This Month's Billing Issues Question

[Sealdorie]

If this is in the wrong place I apologize.

I woke up this morning ready to play the game only to log into an account that was supposedly suspended due to my card "rejecting" payment. At first I panicked, and called my company only to be told that the charge had gone through and SE got their $14.95.

At this point I went to check the website and saw that due to an error on the 3-D server many accounts were canceled in such a way and the suggestion by SE was to reactivate your content ID.

This is my question:

Now that I have reactivated my ID, and SE already has their $14.95 for this month will their billing at the beginning of august bill me twice (for the reactivation now and for august) as they would if I would have normally reactivated after the billing was done?

I won't appreciate being double charged for SE's mistake, and I've been playing FFXI long enough (since the beginning of 04) to know that SE's customer service in this area is a joke and no one ever double billed has seen their money returned to them. I'm also well aware that if I go to my CC company about the charge SE will only ban my account for backed fees.

[Alhanelem]

They asked you to reactivate if you were erroneously terminated, and if they see that your account was erroneously cancelled but is now active, you won't get charged for the reactivation and the normal fee.

You can always bring it up with support just in case. Any SE staff that responds to you here will tell you account issues are not for the forums and need to be taken to support.

[Sealdorie]

My apologies, I assumed that something that was a wide spread issue could be discussed for opinions with others as this is a general discussion forum. Had my case been unique I would never have posted.

The note did not mention there would be no charge and when you reactivate it asks you to confirm the charge of $xx (in my case $15~) in order to do so.

[Rearden]

I am sure they will somehow be billing people twice, I was personally charged a dollar extra for service+mules.

SE is quite fond of being number one in customer satisfaction at the BBB

[Alhanelem]

The note did not mention there would be no charge and when you reactivate it asks you to confirm the charge of $xx (in my case $15~) in order to do so. I don't think it needs to mention that there would be "no charge" (and it would be confusing as it could be taken to mean you'd get a month free). I think common sense should say when they sort the issue out that everything will be settled in an apprpriate manner (I suppose you could argue I'm giving them too much credit, but I've never had any kind of problem like this with SE)

Again though, you should contact support if you're not sure what will happen; and if you were so concerned about it, you probably should have asked before reactivating. I may be an optimist, but if you were billed but were affected by the erroneous cancellation, I don't think you will be charged for the reactivation.


SE is quite fond of being number one in customer satisfaction at the BBB You're being sarcastic, but....
http://www.la.bbb.org/business-reviews/Video-Games-Retail-Dealer/Square-Enix-Inc-in-El-Segundo-CA-13168063
They've gone from an F rating around the midpoint of FFXI's existence in the US, to an A+ rating now.
BBB ratings are based on complaints made to the BBB and how the BBB accredited business addresses those complaints which are brought to it by the BBB.



Factors that raised this business's rating include:

Length of time business has been operating
Complaint volume filed with BBB for business of this size (e.g. low ratio of complaints compared to size of business -added by Al)
Response to complaint(s) filed against business
Resolution of complaint(s) filed against business
BBB has sufficient background information on this business
(Side notes: The most common complaints are product/service issues; Billing/Collection issues come in a distant second)

99% of "double billings" are not actually double billings, but people getting charged for two seperate months in one transaction and THINKING they're being double billed because they didn't look at their service history that SE makes reasonably available to them (and even tells them to read it every month in the POL viewer)

There are real, true billing problems, but those are not common, and in most cases, they are acknowledged by SE (e.g., problems like the one that led to this thread)

[Sealdorie]

I don't think it needs to mention that there would be "no charge" (and it would be confusing as it could be taken to mean you'd get a month free). I think common sense should say when they sort the issue out that everything will be settled in an apprpriate manner (I suppose you could argue I'm giving them too much credit, but I've never had any kind of problem like this with SE)

Again though, you should contact support if you're not sure what will happen; and if you were so concerned about it, you probably should have asked before reactivating. I may be an optimist, but if you were billed but were affected by the erroneous cancellation, I don't think you will be charged for the reactivation.

I'd have to say you are giving them too much credit, but then again after the years of issues I've seen friends and family deal with I may be a bit cynical. I actually was fairly optimistic until I was asked to agree to an additional charge and then two separate $1 charges appeared on my CC statement. For now, they'll get the benefit that they will be gone by business day on Tuesday, but I don't see why my credit card should have been pinged in the first place.

[Alhanelem]

Again, contact support and file it under account issues. You'll be able to use chat and phone support that way, and you may be able to get an answer.

[Tagrineth]

When I reactivated my account after a year off I was only charged the correct amount. Yes at the end of the month I was charged $30 but that was because I had to pay for the month I'd reactivated, then pay ahead for the next month.

Remember, SE charges you at the start of the month, not at the end of the month. If you reactivate mid-month, they have to charge you at the end of the month for the month you just played...

There's no actual "reactivation fee", just your monthly payment for that month.

[Alhanelem]

In our previous announcement, Registration Server Maintenance Technical Issues (Jul.2), we asked players to
reactivate their Content IDs if they had been erroneously cancelled. However, some players were charged twice
when they reactivated their accounts. Refunds for these erroneous charges are currently being performed
and expected to be completed within the next few days.

We deeply apologize for the continued inconvenience and thank you for your patience and understanding.

So it looks like they will be refunding your charge from when your account was deactivated, so the reactivation will end up not costing you anything extra.

[Tsukino_Kaji]

It seems I mave have not only fell prey to the content ID glitch, but may have been double billed as well. >.<
They have found that there was another side to the glitch that in, where the active character was wrongfully suspended, it was also billed as well. Leading you to be billed again updon reactivation. You should be sure to check.

[Alhanelem]

They do not double bill anyone (except as they have already described). Check your history in account information. 99.9% of all "double billings" are people reactivating in the middle of a month.

As far as I can tell, what's going to happen is this:

-The fee charged to you at the beginning of this month for your account will be refunded.
-You will be charged for this month (by reactivating) at the end of the month, along with the following month's fees.
-any other erroneous charges will also be refunded (As described in my quote of SE)

The net result is that you pay what you would have paid if they didn't screw up the first time.

[Tsukino_Kaji]

No, I was billed on the 2nd and again on the 6th when I reactivated. I was double billed and SE put out an announcement saying that some people were double billed so they should check their accounts.

[Alhanelem]

The very announcement I quoted, which says those will be refunded.