Dissatisfied customer

[Chevronone]

The white knighting in this thread is nauseating.

If he can prove to SE that he is the account owner for both of the accounts, there really is nothing preventing them but themselves from canceling the mistake subscription on the one account and crediting his other account with the prorated remaining time.

[Naunet]

The white knighting in this thread is nauseating.

If he can prove to SE that he is the account owner for both of the accounts, there really is nothing preventing them but themselves from canceling the mistake subscription on the one account and crediting his other account with the prorated remaining time.

Agreed. Basic customer service there. But I've never had a good experience with SE customer support.

[RexVex]

Sorry for this long post, but just to take it directly from the User agreement link.

4.1 FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fees. In order to access SQUARE ENIX's servers to play the Game, you must agree to a recurring subscription ("Subscription") with a minimum subscription term of 30 days, and pay a recurring subscription fee ("FFXIV Subscription Fee"). Square Enix may offer different subscription plans in its sole discretion. Further, Square Enix may offer you the chance to purchase additional features for your FFXIV Service Account, which we call "Add-ons" or "Options." Add-ons may be subject to either additional recurring fees or one-time fees. A "Recurring Fee" is a fee that will be charged on a recurring basis until you terminate your subscription. A "One-Time Fee" is fee that is only charged once. All fee rates will be posted at http://sqex.to/ffxiv.na.fees and any changes to Recurring Fee rates will be posted with 30 days' advance notice and notice will be provided to the Game community. Square Enix may change fee rates at any time in its sole discretion, and will use reasonable efforts to notify you at least 30 days in advance of any changes to any Recurring Fees. All FFXIV Subscription Fees are billed in advance. All FFXIV Subscription Fees are non-refundable, with the limited exception in Section 4.7 below.

Refunds in Exceptional Circumstances Only. The entirety of your FFXIV Subscription Fee is applied by Square Enix to the FFXIV Service Account on the day that it is charged. All charges related to the Game are non-refundable unless third-party criminal activity is involved, as determined by Square Enix. Therefore, if you deactivate your FFXIV Service Account in the middle of a 90-day Billing Cycle, you will not receive a refund for the remainder of the Billing Cycle, but may continue to play the Game until the Billing Cycle ends.

So, really. Not much they can do from CS end, as it is in the User agreement we all initially agree to when starting the game. I understand it it an unfortunate situation. Yeah, you can go the way of getting your bank to try to pull back the payment. That does put in the risk that SE will ban that account, and you will not be able to use it in the future. That also means having the re-buy the PC version of the game and any expansions you have. As well as using any items you may have purchased through the Cash Shop if you have purchased anything there.

[KokonoeAiyoko]

SE customer service is and always has been terrible.

[Fyce]

If you buy the wrong part at Autozone for a car that is a different model then yours, they let you return it for the difference for the car you actually have. They don't simply tell you to buy the correct car for the part and say too bad so sad. Think about that for a moment.

That's not what happened, tho'.
OP actually owns two cars and bought a part for one, when he actually wanted to buy it for the other. And he went through all the automated online process without checking a single time what he was doing.
It's not as innocent as taking the wrong thing on a rack.

The bank can also blacklist SE too. This has happened with other MMORPGs with questionable business practices.

Sorry to say, but for many $75 is not a small chunk of change. Especially if being told to buy a $700 computer to get some use out of it. IMO, SE should do the right thing. It costs them nothing except the minorly hurt feelings of a company bureaucrat. But they gain the admiration of a paying customer.

It's not like SE tricked OP into log in on the wrong account, or hid information multiple time to prevent OP from checking what account he was on.
SE put multiple gates and systems in order to prevent this kind of stuff from happening. But OP, who's likely someone with full body and mind capabilities, completly disregarded all these things and went all the way through. And this started with him not linking his PS4 key to his already existing account, drastically increasing the chances of a mistake happening.

Besides, no, it's not as easy as it sound to do what OP's asked. SE needed to check OP's identity and ownership of both accounts, needed to check if it wasn't a fraud, needed to check with the financial department what course of action was the best (because remember, OP didn't ask for a 'simple' refund, he asked for a complex transfer of game time from an account to another, which is something SE might very well be unable to do if the payment & game time is linked to an account), and then give the job to someone with enough accreditation to modify a user's data regarding game time (which is already ticking). OP would've probably been more lucky if he asked for a refund because... I don't know, he made the purchase while being drunk or something?

