Guild Wars 2

My Support Ticket (#2008478)

First i need to start of by saying that this isn’t really an issue that I’ve seen come up in the past. I’ve had people tell me about past cases of accounts being compromised and the problems a lot of people had because of Digital River a while ago, but this seemingly isn’t one of those cases.

What happened was, i got Heart of Thorns and some gems as a gift at the end of October (about the 28th or so). I played for a week and then my PC died so i went 6 weeks without access to GW2. When i finally came back i found out my account was banned due to a chargeback. Now this is where my case differs from others. Long story short, after a string of blunt and unhelpful emails from Customer Support and multiple phone calls to the bank i came across what seems to be the cause of the problem. Our bank took it upon themselves to cancel the card that was used for the purchase of HoT (which took place at least a full week after the purchase), and the cancellation automatically charged back the purchase(s).

The thing that is bothering me is that Customer “Support” kept specifically saying that it doesn’t matter that i didn’t do anything wrong, something was done and my account pays the price.

That is uncalled for. As a loyal customer for three long years, it should matter to ArenaNet that i have done nothing against their policies yet I’m still suffering the penalties that come with such action. I’ve offered to pay back the money, purchase everything again including HoT and apply the new serial code to my account, to use a new credit card for any purchases so that it’s a clean slate, I even asked if it was possible to have my progress transferred to a new account. But i kept getting the exact same emails over and over again saying that absolutely none of those solutions are possible and that i just have to suck it up and start from scratch because they don’t care that it wasn’t me who did this.

That is just plain wrong. Did i miss the warning somewhere letting me know that i can be punished for the actions of any third party? I assume there is no such warning because accounts that are compromised by a third party get reactivated for the account holder all the time. And so did accounts that had a history of a charge back due to the issues with Digital River (another third party). So is there a list of third parties who’s actions ArenaNet customers can be punished for? And which third parties are the exception to the rule?

I would just like to know how this can be justified and why I’m allowed to be treated like i don’t matter, regardless of how much of a loyal customer i have been for three years.

You have to take it up with your bank. If they cancelled your card and did the charge back, it’s on them. Anet’s payment processor is extremely diligent on any charge backs that occur on accounts.

You are welcome to post your ticket number and a (very) brief explanation in the review stick thread (and yes, I mean brief, not the novel you wrote) and see if Michael can look into it. I do say it again, this is not Anet’s fault. It is on your bank, and you really need to take it up with them and be angry with them. Anet incurred a lot of fees because of what your bank did.

Ellieanna.5027:

You have to take it up with your bank. If they cancelled your card and did the charge back, it’s on them. Anet’s payment processor is extremely diligent on any charge backs that occur on accounts.

You are welcome to post your ticket number and a (very) brief explanation in the review stick thread (and yes, I mean brief, not the novel you wrote) and see if Michael can look into it. I do say it again, this is not Anet’s fault. It is on your bank, and you really need to take it up with them and be angry with them. Anet incurred a lot of fees because of what your bank did.

First of all, i thank you for your advice but it seems like you’re being very short with me and kind of rude by the way your reply reads, as if I’ve done something to offend you. But please correct me if I’m wrong.

Second, i’m not really sure what i could possibly take up with my bank at this point. I’ve found out what they did, what else is there to do regarding my bank? Also, don’t get me wrong, i am angry with the bank. They caused this problem and i understand that. I also understand that ArenaNet incurred a lot of fees because of what the bank did. What i don’t understand is why it’s acceptable for me to pay the price for what my bank did. That’s the problem i’m having with this situation, and that is what i’d like an answer to.

I’m sorry that the length of my post was such an inconvenience for you.

thunderdownunder.5092:

What i don’t understand is why it’s acceptable for me to pay the price for what my bank did. That’s the problem i’m having with this situation, and that is what i’d like an answer to.

But thats something you have to talk about with your bank. They should convince
Digital River that is was their fault and not yours.
Or what answers do you expect from other GW2 players to get ?

Can you clarify what you mean "i got Heart of Thorns and some gems as a gift "?
Did someone else use your CC to buy you a gift?
I can’t see why they wouldn’t restore your core game though and only remove the gems and HoT.

Blude.6812:

Can you clarify what you mean “i got Heart of Thorns and some gems as a gift”?
If you got them both as a gift, why was your card used? Did someone else use it?
If so it, seems the bank was justified and as for Anet, it’s how they deal with chargebacks.

