Customer Support and the Feature Pack

#1 - April 14, 2014, 10:51 p.m.

Hello, everyone! We wanted to take a minute to let you know about a couple of item types that we’ll be doing refunds for after the feature pack is live. We will be granting refunds for the following items:

Gem refunds for items you are unhappy with due to changes in the way the item functions:

• Tonics that used to be Town Clothes that were purchased in the Gem Store
• Outfits that used to be Town Clothes that were purchased in the Gem Store

Duplicate Gem Store Purchase Refunds:

• Duplicates skins that were purchased in the Gem Store
• Duplicates of Tonics/Outfits that were purchased from the Gem Store

Dye Refunds:

Dyes exclusive to Dye Packs from the Gem Store will be replaced in the event they were applied to multiple characters on the same account prior to the Feature Pack on April 15th. Duplicates of these dyes will be replaced via the in game mail by May 11th. In order to receive replacements for these duplicate dyes:

Log in to every character on your account after the Feature Pack goes live on April 15th and before 12:01 AM on May 6th (PDT).

We will not be able to process any refund requests via Customer Support tickets before May 12th. If you expected to receive dyes and do not receive them by May 12th, feel free to create a Customer Support ticket at that time. The dyes eligible for refund are:

Acid                                  Acrid                                Algae         
Amenity                           Blacklight                        Caustic 
Charred                            Cinders                            Cobolt       
Cyanide                            Deep Glacial Sky            Deep Glacial Teal 
Enameled Crimson         Enameled Emblaze       Enameled Legacy 
Enameled Reign              Enameled Sky                 Flame        
Flare                                  Fling                                 Glacial Sky 
Glacial Teal                      Limonite                          Molten 
Onset                                Perseverance                  Prosperity 
Pyre                                   Recall                               Shiver Sky 
Swampblack                    Toxin                                Vincent     
Violite

All requests for refunds must be submitted prior to July 15, 2014.

As always – feel free to create a ticket with customer support if you’re unsure about an issue. Please be aware that response times may be higher than normal following the Feature Pack.

*edit: formatting

#60 - April 15, 2014, 10:37 a.m.

Some points to clarify regarding refund requests for items:

Excluding dyes:

All refund requests should be submitted via support tickets starting now. Refunds will be issued in the form of gems to eligible accounts.

Dyes:

If you follow the instructions regarding logging in all characters you will automatically receive your eligible replacement dyes between May 6 and May 12.
You do not need to submit a ticket for dyes.

To submit a ticket click support at the top of this page.
On the following page click submit a ticket in the upper right corner of the page.

#87 - April 15, 2014, 1:43 p.m.

If you submitted a ticket early you’re fine. If we sent a reply along the lines of “write us back on the 15th” just reply again and it will wake your ticket up (unless it closed and/or you sent feedback). If we did not send that reply you’re all set.

All duplicates of the named dyes will be replaced. So, if you have 4 toons with Blacklight (for example) you will get 3 Blacklight sent to you automatically.

For refunds “In game issue ? Trading Post/Gem Store” is correct. If you put it in another category we’ll get to it and it shouldn’t add much time to your wait. Please do not submit multiple tickets as it will slow us down and you will not get help faster. Duplicate tickets are simply closed.

#108 - April 17, 2014, 2:10 p.m.

Hi everyone,

I know a lot of you may be concerned with the length of time it’s taking for us to address your refund requests, but please rest assured that we’re working around the clock to get these addressed as quickly as we can. In the meantime, thank you for your continued patience!

EDIT: Please refrain from submitting duplicate tickets, as doing so will increase the amount of time it takes for us to address each ticket. Thanks again!

#126 - April 21, 2014, 4:31 p.m.

Anirri.4156:

Actually they do have the purchase history, They even said “we do not see where you purchased this item” they then listed my last 50 purchases and then basically told me “No refund kthanxbye” so it seems the money i spent on the game was for no reason since the update. I wish the rest of you better luck, i will be swallowing this 2400 gems it seems.

• Removed insulting comment in post via Moderation

I am confused. I just reviewed your ticket history and your request was addressed yesterday. Could you tell me exactly what it is that you are missing or how you felt this should have been resolved, given the details that the agents provided you? Thanks for that clarification.

#127 - April 21, 2014, 4:33 p.m.

Ravion Hawk.4736:

I just got the refund. Got DC’d while doing Sorrow’s Embrace path 2, but I got my gems.

