Bank Account Being Charged?

zadiasstark · April 2014

The following is False, in My case.
Why is a subscription charge showing up on my billing statement before the end of the 30 day trial?
Updated 04/08/2014 02:46 PM Published 04/03/2014 09:37 PM

For credit cards, debit cards and PayPal there is no charge made until after your included 30 days of game time has expired.

My card has been charged the full 14.99 on 4/8/2014

4/8/2014 POS Withdrawal - 855.296.3170ELDRSCROLS SUITE 120 TEL8552963170M - Card Ending In xxxx $14.99.

I sent a support ticket and a phone ticket. 2 days ago. no response yet.

Dodas · April 2014

what happens if i chose paysafecard. Do they take the money from the paysafe and never return it?

Vladish · April 2014

Turrican wrote: »

I really don't understand the problem here. Yes, you have to choose a subscription and then they will run an authorisation check on your card (but not charge you). What is stopping you from simply cancelling your subscription and enjoying the remainder of the 30 days play time?

The TOS itself is preventing proper cancellation. Some people upon subscription are left with less than 30 days of game play before subscription takes place. Cancelling it within less than 30 days violates their ToS granting them "permission" to charge you for next month regardless. SOME were given an extra day or two, but no one said that those days will be considered valid for purposes of cancellation, and as for the time being ZeniMax is proving to be an irresponsible child rather than a respectful company.

AntiParadox · April 2014

*sigh* So discouraging to follow these threads, and to see so people with the same or similar issues. Still waiting on my callback (and kicking myself for waiting a couple of days to "let things settle down" - I should've started sooner). Already put in one ticket, but got the same sort of response that showed the rep didn't actually bother to read my ticket. (Or maybe their script/playbook didn't have a more suitable response; not blaming the service reps for the company's oversight.)

I bought the $80 digital Imperial Edition directly from this site, because I wanted to avoid troubles arising from 3rd party vendors. That was over a month ago. Now I can't access the time I already paid because it won't let me set up a subscription with that exact same card. I'm not asking for free time or extra time, just the time that I already paid for, using the card they already happily accepted my $80 from.

If I still think the game is awesome after 30 days, then I will gladly buy more time. That is why I'm trying to set things up now. I am all for supporting the games I enjoy. But the way this is going.... launches are rarely smooth, but yeesh, seeing red flags all over the place and I'm seriously having second thoughts. From what I'm reading, it doesn't look like using my credit card is such a good idea. Looks like gametime cards are the safer option. ...when and if those ever show up. (Oh the joys of rural living. Pfft.)

TLDR: Bought a new game and can't play it? *sigh* Me too.

brodieradiob14_ESO · April 2014

Maestro_Sartori wrote: »

Calistrasza wrote: »

Winnower wrote: »

What we have here are a bunch of teenagers who want to use mommy's credit card to set up a subscription but if mommy sees the authorization hold they'll be in trouble.

Is this everyone? Nah, of course not, I'm sure there are people who actually live on such a shoestring that they can't afford $13-$15 authorization on their credit / debit card. If this true they probably don't have the budget to actually afford to play a P2P game (or buy it, that $60 should have gone to paying your bills or your groceries).

But what it REALLY probably is, is neither of the above; it's probably people who can perfectly afford the holding charge and the subscription fee who are so self-entitled that they like to go online and put all the anger of the quiet desperation, repression, and frustration of their meaningless existence (in a philosophical sense) into diatribes against a company who they have decided to work out all their issues against.

Honestly, Zenimax doesn't need clientele who can't afford to play the game; so I'm not seeing a loss here.

Any subscription MMO is painfully cheap; you basically pay about 2 cents an hour for 24 hour access to the game.

The game costs a tiny fraction of what it costs to have a computer that can play the game, or internet access that can play the game adequately. Furthermore it is only a blip on the radar of my total budget: any of my budgets for bills, cable TV or other entertainment, food costs, mortgage, etc are all meaningful expenses. If this is not you, you should reconsider your budgeting priorities.

2 cents an hour. And people whine. Wow.

I have plenty of money. What I do not have is a credit card. Yes, this is by choice. No, I'm not going to get a credit card just to pay a subscription. I can fully afford to play this game. I had every intention of paying for a subscription once my 30 days was up. My plan was to buy game cards once every 60 days (because you can't buy a 30 day game card for whatever reason).

