Where are my 30 free days provided by preorder?

Alhazar

I can not activate my account with a preordered key, given me by the store. It's required to define the payment method while they are all inappropriate for me. And I don't want to decide right now. I just want to play for a month and only then choose, whether I'll prolong my subscription or not. Is that impossible?

Rylanor

So far, yes. There's a main thread about this already, started by a ZOS person who explains it, followed by discussion, most of it angry, about why it is not a good method. They want to ensure you can pay the sub next month, so they insist on information now. Cheeky gits.

Alhazar

We've already paid for digital version, is that not enough for now? Quite an inconvenient policy they have here. It ravages the desire for further cooperation. Well, thanks for answer anyway.

Midgardian

ALL services that provide free time require you to input credit card information before the free time begins: Amazon Prime, Netflix, other MMOs. That's so they can charge you once the free time is over. That's how it works. It's not just Zenimax.

Part of it is sort of a credit check: they want to make sure you aren't just using the service for free and have no intent to actually pay for it later.

Ojustaboo

They are now saying the 30 included days weren't what was advertised, they are now saying it works as a buy one get one free so when you buy a gamer card or take out a sub, only then do you get access to the "include" 30 days.

Taken from the other thread

Response By Email (Michael) (04/05/2014 02:43 PM)
Greetings!

Thank you for contacting The Elder Scrolls Online Team.

You can either use a credit card OR you can get a pre-paid visa/mastercard from a local retail store. These prepaid cards work just as well and can be used without issue. You will not lose your characters or your free subscription time. The actuall free subscription wont kick in until you purchase one of the subscription options. Think of it as a buy one get one free. You wont actually get charged for the one month until may. It may show up as a charge from your bank, but it is actually only a pending charge.

Thank you for your continued interest and support!

Warm Regards,
The Elder Scrolls Online Team

ESO_Maya

I already used a credit card to purchase the game directly from ESO. I did attempt to re-enter that info into their account management, but the website fails to work, caught in an endless loop between billing address and credit card data. I've contacted support without success at this point. Its too bad they cant take data they already have on file and activate my 30 days.

seangcxqb14_ESO

Midgardian wrote: »

ALL services that provide free time require you to input credit card information before the free time begins: Amazon Prime, Netflix, other MMOs. That's so they can charge you once the free time is over. That's how it works. It's not just Zenimax.

Part of it is sort of a credit check: they want to make sure you aren't just using the service for free and have no intent to actually pay for it later.

The difference is we already have paid; with netflix, amazon, etc, they ask for a payment method before any payment has been made, for their free service.

Alhazar

Crucial word is NOW. And it should've been announced earlier. Fine, maybe I'm not quite up-to-date about how MMO services work, but releasers should consider newcomers's ignorance

Midgardian

seangcxqb14_ESO wrote: »

Midgardian wrote: »

ALL services that provide free time require you to input credit card information before the free time begins: Amazon Prime, Netflix, other MMOs. That's so they can charge you once the free time is over. That's how it works. It's not just Zenimax.

Part of it is sort of a credit check: they want to make sure you aren't just using the service for free and have no intent to actually pay for it later.

The difference is we already have paid; with netflix, amazon, etc, they ask for a payment method before any payment has been made, for their free service.

The "payment" that goes through is an authorization, and goes away. You won't actually be charged until the 30 days are over.

Fenbrae

Guys, like people are already pointing out, you aren't actually losing money. You need to set up a subscription, but you don't lose any money. They want to be sure that you can actually pay for a subscription if you want to continue playing after the 30 free days.
This shouldn't come as a suprise since almost every MMO that offers free days does the exact same thing. Enter your payment information, then get your free days.
Also, people who are claiming that you can't pay the subscription fee: you are liars. If you can pay the initial price for the game, you can also pay for one month of game time. Unless you are so poor that you can't buy food if you pay the 13 bucks. In which case you shouldn't have bought the game to begin with.

Alhazar

Well, I think the case is closed. There's not much choice - follow unpleasant rules and be grateful or say farewell to TESo and think of preorder's price as it was a little gift for their effort

Aria

They are not charging anyone until the 30 days are up, all they are doing is setting up the account for "future" billing.

Please see this link and read the entire first post it explains everything!

http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/67461/bank-account-being-charged#latest

james_2k

its standard with pretty much all mmos ive played.

if you dont like it, add your credit card then when your 30 days free is activated. remove the cc straight away

Thonel

Looks like I might be trying to get a refund of the game tomorrow. This is the last straw of shady business practices.

lowerlife

james_2k wrote: »

its standard with pretty much all mmos ive played.

if you dont like it, add your credit card then when your 30 days free is activated. remove the cc straight away

No its not. Most ask for a credit card to confirm and will charge .1 or at most a dollar, but they NEVER try to authorize the full amount. I've played plenty of mmos and I can't remember one that required me to have the full amount in my account at time of free trial. Wow doesn't even ask for a cc until your 30 days are up.

