Getting Frustrated with Support Response Delay

deadwinston

I have a problem with my account and can't login. I submitted a ticket Saturday morning when I noticed. I received a response back Sunday and quickly replied. Then no response for two days now. The problem with my account has nothing to do with anything I did, but a mistake the billing system made when I bought Elsweyr. I've now missed 3 days worth of event tickets from the last event and can't get anything beyond the initial response. It looks like some people have been able to check support ticket statuses here, so if someone could check 191207-002069 for me, that would be great. I can't log in or find any support portal, so I don't know if my email replies are getting back to support staff. The whole process is very annoying.

Taleof2Cities

What exactly does "a mistake the billing system made" mean?

deadwinston

It means they doubled charged my credit card for a purchase. And when my credit card company said, hey did you get double charged? And I answered that, yes, I did get double charged. Something was done automatically in the ESO account system that now prevents me from logging in.

ZOS_Bill

@deadwinston

Please check your inbox for follow-up regarding ticket #191207-002069.

deadwinston

Follow-up for anyone curious, it's now been 8 days since the account was locked out and 7 days since the only response I received from the support ticket system. Not only did I miss out on last event's final days of tickets, it's completely ruined my ability to get the preview crate for this month's login rewards.

deadwinston

This is now day 11 of being locked out of my account. I added up the game purchases, years of ESO plus and crowns spent on this game since buying it 12/11/2015, and it's over $600. It would seem that if you spent that much money on something, the account support should be good enough to correct a problem their billing system caused and at least let me access a game I've dumped money and time into consistently for four years.

I've been told not to continue responding to my ticket since that can reset my position in queue, so I feel like I'm just whispering my frustrations here into the void. If I could get that time and money spent refunded back right now, I would 100% take it over sitting in limbo and fighting back the inclination to feed the rage of righteous indignation. If anyone can hear me out here, there is a problem with the support system that needs to be fixed.

ZOS_Nith

Hi there! I've sent you a PM regarding your ticket.

Elsonso

Sadly, if there is anything irregular in your purchase, and ZOS gets slapped by the credit company, ZOS charges you with their version of credit card fraud and lets you sit in a queue until your name comes up. Refer to this thread: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/498009/account-has-gone Per that thread, it took them 21 days to recover from a simple credit hiccup due to a double charge.

deadwinston

lordrichter wrote: »

Sadly, if there is anything irregular in your purchase, and ZOS gets slapped by the credit company, ZOS charges you with their version of credit card fraud and lets you sit in a queue until your name comes up. Refer to this thread: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/498009/account-has-gone Per that thread, it took them 21 days to recover from a simple credit hiccup due to a double charge.

Well that certainly doesn't inspire any hope. Especially since that OP and his bank were at fault and he needed to stop the chargeback. In my case, the chargeback is justified because two purchases weren't made for the double charge. With the current rate of support responses, what do you think the chances of proving to them that they tried to steal my money and should unlock my account are?

deadwinston

Alright, have to stay positive and fight back the ennui. There are people working on it. I just need to wait it out despite how unnecessarily long the process seems.

Thanks @ZOS_BillE and @ZOS_Nith for the assists.

deadwinston

I finally got a response back which said that, even though they did double charge me, I need to have the CC company stop the chargeback. I called the CC company who said they can't stop the chargeback unless ESO's billing system or bank responds back to them and says the charge is valid. The dispute team put a note on that charge to go ahead and allow it should they eventually get around to it.

This whole situation is completely unreasonable, and you would expect when it deals with account lockouts and financial transactions that support wouldn't sit around a ticket for over a week. What I have learned is that you should never, ever report a duplicate charge to your credit card company if you want to have access to the game because online companies can be withholding jerks even when they are in the wrong and double charged you for something.

Elsonso

deadwinston wrote: »

I finally got a response back which said that, even though they did double charge me, I need to have the CC company stop the chargeback. I called the CC company who said they can't stop the chargeback unless ESO's billing system or bank responds back to them and says the charge is valid. The dispute team put a note on that charge to go ahead and allow it should they eventually get around to it.

This whole situation is completely unreasonable, and you would expect when it deals with account lockouts and financial transactions that support wouldn't sit around a ticket for over a week. What I have learned is that you should never, ever report a duplicate charge to your credit card company if you want to have access to the game because online companies can be withholding jerks even when they are in the wrong and double charged you for something.

ZOS could easily just let you play the game while this resolves. Totally within their power to do so.

deadwinston

lordrichter wrote: »

ZOS could easily just let you play the game while this resolves. Totally within their power to do so.

