retrieval process can only be addressed by Account Administration. To learn more about how Account Administration is able to assist you, please visit us at http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowaa/.
We apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced and thank you for your continued patience in this matter. We will contact you again once all information has been received.
Regards,
Ackril
Account Administration
Blizzard Entertainment
www.worldofwarcraft.com
Again, I responded (the same day):
From: Me
Subject: Re: World of Warcraft - Account Retrieval Issue
Date: September 11, 2006 2:25:06 PM GMT+08:00
To: wowaccountadmin@blizzard.comDear Blizzard,
It appears that you have not taken the effort to read my responses. I’d like to encourage you to do so.
I do not feel that it’s appropriate to require me to follow the extreme steps Blizzard’s heavy-handed policy dictates, nor do I feel it’s appropriate for my account to have been suspended in the first place. I have asked, and am now asking again, to be informed of the specific reason Blizzard has suspended my account.
If you do not have the authority or ability to reinstate my account, I would like to again request that this issue be escalated to someone who does. I have taken the time and effort to write a legitimate response, and I don’t feel it’s inappropriate to request that a human being at Blizzard review and respond likewise with a non-form e-mail.
I whole-heartedly feel that it’s time for Blizzard to do the right thing and to treat its customers with at least a modicum of respect. I’d like to again encourage Blizzard to reinstate my account, and to re-examine its policies, which are heavy-handed and hostile towards its paying customers.
I’m anxiously awaiting your non-automated, non-form-letter response, and am looking forward to Blizzard stepping up to the plate to rectify this situation by reinstating my account without requiring me to submit information to confirm my account which was not even required when I created my account.
Thank you in advance for your prompt attention to this matter.
Regards,
- Dan
Five days later, Blizzard responded:
From: wowaccountadmin@blizzard.com
Subject: World of Warcraft - Account Retrieval Issue
Date: September 16, 2006 2:22:27 PM GMT+08:00
To: MeGreetings,
Thank you for contacting us with your concerns regarding our Account Retrieval process. We appreciate and understand your perspective, yet have to reiterate that the account in question appears to have been compromised by a third-party. The account have been locked to prevent any malicious activity that could potentially take place.
Blizzard Entertainment takes account security very seriously. For this reason we have instigated the Account Retrieval process so that the registered user of the account can verify their contact information and gain sole and secure access. Unfortunately, we will be unable to restore access until we have received the required documentation. This policy is in place to protect the registered account user from misuse and damage to the account by unauthorized third-parties.
Any inquiries concerning this account retrieval process can only be addressed by Account Administration. To learn more about how Account Administration is able to assist you, please visit us at http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowaa/.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Thank you for your patience and anticipated cooperation in this matter.
Hatagerak
Account Administration
Blizzard Entertainment
www.worldofwarcraft.com
I again responded, the same day:
To: wowaccountadmin@blizzard.com
Date: September 16, 2006 3:22:29 PM GMT+08:00
Subject: World of Warcraft - Falsely Suspended Account
To: wowaccountadmin@blizzard.comDear Blizzard,
I do appreciate your efforts to protect my account and that Blizzard takes account security seriously. However, you have not notified me as to why you think my account has been “compromised by a third-party.” The only activity I’ve performed that might give this appearance is attempting to log in and play the game while I’ve been in Asia for business. I logged in, downloaded the patch(es), and then logged in to the game itself to create a single piece of Refined Deepwater Salt. If your claim regarding the significance of account security is true and valid, then you should easily be able to check your logs to verify that this is the case.
I have previously given you contact information to allow you to quickly and easily verify my account. Blizzard has not made a discernible effort to contact me to verify my information, and the 3-day delays between my responses and these very form-sounding replies is unacceptable. Blizzard might wish to consider dedicating the excessive resources allocated to “account security” to enhance its current Customer Service process, which, as this incident clearly demonstrates, is sorely lacking in providing even acceptable levels of service to its customers.
I have NOT allowed ANYONE other than myself to access, play, or observe my account at any time, and I certainly have NOT given my account information to any third party for any purpose or intent.