Vodkaphile

Thonel wrote: »

Looks like I might be trying to get a refund of the game tomorrow. This is the last straw of shady business practices.

If you bothered reading at all, you'd realize they dont charge you, they authorize the payment. Every single MMO in the history of subscriptions does this. The onus is on the bank whether to authorize it or not, not the merchant. The merchant simply tells the bank "we have a payment scheduled to come out on this date".

You get the thirty days free, but every MMO, every magazine, online service, etc that offers free time also requires payment information up front. It's the same practice as the old "bill me later" services that were used back in the day, only updated.

It's not a shady practice simply because you dont understand it.

Vodkaphile

lowerlife wrote: »

james_2k wrote: »

its standard with pretty much all mmos ive played.

if you dont like it, add your credit card then when your 30 days free is activated. remove the cc straight away

No its not. Most ask for a credit card to confirm and will charge .1 or at most a dollar, but they NEVER try to authorize the full amount. I've played plenty of mmos and I can't remember one that required me to have the full amount in my account at time of free trial. Wow doesn't even ask for a cc until your 30 days are up.

The bank is who authorizes the payment, not the merchant/vendor.

xJeallen3x

Thonel wrote: »

Looks like I might be trying to get a refund of the game tomorrow. This is the last straw of shady business practices.

yeah right, good luck with that bro. if you bought it retail and opened it then they wont take it back. if you bought it online through anywhere but eso.com then your just s.o.l. if you did buy it through eso then obviously they aren't going to refund you for your ignorance. so again, good luck with that, lmao.

Sharee

Alhazar wrote: »

I can not activate my account with a preordered key, given me by the store. It's required to define the payment method while they are all inappropriate for me. And I don't want to decide right now. I just want to play for a month and only then choose, whether I'll prolong my subscription or not. Is that impossible?

Your best bet is to ask a friend who does have a credit card to help you. You can use his CC to set up a subscription plan, then immediately cancel the subscription. This will unlock your free 30 days and you will be able to play until they run out.

Your friend needs to have enough money on the card so that the authorization completes, but no money will actually leave his account.

psychedelicpsycho

Midgardian wrote: »

ALL services that provide free time require you to input credit card information before the free time begins: Amazon Prime, Netflix, other MMOs. That's so they can charge you once the free time is over. That's how it works. It's not just Zenimax.

Part of it is sort of a credit check: they want to make sure you aren't just using the service for free and have no intent to actually pay for it later.

i bought the pre order digital game that comes with the 30 day's of game time is that not enough? when i get a free trial of wow i dont have to enter my credit card information to use that why do i have to here?

Moon449

Thonel wrote: »

Looks like I might be trying to get a refund of the game tomorrow. This is the last straw of shady business practices.

This whole thing is looking pretty shady, have you seen what's stated in the ToS?

If You have subscribed for an automatic subscription renewal, You agree that Bethesda may continue charging You on an automatic recurring basis for Your current subscription preferences unless You cancel Your subscription at least thirty (30) days prior to the expiration of the subscription.

So pretty much, you'll most likely be paying for the month after the "free" month even if you don't want to continue playing.

dragoaskani

psychedelicpsycho wrote: »

Midgardian wrote: »

ALL services that provide free time require you to input credit card information before the free time begins: Amazon Prime, Netflix, other MMOs. That's so they can charge you once the free time is over. That's how it works. It's not just Zenimax.

Part of it is sort of a credit check: they want to make sure you aren't just using the service for free and have no intent to actually pay for it later.

i bought the pre order digital game that comes with the 30 day's of game time is that not enough? when i get a free trial of wow i dont have to enter my credit card information to use that why do i have to here?

