Gifting Policy Awareness

valenwood_vegan · January 2

I didn't have gifting enabled automatically, and they instantly rejected the first request I sent to have it enabled. I appealed that and it was enabled right away.

My total guess is that that the issue was that I had once purchased crowns from one of those rather questionable accounts that you'd see selling infinite crowns at a low price on all the crown discords. But I've also been a long-time player, active in many areas of the game and multiple guilds, so I imagine on review that was enough to override whatever the concern was. I don't know, I'm obviously just guessing here.

It's not an ideal process, you'll get no arguments from me there; but it might be worth requesting gifting access - they've said that they relaxed the criteria somewhat recently - I'm guessing they never bothered doing another pass through the accounts to automatically enable gifting for those who meet the relaxed criteria, though.

AzuraFan · January 2

Radiate77 wrote: »

You could have been flagged for a chargeback, marking you as a consumer even if it’s completely unrelated to ESO.

Not sure what you mean by this. Of course I'm a consumer. That's obvious.

Or someone with your same name if it’s common.

I don't have a common name.

While I understand it sucks to be in your situation, something went wrong, somewhere. You could always try getting ahold of Customer Support again and pleading your case.

As I've stated, I don't chase companies and ask them to please let me spend money on their products. I'm not posting because I desperately want gifting enabled on my account. I'm posting to counter the speculation about what could make an account fail "the gifting test." So far nobody has suggested anything that applies to my account.

The only thing I thought it could be at the time was that I didn't participate much in group activities in the game (at the time they initially ran the algorithm). But I'm sure someone will tell me they're a pure soloist and their account was enabled, so it's not that.

tomofhyrule wrote:

That's... kind of needed to get gifting enabled.

Nope, as others have already stated, they initially turned off gifting for everyone. Then they ran some sort of algorithm that turned on gifting for accounts that passed their criteria. That was done automatically. No need to ask. After that, they want players to ask, even though their criteria has softened. What they should be doing instead is running the process every time their criteria changes.

ESO_player123 · January 2

Just out of curiosity, how would one find out if gifting is enabled without actually making a gift? I assumed that it was turned off for everyone, and a player needs to make a request to enable it. But since people say in this thread that some kind of algorithm was applied, and it was turned back on for some players automatically, I'm now curious if it's enabled on my account.

Radiate77 · January 2

AzuraFan wrote: »

Radiate77 wrote: »

You could have been flagged for a chargeback, marking you as a consumer even if it’s completely unrelated to ESO.

Not sure what you mean by this. Of course I'm a consumer. That's obvious.

As in your consumer profile when passed around by data harvesters and buyers. Your consumer profile could have a stigma as a result of a chargeback, or from someone who has stolen your identity.

hiyde · January 2

ESO_player123 wrote: »

Just out of curiosity, how would one find out if gifting is enabled without actually making a gift? I assumed that it was turned off for everyone, and a player needs to make a request to enable it. But since people say in this thread that some kind of algorithm was applied, and it was turned back on for some players automatically, I'm now curious if it's enabled on my account.

Log into your account on the ESO Website.
Go to "Billing History"
Look for "Allow Crown Store Gifting" somewhere in the transaction list. (mine was automatically granted Oct 2023).

I have several many accounts due to running some guilds. Not all got gifting enabled by default. I put in a ticket for the few that I cared about having gifting turned on for and got approved.

I wasn't at all insulted that I had to go through an extra hoop in the name of fraud prevention.

I also understand that it's not that easy for some folks, who have to go through multiple requests to gain approval or sometimes not get it at all. I'd be offended, too. I sure wish there were a way for ZOS to honor some of these requests that are failing the criteria (manual process to gift, trial period, etc). They were quick to publicly spotlight the sob-story-turned-scammer thing that all played out here on the forums, but what I took away from that was "so, you DO have a way to monitor after you give permission, and can quickly reverse".

But I dunno. I don't work at ZOS or Visa. Whether this is the best they can do in the situation, or there's alternatives, I dunno.

AzuraFan · January 3

Radiate77 wrote: »

AzuraFan wrote: »

Radiate77 wrote: »

You could have been flagged for a chargeback, marking you as a consumer even if it’s completely unrelated to ESO.

Not sure what you mean by this. Of course I'm a consumer. That's obvious.

As in your consumer profile when passed around by data harvesters and buyers. Your consumer profile could have a stigma as a result of a chargeback, or from someone who has stolen your identity.

My identity has never been stolen, and AFAIK, I've never asked for a chargeback. So, no. Doesn't apply.

