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Piss Poor Customer Service
Turkish4676
Member Posts: 87
Ok, this will possibly come across as a rant but read without prejudice. For several years we have had to tolerate crap service from video game companies. Why has no one ever said anything? Our so-called buddies in the industry feel as though our problems are not their own and so for years it has been hour long waits on the phone, 30 minute waits for the live chat CSR, and two day to sometimes week long waits for email replies. I put a ticket in Rift once that never got a reponse. I have waited weeks for tickets in WoW. In EQ I remember when, if a GM was not on, you recieved no help. Well I was a raving lunatic for SWTOR's release, but sadly to say we are going to have to suffer from another bout of terrible customer service.
Today our bank had to change our credit card because they had changed something internally. I thought to myself,"hmm that is the same card I used to preorder SWTOR." I looked and searched and prodded and probed for an answer to my dilema. Through hundreds of pages at Bioware, EA, Origin, SWTOR, and other google links I found nothing. I called EA, Bioware and Origin's customer service numbers but it was past their hours in wheneverland GMT +8 -1 carry the R timezone they are in. I proceed to call my last hope of SWTOR and thank god they are 24 hour service.
As I waited on hold for what became 1 hour and 58 minutes, I clicked on a bioware link that had customer service chat help, Origin chat help, and posted an email response request to my problem. Of course I have no complaints on the email request because it has not been given ample time to process. I recieved a response from Bioware first and they were basically like, well sorry we do not do that here so F-off. Fine fine I have two other options I am currently waiting on it should be fine.
20 minutes later the Origin chat person comes up. I say a simple hello and then state my issue. The CSR then proceeds to say "yeah you have to cancel and re-preorder." I sarcastically explain how technologically advanced they are at Origin and express how much I now hate them,especially after the email, account name, password reset, and BF3 BS they had recently put us through. I used one explitive and the CSR jumped at the opportunity to threaten a disconnect so I did it for them. Really? Someone who is getting screwed out of their preorder pre play position (I got my code within 15 minutes of the announcement so I was pretty sure I was high on the list) and you have no emotion on the subject, no nice words or calming technique to try and reassure me that it would get corrected?
I am still on the phone with SWTOR so it is going to be ok. Well, sadly it just got worse. After another hour plus I reached some absent personalitied guy and he just has more terrible customer service to relay. "I am not here for anything but security issues." Apparently the CSR's at SWTOR's phone number are hard at work answering all those calls about security on the accounts that have not been activated yet. It is already such a huge issue that they are answering the phones frantically to take care of these hassles. Oh wait, the game is not even operational yet, so why did I wait two hours to get someone to answer?
All three of the people I met had no heart for what they were doing. They had no quams about being cold and delivering ridiculous news with no support behind their words. The first guy it was if I was bothering him. The Origin guy it was if I was asking him to switch positions of the moon and the sun. The third guy sounded pissed that I was some dumb American demanding his help. *british accent* "Oh my, who gave the Americans the phone?" A Scottish guy ya jerk, maybe you guys should have treated them a little better and they would have given it to you first. All I wanted to do was change the numbers that were on file for what account they were going to charge when it released. It was too much for them to handle.
I have been trying my best to not buy in to the haters of SWTOR and I am so effing sick of WoW and the ilk that dweel within that community. Rift just has not been able to capture my attention for more than a couple of levels at a time. I was really looking forward to SWTOR, and not just because I was bored stiff by the other offerings. I love Star Wars. It is just that basic. I have no delusions of the games greatness, hell it could suck. Even if it ended up being WoW's twin, it never would be in my eyes because it was Star Wars. I played the beta and loved it, yeah alot of stuff looked very Rifty and WoWy and every other MMOy, but it wasn't, it was Star Warsy. I posted and posted defending the haters presumptuous posts about how it was going to be boring or sucky, whatever. I, for one, am realising that they don't care that it is important to have our support, because they do not have any for us.
I have canceled my preorder and will not be grabbing another copy. They do not deserve our money so I know they will not be getting mine. No one was willing to help, and none of them had any compasion for the simple situation I was presenting. I have worked at banks for years so they have no way to convince me that changing the numbers was not possible. If I presented myself at work the same way that they had to me, I would be fired on the spot.