It is not appropriate, by any reasonable standard, to require me to provide notarized identification and send an international fax to verify an account for which no identification was required beyond a credit card and the associated information (which I can and will gladly provide to a Blizzard customer service representative for the sole purpose of account verification). I am unable to comply with your “Account Retrieval Process” to verify my falsely suspended account until I have a signed agreement from an authorized Blizzard representative indicating that I will be compensated for the duration of time my account has been falsely suspended, the costs incurred to locate a notary, copying and notarization fees, the cost of the fax transmission, the cost of time I’ve invested in retrieving the account at my current consulting rate, and the cost of related attorney’s fees. Please forward me contact information of the authorized Blizzard representative so that I can have my attorney/representative send the appropriate contractual documents.
Personally, I am tremendously disappointed with what Blizzard has mistakenly labeled “Customer Service” and the manner in which I’ve been treated throughout this process. I am tremendously disappointed that Blizzard’s policies are so heavy-handed, and feel that it’s fully appropriate to label them as absurd. I have invested a non-trivial amount of time playing World of Warcraft, and I’m growing weary of Blizzard’s insistence that I play the “Account Retrieval” game, particularly when I have not been given any specific information as to how or why Blizzard feels my account has been compromised.
Yet again, I’d like to encourage Blizzard to save myself and itself further time, effort, and expense by reinstating my account immediately. I truly feel that Blizzard still has the opportunity to demonstrate an acceptable level of customer service, and to do the Right Thing. I’d like to encourage Blizzard to seize this opportunity and demonstrate corporate responsibility.
Thank you in advance for your prompt response, and prompt, correct resolution of this matter,
- Dan
Six days later, almost two and a half full weeks after the false suspension of my account for an ambiguous and unexplained reason, I’m still waiting for a response and appropriate action from Blizzard. My pre-paid account remains suspended, and Blizzard remains bullheaded. Perhaps Tauren were modeled after whomever at Blizzard created their Account Retrieval process.
Blizzard’s “Account Retrieval” policy is, in fact, aptly named. They’re essentially holding my non-trivial time investment, effort, and in-game friendships hostage, in need of retrieval from an arrogant, uncaring, money-hungry gaming company: themselves.
Blizzard is mistaken if they think I’m willing to give up my account, and seriously delusional if they think I’m so hard up to play their game(s) that I’m willing to buy a new copy of World of Warcraft and start over. It appears that they’re going to be throwing away a guaranteed purchase of their expansion and at least another year of subscription fees by mistreating a good customer they’ve had for the past year and a half.
Is it worth the effort to remain a Blizzard customer?
38 Comments »
Ummm, didn’t they ask you to just send them a fax? Why didn’t you do that? That’s how they verify the account, obviously– without sending them the fax or through the mail, you could be anybody.
I agree that logging in from Asia probably shouldn’t set off a flag like this, but I think you’re making too big a deal out of it. Send them the fax and they’ll probably have your account back up in an hour or two.
While I disagree with the notion that one should have to provide information beyond that which was provided for account setup, I fully object to having to find a Notary and then pay to have my identification notarized.
If they’d only asked me to send them a fax of my ID, I’d probably already have done it, though I think it’s a bit excessive.
I provided them contact information, have only written through the e-mail account I used when registering, and can easily identify account details if asked. There are a multitude of ways that my account (or yours) could be easily and reasonably verified, including very simple methods like verifying the security code on the back of the credit card used with the account (which I don’t believe is re-displayed in the account management form, but cannot verify as my account is locked out).
Your bitching about Blizzard being proactive on your account? You really think they will just reinstate with a moaning email. Your the one thats being a terrible customer
Interesting comment. I don’t know if I’m willing to drink whatever Kool-Aid you have; and I’m certainly not as willing and interested as you appear to be in being Blizzard’s powerbottom.
Dan I understand you totally. Those people are totally incompetent morons, they seem to have an IQ marginally larger than a dead rat. Now I’m going throgh the same thing, its incredible that those imbiciles close ones account for no reason at all. And that nonsense about security, thats utter crap. What the hell is the point of the secret question – I can “recover” my password by using my secret question but I can’t get them to open it again. Its none of their fucking business to see my personal information. They should have made a better interface so we can retrieve the account, especially when they close it for no reason - as they also did with my account. The whole department deserves to be sent to Iraq looking for landmines in the dark.
Youre kidding right?
Its really worth your time and effort to be this annoyed at it. This whole things stinks of you trying to “make an example” of something.
Despite the professionalism and verbosity of your responses to Blizzard this whole matter, at least on your end, immature in the extreme.
Sure its an inconvenience to be unable to make you salt or what have you but would it kill you to wait till you got home from Asia (or wherever you may be).
