Account suspended, help?

I checked all my accounts, I have no other means of making a payment so it is a little sketchy what happened. Especially since no one else had access to my account, not even my husband as he has no interest in pve games.

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Originally Posted by Tooka

I just wanted yes or no, was the card in my name. It's just so frustrating after being a fan all these years, playing the console games, playing xi and having had no history of issues that absolutely nothing can be done. I'd be fine with a penalty fee and only being allowed to pay with crysta from now on, idk, something!

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This is SE support we are talking about where its less work to start from scratch then get the result that is fair for both parties. Heaven help anyone who gets Jordan G. as their support rep.

In any other game the first thing they would do is check your IP logs to see if any unusual activity has taken place. For SE its nope sorry you did it and we dont care lalala WHY DONT YOU LOVE US ANYMORE.

I compare this games customer support quite often to Blizzards, Wildstars, and even back in the day games like rift at least when they couldnt help you decently you would get credit to the in game shop. I know the hardcore defenders of SE will attack any naysayers but please understand from a business standpoint customer support is a basic level service its not something you can simply shrug off. This above any in game complaints is the one place they need to step up first. Other companies do far better at making sure that if their customer has an issue they are assisted in a way that helps maintain them as a customer. My account was banned because of illicit action on WoW 15mins on live chat with teir customer support they pulled the IP logs to find I was logged in via a foreign IP address and the account termination was reversed all my items were returned and I was able to continue playing less than 30mins later. Had an issue in wildstar where I couldnt play on the EU servers do to region locking the accounts during beta. 2 days after headstart they manually swapped my account and my game to the EU region so I could play with my friends (and were very apologetic on the turnaround time even though they were swamped do to it being a new launch game). This is the biggest and most legitimate complainted anyone can have against SE. They have extremely subpar customer support within the industry.

If I got possessed and decided to stat over, since the account is banned, would I need to buy a new copy of the game?

I believe you would have to buy a new copy of the game :( I'm sorry this happened to you and good luck getting it all sorted out >.<

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Originally Posted by Tooka

If I got possessed and decided to stat over, since the account is banned, would I need to buy a new copy of the game?

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Yes you would need to buy a new game, and create a new SE account.

Hey Tooka, I see you're on Hyperion, if you plan to get the game again and start from scratch I'd be more than happy to help you get back to 50.

I too would be happy to play around on a new server and meet new people and dont mind starting from scratch to do so though this character will still be played mostly =P

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Originally Posted by Yurimi

I too would be happy to play around on a new server and meet new people and dont mind starting from scratch to do so though this character will still be played mostly =P

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Go for it, who knows maybe you'll like it so much you'll transfer over :P

Well, this will be my last attempt tomorrow, I will gather all the credit card numbers I've had since the beginning of the year from my cc companies. I'll have them check all if none of those is the right one then my account was definitely compromised. Maybe that will provoke some action? Who knows, at this point maybe a new game might be better. I was so close to my animus weapon and I cannot see myself going through all that again.

Thanks for the sympathy and empathy. It's just hard to lose the little bit of me time I get every day after work and kids hehe.

If you can't get it back, I wouldn't go and give SE more money by buying another copy. There are other games out there IMO.

If they don't want to play nice with you then play mean with them, do a full charge back of everything the company has charged you, who needs a refund take it all, SE already says you did it so why not make it true.

Hopefully a rep or someone that can help Tooka out is able to see this. It's really disheartening that we finally find a FC member that fits in really well with our group and we are finally able to run content at all and this mess happens. The possibility that she will lose her character permanently without any sort of way to get it back is atrocious considering both the fact that this game takes as much of a time investment as it does and the fact that this is likely an error on SE's part that Tooka has nothing to do with.

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Originally Posted by Tooka

So I called them and they wanted me to write a letter to them and to the bank among other things. What happened was that my bank issued me a new cc after Target had the huge amount of data stolen. When SE tried to bill my card it didn't go through of course. I saw there was an error, I called them, they wouldn't tell me what it meant, they just said pay with crysta from now on... ok, so I did. Then suddenly 24 hours after I make a second payment with crysta my account gets banned. Mind you, I don't owe them any money since I paid with crysta when the payment to the old account didn't go through.

