Americans working overseas...and Cata xpac

#0 - Oct. 26, 2010, 11:29 a.m.

I'd like some help figuring out how to get the Cataclysm expansion in my hands on December 7. We live in Germany courtesy of my husband's job. We have a total of five WoW game accounts in our family.

I've preordered our copies of Cataclysm from two different places, Amazon and Gamestop.com (and why I should have to use two different retailers because of limits on the number of copies that I can purchase per household is completely ridiculous as well, but that's another rant). However, these copies will ship out to my APO address on December 7 rather than before for release date delivery, and will take 7-10 business days to arrive. There are no expedited shipping options for our APO addresses from Amazon, Gamestop.com, and many other Internet retailers.

I'd like to think that I had the option to upgrade all of my games online through Blizzard, however I've never been able to upgrade any of our accounts through the online store, evidently because we connect to the store through a German IP address but my billing address is in the US. The one time I did it for Burning Crusade, I spent over an hour on hold just to get to a live person, and another 20 minutes to complete the transaction for the three game accounts we had at the time.

So, can I get a CS rep to tell me that this problem for overseas customers with APO addresses and foreign IPs will be fixed in time for the release of Cataclysm? If not, what are my options otherwise? I refuse to spend time calling my order in for five upgrades on release day. THAT would probably take hours.

Edited for clarity...

Harlsoco

#17 - Oct. 26, 2010, 4:13 p.m.

Q u o t e:
So, can I get a CS rep to tell me that this problem for overseas customers with APO addresses and foreign IPs will be fixed in time for the release of Cataclysm?

The Direct Online Upgrade process is working as intended in this case, Sylvaenys. Players who attempt to upgrade accounts outside of the North American supported regions may receive an error upon doing so. This is simply to prevent a potential fraudulent situation from occurring. Unfortunately, this process tends to affect our legitimate players as well.

Q u o t e:
Hmmm, is that actually an option to "gift" a game upgrade? I know you can do that for pets and mounts, but game upgrades?

The only upgrade that can be “gifted” to another player is classic World of Warcraft. The Direct Online Upgrades for the expansions cannot be sent as gifts at this time.

Q u o t e:
How hard can this be? Shouldn't be THAT hard, considering that Blizzard manages to charge my subscription fees for all five accounts every month, to the same exact credit card that I tried to use to update the game...

The payment process for subscription fees and the payment process for digital upgrades are completely separate from one another. Each process goes through various checks to prohibit attempted fraud. While a subscription fee may be processed without fail, the same card being used for the upgrade may not be accepted. In these cases, contacting Account Services will normally solve the issue.

To clarify with you, Sylvaenys, are you looking for the physical copy of the game to be shipped to you or would you prefer to upgrade online?

Harlsoco

#21 - Oct. 26, 2010, 5:56 p.m.

I would like to clarify here though, just to avoid any confusion.

Purchasing the digital upgrade through the European online store is for the European version of the game only, which will not be compatible with a North American copy of the game.

If you are looking to upgrade the account online come December 7th, you will need to contact Account Services to do so. Keep in mind; it has not been determined when the Digital Online Upgrade will be available though.

Harlsoco

#22 - Oct. 26, 2010, 5:56 p.m.

I would like to clarify here though, just to avoid any confusion.

Purchasing the digital upgrade through the European online store is for the European version of the game only, which will not be compatible with a North American copy of the game.

If you are looking to upgrade the account online come December 7th, you will need to contact Account Services to do so. Keep in mind; it has not been determined when the Digital Online Upgrade will be available though.

Harlsoco

#26 - Oct. 26, 2010, 9:19 p.m.

Q u o t e:

So is that the answer Harlsoco? Just "contact Account Services"?

As of now, yes.

I would like to gather some additional information from you as well. You mentioned that there are 5 accounts that would need to be upgraded once Cataclysm arrives. Can you please provide me a character name and realm of each account so I can possibly look into this issue a bit further for you?

Harlsoco

#29 - Oct. 26, 2010, 10:40 p.m.

Thank you once again, Sylvaenys.

I cannot guarantee the information you provided will be of help, however, it may be a step in the right direction. In the meantime I would still plan on contacting Account Services when it comes time to upgrade.