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Open Letter to Mythic Entertainment, Mark Jacobs
Doctimothy
Member Posts: 4
For several months I have written Customer Support, Complaints, Dispute, Grab Bag, and various other emails. No response. I finally got a response from the Head of Billing thinking that this could not be Customer Support. Read on to see how I was wrong.
Below is a copy of the letter I sent to Mythic. I received my letter back, unopened, marked return to sender. I had hoped that by addressing someone in management that I would find that the company, Mythic Entertainment, was really a good company with decent customer support. Sadly, this is apparently the culture.
I called Mythic last night. Spoke to a relatively nice customer support representative. He IMd the Head of Customer Support (who I find out later is the Head of Billing) and he refused to speak to me regarding this matter.
October 23, 2004
Mark Jacobs
Mythic Entertainment
Fairfax, VA 22030
Dear Mr. Jacobs,
I would first like to congratulate you on a most excellent game. I have searched for other comparable games but there are not many that even approach the complexity, graphics, interface and playability of Dark Ages of Camelot.
Below is a copy of the letter I sent to Mythic. I received my letter back, unopened, marked return to sender. I had hoped that by addressing someone in management that I would find that the company, Mythic Entertainment, was really a good company with decent customer support. Sadly, this is apparently the culture.
I called Mythic last night. Spoke to a relatively nice customer support representative. He IMd the Head of Customer Support (who I find out later is the Head of Billing) and he refused to speak to me regarding this matter.
October 23, 2004
Mark Jacobs
Mythic Entertainment
Fairfax, VA 22030
Dear Mr. Jacobs,
I would first like to congratulate you on a most excellent game. I have searched for other comparable games but there are not many that even approach the complexity, graphics, interface and playability of Dark Ages of Camelot.
This started as a minor problem to be worked via your Customer Support staff. However, it dealing with this issue it has become apparent that you have a few issues which you may wish to address. I believe these issues are a potential detriment to your business growth.
I wont bore you with the details, they are on file. I will reduce my many months of trying to resolve this situation in to a simple capture below. I will highlight my concerns following this and recommend some possible corrections.
However, I do not have the gaming expertise of someone like yourself so Im not presuming to tell you how to specifically run your business. Feel free to skip over this recount and go directly to the issues. However, this will give you an insight in to the day-to-day operation of your organization which you have worked so hard to build.
I have an account with a your business. I actually have three accounts with this business. These accounts allow me access to virtual content with which I interact. Ill not get in to the psychology of why this is something a person would pay for, Ill just say, I enjoy my time in this virtual content.
I access my account with a user identifier and a password. The account ownership is determined by my secret word my pin number if you will.
One day I asked to make some adjustments to my account. I am asked to verify who I am by providing my pin number or secret word. Well, I finally figured out two of the three account access codes but was unable to really guess the final one.
I am told at this point, There is nothing we can do. Have a nice day.
Wait! Hold up! There has to be a way to change this word, this pin number, right? Every other business in the world has a method (secure method) for you to change your access codes and ownership verifiers.
Nope, sorry, nothing we can do. You dont technically own this account. Im now thinking, oh my gosh! I hope my bank never pulls this stunt!
Now before you start thinking, great another kid trying to hijack someones account and he wants us to help him, heres some facts.
The account ids are all sequential XXXXXXX1, XXXXXXX2, XXXXXXX3. The passwords are also sequential. The passwords have NEVER been changed since the accounts were opened. They are all paid for by the same credit card and they all have the same mailing and email address. After pointing this out to your customer support person I was getting no help.
Most folks tell me Forget it! I have accounts that have been passed down through 5 people and dont have a clue what the secret word is. Great for them, but if I dont own the account its not mine to access. Just the way I am.
OK, I say trying to remain very calm, Let me speak to a manager or someone else. You are telling me exactly what you should but I feel there might be another option here and Id like to speak to someone else.
Sorry, comes the terse reply, that would not be a good use of my managers time. Have a nice day. Would not be a good use of his time!? The Manager of Customer support or someone who is a position of authority in Customer Support and it would be a waste of his/her time to speak to a customer? If its a waste of their time, whose time do I request?
Several emails later, I received canned responses about EULAs, process, etc. Never once did I get a personal response.
I left the game and closed my three accounts.
I have searched for other games to match the content and playability of Dark Ages of Camelot. Ive not found one yet.
However, I have found several games with exceptional customer service. This feeling of being valued as a customer is enough to move me on to elsewhere.
When I returned I vowed to myself I would not get in to this again. But, I find I need my characters on the other account. I even thought of dropping the whole thing and started the characters again on a new account but I cant. I have software that sits idle because the CD key is tied to an account which Im unable to control. I bought and paid for it but I dont own it.
So, I emailed a rather polite request to the Head of Customer Support to review this matter and get back to me. I realize its not normal policy. I would like to have had someone look at the situation and work to a solution that does not compromise your security process but allows me to verify my account ownership.