At this point I chose to not send the letter since this is so unnecessary hassle when I am not at fault. With any other company when there's a problem like this it is resolved as soon as payment is issued. I just don't understand why do they choose to operate in such a way. Apparently the CSR said that this is a big deal with their bank and it reflects poorly with them. I hope this doesn't happen to anyone else, please be mindful whenever you change your credit card number with SE as they won't send you a reminder or work with you for a simple, quick resolution. Now they also don't want to refund my last payment made with crysta (which is what THEY told me to do) and have sent to me deal directly with Ultimate Pay and I can't understand how they as intermediaries will help with this situation since I paid them and they already passed that to SE as my crysta balance is listed as 0 after the payment went through.

Oh well. There goes all my fun/work.

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Man that really sucks. :( I'd say it might be worth writing a letter if they have a specific form letter you can fax them... I think I had to fax them some sort of paperwork back in the day when my ffxi account had gotten hacked a few years back (this was before the security key). From the time I sent them the declaration form to the time I got their resolution it was a little over a week... so it's still possible they could resolve your issue in around that time.
Now, if you go through that work and they deny you your account, and they deny refunding the crysta you actually paid for, I'd say go ahead and file a chargeback for that. You'd be permabanned from their decision anyway, it's not like they could do anything worse to your account (since they're claiming you did a chargeback anyway). Then, honestly if it was me I'd stay away from SE products because I wouldn't want to give my money to a company that closed my account like that. Don't get another account, don't buy another copy of the game; if you do it's almost like they totally got away with scamming another whole game's worth of cash out of you.

I hear Wildstar's a pretty fun game...

People get suspended/banned all the time for no reason other than suspicion. The sad thing is that SE's customer service is like banging your head in to a solid wall of rusty nails. I reeaaally miss Blizzard when it comes to service. It's incredible how nice, accessible, and prompt that company is with their customers. They truly go beyond what you'd expect from a game company.

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Originally Posted by Tooka

Well, this will be my last attempt tomorrow, I will gather all the credit card numbers I've had since the beginning of the year from my cc companies. I'll have them check all if none of those is the right one then my account was definitely compromised. Maybe that will provoke some action? Who knows, at this point maybe a new game might be better. I was so close to my animus weapon and I cannot see myself going through all that again.

Thanks for the sympathy and empathy. It's just hard to lose the little bit of me time I get every day after work and kids hehe.

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Hello Tooka,

Please keep us updated about your issue.

Regrettably Tooka can't even reply on the forums becuase now she's not allowed to post as her account isn't active, at least when she told me about this yesterday.

This makes no sense SE, she was playing without issue 2 days ago.

Ha! My pc bypasses the ban since I never logged out. I cannot log in from my phone so if someone this session drops I'll be out for good ;). Nonetheless rogue lala will tell her story...

So By now I've made about 10 calls to SE and 10 calls to Chase (who have been nothing less than awesome throughout this ordeal). Square finally told me that somehow the payment made in April was with a credit card from Chase with my name on it, after calling them 10 times and having them be annoyed every time I say my name :(. So I thought, ok, maybe Chase is wrong, there's another number or something and I just don't remember and it is my fault, I'd be cool with that and take ownership. Chase checked under my social security number and I have no other accounts with them at all besides the ones I gave them which they say are not the ones that issued the charge/chargeback. At this point on my accounts that are verifiable through my social the payment for April was just never charged by SE.

SE refuses to talk to Chase even though chase is willing to call them. SE does not include the last 4 digits of the card used to pay in your statement or email confirmation of payment. Every other merchant does think Amazon, Newegg, etc. So they cannot give me any more information and say that somehow Chase LOST this transaction. Seriously, Chase Visa, who handles millions of customers cannot find or lost a transaction after I spoke with CSRs, manager, fraud division and dispute division.

At this point, forget my character, I want to know how is there a card from a bank I use with My name on it used on another one of my accounts that is somehow not linked to my social with Chase. If something smells fraudulent it is this. They claim they cannot give me the last 6 digits for security reasons but they also says they either don't keep or don't have access to IP logs or any sort of transaction logs for my SE account. IE they cannot tell me if the access on the day that the credit card number was changed was from my usual IP. I am not sure if they have a fraud's department but I am going to try to see if they do because now I am worried about identity theft, etc and not only having access back.

It's been frustrating, infuriating and now scary and they just won't help or even talk to Chase. I'm at a a loss but I will keep trying to find out how can something like this happen because it just doesn't make sense. If I do lose access I'll try to update through Estellios if that's ok with him. Thanks for keeping the thread alive, the sympathies and support.

Warmly,
- Tooka (still home today with a sick baby on my lap while I'm on the phone, good thing baby's just sleeping while she recovers so she doesn't see me so upset lol)

Good to hear from ya Tooka. Hope the baby feels better soon!

