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Bad product keys + Bad customer support = lost customer!
Mynno
Member Posts: 21
I started my Lord of the Rings journey on wednesday at my local Gamestop. I purchased the pre-order DVD with my deposit. I go home and run the disk and everything is going fine up till I need to put in my product key and make an account with Turbine.
That's where things go bad. It keeps saying the key is invalid. Now since I have been through the hoops before during game launches I go to their support site to see if I can find an answer to my problem. Ahhh there's my answer, it seems due to a printing error many of the pre-order DVD's were sent out with faulty codes. The codes are suppose to be 25 characters long and mine was only 14. It also says that they would have a work around for this problem and that they were aware of the issue. Ok seems good but just to cover all my bases I sent an e-mail to support with a full explanation along with my exact key number.
Get up this morning check e-mail and nothing. Little bummed out but I figured hey they launch today for those who pre-ordered so there busy but surely by the time I get home I will be able to log in and make my account as the support column said I would.
Get home and nothing in e-mail so I try yet again to use my code and make an account. Same thing. Invalid key! So back to support. Only support keeps sending me to account support since I can't make my account up with the bad product key. And account support keeps asking me to put in my account info! Lol if I had that I would not be contacting them for help. They did send me a nice automated e-mail saying they received my request for support.
Oh well thought this might be a good game, but after this little episode I'm not so sure. If thats the way they run their support then I will have to pass on this since it seems nowadays you get your best customer support in the beginning and then it tapers off as the game matures. And if this is their best then all I can say is it sucks big time!
Comments
i'm not having the same issue but also am not impressed
was playing fine before the shut down prior to todays open beta but now can't get in
thought turbine was setting a shining example - well, uhm no
for the OP
http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?&postid=362881#post362881
heres the same issue from the official forums, this guy said all he had to do was call support and they gave him a new key without a hassle
just a hint guys try using the official forums with your problems, that is what they are there for. No Turbine CS people are assigned to monitor MMORPG.com forums however on the official site they do.This is not the game with no official forums. Hope this helps.
Back to the game
I miss DAoC
Thanks Jackdog but perhaps you misinterpeted my post a bit. When I said I went to their support forums I was referring to Turbines support forum. I did indeed read about my issue there, that is how I found out about the faulty Product keys. It was also their technical support that kept sending me over to their accounting support which kept asking me to input my account information which I could not do since the faulty key was keeping me from making an account in the first place.
As for the phone support tried that as well only to be told by an automated message to go to their support forums. Never did get a real person and after 3 tries gave up. I will admit I did not give their live support a try because after dealing with their forum support and then their phone support I had a headache and was just frustrated to much. I don't like to deal with customer reps when I get to that point because it's not fair to them for me to take it out on them. They are after all just trying to do their job and right now I am sure their getting an ear full.
At any rate thanks for replying. At least it was a response by someone who cared about my problem.
I miss DAoC
who me ?
LOL ya think
. Don't tell the kiddies because they don't understand what viral advertising is, they really think they might stop the sales of one or two boxes. You see they do not realize that no one goives a damn about posts over here, real realviral advertising occurs at the student union, the water fountain, the bar etc. This is just a mental excercise over here, the game will succeed or fail on it's own merits or issues.
I miss DAoC
ROFL some of you are simply amazing but then again perhaps it's those simple minds at work! Viral marketing huh? Lets look at my post again shall we? Never once did I say in it that Lord of the Rings is a bad game. On the contrary I said I had pre-ordered it so obviously I wanted to play it. As I type this I still can not make an account due to a bad product key. I jumped through their hoops over in Turbines Suuport Forums yet here I sit still unable to play. Is the game bad? Have no idea looks great to me that's why I pre-ordered it. Is Turbines support bad? You bet at least it is in my case.
I would love to have posted this in the official forums but then again you need an account to post which once again I am unable to create. Man you write anything anymore that's even remotely praise or negativity about a game and it's viral marketing!
Do us all a favor next time and since you obviously are so much more intelligent than I am go to a Games Support Forums and see if the problem a poster says is a legit problem and is actually listed before you call them a viral marketer and try to discredit anything they say.
Today I will take my product key back to Gamestop to see if there is anything they will do for me. If I get a new key, great I will be happy with Gamestop for backing their customers but I will still be upset with the runaround I got at Turbines Support forums.
