Son's account closed (3rd party software)

I am trying to get a ban lifted from my son's account. Let me first begin by saying I understand the ToS set forth by Blizzard, and as such, also understand that my efforts may well be fruitless.

Basically my youngest son was a victim of his older brother's activities on his laptop. The older son decided it would be fun to download a hack to, "make it so he could fly". Now, in his defense, this was not intended to exploit the game on Blizzard servers, but to play with it on what he called a Private Server. None the less, he was wrong for accessing his younger brother's computer, running a hack, and logging into a private non-blizzard server.

I was told he shut down the program in question and logged off. When the younger son logged in to his account, he was banned for running this hack. I can only assume it was improperly shut down or somehow left resident in memory, then discovered, resulting in the account ban.

I sent a message to the admins explaining what had happened, and the resulting punishment the offending child has received. The response I received from Blizzard was confusing, but left me with the sickening feeling that the child who was innocent in this activity is taking the brunt of this.

Response to my query:

Greetings,

Thank you for taking the time to contact us regarding the World of Warcraft account you are using. We appreciate and understand your point of view, yet have to reiterate that all players participating in the World of Warcraft environment are required to adhere to the Terms of Use (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/termsofuse.html) at all times.

Account Name: XXXXXXXX
Offense: Third Party Programs

While these repercussions may seem harsh, we feel very strongly that these names have no place within the world of Azeroth due to their extremely offensive nature. Therefore, we regret to inform you that we are unable to reverse the account action previously issued.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and hope this has resolved any concerns you may have had. Please let us know if we can be of further assistance to you.


Sinceramente,

Maestro de juego Shirazael
Servicio al Cliente


The response here looks odd since the offense is correct, however the explanation is not. Please see bolded text. Also, is it customary for a foreign rep to respond to my query since we play on US servers? Not that it makes a difference, it's just not what I expected.


I'd like to restate that I fully understand the rules set forth by Blizzard, but still feel as if something can be done. The question is, will it. I'm not aware of what my chance of success is in getting an admin to understand this situation and take pity on someone who has enjoyed this game for a few years, working hard to compete with his in game peers and friends, just to have the carpet swept out from under him by misconduct from a family member, who, by the way, did not access his account in the process. But rather created a situation that led to this 3rd party software ban.

The offending party in this is definitely in the doghouse, and will be for quite some time.

I'm not asking for someone to necessarily do anything, but maybe some advise in this matter would go a long way in helping me at least put something together to help ease the blow of facing a punishment that isn't deserved. I realize my options are slim to none. But it doesn't hurt to ask.

Thanks and regards,

Khaene