I must say that while I am no great fan of many of Blizzard’s policies, their account security has heretofore be superlatively efficient. I think that it is well worth the rigamarole that some (including myself) must face if the reward is prevention for others.
Youre being selfish, immature and I must say a bit foolish, if you think that Blizzard will alter its policy for you in any way shape or form.
Good day to you.
Anonymous
> This whole things stinks of you trying to “make an example” of something.
Some of us, Anonymous, are built in such a way that we need to maintain our own integrity. Yes, it’d be expedient to simply suck up the time and expense of locating a notary and sending a fax, but that’s not in alignment with my internal principles. Some of us dislike the notion of being like pliant cattle and will speak up when we feel we’ve been wronged. I don’t need to “make an example,” I’m providing an example.
It appears that a number folks are quite willing to jump through whatever hoops Blizzard throws up, but there are others of us who are unwilling to act like a trained circus animal.
I’ve asked Blizzard to provide me with a non-ambiguous reason as to why they’ve suspended my account, and have not been given any further information. If I knew *why* they felt my account had been compromised, I could a) address the specific issue that possibly led to that appearance, and b) ensure that I didn’t use my account in a manner which would get me falsely suspended. The only reason I can think of as to why they’d have this impression is that I logged on from another country, while away on business. Does Blizzard automatically suspend the accounts of all business travelers immediately, without providing so much as a warning that they’re doing so?
Further, another major portion of my complaint is the absurdly long response times, let alone the fact that it doesn’t appear that anyone at Blizzard is bothering to read my e-mails. It’s been over a full week since my last response to Blizzard’s reply, with no word from Blizzard. That’s outstanding and proactive customer service?
I’m sorry that you feel it’s necessary to personally attack me and call me names. That’s a pretty dictionary-definition of immaturity, and the irony of you behaving in that manner while falsely labeling me thusly is duly noted (it made me chuckle, actually).
> I must say that while I am no great fan of many of Blizzard’s policies,
> their account security has heretofore be superlatively efficient. I think
> that it is well worth the rigamarole that some (including myself) must
> face if the reward is prevention for others.
I think we’re in agreement up until your use of the word “efficient.” I’d use the word “excessive.”
I’d hazard a guess that you probably feel that it’s worth giving up all of your civil liberties in order to be protected from terrorists, or that you’d take the position that rape victims deserve to be raped because they were wearing skimpy outfits. Recovering my account from the heavy-handed policies of Blizzard is obviously far less serious than either or those situations (it’s amazingly trivial in comparison to either), but you’re demonstrating the same line of “reasoning.”
I think it’s interesting that you’ve stated you’re a fan of the notion that the “reward is prevention for others.” How is detailing an experience with a company who demonstrates a lack of respect for its customers and provides sub-standard “customer service” not in alignment with being “prevention for others?”
It seems unlikely that Blizzard will reverse or reconsider its heavy-handed Account Retrieval policy, and that ultimately my account will be deleted. Perhaps you’re right that I’m dumb for wasting time being principled instead of being expedient in regards to the reinstatement of my falsely-suspended World of Warcraft account. However, I’m fairly certain that if I’d been aware of how I’d be treated by Blizzard’s customer service prior to playing the game, I’d likely have reconsidered purchasing it. I feel it’s valuable to share this information with others so that they can make an informed purchasing decision.
This is the main thing.. I can see their point cause they have to manage millions of accounts and no way your $15 a month pays them to do anything but send form letters. and reason they need more info that when creating the account is to assure if the account was comprimized the person did not also comprimized email address ect…But I highly disagree with the notary! thats just silly… But you deff dealin with a machine or a system and niether are reasonable so your words are wasted give up and play thier game or dont.. there will not be any justice.
So, it seems to me that Blizzard’s ‘account verification’ program is insanely flawed. Let’s say a hacker in Hong Kong stole TOTDT’s account. Let’s assume he stole his email account as well, since Blizzard doesn’t trust email as verification they must be assuming this as well. So our hacker gets an email in Dan’s account saying the account is banned and gives instructions about what documents are required to ‘retrieve’ the account. He loads up photoshop, creates himself a bogus ID with a HK notary stamp, and faxes it off with a note that he is in HK on business. How does this prove it is Dan? Blizzard did not have Dan’s ID to begin with, so the documents being requested can NOT be used for verification. Real verification requires asking the hacker to prove they have information that Dan has previously shared with Blizzard and that he could not have gotten from hacking the account. Simply asking Dan to re-enter the last credit card he used would work, since the credit card number is not visible in the account payment screen on the account management website. Or asking him to re-enter the last prepaid game card he used. Does Blizzard ask for a postal address during account creation? Perhaps they could send a letter with an account activation code, unless they assume the hacker has taken over Dan’s home as well…
It seems that they are paranoid in their methods of detecting account abuse, but really weak in their ‘verification’ after the fact. A flawed system can be just as bad as not having one at all.