I think he meant that he bought the $99 version that includes 4000 gems.

Blude.6812:

I can’t see why they wouldn’t restore your core game though and only remove the gems and HoT.

ArenaNet’s policy is to immediately terminate the account. Chargebacks are considered fraud, the merchant has to pay a small penalty fee and the card used is blacklisted. They recently changed this policy however, but only for people that tried to exploit a cheap deal and bought the game from one of the unofficial retailers that were selling stolen copies. For single cases like this though, ArenaNet doesn’t like to budge. To prevent this problem, it’s much safer to buy HoT from a 3rd party (or use an unrefundable payment option), since any chargebacks won’t be directly aimed at ArenaNet.

For comparison, some other MMOs handle chargebacks by adding a negative balance to your account. Access is restricted until that balance is paid off.

Beldin.5498:

thunderdownunder.5092:

What i don’t understand is why it’s acceptable for me to pay the price for what my bank did. That’s the problem i’m having with this situation, and that is what i’d like an answer to.

But thats something you have to talk about with your bank. They should convince
Digital River that is was their fault and not yours.
Or what answers do you expect from other GW2 players to get ?

The thing is, i can get proof or statements from the bank stating that it was them who did it without my consent, but when i told customer service that information they dodged my inquiry all together and just continued to tell me that it doesn’t matter if i did it or not. So there is really nothing more to do with my bank until ArenaNet decides it even matters that it was the bank.

And i guess i’m just trying to see if anyone else in the community has any insight into something like this, because have found no record of a situation like this in my searching. I’m just doing what i can to get info because this is a very frustrating time for me and i’m getting no answers from Customer Support.

Blude.6812:

Can you clarify what you mean "i got Heart of Thorns and some gems as a gift "?
Did someone else use your CC to buy you a gift?
I can’t see why they wouldn’t restore your core game though and only remove the gems and HoT.

I never said it was my card that was used. My mother had me use her card to purchase HoT and some gems as the gift, it wasn’t actually “gifted” to me. Sorry i probably should’ve clarified that.

I also can’t see why they wouldn’t do that for me. It’s not like i’m asking for them to just give me back access for free. I’d happily pay back the charge and purchase everything again, but for some reason they wont let me.

Hopefully something can be done. This whole matter is very disconcerting. Once again why I say that zero tolerance policies are like weapons of mass destruction. Is the nuclear option always appropriate?

Michael Henninger.7451:

thunderdownunder.5092:

My Support Ticket (#2008478)

First i need to start of by saying that this isn’t really an issue that I’ve seen come up in the past. I’ve had people tell me about past cases of accounts being compromised and the problems a lot of people had because of Digital River a while ago, but this seemingly isn’t one of those cases.

What happened was, i got Heart of Thorns and some gems as a gift at the end of October (about the 28th or so). I played for a week and then my PC died so i went 6 weeks without access to GW2. When i finally came back i found out my account was banned due to a chargeback. Now this is where my case differs from others. Long story short, after a string of blunt and unhelpful emails from Customer Support and multiple phone calls to the bank i came across what seems to be the cause of the problem. Our bank took it upon themselves to cancel the card that was used for the purchase of HoT (which took place at least a full week after the purchase), and the cancellation automatically charged back the purchase(s).

The thing that is bothering me is that Customer “Support” kept specifically saying that it doesn’t matter that i didn’t do anything wrong, something was done and my account pays the price.

That is uncalled for. As a loyal customer for three long years, it should matter to ArenaNet that i have done nothing against their policies yet I’m still suffering the penalties that come with such action. I’ve offered to pay back the money, purchase everything again including HoT and apply the new serial code to my account, to use a new credit card for any purchases so that it’s a clean slate, I even asked if it was possible to have my progress transferred to a new account. But i kept getting the exact same emails over and over again saying that absolutely none of those solutions are possible and that i just have to suck it up and start from scratch because they don’t care that it wasn’t me who did this.

That is just plain wrong. Did i miss the warning somewhere letting me know that i can be punished for the actions of any third party? I assume there is no such warning because accounts that are compromised by a third party get reactivated for the account holder all the time. And so did accounts that had a history of a charge back due to the issues with Digital River (another third party). So is there a list of third parties who’s actions ArenaNet customers can be punished for? And which third parties are the exception to the rule?

