"Free" birthday offer is falsely advertised.

Zorvan · July 2008

Well, I decided what the hell, 30 free days plus 700 points to reactivate. Maybe I'll overlook the shitty customer service they've recently become famous for. But, lo and behold, Funcom even manages to fuck their own offer up ( surprise ).

This is the e-mail:

You are receiving this newsletter because you are a subscribed member, or you have shown an interest in Funcom products. You may unsubscribe from this publication at any time.

Dear Anarchy Online Fan,

We want to celebrate our history with you, and are delighted to present once in a lifetime special offers and awesome 7 year anniversary gifts for you!

We believe you will be positively surprised to discover all the changes we have made, and the new content we have added, since your last visit. Therefore we are pleased to offer you 30 days free play time, and give you the unique opportunity to check out all the cool new content and re-familiarize yourself with the game.

If you use this offer to reactivate your account, we will also add 700 paid points to your account for free. This will allow you to buy new outfits, vehicles and other goodies for your character. This offer ends July 4th, so act now to avoid missing out!

Reactivate your account here.

If you have un-installed the game, please go to www.anarchyonline.com/download/ for a fully updated client.

In futher celebration, we have put together a video that tells the story of Anarchy Online from launch 'til now, with all Game Directors sharing their thoughts on Anarchy Online. See it here. Also, an updated letter from the Game Director is available. Read it here.

Join us this weekend, as there will be presents and non-stop celebration throughout Rubi-Ka!

We would like to thank you for your support during all these years and we hope to see you in-game very soon!

Regards,

Funcom

© 2008 Funcom. All rights reserved.

Funcom is headquartered in 167 Drammensveien, Oslo 0277, Norway

Notice the parts in green.

So, I go to my account page and get this:

Upgrade Subscription ' '

Return to Rubi-Ka

[ Product Info ]

You have a time-limited offer to upgrade your account with 30 days of free game time and 700 service points.

- By using this offer your account will be credited with 30 days game time and 700 service points at no cost.

- Your account will be reactivated as part of this offer.

- Should you wish to end your subscription to Anarchy Online at no charge you are able to cancel your subscription via this site.

USD

$

0.00

Subscription Details
Username
Created	2001-7-3
Veteran Months	36
Registered add-ons	Notum Wars and Shadowlands

Subscription Cycle

	Month(s)*	Total cost
	1 month recurring	USD $ 14.95
	3 month recurring	USD $ 35.85
	6 month recurring	USD $ 59.70
	12 month recurring	USD $ 95.40
* One month = 30 days † VAT policy

Select Payment Option

Or register and use a Payment Option

* Required

Payment option *

Mastercard (USD)

Again, note the green highlight.

So they tell me I can "reactivate" with 30 days and 700 points free, and then pull a bait and switch by changing it to an "upgrade" which would force me to pay for all of the expansions ( the 14.95/monthly price ) instead of what my account normally cost ( $5.00/monthly since I only have the Shadowlands ). And I certainly don't see a $0.00 option to click on there.

And of course no reply to the e-mail I sent inquiring about this.

So, e-mail from Fuckcom deleted and account remains closed.

crunchyblack · July 2008

now im pretty users from what people said in game that it is really a free 30 day subscription but if you dont cancel the account after 30 days, then the payment choice you selected starts. i guess if youve been screwed by them before i could see the confusion but its like any free trial, they ask you to select your payment choice for once the trial is over so they can start charging you should you choose to stay (or forget to cancel).

still a good deal, since i was unlucky enough to pay the full amount for upgrading from froob a month ago....its now like $7 for full expansion with 37 days before monthly subscription starts..... sucks for me i guess =/

crunchyblack · July 2008

double post to celebrate the double thread

steelfrenzy · July 2008

i understand how your upset, and you expected it to be free. it seems to me like maybe you read it wrong? it does say if you reactivate your account(which obviously means pay) they will give you a free 30 days and 700 points. they probably shouldn't say its free soon as how you have to pay to get it, but what they mean is you don't have to pay extra to receive those perks. the only thing thats bullshit about that is that they make you pay for ALL of the expansions...anyway those are my thoughts.