Gold25Dog · January 3

Hey all - apparently they don't check their remove me email very often - that said in this case I am thankful - I need help - I am in game now trying to sort out how to transfer these crowns to my friend before I delete my account - can someone here provide direction guidance on how to do that ? I was reading on another thread I think that this is possible via a guild or something ?

hiyde · January 3

Gold25Dog wrote: »

Hey all - apparently they don't check their remove me email very often - that said in this case I am thankful - I need help - I am in game now trying to sort out how to transfer these crowns to my friend before I delete my account - can someone here provide direction guidance on how to do that ? I was reading on another thread I think that this is possible via a guild or something ?

You can't. If Crown Gifting isn't enabled for your account, there is no method of doing so. The only thing you can spend those crowns on are items for yourself.

Gold25Dog · January 3

hiyde wrote: »

Gold25Dog wrote: »

Hey all - apparently they don't check their remove me email very often - that said in this case I am thankful - I need help - I am in game now trying to sort out how to transfer these crowns to my friend before I delete my account - can someone here provide direction guidance on how to do that ? I was reading on another thread I think that this is possible via a guild or something ?

You can't. If Crown Gifting isn't enabled for your account, there is no method of doing so. The only thing you can spend those crowns on are items for yourself.

I could have sworn I saw on a thread that such things could be transferred via a guild ...? hmm well that sucks

hiyde · January 3

Gold25Dog wrote: »

hiyde wrote: »

Gold25Dog wrote: »

Hey all - apparently they don't check their remove me email very often - that said in this case I am thankful - I need help - I am in game now trying to sort out how to transfer these crowns to my friend before I delete my account - can someone here provide direction guidance on how to do that ? I was reading on another thread I think that this is possible via a guild or something ?

You can't. If Crown Gifting isn't enabled for your account, there is no method of doing so. The only thing you can spend those crowns on are items for yourself.

I could have sworn I saw on a thread that such things could be transferred via a guild ...? hmm well that sucks

No, the reference to being in a guild was that it could be one of the secret critieria to get gifting turned on.

Gold25Dog · January 3

hiyde wrote: »

Gold25Dog wrote: »

hiyde wrote: »

Gold25Dog wrote: »

Hey all - apparently they don't check their remove me email very often - that said in this case I am thankful - I need help - I am in game now trying to sort out how to transfer these crowns to my friend before I delete my account - can someone here provide direction guidance on how to do that ? I was reading on another thread I think that this is possible via a guild or something ?

You can't. If Crown Gifting isn't enabled for your account, there is no method of doing so. The only thing you can spend those crowns on are items for yourself.

I could have sworn I saw on a thread that such things could be transferred via a guild ...? hmm well that sucks

No, the reference to being in a guild was that it could be one of the secret critieria to get gifting turned on.

Got yas - I think I misread the other thread as well - is it possible for me to convert crowns to gold and gift the gold ? I think that was what was suggested in the other thread

scrappy1342 · January 3

Gold25Dog wrote: »

hiyde wrote: »

Gold25Dog wrote: »

Hey all - apparently they don't check their remove me email very often - that said in this case I am thankful - I need help - I am in game now trying to sort out how to transfer these crowns to my friend before I delete my account - can someone here provide direction guidance on how to do that ? I was reading on another thread I think that this is possible via a guild or something ?

You can't. If Crown Gifting isn't enabled for your account, there is no method of doing so. The only thing you can spend those crowns on are items for yourself.

I could have sworn I saw on a thread that such things could be transferred via a guild ...? hmm well that sucks

no, i told you to ask in your guild if anyone was selling crowns. without gifting enabled, there is no legal way to transfer them. and i don't think they just delete accounts. game or forum. plus... i'm pretty sure they are still on break. it's only january 2nd

Gold25Dog · January 3

scrappy1342 wrote: »

Gold25Dog wrote: »

hiyde wrote: »

Gold25Dog wrote: »

Hey all - apparently they don't check their remove me email very often - that said in this case I am thankful - I need help - I am in game now trying to sort out how to transfer these crowns to my friend before I delete my account - can someone here provide direction guidance on how to do that ? I was reading on another thread I think that this is possible via a guild or something ?

You can't. If Crown Gifting isn't enabled for your account, there is no method of doing so. The only thing you can spend those crowns on are items for yourself.

I could have sworn I saw on a thread that such things could be transferred via a guild ...? hmm well that sucks

no, i told you to ask in your guild if anyone was selling crowns. without gifting enabled, there is no legal way to transfer them. and i don't think they just delete accounts. game or forum. plus... i'm pretty sure they are still on break. it's only january 2nd

ok - so what I am hearing then is that I am stuck with these crowns - I cannot gift or trade them - I have like 18k of them and that really sucks because I know my friend could really use them since he will be continuing to play the game.

