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STO C-Store : Buyer Beware
ShardWarrior
Member Posts: 290
There has been a bug with the C-Store for quite some time now (at least a year that I am aware of) which prevents purchased items from showing up as "Purchased/Available" when claiming them from the C-Store.
Specifically, I purchased the Exploration Cruiser Retrofit some time ago and on my one character (http://imageshack.us/f/580/77036810.jpg)) it shows correctly as "Purchased".
On all my other characters (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/39/62082571.jpg), the Exploration Cruiser Retrofit is showing up as needing to pay another 1,200 C-Store points. This ship does not show on the Legacy Unlocks or any other tabs for me.
This is not the first time this has happened with the C-Store for me personally. The first time this bug happened, Cryptic claimed I had never purchased the ship, even though I had claimed it on a character previously and they were adamant that I had to pay another 1,200 points. As you can see from the screen captures, I already have it on one character and the C-Store is trying to charge me additional points to claim it again on other characters.
Please use extreme caution when purchasing anything from the C-Store, and be very certain to keep detailed records of when you buy something. Cryptic will say that they "cannot and do not keep details of what items were claimed from the C-Store", which is not true.
Comments
And here we go again...
I purchased the Long Range Science Retrofit some time ago (http://imageshack.us/f/197/79639032.jpg) and now it's telling me that I'll have to pay another 1,200 points to buy it again (http://imageshack.us/f/812/51718836.jpg/)!
So far, 5 days and counting and no response to this ticket (http://imageshack.us/f/856/93780073.jpg/).
I urge anyone buying from the C-Store to use extreme caution and to keep detailed records of what items were claimed and when.
Thanks for posting this.
I don't play STO yet but want to.
I'd post it on a half dozen other forums and link to your posts in your communication with their support team. Do they have fax numbers? Make a hobby out of pestering them. Use free web fax services. Find the CEO, CTO, COO email, phone, fax.
Did you pay for points with a credit card? If they're idiots and don't fix it then charge it back.
I've done it once for XI with SE, the credit card's phone support rep was a Wow player and totally understood.
I've battled with Adobe, NCSoft and SE and due perhaps to a bit of luck "won" with all 3. lol
Don't lose your sense of "outrage" and don't give up until they fix it.
If you cut it too short you can always nail a piece on the end.
If you cut it too long then what the hell are you gonna do?
You're welcome for the post. I just wanted to share this info so those looking to play the game will be aware of the issue and to inform them to use caution when buying from the C-Store. At least to me, there is not much point in getting outraged over it. I simply won't spend any further money on the C-Store items which will help get the message across much more effectively than a rant on a forum.
http://imageshack.us/f/209/screenshot2012010210320.jpg/ 10 days and counting!
Terrible bug, or is it? Shame on you Cryptic.
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/323039/Would-suggest-staying-far-away-from-this-game.html
As i said back when i had my issue. The c-store and the way they keep logs, (or do not keep them maybe) is messed up.
The game itself can be ok, just do not use the C-store. If you do it may be fine for a a while, but you very well may get hit like me and others with a bug, and they will not even bother to look on your characters to verify any issues. They say the logs show, blah blah blah, and that is the end. They will not look past that no matter what you ask them to do.
And the worst part? A simple look at the character with access to an item that is supposed to be account wide would prove the issue. If one character has an account wide item from store, but you other characters do not. It is self evident there is a bug:)
But they simply will not try to help you at all.
This is just my own opinion so take it for what it is, but I believe that Cryptic denies any bugs or issues with the C-Store because they are worried about a mass panic and loss of revenue, especially since the game is going F2P. If they confirm there are issues with the C-Store, they think no one will buy anything. Again, my opinion, but my experience with them the first time this happened is exactly as you said in your reply. I was told I never bought the ship in the C-Store and would have to pay for it again. I know of a handful of people myself who have had the same problem with the C-Store and as I said in my original post, this is a bug that has been around for at least a year.
Best we can all do as a community is to help spread the word on this issue so that it gets proper attention from the Cryptic devs who can fix it. Also, please help pass along the message that there are issues with the C-Store not flagging your purchases properly, so customers can use caution when making a purchase.
Naw do not give them too much credit:P
Would you of posted here or me? If they had just taken the time to bother to look at the characters effected? Nope.
It would of taken them less time to help me in my issue than it did to go back and forth with several different people and get told by each and every one that the log shows this. And not a one would go a step past that. They flatly refused to go look at my character that had the items that were supposed to be account wide.