Zorvan · July 2008

Originally posted by steelfrenzy

i understand how your upset, and you expected it to be free. it seems to me like maybe you read it wrong? it does say if you reactivate your account(which obviously means pay) they will give you a free 30 days and 700 points. they probably shouldn't say its free soon as how you have to pay to get it, but what they mean is you don't have to pay extra to receive those perks. the only thing thats bullshit about that is that they make you pay for ALL of the expansions...anyway those are my thoughts.

That's what I mean by falsely advertised. "Reactivate" is not the same as "upgrade". Nowhere in their little e-mail offer does it say I need to upgrade, only reactivate. I have no desire to upgrade this account any further since it is mainly just for storage/dual-boxing purposes. My main account has all the expansions already. I was planning to renew this one and my main, but I'm not going to mess with it now.

I'm sorry, I love the game. I really do. But this is just showing more of the lack of attention and customer service that Funcom has been displaying recently and I'm not doing anything as far as subscriptions go unless what I am subscribing for is clearly and definitively stated ( has now been over 48 hours since I e-mailed them for help/clarification on this issue, and it was the waiting for over a month for a customer support response on a billing issue which caused me to cancel in the first place).

I just wish they'd get their act together.

steelfrenzy · July 2008

ahh I see where your coming from with that it does seem like they tried awfully hard to hide the fact that you had to pay extra until the time came when you actually had to pay >.<

burmese · July 2008

It's clear up front this is a promotion for the full game with all expansions. If you thought you were going to get 30 free days then slide into $5/mo SL, sorry. And the -full- game can be had for $0 up front using a buddy key on a new or free account, if you're smart. No one running the already cheap SL package is going to get the full game w/o $$ up front (unless they do some other promotion).

BTW, lot of old timers have come back in the past week with the new expansions. A lot of them have lvl 200+ chars that didn't hit 220 and they quit some years ago due to disliking the grind needed back then to get all the way to 220. Now, with the Inferno missions easing that grind a lot, they're jumping on this offer.

Violette · July 2008

I'm sorry Zorvan that you FC is disappointing you time after time. I can just comfort you, nothing else. I have had no problems with FC.

Zorvan · July 2008

Originally posted by burmese

It's clear up front this is a promotion for the full game with all expansions. If you thought you were going to get 30 free days then slide into $5/mo SL, sorry. And the -full- game can be had for $0 up front using a buddy key on a new or free account, if you're smart. No one running the already cheap SL package is going to get the full game w/o $$ up front (unless they do some other promotion).

BTW, lot of old timers have come back in the past week with the new expansions. A lot of them have lvl 200+ chars that didn't hit 220 and they quit some years ago due to disliking the grind needed back then to get all the way to 220. Now, with the Inferno missions easing that grind a lot, they're jumping on this offer.

Fine, just show me where in that e-mail it is made clear up front.

piith · July 2008

Originally posted by Zorvan

Originally posted by burmese

It's clear up front this is a promotion for the full game with all expansions. If you thought you were going to get 30 free days then slide into $5/mo SL, sorry. And the -full- game can be had for $0 up front using a buddy key on a new or free account, if you're smart. No one running the already cheap SL package is going to get the full game w/o $$ up front (unless they do some other promotion).

BTW, lot of old timers have come back in the past week with the new expansions. A lot of them have lvl 200+ chars that didn't hit 220 and they quit some years ago due to disliking the grind needed back then to get all the way to 220. Now, with the Inferno missions easing that grind a lot, they're jumping on this offer.

Fine, just show me where in that e-mail it is made clear up front.

there is nothing there that promotes full expansion. Either way , for the cost, the $7 upgrade is the only real offer, I too received this offer for a account I closed before Ai expansion. I laughed, . . . yeah right, why would I pay full sub price, when I can start a free account and upgrade to SL and just pay the $5.

I am sure their intentions were for the player to upgrade, but the letter does not written so. oh and this offer only went to those that have closed Notum wars and Shadowland accounts, my other closed accounts had AI, and only offer they have was the $7, no free reactivation

Stith16 · July 2008

I have an AI account with SL and NW and they gave me 30 days free. On top of that, they let me upgrade to Lost Eden for 7 dollars. Good deal if you ask me. AI and LE seem to bring a lot to the game besides an easier route of leveling (example SL). I'm just looking for deals on the net for subscription keys. Can buy 3 month keys for cheap making it almost the same price as your 5 dollar SL subscription...

