Guild Wars 2

TL/DR: It went something like this but with tickets numbers and e-mails.

I found some more e-mails…they tried to correct the problem after correcting the problem. But in these last e-mails, they referenced 3778

As you can see…even if someone wants to say that I should have never filed additional tickets:

1.) They encouraged me to file new tickets.
2.) Over the entire period of time, 3778 was never resolved to the extent to where they wanted me to take surveys. It was not resolved until it was resolved. Does that make sense? Barely makes sense to me!

I have 33 e-mails in a folder pertaining to this resolved issue.

3778 was the original ticket 10/24/13
Then they alerted me to the system change and asked for information such as paypal id’s and credit card last four numbers on the accounts. 10/26/13
Then they told me to use the new system, which wasn’t even available 10/26/13.
I replied while upset with:

“So what do you want me to do. You have everything that you need except for a DNA sample. All of the request is in the body of this response thread, and the response was made using the system that you want me to use. I filed the ticket yesterday, which was after the 23rd. If you are going to help via e-mail then I’m not sure why you are sending me the same response twice after Max was willing to help and asked for more verification.” They told me to start over. In other words, I was stuck in a loop.
They referred to this as request #11500. 10/26/13

Then I have several e-mail pertaining to your infarction, for which I accepted responsibility. My tirade and arguments with others who happen to be in this thread was correctly and appropriately punished. I’m surprised that I didn’t receive a temporary ban.

I gave up and started over thinking that maybe I will try to be as nice as possible (when actually that has nothing to do with why my ticket wasn’t being resolved…but I tried anyway).

Received another e-mail telling me to go back and use the new system that wasn’t even available. It was another response to 3778 but now we are on 10/29/13. I replied acting like this was my first time experiencing this and let them know (again) that the link doesn’t work. (Obviously…you can’t use the old system when the new one doesn’t ask for log-in and all of that.)

Two days pass…I receive two e-mails asking for me take a yes/no customer satisfaction survey since somehow everything is now resolved after I told them that the links do not work. (Nothing was resolved.) So, I responded no on both of them and commented that the issue is not resolved. They referenced 51701 although I do not remember and do not have a record of that ticket.

I decided to try filing the tickets but to file them using the account e-mail addresses on both parts of the form (not just the area that asks for your log-in e-mail). So, I filed two separate tickets. Both were resolved in 30 minutes – 2 hours. 11/9/13…case closed. These were 51809 and 55814. And I was wrong…those responses that let me reset passwords did include an apology.

If I posted the specific details then I would be encouraging the active hacker community to do what they enjoy doing. (Personally, I find that to be a rather boring hobby, but whatever…) The details are also not relevant here; if so, then I wouldn’t need customer support. I would just ask on Players Helping Players. Others have asked on this forum in the past for more information. Given how insistent they are about it, it’s all the more reason why I only share it with Gaille and CS. (“The lady doth protest too much, methinks” ~ Shakespeare.) This is saying that people who chase after something irrelevant too much are probably up to no good.

For those who bring up how I might have fallen through the cracks with respect to the system, this is probably the most truthful explanation of all. HOWEVER (all caps), that does not mean that the victim should just smile, nod, accept that, and move on. Why? Because it enables the company in thinking that the customers are completely fine with it. In their defense, if no one vocalizes or verbalizes the problem, how would they even know? Last I checked, modern companies do seek to improve in order to remain competitive.

Now this is what should have happened. The warning about the system transition should not have been just a forum thread. It should have be on the log-in screen for the game. “Warning: due to a desire to improve your customer support experience, we are implementing and greatly improved system. This will take 7-10 days. It is likely that you will experience erratic behavior. We advise avoiding filing tickets during this period time. We apologize; however, you will be very satisfied with the result of our update.”

A message like that should have also been on the new CS webpage because, during that period of time, CS e-mails were telling people to log in and provide more information; yet, we all know that the new CS website doesn’t work that way.

Basic Marketing Psychology 101…not preparing the customer for transitions like this is a bad idea. In terms of training, CS should take a class on anything at an online university. Online professors are trained very well to be firm and professional with respect to policy while still putting the student first and attempting flexibility. Anet/NCsoft should work this out so that the university is prepared because, unfortunately, there are professors who are in the process of changing careers and will simply ignore those best practices. And some won’t last because they inherently aren’t able to wear two hats at the same time…or just need more experience. My guess is that ANet CS is only trained on protocol and policy with no inclusion of customer satisfaction and tone. (You can’t blame them if they aren’t trained and evaluated.)