Yes, they absolutely could...

deadwinston

Does a ticket stay escalated once it comes up and I respond? I need the ESO billing people to respond to the charge. My CC company says they can't stop the chargeback unless the merchant makes an effort to dispute.

Elsonso

deadwinston

Yep, tomorrow will be 2 weeks from the lockout. I can't get a response. Looks like I'm going to be stuck and miss out on the whole new life festival by the time they finally resolve this, if they ever resolve this.

Elsonso

deadwinston wrote: »

Yep, tomorrow will be 2 weeks from the lockout. I can't get a response. Looks like I'm going to be stuck and miss out on the whole new life festival by the time they finally resolve this, if they ever resolve this.

What happened with this? It has been 9 days since the latest update.

deadwinston

Elsonso wrote: »

deadwinston wrote: »

Yep, tomorrow will be 2 weeks from the lockout. I can't get a response. Looks like I'm going to be stuck and miss out on the whole new life festival by the time they finally resolve this, if they ever resolve this.

What happened with this? It has been 9 days since the latest update.

Well, since I told my CC company to allow the reversal of the charge back on Tue, Dec 17, 7:46 PM (12 days ago) and updated the ESO support ticket, I haven't heard back on the support ticket.

Tue, Dec 24, 1:25 PM (5 days ago) I did get a response back from @ZOS_BillE to a DM where he confirmed "I'm showing our TOS team has gotten your request for someone to contact your CC company to dispute the chargeback. This request may take some time due to the current holiday period."

I just assumed I was going to be be stuck without account access for the New Life Festival. I don't know what to do here since I'm at the mercy of the snail's pace process that seems to be the support system. We're at 23 days without account access at this point.

deadwinston

Elsonso wrote: »

deadwinston wrote: »

Yep, tomorrow will be 2 weeks from the lockout. I can't get a response. Looks like I'm going to be stuck and miss out on the whole new life festival by the time they finally resolve this, if they ever resolve this.

What happened with this? It has been 9 days since the latest update.

It is now a whole year later (couldn't help myself), and I finally have access to my account again. I don't know if it's unlocked for good or if it will just be temporarily unlocked for 24 hours. They essentially held my account hostage until I bought $15.89 worth of crowns, and they plan on taking those crowns out of my account balance, so I don't get to use them. I have repeatedly mentioned how this is unfair, I was double charged, it doesn't make any sense to keep me out of the account for a month after your billing system double charged my credit card, etc., but I haven't gotten a single response back on the point of fairness or felt like a human being is on the other end of the support terminal.

Here is a recap of my support experience.
11/26/2019 10:30 AM - I foolishly purchase Elsweyr for $13.98 on sale because I believe at the time I will be able to play the game.
11/28/19 05:28 PM - I notice I have been charged $13.98 twice by mistake and my credit card company starts to look into the issue and credits back $13.98 for the duplicate charge the next day.
12/07/2019 01:12 PM - I try to login to complete my dragon dailies for event tickets and notice my account is locked out. I make a support ticket.
12/08/2019 03:07 PM - Support responds back that accounts are automatically deactivated when there is a chargeback. They tell me I need to have the credit card company reverse the chargeback.
12/08/2019 03:21 PM - I reply explaining I was double charged and send a screenshot showing the two charges made for $13.98 to my credit card and single refund for $13.98.
12/09/2019 06:53 PM - I reply asking if they have an update because the lockout has caused me to lose 6 event tickets (which I foolishly think will be the worst injustice in this process).
12/10/2019 08:39 PM - I reply again because it has been 2 days since support has responded (I don't yet know that a 12-day silence is completely within the realm of possibility). Somewhere around this time I make this forum post. I learn from a mod that responding back to a ticket multiple times can reset your position in queue.
12/17/2019 07:20 PM - Support ignores the fact that I was double charged and tells me to reverse the chargeback with my credit card company.
12/17/2019 07:20 PM - I respond that I will call the credit card company to reverse the chargeback and ask about getting a refund for the duplicate charge.
12/17/2019 07:46 PM - I respond after 25 minutes on the phone with my credit card company that they can't reverse the chargeback unless the merchant follows the dispute procedure and tells them the charge is valid.
A long and bitter winter interlude occurs...
12/30/2019 04:18 PM - Support finally responds that they want me to buy 1500 crowns instead then and will take the 1500 crowns out of my account.
12/31/2019 06:39 AM - I reply that I will do whatever it takes to get into my account, but point out the injustice in having me pay more money when they already have the $13.98 for Elsweyr.
01/04/2020 02:25 PM - Support once again ignores the double charge, refund, injustice, etc. and tells me to buy the crowns.
01/04/2020 09:34 PM - I reply that the purchase has been made, sending a screenshot of it. I reiterate how I have now paid them $29.87 because they overcharged me for a $13.98 purchase.
01/04/2020 10:04 PM - Support ignores all of that and responds that they have removed the crowns and I can play the game again. They end the message with "We hope this helps and we hope that you have fun gaming."
01/04/19 10:09 PM - I reply back to see about getting that $13.98 refund that I am owed, but expect to get ignored again. I also expect to feel robbed.

