Terrible Payment System

[Kailea_Nagisa]

you act like C&B could get away with murder...... I have looked into this "scam" people keep crying about, and all I found where some pretty normal mistakes, many of them fixed soon after. Also seeing many people who use C&B for other games and things, and have never had a problem. I like I said before it is a few things being blow out of proportion is all. Really if C&B even did anything really bad, SE would get on them about it and take care of the problem.

[Chocobits]

you act like C&B could get away with murder...... I have looked into this "scam" people keep crying about, and all I found where some pretty normal mistakes, many of them fixed soon after. Also seeing many people who use C&B for other games and things, and have never had a problem. I like I said before it is a few things being blow out of proportion is all. Really if C&B even did anything really bad, SE would get on them about it and take care of the problem.

Yeah I can't help but notice you've been in support of CnB for awhile now. So are you like, employed by CnB? Jus' sayin'

As has been said before, they request a copy of your driver's license or passport. Photocopies of your passport are not something you should or would want or need to give out glibly; passport copies should only be provided to officials, the authorities and employers. There's no other entities that should have a want of or need for a passport photocopy.

Oh right, here's some CnB tidbits:

Click and Buy reactivates AlphaRed Customer's Account and continues to debit his account
Click and Buy scam alert blog
RipoffReport.com Click and Buy complaint
ScamInformer.com Click and Buy complaint
Thread dedicated to documenting CnB fraud - From 2006!
And finally, this little bit 'o fun

That last link in particular is relevant. Some of you have already experienced this. If you haven't, or don't believe it can happen, I'd like to offer yall a fair warning - CnB reserves the right to arbitrarily deduct any amount they see fit from your account, and call it a "reservation" that allows them to hold onto the dough as long as they want. It's happened in small amounts to FFXIV users in the form of confirmation charges or exchange fees. Using this service is like walking into a prison yard in a neon pink jumper with a flashing sign on the back that says, "Too Hot 4 U!" You might personally have gotten away unscathed doing it once or twice.. but the odds are not in your favor.

Click and Buy won't get away with murder - if you never take the risk of signing up with them.

[Catapult]

I just took a new look at my C&B account and I'm wondering if anyone is in the same boat or was unable to be in the same boat. Maybe my region of Australia is impacting or something... SCREENSHOTS!

Exhibit A:
http://static2.finalfantasyxiv.com/a...MNsb13glIA.png
Notice that my account is listing AUD, or Australian Dollars? This suggests C&B is interfacing with the Australian currency. Under their T&C, does this mean I will be subject to a foreign currency conversion fee at the C&B end?

Also, notice how my account is "unverified". It seems that when *I* signed up, I had the option of leaving my account unverified for now. Did other region users have this option, or is it just an AU law thing?

What is "verified status?"- Exhibit B, the "What is this?" pop-up box:
http://static2.finalfantasyxiv.com/a...MNssFsVVx0.png
Does "certain activities" include FFXIV? I have no idea.

Exhibit C/D - what, how and why to verify your account:
http://static2.finalfantasyxiv.com/a...MNtuelTN7E.png
http://static2.finalfantasyxiv.com/a...MNthEZW4OA.png
It doesn't tell me what the increased spending limit is in dollar-values. Is it, while unverified, high enough for my FFXIV bills?
This also tells me that they will be actually charging my card in the verification process. None of the reservation BS, which is good because reservation charges and releases just don't happen here - and if you're curious, I've found that in the past when I make a purchase it affects my credit limit immediately but I won't see it on my account before the transaction fully resolves. I suspect "temporary" stuff on an account would be deeemed "misleading the consumer" under our trade practices act. But I digress...

Exhibit E - shows that my SE account is active in C&B:
http://static2.finalfantasyxiv.com/a...MNtS9G-X00.png
No indication that my card needs verifying for this. So, for now, I will be assuming it does not.


What I want to know is:
- Have you guys been getting the same explanations and presentations in your own account interfaces? Or is this interface I'm seeing highly tailored to the Australian consumer in light of our much tighter financial regulations?
- Were you forced to verify your credit card before you could play the game in the way I was not? If so, does this mean the verification method differs drastically between regions and how it is handled?

If it does, it begs the question "why?" That is the red flag that I see. It suggests that US customers are being taken advantage of due to their looser financial regulations. Things just don't add up. I also can't find a record of their TüV certificate.

[Chocobits]

I just took a new look at my C&B account and I'm wondering if anyone is in the same boat or was unable to be in the same boat. Maybe my region of Australia is impacting or something... SCREENSHOTS!

Exhibit A:
http://static2.finalfantasyxiv.com/a...MNsb13glIA.png
Notice that my account is listing AUD, or Australian Dollars? This suggests C&B is interfacing with the Australian currency. Under their T&C, does this mean I will be subject to a foreign currency conversion fee at the C&B end?

