Please Fix Your Billing System

[DrForester]

I am currently in the middle of a customer service issue that I think is unacceptable regarding the new billing system Square Enix is using (this would be though Click and Buy, but the same would apply for paypal users). Due to an error with Click and Buy, SE received a charge back and my account was terminated. I understand that when the bill aren't paid you get kicked off. However your new system doesn't merely shut off FFXI access, but it terminates your entire Square account. I am unable to log into my account and go to paypal, or any other payment method. The issue with C&B has been cleared since Sunday. Rather than being able to log into the game, I now have to wait for Square and C&B to play communications tag to get the matter resolved.

The new billing system totally removes Squares ability to offer customer service to help their customers and instead, customer service regarding billing is now at the whim of outside companies such as C&B and Paypal.

By contrast, I had a billing issue years ago (lost card, canceled card, got new card, forgot to update billing in FFXI), and all I had to do was log in, change my CC info, and log back into the game. It was simple, took a few minutes, and I didn't have to call or wait for anyone. This new system is archaic, and eliminates the possibility of customers to get a speedy resolution to their problems.

Please Square, handle billing issues internally, so that players with issues can get back to the game and giving you more money ASAP rather than this bureaucratic song and dance.

[Mageoholic]

my account worked just fine going through pay pal. It was cut off a couple days ago, I bought crysta via pay pal today, and presto account reactivated.

So no pay pal wasn't affected. Just lolclickandbuy (why anyone would use that joke over pay pal is beyond me.)

[DrForester]

you're right, forgot that with paypal you're buying the magic SE currency ahead of time. There should never be an issue of a chargeback.

Worst part of the whole thing was the card that got a charge back is the same card I had used for 3 months.

I will be going with paypal soon as I can access my account settings. I wish SE had just said from the offset that to encourage people to go paypal they were going to go with the worst possible service imaginable to handle alternative payments to Crysta.

[DrForester]

So, day 5 of the ongoing saga.

Even though I have provided SE with the receipt number for October, they (Customer service) can't do anything.

The biggest problem here is the people at tech support are useless, and that is NOT a dig at them. What I mean by useless is that they are not empowered to do anything. They can't help the customer. All they did was say "Yes you've paid, no you can't play, you have to wait till the systems admins get around to it".

Still just unfathomable to me that a simple error with C&B about FFXI has resulted in my entire SE account getting banned. I cant register new games, I can't even play FFXIV, which isn't even being billed at this point.

[DrForester]

23 days.

From the time I provided Square with the receipt number form Click and Buy it took 23 days before SE reactivated my account. And it's a good thing I happened to check, as I have still not gotten the promised Email saying my account is active. I've just been randomly checking every 2 or 3 days.

This is an unacceptable way to treat your customers. I'd pursue getting a refund for the month of October as I will only get to play for 1 week of the month, despite paying for the entire month, but with how terrible your service is, I don't even want to know what type of headache I'd have with that.

While there were issues with Click and Buy, the situation with them was settled in minutes, using their website. In the end this entire ordeal was because of Squares completely inefficient customer service policy to deal with a simple issue with the company Square themselves selected to handle billing. There is no excuse for my account not being unlocked immediately upon providing your customer service with the receipt number.

I've put a lot of time into this game, so I'm not going to just storm off and quit, but unless there is a serious overhaul to the customer service, I will not be buying any further Square products that require a subscription.