I would just like to know how this can be justified and why I’m allowed to be treated like i don’t matter, regardless of how much of a loyal customer i have been for three years.

I’m looking at this; something seems wrong here. Hang tight.

Thank you very much. Please take your time, I’m happy to be patient.

Michael Henninger.7451:

thunderdownunder.5092:

My Support Ticket (#2008478)

First i need to start of by saying that this isn’t really an issue that I’ve seen come up in the past. I’ve had people tell me about past cases of accounts being compromised and the problems a lot of people had because of Digital River a while ago, but this seemingly isn’t one of those cases.

What happened was, i got Heart of Thorns and some gems as a gift at the end of October (about the 28th or so). I played for a week and then my PC died so i went 6 weeks without access to GW2. When i finally came back i found out my account was banned due to a chargeback. Now this is where my case differs from others. Long story short, after a string of blunt and unhelpful emails from Customer Support and multiple phone calls to the bank i came across what seems to be the cause of the problem. Our bank took it upon themselves to cancel the card that was used for the purchase of HoT (which took place at least a full week after the purchase), and the cancellation automatically charged back the purchase(s).

The thing that is bothering me is that Customer “Support” kept specifically saying that it doesn’t matter that i didn’t do anything wrong, something was done and my account pays the price.

That is uncalled for. As a loyal customer for three long years, it should matter to ArenaNet that i have done nothing against their policies yet I’m still suffering the penalties that come with such action. I’ve offered to pay back the money, purchase everything again including HoT and apply the new serial code to my account, to use a new credit card for any purchases so that it’s a clean slate, I even asked if it was possible to have my progress transferred to a new account. But i kept getting the exact same emails over and over again saying that absolutely none of those solutions are possible and that i just have to suck it up and start from scratch because they don’t care that it wasn’t me who did this.

That is just plain wrong. Did i miss the warning somewhere letting me know that i can be punished for the actions of any third party? I assume there is no such warning because accounts that are compromised by a third party get reactivated for the account holder all the time. And so did accounts that had a history of a charge back due to the issues with Digital River (another third party). So is there a list of third parties who’s actions ArenaNet customers can be punished for? And which third parties are the exception to the rule?

I would just like to know how this can be justified and why I’m allowed to be treated like i don’t matter, regardless of how much of a loyal customer i have been for three years.

I’m looking at this; something seems wrong here. Hang tight.

Any word yet? I know i said i’m happy to be patient, but it’s been 4 days now and i’m getting a little worried.

i kind of agree with OP on this. he has worked hard on his account and it got banned without any fault of his . i do understand its not anets fault, but after the fault has been found and OP is willing to rebuy it all, anet should unban the account or atleast give a solution. if they dont, here on after would be their fault. even i who have had an account since the beginning would quit if i get banned over nothing, but atleast thunderdownunder is trying his best to figure out who is at fault and attempting to fix it.

i really hope it goes well for thunderdownunder and it gets unbanned after you pay the money back.

Whitefang.4968:

i kind of agree with OP on this. he has worked hard on his account and it got banned without any fault of his . i do understand its not anets fault, but after the fault has been found and OP is willing to rebuy it all, anet should unban the account or atleast give a solution. if they dont, here on after would be their fault. even i who have had an account since the beginning would quit if i get banned over nothing, but atleast thunderdownunder is trying his best to figure out who is at fault and attempting to fix it.

i really hope it goes well for thunderdownunder and it gets unbanned after you pay the money back.

Thanks for the kind words mate. I too understand that this isn’t inherently ArenaNet’s fault, that’s why i’m just trying to be reasonable about keeping contact with them. A charge back happened, so my account got banned, i understand that completely, but not all circumstances are the same and i think if i can just talk to a reasonable person it can be worked out with me buying a new serial code. I see no reason why that can’t be done. I just need to get a hold of somebody who’s willing to look past ArenaNet’s bottom line and give me a chance.

Only way you’re going to get anywhere is to talk to a senior staff member. Anybody below that is going to follow policy by the letter.

Loli Ruri.8307:

Only way you’re going to get anywhere is to talk to a senior staff member. Anybody below that is going to follow policy by the letter.

I’d be quite happy for that to happen, and i understand that I’m mostly just getting in contact with people who are just doing what they’re told to do. It’s just proving difficult to get in contact with anyone who can actually help.