It is pretty obvious it is a issue that is not widespread, and therefore it is easier to ignore it than try to fix it. And apparently they could care less about any people that will tell others of the issues.
I can't deny it was a tremendous hassle with Cryptic to get this resolved the first time it happened to me. However, they ultimately did make good so I can't complain there. It was a real pain in the rear to get to that point though. As you say, it would have been far easier to just log in and see what we were talking about instead of relying on logs which are obviously incorrect.
My goal here is to help raise awareness for this particular issue. The game is going F2P and potential players/customers should be aware of issues with the store. This way, they can make informed choices before spending their money.
16 days later I finally get a reply from GM_Flanko who confirmed the ships were purchased from the C-Store on my account. They asked if I was able to claim them at all, so in my reply I directed them to my posted screen captures (again) and explained the situation again.
GM_Flankos second reply now says I never purchased them through the C-Store... even though he confirmed I did in his first response.
::sigh:: And here we go again...
When I purchase things from Lord of The Rings Online's shop I get an email confirmation of the purchase. Does Cryptic do anything like that? [I'm guessing the answer is "no", else you wouldn't be in this siduation.]
One way to get them to admit their error would be to show them a copy of whatever payment records you have used to buy CP. You can then break down the purchases you've made for them so they can see that you bought "$$$$" CP, subtract out every purchase you've made and match it up with your current balance. Considering all the things you've bought, Cryptic should be crediting you back CP for all the trouble they've put you though (but I doubt they value their customers that much).
The way the GM replied it makes me wonder, what is he trying to imply? Are there other ways to obtain c-shop items other than through Cryptic? If not is the GM suggesting that the c-shop's security is so loose that players can flip the switch on upgrades without going through the shop? (sniffing/spoofing the packets)
Cryptic will send an email confirming the purchase of C-Store points. They do not send an email confirming what those points are spent on in game. So if you buy 100 points, you get a confirmation. If you spend 50 points on a costume in gamre, you get no confirmation. They use this to their advantage.
What the GM is asking is if a Vice Admiral ship token was used to purchase the ship. Cryptic patched in a "free ship token" when you get to max level to purchase a C-Store ship (mostly because so many people complained that once you reach max level, you have to pay real money for a ship upgrade since the VA ships are all C-Store). This will unlock the ship for 1 character only, not account wide. All my ship purchases were made prior to the release of these VA ship tokens. My characters all hit VA within a couple of months after launch, and I bought these ships many moons ago when they were first introduced into the C-store.
I asked the GM to confirm again that I purchased them in the C-Store. I haven't received a response yet and doubt I will.
Logged into STO last night and the GM had replied to my ticket. He tried to backpedal a bit (IMO) to explain "what he intended to say" in his initial reply.
He had asked if I had a general idea when I bought the items and how much CP they cost. I told him as best I could remember, but again this was months ago so I cannot recall specific dates.
I also inquired as to why they cannot look at the C-Store point purchase history on the account and match that up to what has been purchased and what balance remains on the account. Surely this would show the discrepancy. It is confirmed they can see what you buy on your account, so I am curiously awaiting the response.
To anyone who may be following this... please be sure to keep accurate records of when you claim an item from the C-Store. Should you (hopefully not) have issues in the future, this can be valuable to help correct the problem.
Just wanted to share a post I came across on the Official STO forums. http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=246974. This one is for the TOS Bundle in the C-Store. It is showing as needing to be purchased again even though the players already ...
Reposting the original content here;
"So I bought the TOS Bundle ages ago, and it's showing up under Legacy Unlocks as claimable. However, it also appears in the Bundles section and it's not claimable there...it has the 1600 CP price tag on it.
I've got a screenshot here, showing the two sections: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...bundle_bug.jpg
This issue just appeared as of today's patch...I never had this problem before then."
Still more issues for customers with the C-Store it would seem...
Well, I wish I had good news about this. Sadly, I do not.
The GM I had been dealing with seems incapable of matching points bought (and earned via stipend) against what is claimed on the account and the remaining balance to find any discrepancy. All Cryptic is interested in doing is telling me that I didn't pay for the ships in question.
I will not go through a lengthy battle with Cryptic for a second time about this very same issue, so I have contacted my credit card company and they have done a chargeback on the purchase.
Again, if you are looking to buy something from the C-Store, please be certain to take screen captures, keep records etc. Cryptic will be of little to no help should you run into issues with the C-Store.
Browsing through the STO Official Forums and found yet another post regarding bugs with the C-Store. It can be found here; http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?p=4019274#post4019274.