Without pointing at you directly you got a refund just two days after you submitted a ticket.

Things are very busy, and the team does have a lot of tickets to answer. We ask everyone to be patient and allow us time to resolve each and every request in the best way possible.

#128 - April 21, 2014, 4:43 p.m.

Osculim.2983:

foofad.5162:

I submitted my ticket yesterday and already got refunded. You do need to submit a ticket if you want a refund, if you don’t you won’t get anything.

Then why do i have to wait so long i havent heard anything back. And i submitted my ticked on wednesday

Osculim.2983:

I did receive 2 emails from support saying that its been submitted and at the right place. I dont mind waiting a bit but when tickets get handled before yours and you submited earlier then you start to worry a bit.

I understand completely. I should mention that each case can be slightly different. Sometimes a ticket comes in through a different channel — like a different “reason code” — and that can delay the response. There is a delay in response, and I just checked and your ticket is in the proper queue, so we just need to ask for a bit more patience and we’ll get to it ASAP.

#129 - April 21, 2014, 4:46 p.m.

Hello all,

Whilst we do understand that folks are frustrated at the moment, please be sure to leave name-calling and personal insults out of your posts. You are welcome to give your feedback, but abuse is absolutely not appropriate.

Thank you for your continued understanding and patience.

#130 - April 21, 2014, 4:51 p.m.

Dead Smexy.1456:

I submitted my ticket patch day and haven’t heard back since the “department transfer” of my refund request the first day n_n Replied once each day and still haven’t heard anything back. Bought the fuzzy quaggan hat, panda hat, cargo shorts, designer hoodie, and 2 costumes. All gems were bought with a credit card. You’d think the more real money you spend the better they’d treat you, but apparently that isn’t the case. Gonna have to open another ticket if I don’t get any response by tomorrow.

The last ticket on this account is from February, so it does not appear that you have an active ticket with your current requests. (Unless you’re referring to a second account?) Remember: When you submit a ticket you will get an automatic response acknowledging receipt of the ticket.

#131 - April 21, 2014, 4:59 p.m.

ferr.6403:

My ticket is from 19th, and no answer yet o_O. I had experience contacting gw2 support for refunds long time ago (when they just introduced makeover kits there was a bug: using makeover kit on sylvari removed its glow at all.) I contacted support and after 2 hours of waiting got my refunds for 2 makeovers kit I used. But now it’s something strange o_O I got no answer after 2 days of waiting.

This is a far larger issues than that involving the Sylvari Glow, that is, it involves a lot more players. With all honesty, you’ll probably be waiting several more days before you receive the refund, but please do be patient and understand that while we’re dealing with these requests — which we are fulfilling as a measure of good will — we’re also helping players with log-in issues, with hacked accounts, with bugged characters or system issues that require some pretty intense review.

Fulfilling your personal request is important to us, and we will help you as soon as we can. But we do ask for your understanding as we work through the reuqests.

#132 - April 21, 2014, 5:02 p.m.

katubug.6378:

I received my refund today. I know you guys are responding to a lot of tickets right now, but rest assured, most of us really appreciate what you have done, and what you are still doing. Thank you! <3

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

Gaile Gray

ArenaNet Support Liaison

Update: 21 April 2014

Special Note: Due to the depth of new features and changes to the game involved with the April 15th Feature Build, ticket volumes have been higher than normal. We apologize for the extra time that your ticket may take to resolve, but we assure you we will attend to each request as fully and as promptly as possible. Thanks for your understanding and patience!

I am sure they are just swamped, and working as fast as possible. It is probably better they take a bit more time on a ticket, than rush a response that might be less than satisfactory. (Which may be happening, anyway, due to the overload.)

Thank you both for being so understanding!

We’re never happy when our players need to wait to get help, but again, we have a lot of different issues to resolve and we’re going to get to these just as quickly as we can!

#136 - April 21, 2014, 6:56 p.m.

There are separate rules for what is appropriate on the forums and in-game. When you are talking about a discussion with a staff member when a CS person is assisting, you shouldn’t be using their name of people you’ve talked to via Support. It tends to lead to insults and pile ups on our staff, which is why we do not allow it on the forums. It is why the Moderation Team asks you to continue talking to support privately for your privacy and our employees.

We have separate policies and processes for what happens on the forums, and it is a separate team from CS. This is why we ask you to email [email protected] if you have any questions about policies or actions on your accounts.