Again before you accuse people of things do a little research first. Not everyone works for a game design company and it's their job to go around trashing or praising another companies game. Some of us just want to play the game! And one last thing for those who are calling me either a liar, an idiot or a viral marketer here is my second e-mail word for word that I sent to Turbines Support, notice I also copied the item number. This is the item number in their account support forums that corresponded with my problem so I thought it would make it easier on them. As for the product key below since it don't work anyways knock yourself out trying to use it. It sure did not work for me!
Heya, just for the record, in case it ends up mattering to you or helping in any way, I have 3 different preorders from 3 different companies.
All 3 have been activated successfully.
All 3 are different lengths.
I'm looking right at the keys right now, one is 25 digits, one is 17 digits and one is 14 digits.
The EB Games/ Gamestop one is the shortest.
The Best Buy one is the longest.
wrong place to post this
Actualy you do state that it might be a bad game afterall "Oh well thought this might be a good game, but after this little episode I'm not so sure."
And you say this on the basis of their Support. How does that have to do with the game, mechanics, graphics, gameplay, community etc.. Therefor people are in their right to condemn you to for viral marketing.
Its cool that you didnt want to say its a bad game and all that, but you did imply it. sorry.
Take two steps back and think... Ok, one of the most loved fantasy worlds of all time, is opened up for the masses in the form of an MMO. This isnt GOLD, this is STILL beta or POST beta if you wish, but still PRELAUNCH.
Yet, people are surprised, that things dont work smoothly. Actualy it does, for thousands and thousands of people not complaining here, it works perfectly. They fucked up alittle, but hey, its chaotic to get all things running smoothly. This is not just one guy, setting all this up. Its hundreds of people with divisions all over the place, that has to run smoothly. It just wont happen.
After launch, sure, be angry. But now? relax. its all good.
stop acting like a spoiled brat u get a bad key go back to the store for exchange or call up the customer service omg thats is so hard to do? show me which online game has good customer service ?
Sorry Mynno after reading your original post and response to others I have to say boohoo. I understand how frustrating it can be when you have problems getting into a game you are very excited about. It happened to me on release day of WoW did not get in game for almost 3 days (but I still played the game and loved it, realizing shit happens). In this case you know the problem a bad key code (it happens working with printers can be a headache). First you complain about the response via e-mail why not call them on the phone. I have called them a few times over the last year since I play their games. I get a live voice with no wait everytime. Turbine has one of the best phone supports I have ever experienced with an mmo compnay.
So you have all this understandable frustration trying to get into the game. You then concluded the game is no good. You write almost as if Turbine did this specifically to you. Mynno you just were unlucky (it happens). Stick to this logic to decide if the game is good and you will miss out on a great game experience. Had you just come here posted your problem looking for advice I would have respected your post. If you live your RL like this you must be one frustrated individual. Turbine had 600k pre-orders yesterdays launch of BETA for pre-orders was bigger then most mmos at their live launches. I have never been in such a smooth launch (this is a launch) ever! hundreds of thousands of players got in with not hitch, no crashes, no lag, and no key code problems. I logged in no wait no que and started playing immediately, played 4 hours last night with no trouble. I was really impressed. Turbine gets an A grade for yesterdays open beta launch. It is a great game from a company that is learning, also getting better and better. You write well but you sound like a whinny little kid istead of a patient mature adult. With that said you indeed may not like the game since the community is filled with patient mature players. WoW (which I like) maybe more of your style. Whether you believe it or not my expereince with Turbine are very impressive Blizzard and SOE better watch it, LOTRO maybe the game that give Turbine the revenues to be the top dog in the MMORPG world.
i would like to apologize to the OP for most of the responses he got from his post - posted here because of frustration
read like he was being attacked by rabid vanbois
i also didn't post my problem on the official forums - there would have been no point - i read through most of the postings there for assistance and not one had an official response
i did fix my problem with no help from support though
so yes, support for this game is lacking - just from personal experience
but once you do get in all that frustration will vanish - replaced by a perpetual smile
Ok for the record I am not saying Lord of the Rings is a bad game or a good game! I have no idea since I can not log in to base an opinion on. So that takes care of that statement.