I'd also argue that no, you don't earn the "admiration of a paying customer". If you, as a company, help people dealing with that kind of stupid mistakes which lies 100% into the customer's responsability, then you simply confort them in their mistake, making them think that it's not a big deal if they don't check anything since "mama SE will take care of them". This also means that you get an increased amount of requests you have to pay people to deal with.
In fact, the sole existence of this thread is a good thing in that it definitly warns people about the kind of responsabilities they have as a customer.

Don't get me wrong, I do actually pity OP for losing 75 bucks and I'm sorry for him that SE couldn't do something to fix the problem. But in the end, if this mistake turns out to be a valuable life lesson for him and anyone reading this thread, then not everything was lost. And chances are that OP will never make that mistake again, would it be for FFXIV or anything else.

[ApolloGenX]

Most credit cards have extensive protections.

Contest the charge. I have never had them not reverse a contested charge. Many cards even carry a satisfaction guarantee or coverage on goods/services considered not returnable by a vendor.

Heck, it's to the same company, you could contest it as a duplicate charge.

[Dustytome]

Most credit cards have extensive protections.

Contest the charge. I have never had them not reverse a contested charge. Many cards even carry a satisfaction guarantee or coverage on goods/services considered not returnable by a vendor.

Heck, it's to the same company, you could contest it as a duplicate charge.

That is essentially fraud in this case. The OP didn't request a refund (according to the info posted thus far) and paid to receive time on an account, which they provided. What the company didn't do (and doesn't have to, but imo would be good customer service - but a one time fix) is transfer the time to the account he actually wanted it on. People seem way too eager to flip that chargeback switch these days and quite frankly it's become too easy to do so. *sits back in rocking chair* Back in my day we had to provide proof of attempts at rectifying issues with the company and then the bank would contact said company as a further attempt before any of this chargeback jibber jabber!

[ApolloGenX]

That is essentially fraud in this case. The OP didn't request a refund (according to the info posted thus far) and paid to receive time on an account, which they provided. What the company didn't do (and doesn't have to, but imo would be good customer service - but a one time fix) is transfer the time to the account he actually wanted it on. People seem way too eager to flip that chargeback switch these days and quite frankly it's become too easy to do so. *sits back in rocking chair* Back in my day we had to provide proof of attempts at rectifying issues with the company and then the bank would contact said company as a further attempt before any of this chargeback jibber jabber!

No, it's actually not fraud.

He is paying twice for his intended service and will not be able to enjoy the benefit of the first payment. If he could use the first one that would be unjust enrichment.

Accidentally paying for a service you cannot benefit from for whatever reason is a mistake- a genuine error. He certainly can request reversal of the charge and should expect the account to be immediately unsubscribed and inactive.

Book a hotel accidentally twice for the same time period and see if the credit company has a problem reversing one charge if the hotel won't. What he can "technically" do is irrelevant. Credit card companies aren't there to judge people, they are there to keep their customers happy (and spending)- even if SE isn't.

SE has to sign agreements with card companies to accept their terms... so if a customer isn't getting satisfaction from them, they are certainly well within reason to go to the next step.

[Dustytome]

Book a hotel accidentally twice for the same time period and see if the credit company has a problem reversing one charge if the hotel won't. What he can "technically" do is irrelevant. Credit card companies aren't there to judge people, they are there to keep their customers happy (and spending)- even if SE isn't.

Again he hasn't requested a refund according to the information thus far, just a transfer of game time from one account to another.

[ApolloGenX]

Again he hasn't requested a refund according to the information thus far, just a transfer of game time from one account to another.

It might not matter. If his card doesn't require exhausting all matters of recourse with the company, he can just take it to the credit card company.

If you haven't noticed, credit cards are quite focused on the convenience factor.....just depends on the card benefits. People do so much international buying/selling, cumbersome requirements to get a resolution are not conducive to convenience.

(That is not to say it won't irritate vendors)