Problem getting customer support in LOTRO

MightyUnclean

Hey guys,

I just returned to my hunter in LOTRO after years away.  He has a bugged, mandatory quest that is preventing him from advancing in the story line.  I submitted a help ticket on their website, and it told me that I would need submit an in-game ticket and be online when a GM responded.  I did that, and there was an 18 hour expected response time.  Probably not surprisingly, I wasn't online when the GM got around to my ticket.  They closed out the ticket and sent me an automated message that I would have to resubmit if I was still experiencing the issue.  Apparently, the only way I can get help is to sit online around the expected response time and hope that a GM gets to me.

I haven't submitted many help requests in MMOs over the years.  Is this how things are usually handled?  They give you a vague idea of when you may get a response and require that you be online at that time, and if you're not, they close your ticket?  I'm interested in what you all have experienced.

Thanks!

FrodoFragins

Yeah it's a terrible system by a company that stinks at customer service.  You'll probably have to keep retrying, although I sort of remember them also sending something via email.

MightyUnclean

FrodoFragins said:

Yeah it's a terrible system by a company that stinks at customer service.  You'll probably have to keep retrying, although I sort of remember them also sending something via email.

It's making me hesitant to even play another character, because I know if I run into a problem, it's going to be difficult and a hassle to get it resolved.

Scorchien

The more money you spend in LOTRO the faster the help is and faster tickets get resolved..

  If a person does not  spend they are at the bottom of the list , where spenders will also jump to the front of the line

Amathe

I am trying to think of a game I played that had good customer service. Maybe EQ and CoH.  That's it really. 

MightyUnclean

Amathe said:

I am trying to think of a game I played that had good customer service. Maybe EQ and CoH.  That's it really. 

I had to deal with WoW customer service before and had a quick response with a good outcome.  Of course, they can afford it.  LOTRO, probably not so much.

Po_gg

MightyUnclean said:

I haven't submitted many help requests in MMOs over the years.  Is this how things are usually handled?

Yep, except maybe the immediate ticket close... and even worse for us in the EU, with often playing outside their window.

I remember once (a few years ago) I received an IM from a GM not long after I logged in, about a ticket I've opened weeks earlier   so probably they have some sorta ticket-following system.

Otherwise, pretty much what you saw. If there's an in-game action needed, usually you have to bump into a GM in the game for that.

Amathe said:

I am trying to think of a game I played that had good customer service. Maybe EQ and CoH.  That's it really. 

Funcom had a really good customer service team, many years ago... You could get a GM to help you within an hour of your /petition.

FrodoFragins

Amathe said:

I am trying to think of a game I played that had good customer service. Maybe EQ and CoH.  That's it really. 

This system is really bad though.  Like horrendously bad.  The least they could do is push you back to the end of the queue, closing it does no good.  and often times there's enough info in the ticket for them to fix it anyway.

SWTOR is pretty bad in that I'm pretty sure you can't submit a ticket at all unless you are subbed.  Although the progression locking bugs there were fixable by abandoning the quest and restarting it.