My account was suspended after I downloaded and installed 2.28 All I had to do was log into Mog station and update my password. No harm done.

That's the first thing I did but nothing happened. I think my first mistake was to call them. It's only been harder and harder the more I call. It's also quite terrible to feel their animosity and irritation the second they know who it is. I just want the problem fixed and to find out how and where this unknown credit card with my name which no one has record of appeared on their system....

Good Luck with their support team. When my account got "hacked" into, it took them about a month and a half of "investigating" before I regained access to my account. Have a friend too, that was also "hacked" into, and after their "investigation" told him they had an issue with his CC. Been two months, and he still has not been able to return to the game. SE customer support is absolutely atrocious, never have I encountered a "support" system as ridiculous as this. They clearly do not have any appreciation for their honest paying customers. I really hope you gain access to you account once more, I really do.

All this shows is that SE is lazy when i got a ban i ended up doing a live chat and lol that was hell on earth and after that i told my self if i ever get a other ban i'm walking :P i do hope things work out for you as this all sounds so un fair best of luck

Mods, I know you're there. Any suggestions?

I just found the email for complaints/concerns on their security policies and sent an email out. I'm trying to keep level headed before I call them to say Chase has no record of any other account under my social. They are just going to laugh and curse me in the call room I am sure. At this point forget the character I just want to know how is using my name and somehow getting access to my accounts. SE account might be trivial but other accounts might follow. I already changed all my other passwords. So frustrated!!

Ok, I think after this I am done calling support I might try other avenues if I find them. This is their latest statement.

They say that the cc used is mine, they claim that it might have been that I entered a wrong last 4 digits and this cause a problem with the system. My question is, Chase would NEVER issue them payment with a wrong cc number, most companies verify the number because we all make mistakes doing data entry but even if they didn't Chase wouldn't issue them payment so it is still impossible to issue a charge back under those circumstances. They can only help me if Chase says it was seen on their end but such transaction never got to them so it is impossible for a chargeback to have been recorded. Basically they says, their system sucks, somehow accepted a typo on a CC number, accepted pay, when pay never came it was treated as a chargeback *2* months late and I was banned with no recourse to recovering my character.

I'll proceed to contact anyone else I can that is not support to try and resolve this issue since they claim their hands are tied 100%. Does Yoshi read the Japanese forums can someone translate my saga for him XD. Grasping at straws here lol. This is really incredible that all fault and responsibility is thrown like this at a customer with a previously perfect record :(.

I won't claim to know the inner workings of SE's NA division, but I think their customer support is very limited in what they can do, especially when it comes to financial information. They can't ever seem to give you a straight answer on what exactly the problem is and any kind of possible solution; it just gets simply dismissed as "it's your fault and there's nothing we can do", even when you're clearly trying to resolve the problem and it wasn't a deliberate "chargeback".

Honestly, I think the only way you'd be able to get this resolved is to somehow get this communicated via the Japanese support staff, but I don't know how you would go about doing that. That whole "fax us a letter" thing seems like they need something in writing they can ship off to Japan so the people there can investigate.

How horrible :( I'm so sorry that you've having to deal with this. I can't believe that you've been banned over their crappy system. Can you send them billing statements showing that you've paid for your account every month? How can they argue that? Absolutely ridiculous :(

They won't accept any letter from Chase (Chase offered) or talk to Chase (Chase offered too). It is absolutely ridiculous that it is their fault and I have to pay for it. I am certainly not buying a new game. My time is limited as it is and it would be impossible to play catch up to my friends now, don't think I have the heart for it :(.

If I mail them a letter I still need to show that Chase had issued a charge back on my behalf which they never did. And even if I mail the letter that doenn't guarantee I will get my account back. No idea how to be more diligent or look for more info. I appreciate that they are shorthanded we've all been there. I've worked some times until 3am when 8 months pregnant because we were shipping a chip soon. I know shorthanded but this is something else :(.

This is just very very poor service, and no one should have to go through it JUST to clear up a simple error. Their customer service seems half assed, and they have no way, no system in place to properly handle complicated matters that may arise. Instead they just hand you out the harshest punishment possible, and say more or less, thank you for your money all this time, but because of an error on you account, that we do not have the tools available to completely understand, we are therefore not fully capable of resolving your issue, despite your attempts to resolve it. We are sorry about your ban, please buy FFXV and support the company. Have a nice day.
You, we, all deserve better than this.

That's a horrible experience. x_x I do hope everything get solved on your end, Tooka (been following this Thread since the beggining).