I appreciate the help and I apologize for not understanding what you were suggesting. In essence there is nothing that can be done

scrappy1342 · January 3

AzuraFan wrote: »

The only thing I thought it could be at the time was that I didn't participate much in group activities in the game (at the time they initially ran the algorithm). But I'm sure someone will tell me they're a pure soloist and their account was enabled, so it's not that.

it's curious thing for sure. if i had to guess, there's some unknown obscure red flag somewhere that we don't know about. or it's possible that there would be no issue at all if you were to dispute it now.

i don't think it's group content because i avoid group content like the plague. my account was one of the lucky ones that it was automatically turned back on when they turned it back on. and buying crowns doesn't seem to be a red flag either because i was buying massive amounts of crowns before they turned it off. almost every house they put in, i bought. every time they put crown crates in (except the skyrim ones. there were zombie horses in there and i didn't want to chance getting one), i bought at least a 15 pack, usually a couple of them. did have eso+, but never bought any crowns. except for that one house, but that was after gifting was turned back on

scrappy1342 · January 3

Gold25Dog wrote: »

scrappy1342 wrote: »

Gold25Dog wrote: »

hiyde wrote: »

Gold25Dog wrote: »

Hey all - apparently they don't check their remove me email very often - that said in this case I am thankful - I need help - I am in game now trying to sort out how to transfer these crowns to my friend before I delete my account - can someone here provide direction guidance on how to do that ? I was reading on another thread I think that this is possible via a guild or something ?

You can't. If Crown Gifting isn't enabled for your account, there is no method of doing so. The only thing you can spend those crowns on are items for yourself.

I could have sworn I saw on a thread that such things could be transferred via a guild ...? hmm well that sucks

no, i told you to ask in your guild if anyone was selling crowns. without gifting enabled, there is no legal way to transfer them. and i don't think they just delete accounts. game or forum. plus... i'm pretty sure they are still on break. it's only january 2nd

ok - so what I am hearing then is that I am stuck with these crowns - I cannot gift or trade them - I have like 18k of them and that really sucks because I know my friend could really use them since he will be continuing to play the game.

I appreciate the help and I apologize for not understanding what you were suggesting. In essence there is nothing that can be done

correct, for now, you are stuck with them until they decide to unlock gifting on your account. if you want to gift, you'll have to either do like you were doing with paypal or find someone to buy the crowns from with in game gold and they will send it to your friend.

AzuraFan · January 3

scrappy1342 wrote: »

it's curious thing for sure. if i had to guess, there's some unknown obscure red flag somewhere that we don't know about. or it's possible that there would be no issue at all if you were to dispute it now.

I've thought about what an obscure red flag could be. One possibility is that my forum name isn't the same as my ESO @ name. It's allowed, so it would be pretty bad if they then said, "red flag!!"

Another possibility could be an address change (twice since I created my account, but I didn't move countries or even regions). I also might have changed the email address associated with my account, if that's possible. But moving and changing email addresses are common things to do. Nothing that would scream "possible fraudster!!", and if I did change my email address, it would have been way back in 2017 or 2018.

I honestly can't think of any other possible reasons why my account was rejected when they did their original pass.

Aislinna · January 3

AzuraFan wrote: »

scrappy1342 wrote: »

it's curious thing for sure. if i had to guess, there's some unknown obscure red flag somewhere that we don't know about. or it's possible that there would be no issue at all if you were to dispute it now.

I've thought about what an obscure red flag could be. One possibility is that my forum name isn't the same as my ESO @ name. It's allowed, so it would be pretty bad if they then said, "red flag!!"

Another possibility could be an address change (twice since I created my account, but I didn't move countries or even regions). I also might have changed the email address associated with my account, if that's possible. But moving and changing email addresses are common things to do. Nothing that would scream "possible fraudster!!", and if I did change my email address, it would have been way back in 2017 or 2018.

I honestly can't think of any other possible reasons why my account was rejected when they did their original pass.

When was the last time you requested gifting be turned on... sounds like you haven't. And at this point if you won't submit a ticket and request gifting be turned on, it will not be turned on. You can guess at the reason why you were denied over 2 years ago, but it really doesn't matter, as ZOS has said the acceptance criteria has been refined and changed over time.

scrappy1342 · January 3

AzuraFan wrote: »

scrappy1342 wrote: »

it's curious thing for sure. if i had to guess, there's some unknown obscure red flag somewhere that we don't know about. or it's possible that there would be no issue at all if you were to dispute it now.