And on this note, let’s get this back on topic, so we do not have to remove everyone’s posts who has veered off topic to Michael & Team’s posts.

#138 - April 21, 2014, 7:27 p.m.

Kopper, I think part of the situation here is that you’re confusing two acquired sets with two purchased sets. If you purchased two sets, we’d issue a refund for the second purchased set. But if you purchased one set and got a second set free with the game, that’s not a refund that we’d make.

I’m sorry if I’m misunderstanding, and an agent will continue to review your ticket to see what we can do for you. (In fact, he’s doing so right now.) But I noticed that you mentioned the two sets and I wanted to make sure you were clear on the difference between two purchases (where one would be refunded as a duplicate) and two acquisitions (where we would not issue a refund).

Don’t worry about having multiple agents work on a ticket. Each is reviewing notes left by the previous agent, and I don’t see any failure in the process here.

#149 - April 22, 2014, 5:50 p.m.

SpyderArachnid.5619:

So any news on my ticket then? You know, the one I’ve been waiting on since Tuesday when we were told to make our tickets?

I just don’t understand why I am waiting this long for this. People are getting their tickets taken care of in hours to a day, while I am waiting almost a week for mine. All of the information is there, I don’t see why it is taking this long. It feels like you guys are just delaying it on purpose.

Hmmmm… I only see two tickets with this Display Name: One from January and one from last October. Did you get a confirmation e-mail saying your ticket was received? Can you please give me that ticket number?

#150 - April 22, 2014, 5:53 p.m.

Patterns.9067:

I had a friend gift me 2 skins, i then a few months after went and bought duplicates of these two skins. You guys are refusing to refund me, in fact you want to refund my friend who gifted them to me initially, who btw no longer plays. Can someone explain that to me?

Yes, because you only purchased the one set. I’m sorry if your friend is no longer active in the game, but we cannot give you a refund for duplicates that you did not purchase.

Patterns.9067:

What happens if someone has gifted you armor skins from the gem store then a few months later you buy the same skins, which person is refunded?

A person who purchases two sets of the armor skins would be eligible for a refund. The person who received one as a gift and one as a purchase is not eligible because s/he only made the one purchase.

~See my response to Dastion below for more info~

#152 - April 22, 2014, 6:01 p.m.

Dastion.3106:

Gaile Gray.6029:

*But if you purchased one set and got a second set free with the game, that’s not a refund that we’d make. *

This seems illogical. I assume you’re referring to the free skin some players received with their game purchase. – that’s not free. Whatever the source of the original skin set (and the original skin had to be the one that came with the game – you misrepresented the order of things) the player still spent gems and potentially out of pocket funds to buy the second skin because he wanted to use it again. He’s in the same spot as everyone else, he spent gems on a second version of a skin which the Wardrobe update rendered redundant.

Even if someone gifted me a skin and I liked it so much that I bought a second version for the old sPvP locker then I’m still due a refund because a major change to the game made gems I spent in the store invalid.

In fairness to the players affected by this change, you should rethink this line of thought – because it isn’t treating them fairly.

P.S. I want to add that I’ve had nothing but good experiences with Support, and I love how communicative Gaile and the others are. I received my skin refund the same day. This is just honest feedback on a comment I saw in the dev tracker.

I appreciate your kind words and understand your feedback. I do want to say, though, that the refund system is set up to detect two purchases of the item, and not a gift, a trade, a in-game acquisition (say, through a Black Lion Key, if such a thing were possible), a free distribution, or a “gift with purchase.”

So the distinction is not about what someone has in duplicate as opposed to how it was acquired. Again, if you purchased two items, you’d be eligible for a refund. I do take on board that not everyone will agree with that decision, but that is how it works.

#153 - April 22, 2014, 6:05 p.m.

Jade Arkadian.9280:

Hi there,

I drop myself here just to let you know i’m receiving several automated answers like this one:

Hello,

We wanted to apologize for the delay in responding to your support ticket and to assure you that your ticket is in the queue awaiting review. We anticipate that an agent will be able to work on your support request soon, so please watch for our e-mail.

Thank you for your continued patience.

In case you wanna check, my ticket number is 544202: Gem refund (Town outfits)
BTW, it’s been more or less a week since i submited my ticket.