Auto replies, party line, silence. Mostly silence actually. Its taken me weeks of requesting status for them to shoot back terse, canned replies. The last email came from the Head of Billing. Maybe hes your interim Customer Support guy? [Editorial note: I have recently found out that indeed the Head of Billing is the Head of Customer Support maybe theyve moved the real customer support to game they intend to support?]
I have a simple request. Work with me to identify an alternative solution to verify this account is my account.
Opportunities/Observations:
There should be a vehicle for a customer to interact directly with a person in authority in Customer Support to address and resolve their issues. (Complaints email is suppose to work that way but Ive received canned responses and have yet to get a response from someone in authority in the Customer Support Department)
A first line customer support staff member should never tell a paying customer that it would not be a good use of my managers time to discuss this with you.
Every other business in the world has a methodology that is secure, easy to use, and effective for changing access codes. While the security of the secret word is quite excellent its something akin to locking the vault with a single key and hope you never, ever lose that key. It just makes good business sense to make this easier on the paying customer and yet maintain the level of security with which you are comfortable.
I am respectfully requesting that you investigate this matter and provide me some feedback. What do I ask? Heres what I am requesting:
1. Is there a mechanism to speak directly to someone in a position of authority in Customer Support? What is this mechanism?
2. Is it your policy and business practice that first line customer support staff will deny access to management to resolve issues?
3. A review of my particular situation to see if there is a reasonable compromise that may be reached to verify account ownership and yet maintain your security at a level with which you are comfortable. If you have no mechanism in place to conduct such a review, say so.
4. A review of your secret word process and procedure. Dont just say Its always worked, dont change it. How many businesses are successful if they take the attitude, Its always worked fine in the past, dont change a thing.
I am, quite frankly, a bit tired of the whole affair. I like DAOC. I like the New Frontiers. I believe Catacombs will also be an excellent product. But if I cant feel that a company wants my business its very hard for me to continue doing business with them.
However, I work in business every day. I am a consultant. I help organizations define effective process. Its my nature to point out perceived weaknesses. Do with my observations what you will.
Respectfully and sincerely,
Comments
Ouch, ouch, ouch.
Not sure who - but you just haven't talked with the right person.... somehow.
Definitely something Mythic needs to address - this inability for a customer to 'talk to the right person.' Not your job to figure out who Mythic wants you to talk to, they should redirect you as needed.
Stay polite - if for no other reason I'd have gone ballistic (and everyone else I know). It's one of the more impressive parts of the post. It highlights a terrible aspect of the ordeal: a (triple) paying customer is polite while ignored by an uncaring company.
Posting in 'public' spots, MMORPG / IGN Boards / etc, is close to your last option. So long as it isn't a rant it may be effective. Trust me, everyone reading it is putting in appropriate curses and groans all on their own. Might also try emailing Sonya Thomas. Not her immediate problem - but it's definitely a relations aspect someone has to address.
Please keep us posted - I was considering reactivating my accounts for the upcoming expansion. I'd like to hear a resolution on this before paying a company acting in this fashion (although I never had issues with Mythic like this).
They do explicitly state the secret word is entirely the user's responsibility and they have no obligation to help you or track it - nonetheless you have pretty decent information that should allow an exception... if you talk to the right person.
If not - it's time to dump DAoC. You cannot reward a company that refuses to help their customers, or ignores attempt to even communicate.
A friend of mine in DAOC answered another similar post on the Alliance boards with this message:
My third account is an account that was owned by my brother. He is dead now and there is no chance of ever discovering what the secret word might be. They definately need to address this situation.
Wow, makes my issue seem somehow trivial, you know? sigh
Hello. I certainly don't know what the problem is exactly here but am rather just brainstorming a possibility..
You mentioned that the customer support rep told you that it isn't your account when you explained everything and that there was nothing that could be done. Makes me wonder if somehow, some way your 3rd acct's password, email address etc got into someone elses hands who changed everything. Perhaps they also changed the billing information. If that did happen, then the Mythic customer support had a somewhat valid reason for refusing information. They may think that you sold the account on a forum such as Ebay and now you are trying to aquire an account or acct info that doesn't belong to you.
Imagine if you would that you are that cust support rep and listening to you explain your name, your billing address, your bank, your account name etc etc.. but looking at the info on your screen and seeing entirely different information, bank info, and password info then what you speak of. That would certainly make more sense as to why you seem to be getting such a cold shoulder.
But if your bank card was still being charged for that 3rd account, then this probably isn't what happened.
I know that this probably doesn't help you much, but I do hope that you can get this resolved. It boggles my mind why they simply can't send you any information to the email address for you which they have in their records. I can't recall, but don't you put in your email addy when you sign up an acct?
Still very odd the response you are getting. I would be pretty upset if I were you. It's understandable. Good luck getting that account back.
- Zaxx
Thanks for the words. I have access to all three accounts if I choose to activate the other two. I have all the passwords. Nothing has changed since I've had the accounts. In fact, when I asked the customer support person these questions...about the passwords, account names, etc. they agreed with me, and went on to say there was nothing they could do.
I don't blame the pion on the phone. I blame the Head of Customer Support (excuse me, the Head of Billing) for this fiasco. They just need to get something in place to address legitimate complaints other then canned or no response.