You are in contact with someone that can actually help. Michael is CS Team Lead.

Good luck.

So from what I can learn from this thread so far is, basically if something causes you a chargeback, outside your control, you’re screwed anyways, and enjoy your permaban? So does it not matter what evidence you provide, or what compensations you wish to offer? Well then policy is like a brick wall, hard and stupid. At least Nexon lets you buy prepaid cards and pay off your debt, so you can play again. Come on ArenaNet, I consider you better than Nexon…

Loli Ruri.8307:

So from what I can learn from this thread so far is, basically if something causes you a chargeback, outside your control, you’re screwed anyways, and enjoy your permaban? So does it not matter what evidence you provide, or what compensations you wish to offer? Well then policy is like a brick wall, hard and stupid. At least Nexon lets you buy prepaid cards and pay off your debt, so you can play again. Come on ArenaNet, I consider you better than Nexon…

Michael Henninger said he look it. Not sure when he respond again but Anet is looking at it.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/support/Account-was-banned-for-something-i-didn-t-do/first#post5898941

Qugi.2653:

Michael Henninger said he look it. Not sure when he respond again but Anet is looking at it.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/support/Account-was-banned-for-something-i-didn-t-do/first#post5898941

Yes it is true that he said that, and that we don’t know what is happening in the background. But people care about results.

Loli Ruri.8307:

Qugi.2653:

Michael Henninger said he look it. Not sure when he respond again but Anet is looking at it.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/support/Account-was-banned-for-something-i-didn-t-do/first#post5898941

Yes it is true that he said that, and that we don’t know what is happening in the background. But people care about results.

Well you post I respond to before sound like Anet just say sorry for you luck. We do not know what happen with this but Anet is looking at this. We maybe never know result.

Loli Ruri.8307:

So from what I can learn from this thread so far is, basically if something causes you a chargeback, outside your control, you’re screwed anyways, and enjoy your permaban? So does it not matter what evidence you provide, or what compensations you wish to offer? Well then policy is like a brick wall, hard and stupid. At least Nexon lets you buy prepaid cards and pay off your debt, so you can play again. Come on ArenaNet, I consider you better than Nexon…

Well, like Qugi said, Michael Henninger says he’s looking into it now (although at this point i’m not sure how long it takes).

But before i posted here and got that reply, my experience has been pretty much just what you said. I first opened my support ticket on the 18th of December and up until the reply i got from Michael on this post, all i heard from Customer Support was that there is nothing they can/will do, and that “it doesn’t matter who issued the charge back”.

I did find a post on these forums from a kid who had the exact same thing happen to him and got a reply from Michael 2 days later saying he had someone looking into it for him. Then within 24 hours, the kid posted a response saying “OMG I’ve got my account back thank you so much”. So i see no reason whatsoever why the same couldn’t be done for me. I guess my case just happened at a bad time and things have been uncontrollably slow for everyone due to the holidays, then the ban wave for all the Wintersday shenanigans I’ve been reading about.

any new update on the issue? been 3 days after your last reply and 8 days since Michael said that they are looking into it.

Hope that its all resolved.

Did they forget?

No new updates at all, it looks like they may have actually forgotten for all i know.

I did send Michael a PM about 2 or 3 days ago as a polite reminder just in case he forgot, but i still haven’t heard anything from anybody.

I’m not really sure what i can do at this point. I’m completely in the dark.

But i plan on updating this thread if something happens, so if you don’t see any resolution on this thread, then nothing has happened.

I am hoping this gets resolved soon. Hopefully they get back to you soon and it all works out.

Nova.7438:

I am hoping this gets resolved soon. Hopefully they get back to you soon and it all works out.

I just wish i could get someone to reply to me at least. I’m not sure why it’s taking so long to at least get a reply.

Well, to anyone new, or anybody returning to check progress, I’m happy to say my issue has been resolved. After eventually making a post on the sticky thread i got an email from support letting me know that I’ve been unbanned!

It’s been a long time coming, but the time spent trying to sort this out has been worth it.

Took them long enough, but at least you can play again.

Thank you for this information OP, and thank you Anet for resolving it.
Means a great deal to me.

I’m just so relieved that i can’t really complain about how long it took. It came at a bad time during the holidays so i expected things to move slow, but it’s the conclusion that matters. Those two months spent were not wasted and were certainly worth the result.

I can’t explain how grateful i am that Anet helped me out.