This is so frustrating..

Rahunei

I'm sure many people are having the same issue as me, I pre-ordered my copy of ESO with the intention of being able to play for Free for 30 days. But when I went to redeem my Game Key I was halted at the Subscription selection page. I don't want to subscribe to this game already, let alone use my credit card. I'll be using Game Time Cards from the shops, but those aren't here yet. (Even if I did use my card, I don't have the funds they are charging from my account, which results in an error. I won't be getting paid for two more weeks)

I have sent in 3 Support Tickets and none of them have helped my situation.

The 1st Ticket was before there were any postings on the forums of this issue.
I stated my issue of having no funds on my card and I only want to use Game Time Cards. The reply was a generic response to what I already know, that I must put in my card information and be charged to get my 30 days/game.

I waited til the next day, browsing the Forums to see if anyone was having this issue as well, and read this Post from an Admin;
"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."

So that's exactly what I did, I contacted Support a second time explaining my situation, and got a promising reply!

"Thank you for contacting The Elder Scrolls Online team. In order to better assist you and ensure that your account information is safe, I will need to verify your first/last name. I will also need you to please confirm 1 of the following pieces of information:

Payment Method (either of the following)
- Last 4 digits of the credit card number
- Paypal transaction ID
-Complete Game Time code
or
The Answer to the Secret Question on the account
As soon as I obtain a reply I will be able to assist you with getting this issue resolved."

I sent them a Photo of my ID to Verify my name, and I sent them my Secret Question's answer.
Got no Response at all for 24 hours.

Fed up, I decided to contact them a Third and FINAL time.
Explaining once again, Posting a quote from the Admin, and sending them my information all together, HOPING I can get through this simple problem.
This is the response I got about an hour later;
"We're sorry to hear that you do not have the funds to sign up for your subscription options quite yet! Unfortunately, we cannot redeem your game directly without the subscription information being filled out.
Not to worry, though. I can go ahead and extend your game time by another 3 days while you gather those funds together."

If I don't have the money now I surely won't have it in 3 days!! It's not current game time I'm concerned about, it's the fact I do not want to pay at ALL until my 30 days of FREE game time is up, the stuff I ALREADY PURCHASED along with the bonus items I can't even redeem to my account. Telling me that I can't play something I already bought, because I need to subscribe to it and in order to do that you need to CHARGE my account?? Really? From what was said to the players was basically that you do not need to purchase a subscription in order to play the Free 30 days if you pre-ordered.
For those who lack funds in their account they then said, and I will QUOTE;
"We’ll work with you to ensure you have access to your included 30 days of game time." Yet these email responses are the opposite of that, they have not helped me get my 30 days instead they ignore what I'm saying, and tell me what I already know worded differently. The worst part is that in the 2nd Ticket, the nice lady was trying to help me, but then my reply was completely ignored!!!

It's a very simple matter. All I want is my already purchased game to be redeemed to my account, and allow the 30 days of free time I have to be used. Once those 30 days are up, then obviously I would need to purchase more game time, that I don't have a problem with. But until then I want what I paid for already, and was told I could use for FREE.

I am deciding whether or not I want to do business with this company if this roundabout continues.

Midgardian

Simply put: Every subscription service that offers free time requires that you give credit card information before the free time begins, and they will charge you once the free time is over.

ESO is not any different in this regard. ESO also, to verify your credit card, does an authorization payment which is refunded within a few business days. You won't actually be charged for real until after the 30 days.

Welcome to the real world. Enjoy your stay.

Rahunei

Midgardian wrote: »

Simply put: Every subscription service that offers free time requires that you give credit card information before the free time begins, and they will charge you once the free time is over.

ESO is not any different in this regard. ESO also, to verify your credit card, does an authorization payment which is refunded within a few business days. You won't actually be charged for real until after the 30 days.

Welcome to the real world. Enjoy your stay.

I understand what you're saying, and I know this.