Also, notice how my account is "unverified". It seems that when *I* signed up, I had the option of leaving my account unverified for now. Did other region users have this option, or is it just an AU law thing?

What is "verified status?"- Exhibit B, the "What is this?" pop-up box:
http://static2.finalfantasyxiv.com/a...MNssFsVVx0.png
Does "certain activities" include FFXIV? I have no idea.

Exhibit C/D - what, how and why to verify your account:
http://static2.finalfantasyxiv.com/a...MNtuelTN7E.png
http://static2.finalfantasyxiv.com/a...MNthEZW4OA.png
It doesn't tell me what the increased spending limit is in dollar-values. Is it, while unverified, high enough for my FFXIV bills?
This also tells me that they will be actually charging my card in the verification process. None of the reservation BS, which is good because reservation charges and releases just don't happen here - and if you're curious, I've found that in the past when I make a purchase it affects my credit limit immediately but I won't see it on my account before the transaction fully resolves. I suspect "temporary" stuff on an account would be deeemed "misleading the consumer" under our trade practices act. But I digress...

Exhibit E - shows that my SE account is active in C&B:
http://static2.finalfantasyxiv.com/a...MNtS9G-X00.png
No indication that my card needs verifying for this. So, for now, I will be assuming it does not.


What I want to know is:
- Have you guys been getting the same explanations and presentations in your own account interfaces? Or is this interface I'm seeing highly tailored to the Australian consumer in light of our much tighter financial regulations?
- Were you forced to verify your credit card before you could play the game in the way I was not? If so, does this mean the verification method differs drastically between regions and how it is handled?

If it does, it begs the question "why?" That is the red flag that I see. It suggests that US customers are being taken advantage of due to their looser financial regulations. Things just don't add up. I also can't find a record of their TüV certificate.

The language in C/D would lead one to believe you are able to make purchases or pay for services without verifying your card, but with a much smaller limit. This is contradicted by B though, which makes it pretty clear that you need to have your card verified to fund your account at all. I would say yes, you need to verify the card. Don't hurt to try though.

[Catapult]

The language in C/D would lead one to believe you are able to make purchases or pay for services without verifying your card, but with a much smaller limit. This is contradicted by B though, which makes it pretty clear that you need to have your card verified to fund your account at all. I would say yes, you need to verify the card. Don't hurt to try though.

Well, actually yes. It does hurt to try. It means I'm consenting to them billing me for a verification service, which I would prefer they didn't do when a simple first-time purchase should be more than enough to verify the card's validity. They don't NEED to bill my card separate to a real transaction to make sure it works. Being in a foreign zone, the fees I would probably incur from both C&B and my own bank are a sufficient disincentive - the fewer international transactions I engage in the better and they're asking to do two of them.

I have enough reason to not trust this company already.

[Chocobits]

Well, actually yes. It does hurt to try. It means I'm consenting to them billing me for a verification service, which I would prefer they didn't do when a simple first-time purchase should be more than enough to verify the card's validity. They don't NEED to bill my card separate to a real transaction to make sure it works. Being in a foreign zone, the fees I would probably incur from both C&B and my own bank are a sufficient disincentive - the fewer international transactions I engage in the better and they're asking to do two of them.

I have enough reason to not trust this company already.

A lot of payment gateways do something similar to verify an account. Like PayPal. Except instead of WITHDRAWING $3, they DEPOSIT 20 cents. And I meant, no harm in trying if you were already going to give CnB unfettered access to your entire life anyway.

[Chocobits]

Hey, can someone post a link of this thread into a similar thread on the FFXI forums:

Petition - clickandbuy the only way no thanks

The more cross-exposure the topic gets, and the more outcry we achieve, the better our chances are of forcing SE's hand on this.

[Catapult]

A lot of payment gateways do something similar to verify an account. Like PayPal. Except instead of WITHDRAWING $3, they DEPOSIT 20 cents. And I meant, no harm in trying if you were already going to give CnB unfettered access to your entire life anyway.

This makes me all the more glad that my card has a lowish limit and expires in March.

[Tifia]

Hey, can someone post a link of this thread into a similar thread on the FFXI forums:

Petition - clickandbuy the only way no thanks

The more cross-exposure the topic gets, and the more outcry we achieve, the better our chances are of forcing SE's hand on this.

I thought it had already been done, but I'll add it to my most recent post just in case on the 11 forums.

[Catapult]

I thought it had already been done, but I'll add it to my most recent post just in case on the 11 forums.

Thank you.

Meanwhile, some XI players are also finding themselves double-billed: By SE account and PlayOnline simultaneously.

It shoes the account management systems have bugs in them. For a financial system, this is VERY bad.