Now I eagerly await a release date for GW2 and I have spoken to them on the phone on several occasions for GW1 and they have always seemed genuine and worried about my issues. This is not how you keep the 15 dollars a month Bioware, especially when the real issues start coming into these terrible people you have hired, and shotty systems you have developed to support their less than stellar abilities.
Comments
*Wall of text crits YOU for 999,999,999 damage*
*You Die.*
Just a friendly bit of advice. Rants and complaints are fine and good, but please shorten them. I find it hard to believe anyone wants to read a rant/complaint that looks thicker then a hardback novel.
In War - Victory.
In Peace - Vigilance.
In Death - Sacrifice.
I wrote what needed to be written, The wall will hopefully block off some of the less than thoughtful people, but thank you all the same.
I think that qualifies as a rant, yes.
So, your problem was that your c-card details were changed by your bank but Origin doesn't offer an option to change those details on pending preorders and they told you to cancel it and preorder again with your new details?
My brand new bloggity blog.
OP is why I hate working in customer service...
If you already used your preorder key, cancelling and re-preordering wouldnt have affected your spot on the line.
I read your whole post. It sounds like you were acting like exactly the kind of confrontational jerk that customer service people don't get paid enough to deserve to put up with. Maybe you weren't, but that is how you make yourself sound in your description. Having a legitimate complaint is no excuse to act like a three year old throwing a tantrum.
Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.
Correct, so of course I asked them all how that changed my status in line and they all said I would get a new preorder number and it will change. The Origin guy said, "Well that is of course if you can get a code for your copy." More maddening was everytime I was trying to type something out, the Origin chat guys text would cut off my typing and I had to retype everything several times.
You were clearly there, so I will yield to your wisdom. Ignorance is, afterall, the true path to wisdom.
I hope you are right Kishe. But the guy from Origin coldy said, "yeah it will change your position" and then stated I might not even be able to get a key right away.
I'd say it was your bank that was at fault, with modern technology the way it is today what's preventing them from transfering your card details from one card to another without the need to cancel all of your standing orders and pre-orders? I find it odd that you're so eager to jump down Origin/Bioware/EA's throat concerning this when it is obviously the bank which is at fault!
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience"
CS Lewis
Couldn't you have just cancelled your preorder and preordered again after your early access started? Then nothing would have been affected.
Ah, well. I can understand your frustration. Waiting on the phone for a long time and having to deal with these frustrating chat mechanics, to finally find out there is no clean fix to your issue, would piss me off too.
Captain Hindsight would say; "If he had simply cancelled and re-preordered, his problem would have been solved without much frustration". But yeah, that's Captain Hindsight.
I wouldn't let that prevent me from playing the game though. Good chance that they are still unpacking chairs and monitors at the customer service department and that it will shape up some more, because yeah; it hasn't even launched yet.
My brand new bloggity blog.
Thank you for the translation of the texwall my little pony
So rant it is, and everyone can move on, nothing to see here....
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
Banks have no access to the details that are being presented to them from outside sources. If someone wrote down your tracking numbers and account numbers along with a valid check number on a piece of toilet paper the bank could still process it as a check. But if numbers that do not exist any longer come through they have no rights in changing the said numbers to assist me, the sub-par capabilities of the ordering system at Origin is solely to blame for the inability.
Well I have been reading over FAQs for the past few hours and several instances seem to back up what another poster said and what you are saying. The only problem is now what the guy at Origin said. There may be no game for me to get till more keys are available. That made no sense but he works there I do not.
I think that very few companies are able to give a satisfactiory customer service.
I ask myself this: If TOR's subscription had been 20 Dollars a month instead, and if it meant that the customer service would be satisfactory, would I pay in the first place?
I'm not sure. Though I do not like to admit it, I seem to be one of those people who only care about customer service when I have a problem that I need their help solving. I wonder if others feel the same? If we had no problems, would we then give a hoot about CS to begin with?
Food for thought.
After being hacked in WoW, the great CSR I got in that issue kept me playing a few months longer. I only called to get my stuff put back after a friend told me I logged on.