If you took the time to actually listen to what I was posting about is that they LITERALLY posted that they are offering help to those without funds to receive their 30 days game time. And in TWO separate support tickets I was ignored and not helped to receive it.

Do you understand?

jamie.goddenrwb17_ESO

Deleted

xryanvb16_ESO

Midgardian wrote: »

Simply put: Every subscription service that offers free time requires that you give credit card information before the free time begins, and they will charge you once the free time is over.

ESO is not any different in this regard. ESO also, to verify your credit card, does an authorization payment which is refunded within a few business days. You won't actually be charged for real until after the 30 days.

Welcome to the real world. Enjoy your stay.

Just because it's the general practice of companies to screw people doesn't mean his post is invalid.

Midgardian

Rahunei wrote: »

Midgardian wrote: »

Simply put: Every subscription service that offers free time requires that you give credit card information before the free time begins, and they will charge you once the free time is over.

ESO is not any different in this regard. ESO also, to verify your credit card, does an authorization payment which is refunded within a few business days. You won't actually be charged for real until after the 30 days.

Welcome to the real world. Enjoy your stay.

I understand what you're saying, and I know this.

If you took the time to actually listen to what I was posting about is that they LITERALLY posted that they are offering help to those without funds to receive their 30 days game time. And in TWO separate support tickets I was ignored and not helped to receive it.

Do you understand?

The customer service has been slow and terrible for everyone. I did read your whole thing.

However, they did try to help you, by giving you more time to get money to subscribe like the rest of us has to. They went above and beyond what they have to do, and you just get more upset.

Midgardian

xryanvb16_ESO wrote: »

Midgardian wrote: »

Simply put: Every subscription service that offers free time requires that you give credit card information before the free time begins, and they will charge you once the free time is over.

ESO is not any different in this regard. ESO also, to verify your credit card, does an authorization payment which is refunded within a few business days. You won't actually be charged for real until after the 30 days.

Welcome to the real world. Enjoy your stay.

Just because it's the general practice of companies to screw people doesn't mean his post is invalid.

Asking for a credit card ahead of time is not screwing anyone. I can understand it from a business perspective. They want to make sure you have the means and intent to potentially continue to play, and pay, for this game.

It's not any terrible burden on anyone. If you don't have the funds/means to subscribe now, maybe you should rethink playing an expensive subscription based game.

xryanvb16_ESO

Midgardian wrote: »

xryanvb16_ESO wrote: »

Midgardian wrote: »

Simply put: Every subscription service that offers free time requires that you give credit card information before the free time begins, and they will charge you once the free time is over.

ESO is not any different in this regard. ESO also, to verify your credit card, does an authorization payment which is refunded within a few business days. You won't actually be charged for real until after the 30 days.

Welcome to the real world. Enjoy your stay.

Just because it's the general practice of companies to screw people doesn't mean his post is invalid.

Asking for a credit card ahead of time is not screwing anyone. I can understand it from a business perspective. They want to make sure you have the means and intent to potentially continue to play, and pay, for this game.

It's not any terrible burden on anyone. If you don't have the funds/means to subscribe now, maybe you should rethink playing an expensive subscription based game.

Except that you don't have to continue paying for the game you could have bought the game with the full intention of never buying a subscription playing it for a month and moving onto the next MMO. The free time was advertise in such a way that one could think this.

And yea from a business perspective it's great to force people into a situation where they will likely pay you more money they want too. No your right nothing dishonest about trying to get people into that situation.

The main business idea here is if you can get a lot of people to sign up for a recurring sub you will likely have more people pay for longer because they will forget to cancel before it recurs, people who otherwise would not have paid.

That's screwing people IMO.

Midgardian

xryanvb16_ESO wrote: »

Midgardian wrote: »

xryanvb16_ESO wrote: »

Midgardian wrote: »

Simply put: Every subscription service that offers free time requires that you give credit card information before the free time begins, and they will charge you once the free time is over.

