Are alternative payment options being considered?

[Runespider]

I and I'm sure many others are waiting for some kind of communication from Square in this "era of communication" as to whether new payment options are a possibility or are even being considered.

If Square are not considering it and are going to ignore the outcry can we be told this so we can make the best of the options we have been given? (or make choices accordingly). Please just stop ignoring us.

If no alternative payment options are going to be offered I want to try sort out what I'm going to do and I really don't appreciate being ignored and made to wait this way, especially since I have paid for 5 accounts for the last 5-6 years and have never missed a payment. Can I and other loyal customers get a little bit of customer service here? I'm not asking for the world, just a word as to if new payment options are a possibility to make me waiting have any point at all.

Please don't ignore us, the vast majority of us are loyal and long time subscribers to your service and the few that abused chargeback should not lead to us being treated so badly as a whole.

Just tell us if there is a possibility of any alternatives or not, as I said if not we can make decisions accordingly but waiting and being ignored is just making everyone more and more angry.

[RAIST]

Thanks Runespider for posting this. Not sure if we will be able to keep it on the front page so it's continually staring them in the face, but it would be nice if we could. Gonna past the last response we got from Matt here, just in case some haven't seen it:

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/th...l=1#post158090

Greetings all,

We wanted to take a moment to let you know that we are aware of the comments and discussions taking place regarding the new payment procedures not only on the official forum, but on the community sites, as well.

While we don't have specific details to share at this time, we do want to inform you that improving the payment processing options are still a part of an ongoing process. We will continue to take all the feedback we receive as we strive to make the experience as user-friendly as possible for all of our customers going forward.

[Mordanthos]

it took like, 10 minutes to apply a card to the 3D thing, get over it and figure it out, its not hard, and it works fine.

[RAIST]

it took like, 10 minutes to apply a card to the 3D thing, get over it and figure it out, its not hard, and it works fine.

Not sure if this is directed at SE or the OP. In the event it is for the OP, I will hazard a guess you aren't up to speed on just what the problem is, so will try to provide a recap:

Only the JP region is getting to keep the 3DS direct bill option...everyone else is getting forced off to either charge their cards thorugh the seemingly risky Click&Buy or set up a way to cover it with Crysta. Because of C&B's issues in the past, some financial institutions are flat out blocking their transactions, others don't trust them. In some cases, C&B themselves won't handle transactions in certain regions. Likewise, SE is not providing Crysta as an option in some regions. We've already discovered that people in and around Australia are being blocked from BOTH options...but they've been able to pay in the past through the POL's 3DS system which, again, is only getting extended to the JP clients at the moment.

So in short, the direction SE is taking with the transfer that will be changing the billing options after Aug.31st is extending the existing payment option to just the JP clients, denying it to everyone else and forcing them to use methods that for some are simply blocked or otherwise untrusted and not desired. In some cases it is completely rendering some currently paying customers ANY method to pay SE and is therefore forcing a closure of their accounts.

[Puck]

Raist covered it pretty well. People aren't upset because the account transfer involves a few minutes of extra time to set up. The outrage stems from being forced to make an agreement with a 3rd party (ClickandBuy), the reputability of that 3rd party, the fact that many financial institutions block transfers to that 3rd party, and many other complications involving players from other regions.

For those that can't do business with ClickandBuy, there's Crysta, though many players are also unable to purchase it. Even if they could, it cannot be purchased in exact amounts, forcing players to spend more than they need to due to always having an unused remainder of Crysta for a long period of time.

The fact that JP players don't have to deal with any of that because they can still make direct payments to SE and buy Crysta in exact amounts is rubbing salt in a fresh open wound. Hence, further outrage. While a small population says they will quit after this month due to protest or annoyance, a much larger number will be forced to quit against their will due to one or more of the conditions already mentioned.

[Knives]

I would also like to add that they need to adjust SEIDs to allow players to personally unlink PlayOnline IDs now, in addition to alternative methods of payment for the monthly fees. This is causing a lot of issues as well.

[Runespider]

The current options they are giving us are terrible and rushed, Click&Buy are considered a bad company by many banks and charges from them on your card/bank can lead to your own banks automated fraud system freezing your account (would you like to have to ring your bank/cc company every month to unfreeze your account?). Crysta being buyable in block amounts only (like microsoft points on Xboxlive) is totally lazy and leaves a sour taste in your mouth every time you would do it since you have to keep overpaying. Both of these methods are unnaceptable, even moreso given we have been given a better serivce since the creation of FFXI, but now after sticking with the company for many years we get garbage. The thing that makes it more upsetting is the JP players get far far better options to pay than us, totally unfair.

Regardless as I said in my initial post, what I really want is some word as to whether things are going to change or not...cause right now I'm just waiting, if nothing is going to change tell us and we can deal with what we gotta do. I'm getting more and more annoyed at waiting and thinking that my account could be closed and I'll not even be able to post on this forum at that point. If they won't change these horrible options I'll consider using what they are offering but I'm not sure how long the sour taste in my mouth over them will hasten my desire to end my XI career.