I’m glad I don’t play WoW anymore. When I went diving in Bonaire this summer I might have logged in, and I’d be going through this same painful head-butting with support drones who have quotas on tickets that make them unwilling to think when it is easier to shoot off a form letter.
-Chris
[…] Why does this reply from Blizzard sound so familiar? Oh yeah, they already sent me that one, except for a minor modification in the first paragraph, which I underlined above. […]
[…] Why Does Blizzard Treat Its Customers So Poorly? […]
I logged in from Korea (bad idea) and the same thing happened to me. I sent them the fax immediately and it’s been five days. So anyone trying to hold the arguement that blizzard knows what they’re doing with this can shut the fuck up now.
I stopped playing WoW and went and play socom 3 because of this issue. And you know what? I’m glad they compromised my account, ’cause now I realized how much times I’ve been wasting while playing that game. Woohoo!
Here is a tip for people that wants to quit, get your account compromised.
Same thing happened to me Dan, Any luck yet? Does anyone know If I can get my accout retrieved without the CDkey? I threw mine away.Please let me know
The same thing has happened to me. I came to China to teach English and when I got here and logged in they locked the account. I had to send 6 faxes, each with a copy of my passport, make 5 phone calls, and write over 11 emails. After 3 weeks of no response they finally opened my account. I then changed my password and then paid for a new month. After playing the game for one day I came home from work the next day only to find that it is again locked…. I have now sent another 3 faxes and written 3 emails, it has been 2 more weeks with no resolution. At this point I just want my money back for the month I just bought and I’m through with Blizzard.
I got my acc compromissed, as i live in Brasil, they didint accept the Notary shit from here.
I will use the same words that a guy said.
Get you account compromissed, is the best thing you have to do with your life. WoW is a modern day disease. Thank you Blizzard for doing your crap shit work.
I have also gotten the same automated bullshit response from blizzard’s incompetent staff.
I’ve been trying to get my compromised account reactivated for a month now, even sent photos of my license as well as all my information including the CD key, and all I keep getting is a cut paste response.
Fuck you, Blizzard.
I’m not paying $50 to get documents notarized only to start paying Blizzard again and dealing with the morons working at Blizzard, in addition the countless juvenile retards who play the game.
Good riddance.
Seems this happens alot! Me, my account was suspended while I was sitting 407th in line in Que. Guess I waited incorrectly or something>
You know, we shouldn’t give up, just keep emailing them over and over that will cost them time and therefore money, even if its just a copy and paste over time it will cost them money. The incompetent fools.
I have had similar bad experiences with Blizzard. I purchased my copy of WoW around 18 months ago. I only played for about a month and then forgot about it. However a couple of weeks ago I decided to dig it out and play again. I couldnt remember my account password so attempted to retrieve it, the site says its been sent succesfully but no email ever arrives. So I email blizzard, they dont reply to me, I call them, they dont answer… I cant register a new account as my cd key has already been activated and im damned if im going to buy another copy of the game. Attempting to rejoin their service is incredibly frustrating these guys are customer service fools who make far too much money…
0.02
enough said. Fuck you Blizzard!
I didn’t read all the replies, but I think the main issue here is that he’s paid for a service which was injustly taken away from him due to bad customer service practices. I think he has every right to be infuriated. But, alas, Blizzard has a history with the Better Buisness Beurau due to Diablo II account bannings, many of which were injust, and Blizzard absolutly refused to reinstate unjustly banned accounts.
All in all, I feel Blizzard is a horrible company that ruins their own games with their greed. The added content is always more of a help to the casual player (2.0 Honor patch, the now 10-man raids vs the then 40-man raids, ect) than the hardcore player, who used to have to put hours upon hours in to get the best items the game had to offer.