ESO is not any different in this regard. ESO also, to verify your credit card, does an authorization payment which is refunded within a few business days. You won't actually be charged for real until after the 30 days.

Welcome to the real world. Enjoy your stay.

Just because it's the general practice of companies to screw people doesn't mean his post is invalid.

Asking for a credit card ahead of time is not screwing anyone. I can understand it from a business perspective. They want to make sure you have the means and intent to potentially continue to play, and pay, for this game.

It's not any terrible burden on anyone. If you don't have the funds/means to subscribe now, maybe you should rethink playing an expensive subscription based game.

Except that you don't have to continue paying for the game you could have bought the game with the full intention of never buying a subscription playing it for a month and moving onto the next MMO. The free time was advertise in such a way that one could think this.

And yea from a business perspective it's great to force people into a situation where they will likely pay you more money they want too. No your right nothing dishonest about trying to get people into that situation.

The main business idea here is if you can get a lot of people to sign up for a recurring sub you will likely have more people pay for longer because they will forget to cancel before it recurs, people who otherwise would not have paid.

That's screwing people IMO.

You are completely missing the point. You don't have to pay until the 30 days are over, and you can cancel before you actually pay. So, you can still play with no intention of actually ever paying for subscription.

If you forget to cancel, that's your own fault and you obviously weren't too worried about your money after all.

Phyrdrin

Welcome to Zenimax - where the logic is made up and humanity doesn't matter.

MsSvig

Personally I don't feel screwed. If the game is still struggling with game breaking bugs like the launcher bug or the bank space bug in 29 days. I'll simply cancel my sub before any money has been charged and return in six month. Because at the end of the day and despite all the annoyances I've had to endure these past days, ESO is an absolutely amazing game when it works and that is the only thing that really matters in my book.

jdkorreckpreub18_ESO

xryanvb16_ESO wrote: »

Except that you don't have to continue paying for the game you could have bought the game with the full intention of never buying a subscription playing it for a month and moving onto the next MMO. The free time was advertise in such a way that one could think this.

And yea from a business perspective it's great to force people into a situation where they will likely pay you more money they want too. No your right nothing dishonest about trying to get people into that situation.

The main business idea here is if you can get a lot of people to sign up for a recurring sub you will likely have more people pay for longer because they will forget to cancel before it recurs, people who otherwise would not have paid.

That's screwing people IMO.

If you thought you could buy the game and not put in a cc or game card, you didn't read the fine print when you purchased.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

30 DAYS UNLIMITED GAME PLAY INCLUDED WITH PURCHASE. VALID PAYMENT METHOD OR PAID GAME TIME CARD FOR SUBSCRIPTION AND PERSISTENT INTERNET CONNECTION REQUIRED.

Acceptance of End User License Agreement, Terms of Service, and Privacy Policy, and account registration using enclosed one-time use activation code, required to play. Must be 13+ to register. The 30 days of unlimited game play begins when you select your preferred subscription plan on store.elderscrollsonline.com. Subscription fees only charged for game access after the first 30 days, subject to cancellation by you at any time. No refunds or credits for partial months. If you choose to pay for your subscription with a prepaid non-recurring payment method or with a Game Time Card you will be charged at the time you select the subscription plan. See store.elderscrollsonline.com for details. Product requires installation of application software. The Elder Scrolls® Online service may be discontinued, and content modified, disabled, suspended or removed, at any time. See Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Everything was there for someone to see and make an informed decision.

xryanvb16_ESO

[/quote]

You are completely missing the point. You don't have to pay until the 30 days are over, and you can cancel before you actually pay. So, you can still play with no intention of actually ever paying for subscription.

If you forget to cancel, that's your own fault and you obviously weren't too worried about your money after all.[/quote]

Screwed might be strong wording to communicate my point and fairly sure you're the one missing it here. I am stating that what they are doing is trying to make more by getting people to sign up for a recurring sub with the knowledge that humans sometimes get busy or forget about things for whatever reason.