Here is the issue: There are no game cards. They. Do. Not. Exist. I cannot walk into any store, shop, game store or log onto any website and buy a game card. I purchased a digital copy of this game using the credit card of a very, very generous friend. When I was contemplating paying for it, I read that the purchase price included 30 days of play time. It did not say I would have to pay for an additional 30 days of play time in order to access the 30 days of play time I was paying for. Had they been honest about this up front, I probably wouldn't have purchased the game.

This isn't about the cost. It isn't about paying for a subscription. It's about the fact that people paid for 30 days (it's not "free" and anyone who thinks it is needs to think again) and they are now being told that in order to get the 30 days they have already paid for they have to pay an additional amount of money for a subscription that isn't even going to be active until the 30 days they've already paid for is over.

The bottom line is that it doesn't matter why people don't want to pay it. It doesn't matter if they planned on it originally, it doesn't even matter how they intended to pay for it. What matters is that we're being told that unless we pay upfront for a subscription that won't be activated for at least 30 days, we will not be allowed to access a product that we have already paid for. And that is why people are so angry over this.

I haven't paid a dime for the subscription to this game and I'm still playing:)

Mommy's credit card?

thegamekittenub17_ESO · April 2014

I would like to add to this forum. Our account was charged (NOT pending, but actually CHARGED) for two subs in the amount of 29.98. It has been five days and it still remains as a CHARGE. We called and it was confirmed that this company charged this amount to our account, that nothing was pending.

Interesting to pay for the free 30 days.

jackal104 · April 2014

are we not going to get any official response to all this

jaschacasadiob16_ESO · April 2014

jackal104 wrote: »

are we not going to get any official response to all this

Well, what do you expect them to say? They are replying to other threads, suggesting they are there and aware of this thread. What should they say? Yes, to play the 30 days you paid for, as customer care said, you have to pay another month.

Their silence is more than an ackowledgement.

Bansheedragon · April 2014

Maestro_Sartori wrote: »

Bansheedragon wrote: »

Maestro_Sartori wrote: »

Calistrasza wrote: »

Winnower wrote: »

What we have here are a bunch of teenagers who want to use mommy's credit card to set up a subscription but if mommy sees the authorization hold they'll be in trouble.

Is this everyone? Nah, of course not, I'm sure there are people who actually live on such a shoestring that they can't afford $13-$15 authorization on their credit / debit card. If this true they probably don't have the budget to actually afford to play a P2P game (or buy it, that $60 should have gone to paying your bills or your groceries).

But what it REALLY probably is, is neither of the above; it's probably people who can perfectly afford the holding charge and the subscription fee who are so self-entitled that they like to go online and put all the anger of the quiet desperation, repression, and frustration of their meaningless existence (in a philosophical sense) into diatribes against a company who they have decided to work out all their issues against.

Honestly, Zenimax doesn't need clientele who can't afford to play the game; so I'm not seeing a loss here.

Any subscription MMO is painfully cheap; you basically pay about 2 cents an hour for 24 hour access to the game.

The game costs a tiny fraction of what it costs to have a computer that can play the game, or internet access that can play the game adequately. Furthermore it is only a blip on the radar of my total budget: any of my budgets for bills, cable TV or other entertainment, food costs, mortgage, etc are all meaningful expenses. If this is not you, you should reconsider your budgeting priorities.

2 cents an hour. And people whine. Wow.

I have plenty of money. What I do not have is a credit card. Yes, this is by choice. No, I'm not going to get a credit card just to pay a subscription. I can fully afford to play this game. I had every intention of paying for a subscription once my 30 days was up. My plan was to buy game cards once every 60 days (because you can't buy a 30 day game card for whatever reason).

Here is the issue: There are no game cards. They. Do. Not. Exist. I cannot walk into any store, shop, game store or log onto any website and buy a game card. I purchased a digital copy of this game using the credit card of a very, very generous friend. When I was contemplating paying for it, I read that the purchase price included 30 days of play time. It did not say I would have to pay for an additional 30 days of play time in order to access the 30 days of play time I was paying for. Had they been honest about this up front, I probably wouldn't have purchased the game.

