Before you bash ZOS support...

Alphashado

Take a look at this. I contacted Amazon Customer support today in order to find out why shipping for a game time card is listed at 1-2 months. I wanted to find out if there was a way to receive the code via email, or at least get a more accurate shipping time frame. I'm trying to buy game time for a friend that is low on cash.

This is so outlandish it's just funny. Here is a copy of my journey with Amazon customer support. Edited for security.

You are now connected to Amazon from Amazon.com

Me:I am considering ordering a Game Time Card for Elder Scrolls Online, but I have some questions.. it says shipping time 1-2 months? The game is already live. Can I order a digital version and have the code sent to my email today?

Amazon:Thank you for contacting Amazon, my name is Sharon. I will be assisting you.

Me:Hello Sharon

Amazon:Hi.
I will be more than happy to check the details for you.
May I have the name on your account?

Me:William......

Amazon:Thank you William. Your email address is .................., correct?

Me:Correct

Amazon:Thanks for confirming William. Just a moment please while I do some checks for you.

Me:Okay

Amazon:Thank you for waiting.
I've done some checks and I see that I will need to transfer you to a member of our team in downloads. Please hold for transfer.

A Customer Service Associate will be with you in a moment.

You are now connected to Divya from Amazon.com

Divya:Hello William !

Me:Hello
Please verify that you are a person and not some automated response

Divya:Yes William we are trained personnel and this is not a automated response
I am really sorry for the mis transfer, Please stay connected while I transfer the chat to the department who is specialized in this area

A Customer Service Associate will be with you in a moment.

You are now connected to Mitch from Amazon.com

Mitch:Hi William, this is Mitch and I'd be happy to help you check the card.

Me:You are the 3rd person to tell me that

Mitch:I'm sorry about the transferred chats William and let me try to check if the cards is available to shipped soon and do you have a link for that specific card?

Me: http://www.amazon.com/The-Elder-Scrolls...(See full link)
And I was hoping there is an option to purchase it today and have the code sent to my emial? Like a digital version?

Mitch:I understand William let me double check if there's a digital version of this 0 Day Prepaid Subscription.
*60
I apologize, this is taking more time than usual. Would you mind waiting for a minute more while I finish? I would really appreciate it.

Me:I am waiting patiently. Please proceed.

Mitch:Thank you William.
Thank you for patiently waiting William, I've thoroughly checked here at my end that the The Elder Scrolls Online: 60 Day Prepaid Subscription - PC doesn't show any digital version to purchase but our Appstore chat support should be able to locate the card for you.

A Customer Service Associate will be with you in a moment.

You are now connected to Raghu from Amazon.com

Raghu:Hello William
Welcome to Amazon Digital Content Support. My name is Raghu. I'll be glad to assist you.

Me:..... You are the 4th transfer

Raghu:Oh..
I am sorry for that William

Me:The question is very simple. Can I get the code form this card sent to my email, and if not, how long will it take to ship? It says 1-2 months...

Raghu:Let me check that up for you

Me:Thank you

Raghu:Yes, you can have the download if you wish to have it

Me:That would be fantastic. How do I go about doing that?

Raghu:may I know your current location William ?

Me:Wisconsin

Raghu:Okay,
the thing is, we do not have chat support for the game downloads,
If you can provide your contact number
I will be able to get a phone rep to assist you with that
Will that be okay?

Me:it isn't a game that I want to download. It is a game time card.
60 days of subscription to the game
And I don't really need to download it. I just want to buy the card and receive the code for game time. Either vial email, or shipping. But the shipping time is listed as 1-2 months

Raghu:Oh..!
let me get the right department for you who can help you with this

A Customer Service Associate will be with you in a moment.

You are now connected to Cherie from Amazon.com

Cherie:Hello William! This is Cherie, I'll be happy to assist you today.
May I put you on hold for 2 to 3 minutes while I check your conversation so far?

Me:Hello. You are now the 5th person I've been transferred to
Sure.

Cherie:I really wanted to assist you with your concern however we do have a separate department who is in-charge for those inquiries. I hope you do understand that I am not trained for it.

A Customer Service Associate will be with you in a moment.

You are now connected to Mounika from Amazon.com

Me:Hello. You are now the 6th person I've been transferred to.

Mounika:Hello William
I'm very sorry for the inconvenience caused.

Me:So am I

Mounika:We have this online code: http://www.amazon.com/Elder-Scrolls-Onl...(See full link)
You can get the code instantly on purchasing this online version.

Me:That is for the game. I don't want the game. I already own the game. I am trying to purchase your game time card as listed here http://www.amazon.com/The-Elder-Scrolls...(See full link)
And I want to know if I can buy it and get the code emailed to me. I also want to know if the 1-2 month shipping fee is accurate.
Nevermind. Please allow me to stop you before you transfer me again. Have a nice day.

Endolith

There are bad CSRs in any organization. Amazon has always been good for me. With ZOS the problems seem to be systemic.

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Willow

Spectral_Lord wrote: »

This is troubling news.

Troubling news indeed.

Fenbrae

Welcome to the tech support, where Indian people do their job without knowing the English language but they are cheap so *** it.