Edit:

Along with my upgrade they gave me 7 extra days. Bad thing is they are planning a new expansion soon which will probably cost 30 or they will bundle some deal that will give all expansions up to date which will make my 7 dollar upgrade stupid.

nightlith · July 2008

w...w...wait....what 700 points?? I never got 700 points FUCKCom

Azure77 · July 2008

Not to defend Funcom , but this promotion is clearly (check the video) making a deal offer on all content from launch til now. They might not spell it out, but all companies do this , you put in your credit card information , the first 30 days a free , if you cancel you dont get bill.

FFXI , SOE , NCsoft , hell even Blizzard did this during the Burning Crusade launch , most of us beta players got disc with Burning Crusade mailed to us.

Funcom might be bad , hell they might be evil but this promotion is pretty standard and pretty nice to offer to people, especially those who havent been paying attention.

Gilgameesh · July 2008

Originally posted by piith

Originally posted by Zorvan

Originally posted by burmese

It's clear up front this is a promotion for the full game with all expansions. If you thought you were going to get 30 free days then slide into $5/mo SL, sorry. And the -full- game can be had for $0 up front using a buddy key on a new or free account, if you're smart. No one running the already cheap SL package is going to get the full game w/o $$ up front (unless they do some other promotion).

BTW, lot of old timers have come back in the past week with the new expansions. A lot of them have lvl 200+ chars that didn't hit 220 and they quit some years ago due to disliking the grind needed back then to get all the way to 220. Now, with the Inferno missions easing that grind a lot, they're jumping on this offer.

Fine, just show me where in that e-mail it is made clear up front.

there is nothing there that promotes full expansion. Either way , for the cost, the $7 upgrade is the only real offer, I too received this offer for a account I closed before Ai expansion. I laughed, . . . yeah right, why would I pay full sub price, when I can start a free account and upgrade to SL and just pay the $5.

I am sure their intentions were for the player to upgrade, but the letter does not written so. oh and this offer only went to those that have closed Notum wars and Shadowland accounts, my other closed accounts had AI, and only offer they have was the $7, no free reactivation

In another post i complained a bit about how FC handled this offer, but at the end they said to me that there was a mistake in the billing system.

I had an account full with AI, unsubbed in 2006. I now have the LE expansion and the 30+7 days for just the € 7 as stated in the email. Of course, it is a reactivation, but you resub with the 7 € and nothing else.

At the end of the period you can just cancel or pay for a plan.

I know they meesed up a lot of things because of the wrong 'frozen' payments. For sure they have to fix the billing system, but they didn't asked you to resub first and then get the offer. The offer is the resub.

The only thing i didn't got are the 700 paid points. Pity.

Trashcantoy · July 2008

Originally posted by Stith16

I have an AI account with SL and NW and they gave me 30 days free. On top of that, they let me upgrade to Lost Eden for 7 dollars. Good deal if you ask me. AI and LE seem to bring a lot to the game besides an easier route of leveling (example SL). I'm just looking for deals on the net for subscription keys. Can buy 3 month keys for cheap making it almost the same price as your 5 dollar SL subscription...

Edit:
Along with my upgrade they gave me 7 extra days. Bad thing is they are planning a new expansion soon which will probably cost 30 or they will bundle some deal that will give all expansions up to date which will make my 7 dollar upgrade stupid.

i have to correct u there, there is not an expansion coming.. but a booster pack. u dont need to buy it when it hits the live servers, and its not gonna cost 30 bucks, but less.

Teran1987 · July 2008

Dunno what you did wrong but i got the whole game for $7

ArKane · July 2008

Just to offer my experience with this whole thing: I got a key from these boards, entered it on their website, and was quite surprised to see they were going to charge me $7 for what was advertised as a 'free' key with 30 days free. No matter what I tried (new account, adding the key to an existing acct) it took me straight to a page for payment info, with $7.00 cost listed at the top. So I said, why not, $7 for 37 days is dirt cheap anyway, might as well. (as a footnote, the payment didn't go thru for some dumb reason, CC company offered no explanation, FC never replied to my email >.> so the acct was frozen after 2 days.) BUT, yesterday an orgmate send me an email basically saying 'heres a key for ya, have fun'......and now the key works like it says it should, 30 days free, no payment, cancel and you won't be charged....odd. For some reason, the keys were being tied into the 7th anniversary $7 offer during that one week, but not anymore. Typical funcom weirdness I guess

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"Free" birthday offer is falsely advertised.