This isn't about the cost. It isn't about paying for a subscription. It's about the fact that people paid for 30 days (it's not "free" and anyone who thinks it is needs to think again) and they are now being told that in order to get the 30 days they have already paid for they have to pay an additional amount of money for a subscription that isn't even going to be active until the 30 days they've already paid for is over.

The bottom line is that it doesn't matter why people don't want to pay it. It doesn't matter if they planned on it originally, it doesn't even matter how they intended to pay for it. What matters is that we're being told that unless we pay upfront for a subscription that won't be activated for at least 30 days, we will not be allowed to access a product that we have already paid for. And that is why people are so angry over this.

I haven't paid a dime for the subscription to this game and I'm still playing:)

Your comment brings up a very important question.

Did you buy the game directly from Zenimax(ESO Store), or did you but a physical copy from a different seller?

I bought the Physcial imperial edition through Gamestop. Pre-ordered it, got my early access code e-mailed too me. I ordered it overnight delivery I had it Friday morning on the 4th. All the other codes were with the game which I entered without any issues.

Then you are one of those few people who has not encountered any problems.
I was forced to set up a subscription plan when I entered my code, physical imperial as well, and they then took a full month payment as an authorization charge.
That was on Saturday, I'm still waiting for it to be released.

Geneticspore · April 2014

so here we go...day 3 still no call back, still no email, posted in a few other threats, no response. This is just off the wall disgusting. Enjoy the F2P game you idiots at Zennimax created due to incompetence on a massive level.

SatansPressAgent · April 2014

Day 5: My $15 is still a hostage of Zenimax.

brodieradiob14_ESO · April 2014

I just got an e-mail response, after my fourth try and threatening legal action, as earlier stated. Here's the response (not a cookie cutter one, I was a little shocked)

"Mitch,

Currently we don't have any way to expedite the return of authorization funds. Once the hold has been canceled on our end your financial institution is the only one able to release the funds. This is quite literally out of our hands at the moment, which I realize is not a satisfying answer. If your charge was processed on a weekend that could also increase the amount of time it would take for the hold to be released, due to banks only processing certain things on week days.

I didn't see if you had contacted your bank yet or not, but they would have access to more information about the funds that are being held.

I wish I could be of more help, but there isn't much we can do once we cancel the charge.

If you have any other questions just let us know and we'll do what we can to help

Warm Regards,
The Elder Scrolls Online Team"

Rastaban · April 2014

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

Upon setting up your subscription plan you may see an initial transaction against your account however this transaction is only temporary. The charge represents an authorization check against the account provided and will be removed once the authorization check is complete.

Exceptions to this general rule are Webmoney, ideal, PaySafeCard, and Giropay.

[Update]
We want everyone who purchased ESO to have immediate access to the included 30 days of ESO game time. In the event that you enter your payment information for authorization and the transaction cancels due to lack of funds in your account, please contact our Support Team. We’ll work with you to ensure you have access to your included 30 days of game time.

Please ensure that you have attempted to enter payment information and had the transaction fail due to lack of funds before submitting a help request. We will get you into the game and playing as soon as possible.

We require you to choose a subscription option and enter valid payment information. For credit cards, debit cards and PayPal there is no charge made until after your included 30 days of game time has expired. For these payment methods, there is an authorization check performed to ensure the payment method is valid. You may see a temporary account authorization hold put on funds in your account while the verification completes. Usually this authorization hold lasts a short period of time before being removed. It can vary from bank to bank.

If you prefer to use one of the following payment methods, payment is processed at the time of selecting your preferred subscription plan.
Game Time Cards [via Retailer]

GiroPay

iDeal

Paysafe Card

WebMoney

gazumpipes wrote: »

Rastaban wrote: »

How is this an acceptable practice if a person does not want to continue with a subscription plan after one month of game time? This practice forces gamers to commit to a subscription plan they may not want, as well as forces financial information that may have no relevance to their game play in ESO.

Why does one need a valid payment method if one has nothing to buy?

I have another question. This is what is stated obviously when you purchase the product:

30 days of game time included
Subscription and account for The Elder Scrolls Online required
A persistent internet connection is required to play

So a subscription is required beyond the 30 days of game time. Interestingly, I suppose when I bought the game I assumed the 30 days of game time was the subscription. Who knows.