Nord_Raseri

Damn. I don't even know what to tell you here. You're sure you want to keep playing their game? Because after reading all that, I'm not sure if I want to keep investing time and money in their game, with a possibility of getting dicked around that hard and robbed...

deadwinston

Nord_Raseri wrote: »

Damn. I don't even know what to tell you here. You're sure you want to keep playing their game? Because after reading all that, I'm not sure if I want to keep investing time and money in their game, with a possibility of getting dicked around that hard and robbed...

@Nord_Raseri Yeah, over all the years of playing the game, I've spent like $750, countless hours, etc., etc. So I don't really want to throw that all away. I haven't been ESO Plus in a year or more and waiting until Thanksgiving to buy Elsweyr, so it's kind of a back-burner game anyway (dungeon-dlcs are lame content). Anyway, I wanted to check out the new zones, play through the quests, do the holiday events and then wait to see what comes next.

I suppose if you haven't invested the time to get like 10 characters to level 50 with over 1000 champion points, it might be wise not to dump money into the game given how easily it can all be locked out for something that isn't your fault. I was essentially electronically blackmailed for $16.

Elsonso

@deadwinston ZOS should give you 3000 Crowns, now, to compensate you for the stress and temporary loss of game access.

Nord_Raseri

deadwinston wrote: »

Nord_Raseri wrote: »

Damn. I don't even know what to tell you here. You're sure you want to keep playing their game? Because after reading all that, I'm not sure if I want to keep investing time and money in their game, with a possibility of getting dicked around that hard and robbed...

@Nord_Raseri Yeah, over all the years of playing the game, I've spent like $750, countless hours, etc., etc. So I don't really want to throw that all away. I haven't been ESO Plus in a year or more and waiting until Thanksgiving to buy Elsweyr, so it's kind of a back-burner game anyway (dungeon-dlcs are lame content). Anyway, I wanted to check out the new zones, play through the quests, do the holiday events and then wait to see what comes next.

I suppose if you haven't invested the time to get like 10 characters to level 50 with over 1000 champion points, it might be wise not to dump money into the game given how easily it can all be locked out for something that isn't your fault. I was essentially electronically blackmailed for $16.

I've got 12 characters at 1100cp, a nice guild house, and various other things I've dumped a few too many crowns in, so it might be a bit late for that. I really do hope ZOS fixes you up with a huge crown pack that comes with a nice apology.

Nord_Raseri

@ZOS_GinaBruno please have someone over there help this guy.

deadwinston

Nord_Raseri wrote: »

I really do hope ZOS fixes you up with a huge crown pack that comes with a nice apology.

I don't expect them to even acknowledge the error since they have conveniently never responded to anything about the double charge. I think that's the thing that bothers me the most honestly. If they would just admit to digitally mugging me and holding the account hostage for an extra $16 beyond what I paid for, I could just let it rest and know in the future what kind of company I'm dealing with.

As it stands, I'm reluctant to ever give them a credit card number again for future chapters, ESO Plus, etc.

It also makes me wonder if their tech support team is US-based or not because a non-native speaker might not completely understand the situation depending on how it's phrased. It's something I've run into before. If they are native English speakers, they should understand what a double-charge is, what a refund is, what fairness and justice mean, etc. This is the one time I actually hope the tech support is foreign because otherwise it seems like I'm dealing with sociopaths or unfeeling robots who only understand acquiring money at any cost.

deadwinston

Still no response on the support ticket question:

You didn't answer my question about being double charged. Are you going to refund me $13.98 now that I have paid an additional $15.89?

You charged me $13.98 twice which totals $27.96. My credit card company gave me $13.98 back. You disabled my account until I paid you an additional $15.89. I have now given you $29.87 for something that was supposed to cost me $13.98.

deadwinston

@Elsonso Hey, I wanted to update you that I have finally resolved the problem and ESO Support is refunding the $15.89 in crowns. I did have to start a more public thread to get it done though.

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/507942/if-your-credit-card-gets-double-charged-beware-the-dangers-of-support#latest

I can finally put this issue to rest, 5 1/2 weeks later.