Guild Wars 2

Hi, I sent and received a response from support regarding trying to get a refund for the Super Explosive Finishers. I bought 10 of them thinking it would be good for 10 hours, which was true when I bought them. But the items have been changed so that they are just five stomps each.

Support basically told me that they were sorry they “could not fulfill you request in this situation” with no explanation other than gem refunds are rare. Since this forum is asking about support policies, can I have any explanation as to why I wouldn’t be able to get one in this situation?

I was 99% sure I would be able to at least get my gems back since the items I bought were changed like that, but now I’m really afraid to buy anything else.

Edit:

If you want an arenanet official to review their decision I would advise you to edit your post and add your 12 digit ticket number.

Incident: 130903-000010

Hiya,

I totally understand you where 99% sure, that is what happens when someone makes a mistake. You don’t do it on purpose.

See it like this. I bought a package of snicker’s. I didn’t read the package right and accidentally bought a box of snicker’s mini (not sure if these are sold across the world, but basically smaller versions of snickers). The amount of Snickers in the box is roughly the same so should I get a refund?? It was me not reading clearly.

In this specifick case I have to say that when you bought them, the ingame description was very clear. Also, very recently all packages containing finishers where changed in a simular way, including a special finishers wallet where you can turn them on and off.

The store isn’t responsable if you don’t read the package clearly.

However, thats my personal opinion. Arenanet might think different. If you want an arenanet official to review their decision I would advise you to edit your post and add your 12 digit ticket number.

Well mercury the amount of the snicker’s will not change after you buy it.
In this case the OP bought an item and later the item changed. And he is not pleased about that change.

hoegarden.4287:

Well mercury the amount of the snicker’s will not change after you buy it.
In this case the OP bought an item and later the item changed. And he is not pleased about that change.

You can argue that the amnount of finishes didn’t change either. The mechanic totally changed, how many finishes did you make in 1 hour?? what was the average back then? Does the abillity to turn it on/off not change a lot (the old 1 hour ones couldn’t be turned off, so you had to stay in pvp/wvw).

mercury ranique.2170:

Hiya,

See it like this. I bought a package of snicker’s. I didn’t read the package right and accidentally bought a box of snicker’s mini (not sure if these are sold across the world, but basically smaller versions of snickers). The amount of Snickers in the box is roughly the same so should I get a refund?? It was me not reading clearly.

mercury ranique.2170:

The store isn’t responsable if you don’t read the package clearly.

A more accurate analogy is this: I bought snickers and they actually were the snickers I bought. I’m happy with my purchase. But then the store came into my house, took the snickers from my pantry, and replaced them with mini snickers.

Emphasis mine from the release notes:

The Super Explosive Finisher is now available in the Gem Store. The Super Explosive Finisher will change your PvP finisher into a super explosion for one hour.

Certainly not a case of me reading the package incorrectly.

Hi Gaile. I just received an updated response that only reiterated that my request couldn’t be fulfilled, still with absolutely no explanation as to why. Would you please try to help me see the rationale behind the decision? I am having a difficult time understanding. Why would I ever use the gem store again if my purchases can just be replaced without warning?

Am I asking in the wrong place? I figured somebody would be able to shed light on whatever policy is causing me not to be able to get a refund here. This forum is about support policies. Generally, what sort of situations would warrant a refund from gem purchases, if any? Or should we have no reasonable expectation to our items not being altered?

I would try support, but I already explicitly asked them why, and they only reiterated they weren’t giving me a refund without any justification at all. I think I’m capable of seeing reason; I’ll gladly accept not getting a refund if there is some good policy behind it. All I would like is some sort of response beyond “we’re not refunding you.” Of course, if there isn’t a good reason, then I suppose it would make more sense to return my gems…

Xapheus.1235:

Am I asking in the wrong place? I figured somebody would be able to shed light on whatever policy is causing me not to be able to get a refund here. This forum is about support policies. Generally, what sort of situations would warrant a refund from gem purchases, if any? Or should we have no reasonable expectation to our items not being altered?

I would try support, but I already explicitly asked them why, and they only reiterated they weren’t giving me a refund without any justification at all. I think I’m capable of seeing reason; I’ll gladly accept not getting a refund if there is some good policy behind it. All I would like is some sort of response beyond “we’re not refunding you.” Of course, if there isn’t a good reason, then I suppose it would make more sense to return my gems…

Ok to make it simple for you.
4 days ago, Gaile let you know they are re-examining the situation.
3 days ago support got back to you and let you know their point of view didn’t change.
Since then you haven’t had a different reply so it seems that that is the answer after they re-examined it.