A better more honest way would be to allow people to enter a subscription at any point and time they choose. This company didn't choose that path and the reason is that you make more money off of people when you force them into a recurring sub because of the aforementioned reasoning.

People can forget things even if they value something.... Maybe your not a human i donno.

Midgardian

"I am stating that what they are doing is trying to make more my by getting people to sign up for a recurring sub with the knowledge that humans sometimes get busy or forget about things for whatever reason."

A business trying to make money? I don't believe it! Again, how is their responsibility if you forget to cancel a subscription? Again, you obviously aren't very worried about your money if that happens. That's not some sinister business practice. Yes, they are counting on people being lazy...But you would be the one being lazy. You can be completely accountable to cancelling your own account

MsSvig

@ xryanvb If being able to remember when to cancel a subscription is your definition of not being human, then I am not human

Rahunei

The customer service has been slow and terrible for everyone. I did read your whole thing.

However, they did try to help you, by giving you more time to get money to subscribe like the rest of us has to. They went above and beyond what they have to do, and you just get more upset.

You did not read the whole thing, or at least you did not understand when I said I won't be getting paid in two weeks which was included in my message to the support, so the 3 days of extra game time seems like a slap to the face when the stickied post by one of the staff said they will be helping people receive their free 30 days.

You are misinterpreting me. I am completely fine with having to pay a subscription to play this game.
I am not however fine with paying/being charged for a subscription even if it's to verify my account, to play my 30 days free of charge I was promised when pre-ordering.

Arsenic_Touch

People keep saying that every subscription mmo does this, yet world of warcraft does not. Imagine that.

xryanvb16_ESO

Midgardian wrote: »

"I am stating that what they are doing is trying to make more my by getting people to sign up for a recurring sub with the knowledge that humans sometimes get busy or forget about things for whatever reason."

A business trying to make money? I don't believe it! Again, how is their responsibility if you forget to cancel a subscription? Again, you obviously aren't very worried about your money if that happens. That's not some sinister business practice. Yes, they are counting on people being lazy...But you would be the one being lazy. You can be completely accountable to cancelling your own account

I didn't say it was sinister.... I said it was screwing people and more to the point I'm stating that it's dishonest and in my first post i stated that it's a common business practice. That doesn't make it right or honest just because its common and if people are lazy or simply too busy with other things to catch a small detail at some point is not relevant, what is relevant is that they are counting on that weakness in people and exploiting it to their benefit. Call it what you want, I call it dishonest and because of that i think the OP's anger is justified.

That being said I signed up for subscription and am enjoying the game but i can see how some one would find the situation this company puts you in unfair.

Rahunei

xryanvb16_ESO wrote: »

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

30 DAYS UNLIMITED GAME PLAY INCLUDED WITH PURCHASE(This is the 30 days Free we all have, we all Purchased the game). VALID PAYMENT METHOD OR PAID GAME TIME CARD FOR SUBSCRIPTION AND PERSISTENT INTERNET CONNECTION REQUIRED.

Acceptance of End User License Agreement, Terms of Service, and Privacy Policy, and account registration using enclosed one-time use activation code, required to play. Must be 13+ to register. The 30 days of unlimited game play begins when you select your preferred subscription plan on store.elderscrollsonline.com. Subscription fees only charged for game access after the first 30 days, subject to cancellation by you at any time. No refunds or credits for partial months. If you choose to pay for your subscription with a prepaid non-recurring payment method or with a Game Time Card you will be charged at the time you select the subscription plan. See store.elderscrollsonline.com for details. Product requires installation of application software. The Elder Scrolls® Online service may be discontinued, and content modified, disabled, suspended or removed, at any time. See Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Everything was there for someone to see and make an informed decision.