I have indeed as stated in my previous post went to Turbines support pages both technical and account. I also tried their phone support. All three did nothing to resolve my issue. So in my case (note: not everyone else's because I can't speak for them) I was not helped nor impressed with their customer support. Can I go back to the store I bought the Pre-order from? Yes and as I said earlier I will do so today. But that still does not let Turbines support off the hook in my personal opinion.
I realise it is still in beta and that problems arise. It would not be the first time it has happened nor will it be the last time it will happen during a game launch. Heck I went through Anarchy Online and Horizons launches which were less than stellar, but some of you decided to attack me personally over a legit issue I am having. Is this the proper forum for it? Yes it is because it's a Lord of the Rings forum for people to talk about the game. Could I have placed it in the official forums? No I could not since my issue involves making an account and you need an account to post in their official forums.
Is the world or for that matter Turbine games going to come to a complete stop because I can't make an account to play a game? Nope!
Take my first post and read it as it was intended, a complaint about getting the runaround in a games support forums and a problem not being dealt with. Written during a time of frustration on my part. It's not some global conspiracy, it's not viral marketing and it's not an attempt to discredit what looks to be an awsome game. It's just a complaint I had with a companies support system that I could not post in their support forums. That's it.
For those of you who had no trouble during the launch I think that's great. It's about time a game was released with so few problems. I truly hope you all enjoy the game enough to get the life time subscription. But it still does not mean that other's have not had problems and that their concerns should be invalidated.
In America I have bad teeth. If I lived in England my teeth would be perfect.
are you still having issues? the guy at the gamestop i preordered said there was a bad shipment of codes. so he gave me two. he said if i still had issues to give them a call and they would give me a new code over the phone. So i suggest that. call them up and tell them and they will most likly open up the disk and give you the code right over the phone.
The game is still in beta and stress test. i dont know any MMORPG that had all there ducks in a row Customer service wise in this stage. the game hasent even laucned yet so the customer service is still gearing up for that launch. I have beta tested every major Mmorpg out there and i know not to judge the lvl of severice until after launch. then i still give it a few weeks to get the kinks out. i have worked on the ground floor of a customer driven company and I can say that its not easy you can plan for everything and still come up short.
So i suggest trying to solve the issue yourself befor you try turbine. if your still having issues send me a PM and i will gladly help you out.
Conservatism.
Just old white men trying to find ways to legalize discrimination, and make the poor poorer
Why would you apologize for those that had a very negative response to the OP? I do not need or want you to apologize for my response. I am not a "Rabid vanbois" as you put it. The OP was putting up a long winded post to cover his childish reaction to his beta expereince. It comes accross as a spoiled child. Read my post I said if he had come here and posted his problem without all the negativity and the flamable title to his thread he/she probably would have received help and sympathy. The tone of the post was you burned me (which they did not) and you will pay (lost customers). I will tell the world how bad Turbine treated me and take customers away they will pay. That is the tone of the original post and it's title. That is what is getting the negative reaction not the fact they had problems getting into game. Us serious mmo players have all had trouble on launch days, it happens.
Any experienced mmo player knows launches especially betas have problems. I play a lot of games check my posts (I am no vanboi of any game). Only rarely do I respond in a negative way to a post but sometimes you have to. The fact so many others felt this post was junk and an unwarrented attack on Turbine is obvious by how many others had a negative response to the OP. What this is about for me, since I love this site and the forums, is to try to get people to think a little bit before the attack a game and developer. Turbine gets more then it's fair share of attacks here and it is just time for those of us who appreciate what they are trying to do and defend them. They are a good company that has good customer service. Yours and the OP's experience are not the norm. You got around your problem without a negative post. The author of the thread could have found support and help here had he just asked and not threatened (read the title of the OP).
LOL ya think
. Don't tell the kiddies because they don't understand what viral advertising is, they really think they might stop the sales of one or two boxes. You see they do not realize that no one goives a damn about posts over here, real realviral advertising occurs at the student union, the water fountain, the bar etc. This is just a mental excercise over here, the game will succeed or fail on it's own merits or issues.
Your sopt on JD. The definition of viral advertising that gets thrown around these forums is too narrow. Viral advertising is not dishonest/fake/lies by definition, that is only one peculiar way in which it is used (and I am personally very skeptical about how much of that sort of VA is really used).