Anyway nowhere there does it state that if you buy the game you will be required to pay something or provide CC information in order to play the entitled 30 days game time. Does it state it somewhere else that I missed, like in small print?

At present I am blocked from playing the game because I cancelled my subscription plan. I don't really want to commit to a subscription plan when i am not ready to commit to it because it's too easy to forget and then get charged. I sent in a support ticket but to not be able to play time I paid for, I don't like that.

As an aside, I keep hearing people say the 30 days game time is "free". It really wasn't free. It's not "free trial" of any sort. We paid for it, as part of the game package.

Right now the unfortunately it doesn't help to *** and moan on the forums as ZoS doesn't give a damn. I've found all we are doing here is moan to each other and its not like one client can help the other, Zenimax is unwilling to help or does not have the knowledge or staff capacity to efficiently help anyone.

Actually one of the only reasons I post is because I am hoping to get alternative perspectives on the issue from others. I don't expect them to respond to it either.

kage71 · April 2014

Rhoric wrote: »

cazlonb16_ESO wrote: »

Rhoric wrote: »

All sub based games require you to enter a subscription plan prior to receiving your free 30 days.

No, most MMOs do not actually, or did not when they still were subscription based games anyway.

Actually yes they did. I have been playing MMOs since 2000

No dude they did not do what these companies are doing now days. Before they would ping your account to valid it was an account there with only about a $1 charge to it to make sure. Now they are trying to ping your account for the full amount due 30 days later is way out of line.

thegamekittenub17_ESO · April 2014

kage71 wrote: »

Rhoric wrote: »

cazlonb16_ESO wrote: »

Rhoric wrote: »

All sub based games require you to enter a subscription plan prior to receiving your free 30 days.

No, most MMOs do not actually, or did not when they still were subscription based games anyway.

Actually yes they did. I have been playing MMOs since 2000

No dude they did not do what these companies are doing now days. Before they would ping your account to valid it was an account there with only about a $1 charge to it to make sure. Now they are trying to ping your account for the full amount due 30 days later is way out of line.

Nope they actually charged and received two subs for two accounts. Called bank to verify what was going on and then checked account page and the two accounts are ticking down days and recharge is in May.

I know in WoW during BC I was never asked for a CC to play free for 30 days. I put in code from box and played. I was written an email a week before free time ran out to remind me if I wanted to keep playing I needed to sub.

So, in fact they are charging some folks the full amount of this month's play time and will charge next month. Our bank shows pending funds no matter if it is their bank or ours.

Rastaban · April 2014

kage71 wrote: »

Rhoric wrote: »

cazlonb16_ESO wrote: »

Rhoric wrote: »

All sub based games require you to enter a subscription plan prior to receiving your free 30 days.

No, most MMOs do not actually, or did not when they still were subscription based games anyway.

Actually yes they did. I have been playing MMOs since 2000

No dude they did not do what these companies are doing now days. Before they would ping your account to valid it was an account there with only about a $1 charge to it to make sure. Now they are trying to ping your account for the full amount due 30 days later is way out of line.

I agree. I was very surprised to see a $41.97 charge pending on my bank account as soon as I set up a 3 month subscription.

GREEN_SEVEN · April 2014

I pre-ordered through store and after the early access period I activated a 30 day subscription plan selected my preferred subscription plan. Ten minutes later I cancelled that subscription. Now that we all have a better understanding of the situation and according to the interpretations of the wordings, where does that place me if my money is not returned within the 30 days? Can ZOS then be able to help me?

Vladish · April 2014

Rastaban wrote: »

Actually one of the only reasons I post is because I am hoping to get alternative perspectives on the issue from others. I don't expect them to respond to it either.

The problem I have with that is according to their ticket support their alternative to insufficient funds for authorization is to spam your mail with copy/paste information in hopes that you will make money magically appear on your account. Unfortunately they released a game at the beginning of month when all bills (at least for me) are due, so I still have at least a week of being unable to pay for it. I am not willing to risk my bills after so many people reporting to have their money held for a week now.

Esoriel · April 2014

I think I speak for everyone when I say we should not have to setup a subscription plan until after our first 30 days are used.

silvestru_liviueb17_ESO · April 2014

jackal104 wrote: »

are we not going to get any official response to all this

Don't expect it! I don't! I am used to it, thanks to ea

GREEN_SEVEN wrote: »

I pre-ordered through store and after the early access period I activated a 30 day subscription plan selected my preferred subscription plan. Ten minutes later I cancelled that subscription. Now that we all have a better understanding of the situation and according to the interpretations of the wordings, where does that place me if my money is not returned within the 30 days? Can ZOS then be able to help me?