While you might think “Why am I getting these messages,” I’m sitting here thinking, “Thank Dwayna those messages are going out!” Why? Because we set up a auto-update system just to reassure folks that their tickets was still in the queue and would be resolved as quickly as possible. Some players are not getting such mails, so they write “I haven’t had a single response” and we really want to keep them updated, even if in a semi-robotic voice.

I know you’ve been waiting a while, and quite a few others have, as well. We are plowing through the requests and getting them resolved as quickly as possible!

#154 - April 22, 2014, 6:13 p.m.

Doggie.3184:

Is it normal to have to wait a week+ for a refund? It’s just 2 town items that were turned into tonics and I’ve yet to get a response beyond automated one the day I sent it.

Jomo.3914:

I submitted a ticket last week and have not gotten any response. I understand you guys are busy and I appreciate what you guys are doing about this situation. Just wanted to check and see if I am correctly in the queue for my request.

Thanks!

Doophus Two.9873:

I submitted my ticket for duplicate “Purchased” Flamekissed on the 19th and haven’t even gotten a reply yet beyond the immediate “Transfer” to another group of support personel

Quite honestly, yes, things are that busy! Please keep in mind that these requests will be addressed as quickly as possible. Please note that we have authorized overtime for employees to try to reduce the turn-around time. But I’m sure you’ll also understand that we won’t and shouldn’t pull people from a ticket involving a hacked account to expedite a refund.

All will be processed as quickly as possible, and we’re grateful for your patience.

#166 - April 23, 2014, 5:15 p.m.

There seems to be a little confusion about why if items are in one’s purchase history, they haven’t been refunded automatically. And the simple answer is that with the volume of tickets, an agent has not been able to review that account history, and a review is required to process things properly.

As you can clearly see in this thread and amongst other comments, not every item that someone may have in duplicate is refundable. Therefore, our agents need to review each and every purchase history on each and every account, make sure the item is as described and that it qualifies for a refund, and then process that refund.

This is a painstaking process, but pains must be taken so that everyone gets that to which he or she is entitled and, it goes without saying, doesn’t end up with more than is appropriate.

It’s not something that can be done automatically, like “scan my account and give me XX gems.” One example of the reason each account requires individual review is because a player could have two of an item through a Gem Store purchase, an in-game reward, a drop, a gift, a trade, and so forth.

If we refunded Player A who purchased a set of skins and Player B, to whom those skins were gifted, we’d be reacting incorrectly. Doing that on a broad scale would have negative effects on the economy. Consider: If XX,XXX gems should be refunded, but through an erred process XXX,XXX,XXX gems are given, we get gem inflation, meaning each and every gems you possess is worth less. Definitely not something that any of us want, right?

I hope these details help answer the question that, in inelegant terms, might be expressed as, “Why is it taking so #*%^# long to get me mah stuffs!?”

#172 - April 24, 2014, 3:23 p.m.

Dead Smexy.1456:

Yup, it did take me over a week. I submitted on patch day, so you should be close! To Gaile, I think the auto-update system is a great idea. You should keep it in effect permanently. It’s always reassuring, even if only an automated message, to know that you haven’t been forgotten about.

I like it too, even though I know some people are irritated by the “auto-send” nature of the response. But with delays, I personally like to know things are moving along, that the company still knows I’m waiting, and so forth.

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

And yes, things are moving along, albeit not as swiftly as either our players or we would like! :-/

#175 - April 25, 2014, 2:07 p.m.

You should be receiving automatic updates. I know that’s not the best way to communicate, but it is a way to let you know your ticket didn’t fall into the abyss, and with the heavy volume, it’s something we want to send, just to touch base and let you know your ticket is properly assigned and will be addressed as soon as possible.

Jamin and Feycat — are you not getting any communication from us whatsoever, not even the automatic updates? Or are you getting those but are not seeing forward movement on the ticket?

Thanks for that info.

#179 - April 25, 2014, 11:24 p.m.

Feycat and Lotusklee — I see an outbound updates sent on Tuesday. Can you please check your junk, spam, and other possible in-boxes? I need to know for certain that you didn’t receive it because it was routed to an other bucket.

Lotusklee — I do see the update to your ticket you made today.

Jamin — I cannot see any new ticket from you, not since February. I suggest you find the auto-receipt confirmation e-mail or if you do not have that, submit a new ticket. Because if this is the account for which you wish to get a refund, this account has no current/unresolved tickets in its folder.

#193 - May 1, 2014, 1:54 p.m.