Two things. 1 this isnt wow, and 2 WoW did it for years before they became so successful they dont care if you sub after the 30 days.

anarchopunkdrumsub17_ESO

I am not a lawyer. I think though if you're a sensible person living in what you hope is a rational world, (it's not, but play along) when you feel 'duped' by a company it is important that you do not continue allowing the 'charade' to continue. My personal heart-felt suggestion is that you return everything you bought. If that is not an option contest the charges with your bank. Zenimax is a rising 'American' company in the gaming industry, presumably out to make a name for themselves. You can access all the gory details of their past acquisitions of smaller (more caring) companies in the past, and research the trail of wealth. If it smells rotten, tastes rotten, and feels rotten...it's probably rotten. I won't waste your time with my personal story in relation to this game or Zenimax but you can view that on youtube if you feel so inclined. I can ASSURE you that with each dollar you throw to their banks things will not head in a more favorable direction for those displeased. The best thing to do anytime you're unhappy with what your currency gets you in a 'free market' (hahaha) is to take it back. Until I see a post from someone at ZOS (speaking on behalf of the financial division) explaining the reversal of these shady, misleading, vague and simply BAD business practices, not a single cent of MY money will go to a single one of them. P.S. Bethesda....shame on you. I am so disappointed in what you've become.

waylander48

every mmo works this way and when I purchased the digi version I think it said quite clearly in the t&c's that you commit to a subscription in buying the game.
not that you have to follow through on that commitment.
usually when they do a test payment check for your payment its usually for 1penny or something.
just cancel your payment plan part way through the 30 days its not rocket science.

jamesub17_ESO21

FYI on the NFS bank account people. I was one of them, only had about 12 dollars in my account. it places a 15 dollar hold and if you dont have 15 dollars, well, you know what happens...I called them and it took me like 3 minutes to get a 30 day code from them. bang, zoom, and playing... i spent hours pouring over the forums and it took 3 minutes to get it fixed.. and right now there is only about a 30 second hold till you get someone.. they were very helpful. U.S. 1-844-936-4629

anarchopunkdrumsub17_ESO

waylander48 wrote: »

every mmo works this way and when I purchased the digi version I think it said quite clearly in the t&c's that you commit to a subscription in buying the game.
not that you have to follow through on that commitment.
usually when they do a test payment check for your payment its usually for 1penny or something.
just cancel your payment plan part way through the 30 days its not rocket science.

I want you to be aware that you will be billed for 30 days of sub. service if you do not notify ZOS 30 days in advance of cancelling your subscription plan. Then what I really want you to do is stop spreading misnomer information to others. That's not rocket science either my friend.

pingdaddyrwb17_ESO

This is totally wrong, i could not see in any of the advertisement or product description, stating i needed to provide payment details so i can get my 30 days free. *** zenimax. this is bs. This is so dodgy.

Moon449

waylander48 wrote: »

every mmo works this way and when I purchased the digi version I think it said quite clearly in the t&c's that you commit to a subscription in buying the game.
not that you have to follow through on that commitment.
usually when they do a test payment check for your payment its usually for 1penny or something.
just cancel your payment plan part way through the 30 days its not rocket science.

Except that the terms of service state that you may be charged for the following month(s) if you dont cancel at least 30 days prior:

If You have subscribed for an automatic subscription renewal, You agree that Bethesda may continue charging You on an automatic recurring basis for Your current subscription preferences unless You cancel Your subscription at least thirty (30) days prior to the expiration of the subscription.

vangelis866eb17_ESO

The thing is pretty simple. Dosent matter if they charge you at the end of 30 days or if I have or dont have the money to fill my card right now. The point is that at the moment I dont have access in a product/service I allready paid for.

Alhazar

Sharee wrote: »

Alhazar wrote: »

I can not activate my account with a preordered key, given me by the store. It's required to define the payment method while they are all inappropriate for me. And I don't want to decide right now. I just want to play for a month and only then choose, whether I'll prolong my subscription or not. Is that impossible?

Your best bet is to ask a friend who does have a credit card to help you. You can use his CC to set up a subscription plan, then immediately cancel the subscription. This will unlock your free 30 days and you will be able to play until they run out.

Your friend needs to have enough money on the card so that the authorization completes, but no money will actually leave his account.

That might be the solution. I've considered it already, but haven't succeeded yet. Anyway, I'm greatly disappointed by Zenimax's approach and will most likely unsubscribe.

karelschoenb16_ESO

It is quite frustrating that they didn't take into account that there are some country's where owning a creditcard isn't standard practice. Here (in the Netherlands) it's not common to own a CC, and since the paypal option also requires it being linked to a CC, the only other option is to buy a gametime card. Meaning you'll have to actually spend another 15 dollars before you can access the 30 day's you've already bought.

Reading that U.S. customers can simply call a number and have a solution within minutes is also frustrating as there is no number to call when you're from the EU. I've been waiting for a response to my email and callback tickets for more than 24 hours now, which wouldn't be all that bad if it weren't for the fact that I have loads of time to spend on gaming this week, which I now can only spend on games that have completely lost my interest, due to TESO being so awesome!