Still people do not understand.
I am selecting my subscription plan. BUT I am being charged right away, not after 30 days. Leaving me, and many other people unable to redeem their game at all.

Midgardian

Rahunei wrote: »

xryanvb16_ESO wrote: »

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

30 DAYS UNLIMITED GAME PLAY INCLUDED WITH PURCHASE(This is the 30 days Free we all have, we all Purchased the game). VALID PAYMENT METHOD OR PAID GAME TIME CARD FOR SUBSCRIPTION AND PERSISTENT INTERNET CONNECTION REQUIRED.

Acceptance of End User License Agreement, Terms of Service, and Privacy Policy, and account registration using enclosed one-time use activation code, required to play. Must be 13+ to register. The 30 days of unlimited game play begins when you select your preferred subscription plan on store.elderscrollsonline.com. Subscription fees only charged for game access after the first 30 days, subject to cancellation by you at any time. No refunds or credits for partial months. If you choose to pay for your subscription with a prepaid non-recurring payment method or with a Game Time Card you will be charged at the time you select the subscription plan. See store.elderscrollsonline.com for details. Product requires installation of application software. The Elder Scrolls® Online service may be discontinued, and content modified, disabled, suspended or removed, at any time. See Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Everything was there for someone to see and make an informed decision.

Still people do not understand.
I am selecting my subscription plan. BUT I am being charged right away, not after 30 days.

Again: authorizations.

"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."

http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/67461/bank-account-being-charged/p1

Rahunei

Midgardian wrote: »

Again: authorizations.

"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."

http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/67461/bank-account-being-charged/p1

I know what an authorization is, and that AGAIN FALLS BACK TO MY PROBLEM, You are NOT understanding. DIRECT QUOTE FROM ADMIN ZOS_JessicaFolsom IS AS FOLLOWS:

"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."

Flametyn

Rahunei wrote: »

Midgardian wrote: »

Again: authorizations.

"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."

http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/67461/bank-account-being-charged/p1

I know what an authorization is, and that AGAIN FALLS BACK TO MY PROBLEM, You are NOT understanding. DIRECT QUOTE FROM ADMIN ZOS_JessicaFolsom IS AS FOLLOWS:

"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."

And after that support called me after i've contacted them telling me this post from moderator was messing and that they couldn't nothing if i don't pay for the validation of my cc/paypal/whatelse

azraels_grave

Midgardian wrote: »

Simply put: Every subscription service that offers free time requires that you give credit card information before the free time begins, and they will charge you once the free time is over.

ESO is not any different in this regard. ESO also, to verify your credit card, does an authorization payment which is refunded within a few business days. You won't actually be charged for real until after the 30 days.

Welcome to the real world. Enjoy your stay.

Maybe things changed but when I started my subscription to WoW back at BC launch. I did not need to put in my credit information for the then free 30 days they offered. Maybe this is not the case anymore but it does have me wondering. So I can neither validate or deny this reply, as my situation is dated by many years.

Rahunei

How many more times do I need to explain it.

I Pre-ordered ESO with the intentions of 30 days free.

I received my ESO Game Key, and I am prompted with a Subscription page, a page that many did not expect to be there because it's 30 Days free before you have to Subscribe.

I decide, alright. I'll put my Credit Card information in, even though I do not have the funds right now because I already pre-ordered my Imperial Edition with 30 Days FREE.

Oh my card is declined because they want to authorize it. That's okay, ZOS_JessicaFolsom states to go to the Support Team, WHICH I DID.

The SUPPORT TEAM Ignored my request and explanation to tell me what I ALREADY KNOW. EVEN THOUGH I AM SUPPOSED TO BE HELPED WITH THE SITUATION TO GET PAST THIS.

Moobs

I find it hard to believe people can't come up with $15. If money is that short you should be focussing on more important things than a game.

Midgardian

Rahunei wrote: »

How many more times do I need to explain it.

I Pre-ordered ESO with the intentions of 30 days free.