I only use Steam Wallet for my payments since I acquired the game this way and hopefully will never have such kind of issue (since I don't live in USA, all the phone calls would be QUITE expensive).

If they won't work with you to resolve this I think you should also file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and any other similar site to try and call out / make a record of their poor service and complete refusal to work with you.

Wonder if anyone going to E3 could bring the topic up with SE representatives there in person. Maybe loudly so others around hear the issue...

That would be fantastic but also if anyone knows how to get in touch with anyone else in SE that could be of help besides support that would be fantastic too!

In all honesty there is a few methods of action you can take should they not entertain the idea of assisting you that would be more than able to get their attention to show you are very serious.

File a BBB complaint against the company, they will deny it but with sufficient evidence it will hit their score. (they will make a statement that they cant comment due to privacy reasons but post your evidence after they make this claim stating they refuse to work with you and follow the steps)

File a complaint to their agent of service for due process informing them of the fraudulent actions taken on your account a letter from chase and any and all conversations you had with SE (I further recommend calling them once again and informing the rep you speak to you are recording the call for submission as evidence to their agent of service for due process). All California businesses are required to register one and SE is no different. Should they themselves refuse to give you the information regarding submission to their agent of service for due process you may move on to step 3

Email the head of Square Enix of America as a replacement (philrogers@square-enix.com) with the information (and include all relevant documentation) that his company is creating fraudulent transactions in your name that are causing loss of profit, damaging your name, and damaging the square enix brand by poor customer service.

Thanks so much Yurimi!!

I've saved your post in case for whatever reason it disappears. Since they are closed during the weekend I'll start looking into what are the steps to file a claim with the BBB. Then I'll start preparing for calling on Monday to proceed with step 2. Even if I don't get my account back it is ridiculous that as clients we are put through this. I know it is just a game, this might be so superfluous to some that they don't care to help but we're still paying for a service and we deserve some answers in regards to our accounts and better responsiveness.

I'll continue to update the thread as things progress but since they are closed until Monday it might not be until then. The email I sent to their privacy email was read (I use streak with my gmail to see when people read what I send heheh) but it was read in NY and it was 4pm on a Friday so I don't expect to hear back from them until next week either.


Thanks everyone!! If anyone is going to E3 and is willing to try and help me out I would greatly appreciate it too. Too bad I live in NorCal and not in the LA area. If it would have happened a few months back I would have gone to GDC to have a word with Yoshi-P lol.

@OP.
Holy ass, you still haven't got your account back? What's the deal?
SE support is a joke and this is worst than Nexon's support, and that's saying something. Here on the forums, you can't contact a mod at all..why the hell not?
Keep trying Live Chat. I've seen some bad support people but I've also seen really good ones, I had a good person to help me out.


I hope all goes well for you...This is damn ridiculous.
TIP: When/if or if you start over, don't use your CC.
Just use a different payment option since this is hell on earth.
Also, if you don't have one now, just go and buy a security token.
Good luck!
http://media3.giphy.com/media/14aBJO7py75MD6/giphy.gif

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Originally Posted by Luxx

@OP.
Holy ass, you still haven't got your account back? What's the deal?
SE support is a joke and this is worst than Nexon's support, and that's saying something. Here on the forums, you can't contact a mod at all..why the hell not?
Keep trying Live Chat. I've seen some bad support people but I've also seen really good ones, I had a good person to help me out.


I hope all goes well for you...This is damn ridiculous.
TIP: When/if or if you start over, don't use your CC.
Just use a different payment option since this is hell on earth.
Also, if you don't have one now, just go and buy a security token.
Good luck!
http://media3.giphy.com/media/14aBJO7py75MD6/giphy.gif

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Heh ty! If I do somehow get it back you can be sure I will be paying with Crysta only from now on and I am certainly get a token. Still no high hopes of resolving this given others' experiences with support.

This is crazy. You'd think you play games to have fun, this is painful and all the time you spent on it could be spend on stuff like, getting money..or getting cozy with the family. Sad to see when your escape from the harsh routine ends up being harsh as well. Best of luck to you, I have been a supporter of SE and I've talked grand of them to each and every person I meet for their stellar games but this is just crossing the line.

Definitely report them to the BBB.

They have been doing this since FFXI. I'm not sure a BBB complaint will get anywhere since it didn't work back then, but you've got nothing to lose. If I may make a suggestion: nag them. Keep sending emails or keep calling or starting chat sessions. It may not get you anything but frustration but they've been known to take *months* to release holds on accounts that have otherwise been proven innocent by their own investigations.