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Chat transcript from an account/billing issue with SE
elocke
Member UncommonPosts: 4,335
: Hello and thank you for contacting SQUARE ENIX Customer Support. Just a few moments while I review your question, please.
You: Ok
Agent Ben W: Error 105 represents one of my reasons your card would not be accepted. Agent Ben W: Are you using Click and Buy or direct payment? You: Direct Payment Agent Ben W: Okay. Agent Ben W: Then yes, there are a number of reasons it would be accepted. Agent Ben W: Your billing information may not match your Square Enix account information. You: Ok Agent Ben W: The card may be marked as suspicious for any number of reasons. Agent Ben W: Your bank may not like our payment system. Agent Ben W: Or, when we charge you, we often put a 1 penny hold on your account just to test it and see if it works. Agent Ben W: If that doesn't go through for any reason, you get Error 105. Agent Ben W: So the only thing I can recommend is that you try these tips. Agent Ben W: And if they don't work, please consider using Add Crysta for separate payment options. Agent Ben W: Are there any different issues I can assist you with right now? You: the only thing I can think of is my name on my account info has my middle initial but on my card, I just have my first and last name, I wasn't able to find how to change my name on my account Agent Ben W: Then I advise you contact your bank for further assistance. You: it's not my bank that is the problem though, how do I change my name on my account profile? You: all I want to do is remove the middle initial Agent Ben W: You cannot change that information. Agent Ben W: As I said, there is a possibility that your bank is denying the change. You: why not? Agent Ben W: And if these tips do not help, I advise you to consider Add Crysta. Agent Ben W: Changing a name is not an offered functionality. I am sorry. You: and you or someone higher can't do it? You: how backwards is that? You: to add crysta I need a paypal account. I don't trust paypal and don't have an account with them and don't want one Agent Ben W: You don't need PayPal. There are other options there. Agent Ben W: Such as Game Cards or Click and Buy. You: click and buy is the same idea, it's a third party processing the money You: plus, where would I get game cards for FFXIV? Agent Ben W: In this situation, you would find Game Cards that are accepted by Crysta. Agent Ben W: These are the options we're able to provide. I am sorry, but there is nothing else I can do for you in this specific issue. You: wow, Square has definitely lost my support You: no other MMO has this issue Agent Ben W: I am very sorry about this. You: they never could get the billing system done right for FFXI either Agent Ben W: I thank you very much for your time. You are welcome to contact Square Enix if you have any other questions.
Comments
Sorry about the white background, but anyway. I've got a mastercard debit that works fine, even worked today and for some reason their account system wouldn't take it. They wouldn't even let me change a simple thing like my middle initial in my name. Just horrible support. The CSR was ok, but the lack of being able to do anything...yeah I'm about done with Square forever I think.
Thats the stupidest thing I've ever seen. Why does the card have to match exactly to the name on the account. I know I use Bill sometimes for account names but all my cards say William.
I checked Amazon for a timecard or something like that and couldn't find one. If Amazon doesnt carry it then good luck finding it anywhere else thats not some small sketchy site.
I love customer service. The poor saps are forced fed so much scripted BS to memorize in the name of providing higher quality customer support that they end up behaving like mildly retarded robots and solve absolutely nothing.
Ok, just cuz I was curious, I went and decided to buy Crysta. So it took me to this option for ultimate payment, asked for my credit card info etc. and BOOM, was able to buy $10 worth of Crysta in 2 seconds flat....so that worked but I still should have been able to just use my card like any other MMO and have it go via direct pay. What a strange system. They still don't get it when it comes to billing systems, lol.
Looks like that CSR was giving you the bare minimum level of service. I'm willing to bet the issue would have been resolved if escalated.
Customer service everywhere is being relegated to the pits of mediocrity.
Reading through the transcript, looks like you were just being uncooperative and difficult. Word of advice from somebody who has had to work in phone support: the second you start being uncooperative, difficult, or rude (you weren't, but deserves a mention), the priority of the rep switches from giving you a good support experience (solving your problem), to simply not giving you an awful one (getting you off the phone or chat without having to hang up on you.)
I had the same problem using a VISA debit and got pretty much the same exact responce. And like you I went the crysta route through paypal. I love both SE MMO's but 2 problems I have with them is payment and patching.
SE's billing process is the reason I never came back to FFXI or FFXIV.
Even if FFXIV 2.0 becomes greatest game in history, I'll refuse to play it just because of the billing process.
If I'm not mistaken, the CS for Square-Enix is handled by Sony in the US, so there is one mystery solved as to why its so bad.
Second, you may want to consider contacting your bank about using your debit card when paying for MMOs. A few years back I had a similar issue and come to find out, my bank would not allow payments for MMORPGs, because there were too many people claiming non-authorized charges to get their money back. Supposedly it was a huge hassle so they blocked all companies that had MMOs. {I've since gotten them to remove this block from my debit card though...}
Except, it's only Square that I'm having an issue with. I used the card to pay for a sub on Rift, SWTOR and WoW already in the last 2 months. Plus, that doesn't account for their sideways way of letting me pay via Crysta with the exact same card. Ah well, I'm in game now and actually a bit surprised by how much more polished it's become. Definitely not a reflection of their account/billing systems, hehe.
Maybe they only blocked FFXIV after the backlash from its launch. I'm sure quite a few people claimed non-authorized use after that debacle...LOL
In other thoughts, I've been keeping tabs on XIV, reading the forums regularly and all the update notes and patches and letters from Yoshi and such. They been making some damn good strides in turning it around, but I havn't played since Nov 2011 to see them first hand, but I'd like too. I'm waiting to return once 2.0 testing begins which will hopefully be around Oct or so which SE have claimed, though we'll see considering every patch is a few days or a week later than planned. Its understandable, but a completely new engine and world design may set them back longer. Regardless though, I will return sometime later this year and plan to reroll a new character from scratch...
I have done a little work on AI systems before and the first thing I thought when I read it was that SE was using an AI for front line CS; though I am suprised it wouldn't have escalated to a human after the customer said they were disappointed, so it probably was a person.
I would of gone to the bank and asked them why it was being flagged. I think you should of gone to your bank and asked them aswel. CS didnt do anything wrong the system flagged your card up and then you tried to force the guy to accept your card and then change details on your account regardless how petty it sounds to you. I have middle initials but dont always use them and have never had a problem with my card with SE or any other company for online gaming.
In their defence last year I found out I had been billed over a year for a sub to FFXI when I didn’t play the game for more than a hour (the UI was evil) even though it was my own fault for not making sure the sub was cancelled, they gave back over £100 without a fuss, so I then bought FFXIV... and the rest is hysteria.
Anyway, I am currently waiting to hear back from them on resurrecting a deleted XIV character, the account options are obtuse to say the least, let's see if they get this right too.