I received my ESO Game Key, and I am prompted with a Subscription page, a page that many did not expect to be there because it's 30 Days free before you have to Subscribe.

I decide, alright. I'll put my Credit Card information in, even though I do not have the funds right now because I already pre-ordered my Imperial Edition with 30 Days FREE.

Oh my card is declined because they want to authorize it. That's okay, ZOS_JessicaFolsom states to go to the Support Team, WHICH I DID.

The SUPPORT TEAM Ignored my request and explanation to tell me what I ALREADY KNOW. EVEN THOUGH I AM SUPPOSED TO BE HELPED WITH THE SITUATION TO GET PAST THIS.

The problem I have with what you are saying is you are mixing two issues. First off, no, no one ever said: " it's 30 Days free before you have to Subscribe."

The 30 days are free.

Now here we get to the crux: you are making arguments that aren't logical about the authorization and feeling like you were lied to about that, when your actual problem is that customer service here is terrible, which is a pretty universal experience. They are slow, they send random useless answers. Yes. That's where patience comes in.

Also: "We’ll work with you to ensure you have access to your included 30 days of game time." That doesn't say "we'll give you 30 days without a credit card" or "give you 2 weeks until you get money"; it basically says, email us and we'll see what we can do.

Rahunei

Midgardian wrote: »

The problem I have with what you are saying is you are mixing two issues. First off, no, no one ever said: " it's 30 Days free before you have to Subscribe."

The 30 days are free.

Now here we get to the crux: you are making arguments that aren't logical about the authorization and feeling like you were lied to about that, when your actual problem is that customer service here is terrible, which is a pretty universal experience. They are slow, they send random useless answers. Yes. That's where patience comes in.

Also: "We’ll work with you to ensure you have access to your included 30 days of game time." That doesn't say "we'll give you 30 days without a credit card" or "give you 2 weeks until you get money"; it basically says, email us and we'll see what we can do.

Can I ask you to do something for me?
Can you read this article?
http://gamingbolt.com/the-elder-scrolls-online-publisher-and-dev-mutually-agreed-on-subscription-fee

If not then I'll directly quote what they asked 'Bethesda global VP of marketing and PR Pete Hines'
They asked Hines if $90 AUD was a little too steep in asking price for players who wanted to experience more content in the coming months. He said, and I will quote it from the site;
“If you don’t like the game, of course you’re not subscribing to it. You get the game, you get your first month without having to pay for a subscription to see ‘is this thing a thing I like’? If your approach that you want to take is that, for example, you love Skyrim, you played it for 125 hours, but after three or four weeks you were done, then you can do the exact same thing in Elder Scrolls Online."

sandermdmb16_ESO

Common ZOS, there are lot's of people (especially in EU) without a credit card. Paypal also needs a credit card verification if one wants to reserve money, even with funds already on it!! So both do not work then.

The few things left for me is either IDEAL, Paysafecard or a game- time card. That means i am being forced to pay 15$ up front already for the second month of game time?!
And i not even sure if i still play this game after one month... i already got a bad ,money grabbing, taste by this nonsense.

I've played alot of mmorpgs in the past years, but never had a company already pay me up front for the second month.

Thank you ZOS for not letting me , and probably many others) continue playing on sunday 6-4!

(And i already put in several tickets, but doesn't help me at all.)

Midgardian

And, once again, you aren't paying a subscription fee until after the 30 days. You are having an authorization, which is then immediately removed from your account. You aren't actually paying anything. There is nothing at all false about the statement you just quoted.

Valethar

The tragic irony here is that they're perfectly willing to give you three days to find the money, but they won't give the people screwed over by Amazon the time of day.

Milanna

I just finished setting up my subscription, total amount charged : 0.00.

I will however be charged in 30 days unless I cancel my subscription.

What blows my mind is that people acctually expects the company to deal with their individual issues. If you don´t have the money to pay for something you probably shouldn´t buy it.