Insulting CS experience, and more:

#0 - June 8, 2010, 1:05 a.m.

So today I got an email that my account was frozen due to the same debit card I have used for years could not be accessed. I tried repeatedly mind you, to get through to CS of Blizzard in which failed getting an automated response to "call back later". Seriously? No call queue? Just "cya"? This is one of the most insulting experiences I have ever had in ANY form of CS, this also includes dealing with MS with RRoD 360's.

So I wasted a good part of my day trying to figure out what happened. After some digging I got to the bottom of it with a manager at the main branch of my banking institution. Apparently, the financial institution that handles the "Visa" portion of debit cards, (read: not my bank, apparently a larger company), has "Blocked/Black Listed" Blizzard Entertainment due to an alarmingly LARGE number of fraudulent cases/double charges/etc that relate to this company. I was shocked.

So now here I am, forced to buy a 2-month (yes, they only had 2-month cards around here) pre-paid card to play. This is a huge inconvenience to me. I controlled my fees all on one account so it's much easier to watch over and keep up to date on my expenditures.

The most insulting part of this to me though is how I couldn't get through to Blizzard to see what was going on exactly. Not placed on hold, just "call back later". I honestly expected a much better experience than this from a reputable (from gamers only now, not financial institutionally) company. Even MS has better CS from their branches in India. I can't understand them that well, but at least I get to talk to someone. They fixed my problems quickly, and for my troubles they actually gave me a free year to XBL Gold and a game to compensate me. Here though, I couldn't even get a voice to talk to in Blizzard. This is something that you guys really need to work on here, as I lost a TON of respect here for your company. Worst part is, I just checked my email, and 8 hours later I still have not received a response from your "quick response ticket" system or whatever it's called.

So anyways, if anyone here also has this problem that they couldn't renew your subscription automatically, call up your bank, this is probably the same issue since I was told this has just gone into effect today with this "Visa institution", and it won't be removed for a long time. So now I can not currently make any subscription renewals nor product purchases from Blizzard Entertainment anymore.

Blues, perhaps you'd like to look into this, and discuss this with your peers to get to the bottom of this. And also, please, bolster your customer service. It was an insulting experience. Between this and all these "phishing" scams for beta invites, I shudder every time I see an email with "Blizzard" in the title. I'll probably miss a real beta invite now because of it knowing my luck.

/vent

Malkorix

#8 - June 8, 2010, 2:32 a.m.

Q u o t e:
Blues, perhaps you'd like to look into this, and discuss this with your peers to get to the bottom of this. And also, please, bolster your customer service. It was an insulting experience. Between this and all these "phishing" scams for beta invites, I shudder every time I see an email with "Blizzard" in the title. I'll probably miss a real beta invite now because of it knowing my luck.

/vent

I'm truly sorry if you've experienced any challenges getting through to our Account Services staff via telephone. As the sticky at the top of the forum states, we are experiencing very high call volumes currently, and that causes a situation where our hold queue is consistently full. We are working to help every customer who contacts us as swiftly as we can, and as we do this opens space in the queue which is quickly filled. Your best bet to reach us (via telephone, at least) is thus to keep a ready finger on the 'redial' button.

This sticky contains more information on that count:

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=22748999538&sid=1

As I'm sure you can understand, our long wait times are an issue that we're working to resolve, and no insult is intended for our customers. We're working to help everyone in queue as quickly as we can, and to provide top notch service when we do so.

If you want tips on identifying phishing messages, we've got a sticky for that too:

Fake E-mails from "Blizzard Entertainment"
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=965511383&sid=1

The real crux of this issue, as far as I'm able to discern, is a conflict with your financial institution. This is not something our staff are able to assist with, regrettably, as it involves your card issuer and their analysis (possibly even misunderstanding) of the situation.

On those occasions where one of our customers has reported this situation in the past, it has been possible to contact a financial institution and explicitly request that block be removed so the charges can be processed. It generally helps to explain that they can expect a monthly charge of the amount appropriate to your place of residence. I understand that it can help to be firm.

While I recognize your frustration, it may be that your ire is misplaced. I wish you the very best of luck in your further contact with your financial institution, and I hope you are able to help them see your perspective.

Malkorix

#17 - June 8, 2010, 3:31 a.m.

Q u o t e:
Thank you for the much much quicker response here.

We have the luxury of addressing many people at the same time, and we see a whole lot less raw volume than our in-game and telephone minding compatriots do. I'm just glad that I could help provide some guidance since that's primarily what we're here for!

Q u o t e:
My point was to suggest that even though you guys maybe hiring, it seems you really need to bolster that more, and/or improve your network. It was really discouraging to have gone through trying to get through so many times just to be told to call back later. What if you never get through, which is entirely possible considering how many calls I have placed.

You can trust that we're certainly aware of how the current wait times are affecting our players =(. You can also be sure that we aren't happy about it, and that we're definitely making improvements. In a large organization, it can take time to see results, but we hope to see incremental benefits as we set to.

Q u o t e:
Also, I wanted to bring this to your attention that this "blacklisting" is happening, perhaps it's something that your company would be interested in as it can hinder your player base's enjoyment.

Alas, it is something that we're aware of, and usually occurs as a result of the activities of those who would compromise accounts and take advantage of our players =(.

Q u o t e:
In closing though, I have to say they will not change their action against your company. This is something done via a "Visa" institution I was told, and they had no contact info for me over this. Also, it has been noted other banks in my area have stated the same situation. So I guess I'm going to be stuck with pre-paid cards now, unfortunately.

I do not believe our customers who use the same kind of card are experiencing this issue, nor is this kind of thing typically handled that way. Generally, the kind of block you've described is actually issued by a specific bank or institution.

I hope that you'll be pleasantly surprised to see the situation change with some perseverance. In the meantime another payment method, such as another card or the Pre-Paid Game Cards, may be a suitable alternative.

Regardless, I wish you luck, and I hope that you won't hesitate to contact us for help in the future. Things are a bit busy right now, but we'll still do everything we can to lend a hand when you do reach us.