My situation too. If money are not returned then what?

gazumpipes · April 2014

Finally someone from support contacted me and assisted me with applying my game-code and explorer's pack that I purchased from GmG... it has even said that I have redeemed my 30 days inclusive. But I am back to square one. I cannot log into the game as I do not have a subscription.

As stated via the screenshot this is not a mistake, it is a feature and requires you to add a subscription. However I am still unable to load a subscription and still get the transaction not authorized using visa, mastercard and paypal. So my 30 days inclusive is going to just tick off and I cannot access the game unfortunately.

spartycus · April 2014

the hold on the money dropped this morning and I went and bought something nice to eat, thats how much i care about 15 bucks you A-holes!

Vladish · April 2014

silvestru_liviueb17_ESO wrote: »

jackal104 wrote: »

are we not going to get any official response to all this

Don't expect it! I don't! I am used to it, thanks to ea

GREEN_SEVEN wrote: »

I pre-ordered through store and after the early access period I activated a 30 day subscription plan selected my preferred subscription plan. Ten minutes later I cancelled that subscription. Now that we all have a better understanding of the situation and according to the interpretations of the wordings, where does that place me if my money is not returned within the 30 days? Can ZOS then be able to help me?

My situation too. If money are not returned then what?

Lawsuit for theft and/or getting your banks involved for fraud. Some of my friends are doing that as thier bank stated (like so many people here reported as well), that the money isn't being held by them, they are not being released by ZeniMax. If they try to hold your funds until next month and using it towards subscription, that's breach of contract/fraud and is grounds for a lawsuit. If that's the road they are planning on going, even their silly anti-lawsuit ToS policy wont protect their ass.

thegamekittenub17_ESO · April 2014

Vladish wrote: »

silvestru_liviueb17_ESO wrote: »

jackal104 wrote: »

are we not going to get any official response to all this

Don't expect it! I don't! I am used to it, thanks to ea

GREEN_SEVEN wrote: »

I pre-ordered through store and after the early access period I activated a 30 day subscription plan selected my preferred subscription plan. Ten minutes later I cancelled that subscription. Now that we all have a better understanding of the situation and according to the interpretations of the wordings, where does that place me if my money is not returned within the 30 days? Can ZOS then be able to help me?

My situation too. If money are not returned then what?

Lawsuit for theft and/or getting your banks involved for fraud. Some of my friends are doing that as thier bank stated (like so many people here reported as well), that the money isn't being held by them, they are not being released by ZeniMax. If they try to hold your funds until next month and using it towards subscription, that's breach of contract/fraud and is grounds for a lawsuit. If that's the road they are planning on going, even their silly anti-lawsuit ToS policy wont protect their ass.

I have to wonder if they will even use it on next months sub, since it clearly states on our two accounts they are going to charge us next month. I have contacted them by email about this. I do have a box that states 30 free days comes with purchase. I am going to print screen on my and my fiancé's account (make fiancé do it when he gets home actually). And I am getting a statement from our bank that this charge is a charge, that it isn't being held or pending that Zenimax has charged and been paid the total of two accounts subs of 14.99.

echodelta31 · April 2014

Apologies, but I may well have misled everyone on my last post...

What actually happened is that funds appeared in my account early...wasn't expecting them until Friday. So no wonder the card worked. Shows up a UK £8.99 pending charge, so we'll see how long that takes to drop off, if at all.

Sorry everyone....really thought that they had sorted it out for everyone, but it appears not :-(

mindlesstornado_ESO · April 2014

it takes anywhere from 1 to 5 day for the money to go back into your account it says. most banks dont do business on weekends. so really they still have at max 2 days to put the money back

Psychic_Kitty · April 2014

Well I got charged with this showing on my statement.

CHECKCARD 855.296.3170ELDRS ROCKVILLE MD ON 04/04

So am not getting my money back....and their account information says I am about be charged again on may 5th.

sooo....going to send a support ticket...