Following up expressly on the three players I had pinged here about their refunds:

Feycat.4370:

Gaile Gray.6029:

Feycat and Lotusklee — I see an outbound updates sent on Tuesday. Can you please check your junk, spam, and other possible in-boxes? I need to know for certain that you didn’t receive it because it was routed to an other bucket.

Checked both those things, and I have no emails since April 17, at which point it went into my inbox. I can’t see any reason why I’d receive my initial emails just fine and not follow-ups.

I don’t know how to determine why you were missing e-mails, but I assume you saw the refund granted on April 26th?

Jamin.6528:

Gaile Gray.6029:

Jamin — I cannot see any new ticket from you, not since February. I suggest you find the auto-receipt confirmation e-mail or if you do not have that, submit a new ticket. Because if this is the account for which you wish to get a refund, this account has no current/unresolved tickets in its folder.

The number/title for the ticket is — 549929:Re: Gem Store Item Refunds

Glad to see you guys lost my ticket and I have been wasting my time. I’ll submit another one.

Your ticket was never lost. I simply was unable to find it, and I apologize for that. Since you provided the number, I was able to review and see that your refund was processed on April 27.

Lotusklee.8512:

I have reviewed all of the in-boxes. The last message I got for my ticket Gem Refund is 15 April. No update message since the day. I mean that ticket 539982

Refund processed April 29th.

#194 - May 1, 2014, 1:56 p.m.

Toritaka.8390:

Are the skins of black lion weapons eligible to refound? Do Anet refound a ticket of each duplicate skin of black lion in this case?

Gem Store’s dyes are elegible, seems logical that the skins of black lion also elegible.
Delivery of a black lion ticket or skin without using for each duplicate skin . Eg: if I have 3 aetherized shields? Delivery 2 black lion tiquet? Or two atherized shield skins without using?

These items are not eligible for refund.

#195 - May 1, 2014, 2:01 p.m.

Here are updates to posts in this thread:

556264 – Processed April 28
556234 – Processed April 28
Creatos Zel Ael.1936 – If your purchase was an exact duplicate (no matter how the armor was used) you would be eligible for a refund, so please submit a ticket.
Noctology.7238— One cannot submit a ticket via the in-game system; that system is exclusively for reports. So yes, your friend should submit a ticket by clicking “Support” at the top of this page, and the “Submit a request.”
sil.4160 – You are in the queue for assistance. We’re sorry for the delay.

#203 - May 5, 2014, 2:16 p.m.

Update: 5 May 2014

581755 – In queue awaiting review.
569624 – In queue awaiting review.
569397 – In queue awaiting review.
579528 – Your questions were fully answered today.
Upham.6137 – Please read the section about dyes in this post.
Tempest.5094 – Please read the section about dyes in this post.

#211 - May 6, 2014, 4:35 p.m.

Update: 6 May 2014

567829 – Resolved. Please do not submit duplicate tickets in the future.
579528 – The agents have explained multiple times: We do not refund for toys. You do not meet the criteria for those items.
547086 – Still in processing; I believe this will be handled soon.
582517 – Still under review.

#216 - May 7, 2014, 2:27 p.m.

Folks, I want to gently state again that we assuredly are backed up on requests for these courtesy refunds. If you received confirmation that your ticket was submitted (an e-mail auto response upon submission) then you’re in the queue and you will receive any refund for which you are eligible as soon as possible. There is no need for a follow-up post whatsoever; you will receive whatever gems you are entitled to just as promptly as we can process the request.

Please be aware that this is a time-consuming and “hands on” process and there really isn’t a way to have it go faster. Even while we’ve added team members to try to work through these requests, it is taking time.

We apologize for the time that it is taking to process these courtesy refunds, but we must continue to ask for your patience while we go through each request, review and confirm eligibility, and then see to it that the proper refund is granted.

Thank you for your understanding.

#225 - May 12, 2014, 12:40 p.m.

Dye update!

We’re working on getting the list together to send these out. We know we’re running a bit late on this. Hang in there.

#227 - May 12, 2014, 7:40 p.m.

Gems are being distributed. Thank you for all of your patience.

#236 - May 14, 2014, 7:29 p.m.

I just got back from washing my car (sunshine in Seattle!) and heard that there’s a problem with the dye rollout. We’re looking into where the issue is but above all else – don’t panic. We have a backup of the log. If you followed the instructions in my OT then my job is to get you what I promised. And I don’t like failing.