The inability to change your country, and the end of my time with Square-Enix

[Pawkeshup]

Edit: I've since found a solution to keep playing, though it likely won't work for all, as it's directly related to how GlobalConnect processes payments.
You can read about it here: http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...=1#post2502467

SE should still take a serious look at allowing region/country changes, but at least this will allow me to keep playing. Original post follows.

This is not a post I wanted to make.

Since I was a teenager, I have been a fan of the work of SquareSoft and Enix. I have loved their immersive worlds, their wondrous characters, and often insightful stories. Over the years, they have lost their shine, true. Not every game can be a masterpiece, and one can argue that in trying to recreate, they've lost what made them special. But I will always have fond memories of Cecil and his journey, of Vivi, and of so many other amazing moments.

I also have a great love for their online creations. FFXI was my one and only game for almost 6 full years, absorbing most of my playtime, and even as I slowly fell off over the next 4, it was still a special place to visit. FFXIV showed a promise to do the same, though my playtime is much more sporadic due to not having landed in with any one group for long enough.

When I moved from Canada to the US, I wanted to continue playing FFXIV, and perhaps even return to FFXI for a bit. Today, I found that would not happen. Sadly, when they attempt to charge my card next, my address and country won't match up. And why?
Well, there really is no reason why. The call center just said "It's hard coded that way". Now, being an IT guy, I know that's just as good as saying "We don't want to be bothered to." It's a database, and databases can be changed.

So, in essence, SE has said that either I buy their time cards (which, I believe, are only for FFXIV), or, and I kid you not, "Find someone back home who can pay for it for me." These are my options, and of course that precludes me ever playing FFXI again.

In a connected world, having this be my only option is ridiculous. But, I guess SE has told me that no, we don't care how long you have been with us, how many products you've bought. We have your money, now go away.

[Xystic]

But you do have the option to go to Bestbuy and buy a card right? or that also not an option?

[Teryaani]

But you do have the option to go to Bestbuy and buy a card right? or that also not an option?

Even if he does, from a business standpoint, that's a pretty awful fix. They should have some mechanism in place (submit a special request of some form) to handle this.

[Pawkeshup]

Not for FFXI it isn't. I can buy the virtual cards for FFXIV, but I just don't see a reason. They never offered that for FFXI, and who knows how long it will last with FFXIV. I'd rather just be able to setup the auto-pay as I had before. It worked, and there was never any issue of an item not being available or having to go through some extra step or two in order to just play. I feel that if a company is that inflexible about payment (And SE has been legendary in that regard), that perhaps they simply no longer desire my business.

[Pawkeshup]

Even if he does, from a business standpoint, that's a pretty awful fix. They should have some mechanism in place (submit a special request of some form) to handle this.

Exactly this. I realize that I may have to go through hoops once. Hell, Blizzard wants me to show ID (literally, I have to send them ID proving I'm me and I moved), but then it's back to business as usual.

[Amused]

This really isn't the right place for this sort of issue. I hope you're able to solve your dilemma though.

[Xystic]

I can buy the virtual cards for FFXIV, but I just don't see a reason.

You just don't like the game enough to justify buying the time cards and thats perfectly fine. Everyone is entitled to do what they want with their money. If you don't like a game, you just don't continue paying for it. I do it all the time.

I speculate that the customer service gave you the time card option as well but you refused it. Otherwise, there would be no reason for the customer service rep to offer you such an extreme option because they were unable to resolve your autopayment. Logically there would be no way for them to offer you such an extreme method unless you refused the time cards at some time in your conversation with customer service.

Not to mention, you say you love the game and the company but at the same time, you bash them in the same paragraph.

I dunno... your post is very fishy...

It's pretty bad customer service to tell your customer "Yeah you can keep playing but I hope you enjoy being unnecessarily inconvenienced for the rest of your play time."
But SE is notoriously bad with website and billing management, so I suppose it's nothing new.

You may want to reassess your position.

[MysticNeko]

Can you not just use your card to buy crysta and then set up the automatic transaction to come from crysta? Thats what I do, then again I didn't move between countries.

[Amberion]

Strange, I was able to change my FFXI account.

I imported the US version, and you couldn't use EU addresses with that. So people would have to "fake" their addresses. And a few years back, I sent a ticket to their support to ask them to change my account from US to EU.

I would think you just having to change location would be easier then that.

[Pawkeshup]

I expected at least one person to defend SE's practice, it is almost the norm these days. So Xystic, let's get this over and done with now. I like FFXI and FFXIV. I think XII and XIII are weaker entries, and hope that FFXIV brings the series back to form. Being critical is not bashing. It's having an opinion. Your "speculation" is not even needed. If you read in the original posts, I said directly the options offered, time cards and having someone else in Canada pay for me. And those two were offered in the same breath, not after I complained as to why this was impossible.

I don't want to buy time cards as an option because, point blank, SE has removed payment options before. If they decide to do it again with time cards, then what is my option? I cannot buy Crysta because it uses credit cards the same way autopayments do. Even if they still offered PayPal as an option to buy Crysta (an option Ultimate Pay offered prior to its change of business plan), there is also the issue that I use an authenticator. Unless policy has changed, if I order another, it is shipped to the address on file. Likewise, downloading the app may not work either, as apps are country-specific and carried in country-specific stores. So I would likely need the Canadian version of the app for my Canadian account, which I cannot access via the American Play store or American iTunes app store.

That's why I don't see a reason to use the work around. It doesn't fix the root issues here. It patches them over, and I just have to hope SE maintains that status quo. If they don't, I'm investing more time in a game I will be cut off from arbitrarily because of the company's poor policy towards moving to a new country.

Edit:

And to those who understand, thank you! It's frustrating, and I wish they would just allow the change. And Amberion, I called the call center, and eventually spoke to a supervisor who told be that they were just unable to do anything. Even getting that far took repeated calls as the supervisor refused to even speak with me on it. They just stonewalled me, so it shows they have no interest in me offering them money to play their game. It's a little crazy when you think about how much effort they put into welcome back campaigns to turn around and do this.