StarNic · April 2014

This transaction should be at lease one dollar, not the full amount that is being held against us customers. I currently have 30 USD being held because your system charged me twice. Now this is very troublesome for me and many others as we have other bills to pay and you're holding our money against our will until it's been cleared. It has been three days now and it has yet been cleared and returned to me. Now I even open a ticket for support via phone call but still yet to come through. I am very upset as a customer for a game that I already paid full price for and now suffering furthermore because of non logical team.

TheJadeFist · April 2014

Urbansoldier90ub17_ESO wrote: »

I emailed support multiple times since early, early this morning and received an email, then a phone call stating they would give me a one day access code to get my thirty days going. I received the email with my "1 day code" shortly after but the code was only seven digits long and *surprise, surprise* was "invalid".
Has anybody had a similar issue and if so, have you been able to since resolve the problem and been able to activate your thirty days? WITHOUT having to (because of not being able to) put in a card (because of not having the full "authorization charge" available in your account at right this second).

I'm so far 50 (now, 90) minutes into being on hold while trying to call customer support back. Ugh.

I was promised a code twice, and then never got one.

mechsoldiersalvatorenub18_ESO · April 2014

Vladish wrote: »

Calistrasza wrote: »

I said this 4 pages ago and feel it needs to be said again, because people keep pointing out that "it's right there in the ToS" and those of you who are playing the game without any problems at all still don't understand why this is an issue for people who a) have no credit cards or b) are unwilling to pay an additional fee for something they've already paid for. Incidentally, saying "Just buy a game card" isn't helpful either, because from what I've read so far, game cards are nowhere to be found.

"The 30 days of free game time are granted to all players who fill out their billing information and select a subscription plan."

"...are granted to all players who fill out their billing information and select a subscription plan."

"...select a subscription plan."

"...select..."

se·lect [si-lekt]
verb (used with object) - 1. to choose in preference to another or others; pick out.
verb (used without object) - 2. to make a choice; pick.
(Definition source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/select?s=t )

You'll note that the definition of select does not include "commit to paying more money in order to access content you've already paid for".

What it should actually read is: "The 30 days of free game time are granted to all players who fill out their billing information and commit to paying for at least one month of subscription time." Because that is currently the only way to unlock/access the "free" 30 days of game time. I shall reiterate my analogy of buying a candy bar then being told that in order to take the candy bar that you've just paid for home, you have to buy a bag of chips, too.

You are perfectly right, and because of the wording in their own TOS it is meant to entrap customer into at least one month's payment, and as it was pointed out:

jaschacasadiob16_ESO wrote: »

mechsoldiersalvatorenub18_ESO wrote: »

Thank you for contacting The Elder Scrolls Online Team.
All players are required to set up and choose a subscription plan starting on Sunday, April 6th.
The 30 days of free game time are granted to all players who fill out their billing information and select a subscription plan.

How strange, they told you that you need a subscription to play what you paid for but they did not tell you that simply by creating the subscription plan you will be charged for the next month, since you can´t cancel it without violating the ToS.

You can't really cancel it without violating their own TOS. That is probably illegal (looking into it from Canadian stand point), but definitely amoral, as it backs the consumer into a corner.

The fact that it feels like their customer service is populated by idiots and/or monkeys that can do nothing more than copy/paste, and the company itself appears not to give a *** about the people interested in their product is totally new set of wrong too.

And for the record, not all of us that complain don't have the money for it, some of us simply choose to stand by certain principles and not let corporations treat us like *** and/or exploit us, just because they don't feel accountable for their actions, like ZeniMax seems to act. If I am to commit to use any services from anyone, I want to know that I am somewhat valued and respected as a customer, and not just a body bag to be exploited and tossed out.

I agree on all of the above. I have had no problems up until this point. Us players are locked out until we have a payment method with the money already on it. I don't want to reserve money to them, I want to play! The administrator that edited the original post seemed to have no authority with customer service if all they're still doing is copying, pasting, then labeling our cases "solved". They need to unplug the robot that is sending out these responses to users and actually solve this issue (if customer service isn't a robot, then they sure had me fooled).

I've talked highly of ESO among my friends and on social networks ever since I participated in the beta. I saw the potential of this game. This, right here, is a slap in the face. A good game means almost nothing if the company has some shady practice going on. They need to get their act together. Plain and simple.