I've thought about what an obscure red flag could be. One possibility is that my forum name isn't the same as my ESO @ name. It's allowed, so it would be pretty bad if they then said, "red flag!!"

Another possibility could be an address change (twice since I created my account, but I didn't move countries or even regions). I also might have changed the email address associated with my account, if that's possible. But moving and changing email addresses are common things to do. Nothing that would scream "possible fraudster!!", and if I did change my email address, it would have been way back in 2017 or 2018.

I honestly can't think of any other possible reasons why my account was rejected when they did their original pass.

that could very well be what it was. just because something is a red flag doesn't necessarily mean it's not allowed or not impassable. it's just something that they are aware of. changing your address and email address but keeping the same name might make them think the account was sold at some point. so contacting them may clear that up. ya know... after jumping through the hoops to get a live person because they just deny everything first and expect you to repeal. the fact that your forum and game names are different might not allow them to see that the account in question is owned by this person who has been very active in the community/forums for several years.

AzuraFan · January 3

Aislinna wrote: »

When was the last time you requested gifting be turned on... sounds like you haven't. And at this point if you won't submit a ticket and request gifting be turned on, it will not be turned on. You can guess at the reason why you were denied over 2 years ago, but it really doesn't matter, as ZOS has said the acceptance criteria has been refined and changed over time.

Read my previous posts in the thread.

scrappy1342 wrote: »

that could very well be what it was. just because something is a red flag doesn't necessarily mean it's not allowed or not impassable. it's just something that they are aware of. changing your address and email address but keeping the same name might make them think the account was sold at some point. so contacting them may clear that up. ya know... after jumping through the hoops to get a live person because they just deny everything first and expect you to repeal. the fact that your forum and game names are different might not allow them to see that the account in question is owned by this person who has been very active in the community/forums for several years.

If changing an address or email address resulted in rejections, then a ton of accounts must have been rejected. Anyway, we can speculate until the cows come home, but we'll never know.

scrappy1342 · January 3

maybe not changing an address OR email address would flag it, but having both could be what does it in. not to where it keeps them excluded forever, but they might need to have an actual conversation with zos so they can determine whether or not they want to risk it

AzuraFan · January 3

scrappy1342 wrote: »

maybe not changing an address OR email address would flag it, but having both could be what does it in. not to where it keeps them excluded forever, but they might need to have an actual conversation with zos so they can determine whether or not they want to risk it

I'm not actually sure if I changed the email address. I had to let go of an email address when I moved because it was attached to an ISP that didn't serve the new city. But I might have used my gmail address when I signed up for ESO. I can't remember.

It's moot because I'm not planning to do anything about the gifting situation. I would just be curious to know why my account was declined, but that won't happen.

JustLovely · January 3

Gold25Dog wrote: »

scrappy1342 wrote: »

Gold25Dog wrote: »

hiyde wrote: »

Gold25Dog wrote: »

Hey all - apparently they don't check their remove me email very often - that said in this case I am thankful - I need help - I am in game now trying to sort out how to transfer these crowns to my friend before I delete my account - can someone here provide direction guidance on how to do that ? I was reading on another thread I think that this is possible via a guild or something ?

You can't. If Crown Gifting isn't enabled for your account, there is no method of doing so. The only thing you can spend those crowns on are items for yourself.

I could have sworn I saw on a thread that such things could be transferred via a guild ...? hmm well that sucks

no, i told you to ask in your guild if anyone was selling crowns. without gifting enabled, there is no legal way to transfer them. and i don't think they just delete accounts. game or forum. plus... i'm pretty sure they are still on break. it's only january 2nd

ok - so what I am hearing then is that I am stuck with these crowns - I cannot gift or trade them - I have like 18k of them and that really sucks because I know my friend could really use them since he will be continuing to play the game.

I appreciate the help and I apologize for not understanding what you were suggesting. In essence there is nothing that can be done

Not necessarily stuck with the crowns.

I have gotten a refund of a crown purchase before in the past because gifting was not enabled on the account.

I simply requested a refund via my player portal with ZOS and clearly stated I purchased the crowns to gift items to a family member then couldn't because the account didn't have gifting enabled. Don't be rude or confrontational when making the request. Just be matter of fact and state your case clearly and respectfully.

You can get a crown purchase refunded. I've done it, so it's possible. Not saying it will work out for you, but if done respectfully it can be done. Just clearly state you can't use the crowns as intended so you'd like a refund PLEASE.

By the way- I also think it's important for the refund request to work to not have spent any of the crowns yet.