This is why my World of Warcraft account is no longer active.
heres one for the books Im banne for
Hello,
This is a notification regarding the World of Warcraft account you are using. The account contains incomplete or inaccurate billing contact information which is a violation of the World of Warcraft Terms of Use.
what the f#$% i do remember a box that said something like do not wright anything here i put ok in it maybe thats why ive been banned? same shit too 3 days no response from blizz age of conan hurry up pls
BLIZZARD, are absolute assholes, they think they are gods, and can treat people like crap. If they are so quick to ban peoples account then they should be just as quick to unbann peoples accounts. GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER BLIZZARD, my grandma is quicker than you
Blizzard has no interest in dealing with customer service issues in an expedient manner… they’re making money off of your prepaid account whether it’s currently active or not.
If your case is anything like mine, they’ll wait until all your prepaid time is up and THEN they might reinstate your account (’cause they won’t be sucking up the time you prepaid… hence, aren’t making money) and will give you a line about “we don’t offer reimbursements.”
They really are cocksuckers… and somebody really should pick up the proverbial ball and file a class action lawsuit against their evil business practice.
Blizzard are money hungry bastereds!!! I WISH SOMEONE COULD SUE THIER ASSES,they just do what the hell they want, and take weeks to reply… I HATE YOU BLIZZARD!!! I love your games, its a pitty your customer service is so appalling
Its possible, if they dont refund your money you have the right to take them to court.
And dan, going through the same thing because my parents who own the account wont send in there licence… or my birth cirtificate (sorry for spelling)
Is there anyway to forward this forum to someone high up in the blizzard ranks, so they can see just how horrible they are to their long an valid customers
I really, really don’t think anybody at Blizzard actually cares. It’s all about the $$$.
My account got closed recently for inaccurate address info. I replied with a few explanation. They finally ask for a notarization. Since it would be cheaper to get another account, i got a new one, and I told them that their stupid notary process made me bought another account. A week later the 2nd account got closed too. They ask me notary for it.
Now I agree they’re assholes, they don’t care about the interests of their customers. They ban your account when they doubt, suspect, think it’s ‘compromised’, and ‘close it for your own good as they claimed.’ and let u wait weeks for a explanation.
Ever since that I hate blizzard so much. I won’t play a single blizzard game. If u liked blizzard games, Hellgate:London will be the choice, created by the former vice-president Bill Roper who lead the Diablo team.
Bye forever, fucking blizzard. I HATE U!
I just recieved this message from Blizzard
Greetings,
Following a review of your case, we can confirm that the evidence presented was correct, and that the subsequent action taken was appropriate. Our decision in this matter stands, and will not be overturned.
Please note, it is our policy never to reveal details regarding account investigations, beyond the information given in the original notice mail, for privacy and security reasons.
We now consider this matter closed, and would not look to enter into further communication on the matter.
If you wish to review our current Rules and Policies, they can be found at:
http://www.wow-europe.com/en/legal/termsofuse.html
Regards,
Kreztek
Account Administration Team
Blizzard Entertainment Europe
http://www.wow-europe.com/en/
Why are they such assholes, i used powerleveling for 2 bloody levels as i did not know that it was against blizzard regulaions until it was too late, then i write them a looong letter explaining my case and apologising, and they still say no. I cant believe it, i have got out of parking fines, by explaining my case and apologising, and we all know that parking officers are SCUM, and blizzard just showed that they are even worse.
“we can confirm that the evidence presented was correct, and that the subsequent action taken was appropriate” ofcourse it was correct i addmited that i used powerleveling (freaking retards) and how was it “appropriate” to ban a long good customer of Blizzard for many years, for such a minor mistake. I HATE YOU BLIZZARD
My advice is Buy a box of hellgate: London. Play single player version, If u don’t want to spend too much time on MMO. Blizzard really doesn’t care how much time you spent on your character. It’s not their rule to forgive.
I was a hardcore fun of blizzard. Now who cares?
First of all Rev. Dan, I aplaud the way you dealt with the forum trolls who initially tried to derail the point you were making here. (perhapse these trolls work for blizzard)
Second, My sorrowful story:
today I was trying to buy from the darkmoon fare vendors (blizz has actually put lvl 60-70 gems that spawn in the vendor inmventory) but there were taurens on mounts blocking the vendor, so I had to get in amongst the chaos and try and get at the vendor like a puppy maddly scrambling to suckle his mother’s nipple. the next thing I know I am ported 50 ft away from the vendor and a gm is chastizing me for blocking the vendor (the turens were all still there!) so I went back to try and biy from the vendor and was promptly ported away again and told this is your last warning, I asked the GM if he was an idiot, that there are others there blocking the vendor while we speak. LOL the GM told me to file a petition, I told him to go fuck himself and went back to buy from the vendor he banned my account but not before calling me a noob!