I allready gave you my personal view and it seems that support agrees with me. In the user agreement you agreed that you do not have any right for gem-refund’s and it is to the sole discretion of arenanet to do so or (in this case) not.

Bottom line is that there is no different place to ask this. I know we have different views of what is fair or not in this matter, but I do feel sorry. The only thing left for you to do is to make a decision for yourself if you want to support this company in the future after this negative experience..

mercury ranique.2170:

Ok to make it simple for you.
4 days ago, Gaile let you know they are re-examining the situation.
3 days ago support got back to you and let you know their point of view didn’t change.
Since then you haven’t had a different reply so it seems that that is the answer after they re-examined it.

I allready gave you my personal view and it seems that support agrees with me. In the user agreement you agreed that you do not have any right for gem-refund’s and it is to the sole discretion of arenanet to do so or (in this case) not.

Bottom line is that there is no different place to ask this. I know we have different views of what is fair or not in this matter, but I do feel sorry. The only thing left for you to do is to make a decision for yourself if you want to support this company in the future after this negative experience..

My reply did not change because I asked “Why,” and that still has not been addressed.
Your view was based on me not reading correctly, which is incorrect, as I’ve proven. If this is how support agrees with you, then they are also incorrect. I’m hoping to see the real reason after I get home today.
I love this game and want to continue supporting it, but it needs to go both ways.

I’m not sure it’s the best practice to advertise one item for sale, and then once it is purchased, it turns out to be something different than what was advertised. I know it has made me wary of purchasing more items. In fact, I would have purchased a particular item last week, but having had this experience last month, I could not be sure the item would be viable or as advertised, and so I did not make the additional purchase.

Perhaps the seemingly cut-and-paste/automatic responses sent out from support could be examined, because the ‘sorry, we can’t help you and that’s just the way it is’ replies don’t leave the best taste in the mouth of consumers. Just my opinion, of course.

With no Support replies, I’m going to step down from pressing this with my final thoughts:

mercury ranique.2170:

In the user agreement you agreed that you do not have any right for gem-refund’s and it is to the sole discretion of arenanet to do so or (in this case) not.

I think this is the best reason I am going to get. I fully understood the user agreement when it said the purchases are not really mine, that Anet has full reign, etc. I understand that Anet can decide pretty much anything they want when it comes to the items on their servers.

They could also decide to maintain rapport with loyal customers. I am not sure how many loyal customers they soured from this. Maybe it’s not enough to matter, but I’m certainly one of them, and I’m certain there are other, less vocal ones who will also spend much less $$$ because of it. It’s Anet’s choice on how to handle these things.

And it’s my choice to not pay more $$$ for gems, since my trust in support is completely diminished by this lack of response. It’s my choice to add a caveat when I tell people to buy GW2 to not really trust the gem store, that Anet has changed my items. It’s my choice to tell my guild with hundreds about how unsupportive “Support” has been. I’ve already done that, but I was hoping for a good ending.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

In fact, I would have purchased a particular item last week, but having had this experience last month, I could not be sure the item would be viable or as advertised, and so I did not make the additional purchase.

Perhaps the seemingly cut-and-paste/automatic responses sent out from support could be examined, because the ‘sorry, we can’t help you and that’s just the way it is’ replies don’t leave the best taste in the mouth of consumers. Just my opinion, of course.

I’m right there with you. Exactly what I want to say. The support responses are trash. They only tell you the “what”. If there is a disagreement between customer (a.k.a. the people paying Anet’s salaries) and Anet, a good “why” response would go a long way.

Personally, I cannot see the gain by denying these requests. At least in my case, I only want gems back. The $$$ are already Anet’s, and continue to be Anet’s. But by denying me a measly $10 worth of gems for this, I wonder how many $$$ of loss you’ll incur. My future purchases, of course. Any reputation loss from the people I’ve already talked to and will talk to. It might not be that much when the criticism comes from somebody who praises most all other aspects of the game. Still, I don’t know; it’s just not logical how this played out. I’m only good at dealing with “rational” parties, but I overestimated Anet in this case.

I’m in the same boat as the OP. And now the finisher is in the gem store to add insult to injury…

The small percentage of people that actually bought the finisher as a limited-use consumable should be grandfathered into the new finisher. Anything less is unacceptable and shady practice.

was the finisher not permanent? i don’t pvp i just wanted the novelty, but this sounds like a complete rip off.

sanictoofast.9317:

was the finisher not permanent? i don’t pvp i just wanted the novelty, but this sounds like a complete rip off.

There are two finishers. One is permanent. There is also a cheaper version that isn’t. This thread is bout that one.

oh.. sorry for your loss m8s..