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

AlliN

Wow. No words.If I would treat complain customers like that, I would get killed in the proccess sooner or later. Only possible online...

Allchix

Still, Amazon is huge with many different goods and departements. You can get there anything you need for every aspect of your life. No sigle rep can know everything and they tried their best by transfering you, so I dont blame them.

On the other hand, Teso is specialized. I worked as customer support for many years. And with this kind of business, it seems to me that every rep should know every aspect of their tier 1 support.

So no love from me.

CTraveler

My family has gotten the run around from things like this so many times over the years it's not even funny. It's not even just Amazon. Plenty of times customer support calls get transfered and put on hold and all kinds of "Sorry, i don't know" happens. It's why I shake my head whenever people complain.

Endolith

I have dealt with Amazon support a lot, and like I said it has always been good. But I have no doubt they have bad CSRs like anyone else.

I don't have any quarrel with the CSRs at ZOS on an individual level. The job must be a nightmare right about now, and you know the people who answer tickets aren't setting policy. They probably have to get through a certain number of tickets in a shift, and have probably been told that the level 1, first response for any ticket is the appropriate cut-and-paste reply. It's a time management issue to get a response out quickly and push things back to the customer. It's frustrating, but beyond the control of the people doing the answering. ZOS needs more support personnel.

Srslyrly

I agree that Amazon Support is generally great, but that was hilarious to read.

Arsenic_Touch

The problem is you were asking something that they don't do. Don't know why you would think CS would just give you the code.

I ordered a time card from amazon and got it on the 10th despite the 2-4 week shipping estimate.

Alphashado

Arsenic_Touch wrote: »

The problem is you were asking something that they don't do. Don't know why you would think CS would just give you the code.

I ordered a time card from amazon and got it on the 10th despite the 2-4 week shipping estimate.

I wasn't asking them to give me anything. I was asking them if a digital version was available for me to purchase, and if not, was the 1-2 month shipping time frame accurate. pretty simple.

In any case, I shared this for 2 reasons.
1. Because it's outlandishly funny in it's ridiculousness. (I'm certain I would have been transferred endlessly if I hadn't ended it)
2. To demonstrate that CS can be a mess sometimes even by the largest companies. Even companies that have a solid reputation.

gorathffeb17_ESO

So you had bad experience with Amazon Support. Cool.
Is that supposed to make me feel better about TESO bugs?
You know, i still didnt get my money back from ZOS charging me twice for subscription setup.
Here's the general picture:
At any mmo release, a some amount of bugs is expected. Usually major gamebreaking ones are fixed in what? a month maybe? Its cool.
But in case of TESO this "some amount of bugs" turned out to be "quite a big amount". Add to the list some game design flaws, lags, billing problems, balance issues etc., and you'll be looking at a pretty grim picture.
There is one more thing. You see, i'm not playing a 3rd rate korean mmo clone "Pandas'n'Puppies Online". I'm playing an Elder Scrolls title that finally went online. Its a genre defining series, one of the best among rpg's. So i'm kinda expecting devs to give their best and even some extra on top of that. Heck, they cant even make proper forums without mixing german and french topics.

ijacksparrowed

I think Sony Online entertainment has the best customer support... The Devs literally have a live twitch stream once a week to answer questions and talk about bugs. I know this community is much larger but those guys still take the cake. IMO

And Discover Card...They are pretty awesome to.

oxygen_boarderb16_ESO

Customer services has a hard time just saying No. All the transfers could have been avoided if the first rep just said, it isn't something that is offered.

The reps are probably afraid to lose their job for speaking out of turn and would rather just transfer you. Its hard to find something that doesn't exist, and rightly so, you got the run around.

ahstin2001nub18_ESO

i laugh because i care.... and have been there. not yet with amazon.com though. i have gotten in this crap with actual face-to-face interactions though. i have had the "pleasure" of overseeing customer service reps. as a past job, and for me there was no more enraging experience than getting this crap. then again, i rather say "i dont know" than deal with 20 minutes of the politicians version of "i dont know/cant/wont/dont allow that".

i did a few games in the past (like 10+ years ago) and determined, online is NOT the way to go. i did buy the physical copy of ESO from amazon and from the sounds of it got lucky. however, it was stressful for me knowing this is the crap you end up putting up with. my advice- avoid video games through the mail (and related products) like the plague.

Vyndetta

Way too much to read through, but I will tell you, the official date at GameStop for ESO GTC is April 28th.

Aenima_pt

ZOS always replyed to me fast during beta and Early Access, problem is the amout of tickets they have now with all the bugs and other reports (gold sellers, bots, bank slots, lag, etc) they take longer to assist everyone.

Unlike the bots, they do not multiply :P

oxygen_boarderb16_ESO

Aenima_pt wrote: »

ZOS always replyed to me fast during beta and Early Access, problem is the amout of tickets they have now with all the bugs and other reports (gold sellers, bots, bank slots, lag, etc) they take longer to assist everyone.

Unlike the bots, they do not multiply :P

I responded in a different thread, the beta team is most likely considered Tier2 support now. Tier1 was replaced w/ a mass call center approach. If you want the same service you got in beta-pre you have to get escalated to Tier2 or get lucky.

Phyrdrin

You just made my lunch break @Alphashado