The third guy sounded pissed that I was some dumb American demanding his help. *british accent* "Oh my, who gave the Americans the phone?" A Scottish guy ya jerk, maybe you guys should have treated them a little better and they would have given it to you first.
You had me on-side until this part - why you had to bring your xenophobia into the rant is quite beyond me. I can understand your frustration at being kept on 'hold' for several hours, although personally I would have taken the hint after about 15 minutes.
As an aside and as a Scot, I think you'll find it was actually an Italian who is recognised by many as the inventor of the telephone, including your own Congress - see:
http://www.popular-science.net/history/meucci_congress_resolution.html
Alex Bell was simply the first person to successfully patent the telephone. I am also aware that a German, Philip Reis is credited with its invention.
/end spelling and history lesson...
Now, calm down, re-pre-order with your new details, smile and enjoy the game.
See you at launch
That is how most of us are, I couldn't give a shit until it hits the fan myself. The OP however is crying because his bank changed its detailts on Origin causing him to lose his place in the queue. Who is at fault here? Is it the bank that didn't inform him in advance of the internal changes which would affect his finances or is it Origin which didn't apply his new details to his pre-order?
The OP vented on Origin then went on to wholly blame them for the "debacle" concerning his loss of early access. I wonder if the banks change of his details had caused him to fall into debt would he blame the company he owed the money to or the bank?
What I'm trying to say is life's a bitch and this is one of the many examples of it and you've just gotta suck it up!
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience"
CS Lewis
The way customer service is set up right now, it only works fine if there is a procedure available to solve your problem. In case of Bioware and their first MMO, it might take some time before they get enough standard procedures to warrant good customer service in 95% of all calls.
If there is no direct procedure to solve your problem, then you should prepare for a long seat with a lot of misunderstandings. Obviously in the case of the OP there was a good solution, that he refused.
So who to blame?
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
I agree, I bet most players, if they're honest, would admit that 99%+ of the time they couldn't care less about CSRs, GMs or Customer Service. If the brown stuff hits the spinny thing THEN they are the first people we run to (well, after Mummy anyway)
So you vent your anger/frustration on the phone CSR agent? Having worked for Hilton Honors as a CSR I've dealt with guys like you (not being accusatory, just pulling from what you wrote) that for some reason think the low level peons make all the program policies and that we have a pesona grudge against you, someone we didn't even know existed on this planet until 10 minutes ago, so we aren't going to move an inch for you.
Maybe those people actually did want to snap their fingers and make it all better. One thing is for certain, though, and that's after the attitude is brought their way, you certainly aren't getting anything but the bare minimum they have to do to make their call coaching scores should that call be recorded.
I've severely bent the rules of the HHonors program for folks that acted like and adult and had exhausted every avenue. But that's because they talked to me with a level of respect, a level that I recipricated.
If you had an issue with Origin's systems capabilities, little Suzy Swanson, CSR tier -1 is not the appropriate level for anger, frustration. I bet if you asked her nicely, though, she could either transfer you to the right place or give you an email address or a phone number to express your concerns.
"Many nights, my friend... Many nights I've put a blade to your throat while you were sleeping. Glad I never killed you, Steve. You're alright..."
Chavez y Chavez
Everything I say is my opinion or personal preference. You may or may not find it useful to your cause but regardless I am entitled to it.
Similar issue to the OP, yet I've not called EA or really given much thought to it.
The card I used to pre-order the game is no longer a live card, so Origin will attempt to bill it and it will get declined. Assuming, and this is a huge 'benefit of the doubt' scanario here, if my card gets declined, logic would suggest I'd be notified and enabled to resolve the issue.
If not, clearly EA doesn't want my money (and when has EA not wanted money?) and as such, they will not get it. And some other lucky sap will end up with my CE version of the game. If they go "Declined" and immediate move to "Canceled" without even the slightest bit of notice or allowment to adjustment to the payment options for an existing order, then f*ck them and Origin.. End result is, whatever happens happens.
A minor bit of patience can pay off too, all the scalpers and idiots who ate up all the pre-orders and are selling the CE version for 2-3 times its retail price will be left with a massive overstock that will quickly find its way to normalcy the day or 2 after launch. So, not too worried either way.
Hey TSW Players http://www.unfair.co/ for Mission guides, Lore Locations and stuff....