I have now called blizzard, e-mailed 2 different offices and even made a temp accoun t to try and talk to a GM supervisor. The only thing Blizzard seems to be good at is keeping its customers away from the actuall decision makers.
So…..
Here is Mike Morhaime’s personal office e-mail
mike.morhaime@blizzard.com
I grabbed it off an old employee registry that had been posted on the net. If you have the name of anyone that works at Blizzard you basically put a period between thier first and last name followed by @blizzard.com and voila you are effectively bypassing the firewall numbskulls.
Currently I am trying to get a phone listing for some of them. I will post it as well once I find it.
Hey I got 72 hours, so I may as well use it constructively.
cheers
Well, Blizzard is at it again this year but they don’t have keyloggers to blame this time.
Yesterday, I put in a complaint ticket after some jerk in AV called me a cocksucker for making a polite suggestion regarding gameplay. The GM took my ticket, apologized for the behavior and that was that. Or so I thought.
When I logged on today, there was an in-game email stating I violating one of the policies and to go check my registered email for further information.
So I go to my registered email only there is nothing there from Blizzard and no spam block on them either so it should have worked. I log back into the game and put in a ticket to which the GM verified my email address and said he would resend the violation. Hours go by and there is still nothing in my email.
The next day I submitted another ticket. That GM stated that the previous GM should have never told me that since only the GM citing the violation or Billing is allowed to do so. He then suggests I call Billing in the morning and see if they will resend it.
This is the second time this year the same thing has happened on the only two complaint tickets I have made. The first time, after the same go-around, it was finally determined that Blizzard made a mistake, as I’m sure they did this time as well. Blizzard is notorious for mixing up the complaintee with the offender. I’ve read horror stories about it on their own forums!
Knowing I haven’t done anything wrong this time either, when I do call Billing later on today, it will be to cancel my account. The GM was rude, crass and couldn’t be bothered. I have no further time to put up with this nonsense from their employees.
I was getting bored with this game and the idiots that play it anyway. This is a great excuse to tell them what they can do with it.
Dan,
Longer than a year from your original story, and it still holds true.
In January, shortly after moving into the expansion, I had to take an extended leave from WoW because my elderly mother had several heart attacks. Being the only other member of the family I had to take care of our household as well as her household and then care for her after she got out.
I attempted to come back in mid-November, only to find my password wasn’t working. I called up Billing and Account Services and they were great. They took my information, verified my identity via the last credit card used, and fixed it up. But then they told me my account was closed and I’d have to contact Account Administration.
So, like yourself, I sent a verbose letter explaining that I never shared my account and whoever used the account and got it banned any time past January was not anyone associated with myself nor did I have any knowledge of what was happening because I was too busy tending to my mother.
Response? Form letter accusing me of TOS violation and that the matter was closed and they’d do nothing more. This response came a week after I sent the initial e-mail. I’ve since replied but have heard nothing back explaining, again, that I did NOT violate TOS because the account was compromised.
I’m not holding my breath for a positive resolution. I almost feel sorry for Activision for acquiring such a mess of a company. Sure they rake in millions every month but then treat their very customers like we’re all thieves or rule breakers. Yet, gold selling persists, power leveling persists, item and account selling persists.. so what have they done, truly, but alienate those of us improperly caught in their heavy handed dragnets?
Well same exact thing happened with me, except there was a virus on my comp. which they asked me to delete, which i did. I sent all the information they asked for and it’s been 7 friggin’ days and still no reply, way to go blizzard you guys rock really…
I am surprised at all that so many people buy that game in spite of the fact that Blizzard allow themselves to have a statements such as the following one in their “Terms of Use” (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/termsofuse.html):
BLIZZARD MAY SUSPEND, TERMINATE, MODIFY, OR DELETE THE ACCOUNT AT ANY TIME WITH ANY REASON OR NO REASON, WITH OR WITHOUT NOTICE.
Interesting to note, that mentioned above statement is missing from the European version of “Terms of Use” (http://wow-europe.com/en/legal/termsofuse.html).
The exact same thing happened to a friend of mine. If my friends are treated with no respect and can’t play a game they paid for, then I won’t play either.
I just cancelled my account today.
Now Blizzard has 10 million - 1 customer