You can only push a playerbase so far, addicted we maybe but there is a limit.

it took like, 10 minutes to apply a card to the 3D thing, get over it and figure it out, its not hard, and it works fine.

I setup a verified by visa thing long ago, this has nothing to do with that. This is a whole 100x worse thing they are offering, if you think this is about 3D secure card accounts you are going to have a big suprise next month when you can't login anymore due to the payment systems totally changing and you haven't set it up. Also you won't be able to post on this forum at that point either cause your account will be closed.

This isn't about changing your account to a Square enix account, lots of us did that. This is about the fact you now have to totally change how you pay for FFXI on that account, this is new stuff and a lot of people still don't know there accounts will close next month cause they have yet to set it up. The way you paid for FFXI for the last howevermanyyears is now no good and you gotta pick a new payment system, and the options are terrible.

[RAIST]

something for SE to consider in this decision. If they aren't already aware of something recently changing with C&B's regulatory status, they may want to contact the FSA for more answers:

May have stumbled on something about C&B. There might actually be a specific reason why some financial institutions are rejecting them, just haven't been able to get further details as it looks like the site I was in just hit a maintenance window while I was on it.

Click&Buy is stating they are authorised and regulated by the FSA UK:

ClickandBuy International Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority in the United Kingdom. (Register Number: 454127)

http://www.clickandbuy.com/EU/en/sa/...bereich=surfer

So out of curiosity I went to pull up their reports on them, but can't get any real info on them just yet as it looks like they've started stopping some webapps for maintenance or something while I was browsing. This particular one went offline just after I pulled it up, but the first page from my search was still in my cached pages so I was able to grab at least their basic info:

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/Pages/register/index.shtml
searched on firm registration number: 454127

Basic details for:
454127 - ClickandBuy International Limited

Current status: No longer Authorised
Effective Date: 01/07/2011
Tied Agent:
Undertakes Insurance Mediation:
Registered under Money Laundering Regulations:
Address: Lincoln House
137/143 Hammersmith Road
London
W14 0QL

Phone:
Fax:
Email:
Website:
44 020 7605 0670
44 020 7751 1848
No e-mail supplied
www.clickandbuy.com

Notices:
Other information: The firm now has an e-money record. Please check the e-money link for more information.

Clicked the e-money link and that's when pages started coming up as unavailable. Guess I hit it right when they were taking things down.

Interesting that their basic info states they are not authorised. Which is a little concerning as they are still claiming on their site that they are authorised.

When you go to the FSA's detail on status entries, it simply states

No longer authorised
A firm is no longer allowed to carry out certain types of business that we regulate.

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/Register...us/index.shtml

Which makes me even more curious about just what they are no longer authorized to do, and why. Wish I could get at the reports to get more info.

Edit: forwarded this to SE through the portal, and included a link to this thread as well
<crosses fingers>

[Panthera]

I've said it before, I'll say it again here.

SE will probably make an announcement of some kind on Monday. Hopefully, they won't bury it under a sticky you gotta dig through.

Try to see things from their side. This is a game, but it's also a business. They have stockholders to answer to, and they have to keep a solid profit margin. It costs money just to bill people. They have to do a cost analysis and see what would work out best for them. ... I don't think they had predicted this total $#!+ storm. So now they have to make calls, have long meetings, and rethink things. It won't happen instantly, it takes time. They're not politicians; if they promise something, it had better damn well happen, so they can't just make big talk about PayPal and Visa unless they can actually make it happen.

I'm not saying,"Just pay the shady company and buy too much Christa. It's just your money and/or Credit Card info, stop QQing." I am saying give them enough time to come back to us with real solutions that solve our problems in a satisfactory manner that they can deliver on without failure.

I, Panthera, hereby declare a moratorium on any new threads including--but not limited to--Billing, Credit Cards, ClickandBuy, Payspan, Christa, PayPal, JP favoritism, and the like. Feel free to vent, but please use existing threads; there's only two dozen of them. I further call for a mass, permanent black-listing of any persons who do not respect other player's right to be treated fairly and with respect as it relates to billing. They are unworthy of your time and attention--and that's ultimately what they want; deny them. I sincerely hope this works out best for us all. If not, it was a good run anyway.

[Rosina]

This isn't the first time SE had to deal with this.

when ffxiv went live similar outburst happen. Then subsided after people figued stuff out.

So far my b/f signed up for C&B and had no issues. And he is of the mind set that if C&B does do something he can just cancle the credit card. Not the first time he did so. (long story)

Also SE does not regulate what country has what services. They can offer, but it is up to the region to take up said offer. Like not all countries have crysta. That is the fault of the contries.

Also the Crysta tin foil hat thinking is really getting outa hand. Learn how to take advantage of said system instead of moaning the "i'm forced to pay more to keep up crysta while having extra crysta I can't use" Kinda dumb sorry. You need crysta in your pot to purchase additional services such as extra content ID for characters.

If they do get more options, do not think it was you guys who caused the change, it woulda been a combination of both ffxi and ffxiv player bases.