Frostee, unfortunately, your best password manager is a piece of paper.

Draygo, thanks for the constructive suggestion. Gaille knows. We were communicating via pm, there were forum posts, and follow-ups in the 3-day or longer thread. I honestly do not blame Gaille. I see him or her as the person stuck with the fallout.

I have to do a lot of online moderating and discussing in my line of work. However, I would not survive this for one day doing this. Gaille, seriously, while it doesn’t affect my attitude about the company, you are doing a great job and probably do not receive as much appreciation as you deserve.

Gaille, I know that you are doing your best. Your updates on tickets resolutions make that clear. If I hired you, I would give you a raise. And if you lived in the area, I would take you for lunch as a thank-you.

Unfortunately, what I experienced was the single-most worst customer support experience in my 40+ years on earth. I try to log in and enjoy the game but everything just reminds me of that experience. You may read in the news or have experienced the problems with government health care website (depending on where you live). I can honestly say that the customer support here is worse than that. I’m not being dramatic or exaggerating. I spent at least 20 hours of my life trying to resolve this.

I am the customer. I have contributed my share to your company beyond just buying the box. The least I would have expected would have been an apology. And, I’m not asking for anything. I’m just saying that I’m not alone in this. Others post about it on non-gw2 forums. Most don’t post because they just move on with their regrets. I’m posting in hopes that I’ll be little bit less resentful. But I’m 100% confident that I will research games in the future to ensure that are not affiliated with ANet or NCsoft.

Do you remember when Blizzard lost all of that respect for FaceBook comments about another company that was their original team? Your customer support is as lacking in integrity and valuing where your money comes from as they were.

Be well..again, it’s obvious that you are doing your best.

Thank you. I replied letting them know that the issue hadn’t been resolved, and they replied back right away. Thanks for your hard work.

Gaille,

My #31255 has not been resolved. Now, I’m receiving multiple e-mails of this, but they never resolved the issue. Please help!

Hello,
We’d love to hear what you think of our customer service. Please take a moment to answer one simple question by clicking either link below:
How would you rate the support you received?
Good, I’m satisfied
Bad, I’m unsatisfied

*My initial ticket was #3778 filed on 10/24/13.
You already know why that wasn’t resolved.
*My attempt to completely start over, assuming the system transition was causing the problem, was #31255 on 11/1/13.
*I have received an update that they are looking into it. However, given that this all started 16 days ago, I’m posting here.

Believe it or not, I’m still trying to resolve my issue. Gaille, you are correct, and that is the problem. They reply with requests for more information or they reply with a link to the old support system, which now redirects to a page where you can’t log in and follow their directions. Then, when you reply back to either possibility, they treat that as a new ticket. Hence, the original problem never gets resolved.

I have restarted my process from scratch, and the results have been the same. Once, I even received a customer support survey as a response.

@Inculpatus – My apologies for being such a jerk the other night. I decided to go with the “new system hiccup” explanation and just wait a few days. Tonight, I received a request for more verification. (This would be the third time providing verification.) This one provided, once again, instructions on how to set up a support account. And, once again, I get taken to the zendesk new version where this is no log-in, password, etc. I’m bringing this up here because my specific issue is different but I’m getting the same response as BonzaiPlatypus.

Do you have any suggestions at this point?

I referred to this thread a few days ago when noticing that my situation is similar. After a full day of complaining about it, I decided to accept that there was just a mix-up with e-mails in that someone was trying to help solve my issue but, at the same time, the system might have been sending obsolete e-mails. So, I waited a couple of days.

Now, I know that’s not the case. Tonight, I received a response from an employee asking me to provide more verification. (This would be the third time on that, by the way.) I am given directions on how to set up a support account and password. Each e-mail asks me to do that. But, I can’t! Those links redirect to https://guildwars2.zendesk.com where there is no entering of a name and password. This is the new system, right? Do they know that? What should I do?

(request #3778) [Incident: 131026-000698]

Gaille’s response here https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/Answer-to-6923

is probably what is going on. Gaille, if you are kindly able and have time to look into it….(request #3778) [Incident:131026-000698]

If I’m in the same boat as in that other thread, I bet 1,000 others are too….lots of people pulling their hair out in customer service right now.

By the way, that support account where I’m supposed to set up a password…it just takes me to https://support.guildwars2.com. This, I believe is a hiccup as it would make sense to send me that if they were using the old system.

I don’t get it.
1.) Used new system
2.) Got e-mail reply from “Max” asking for more information
3.) Replied with additional information
4.) Received a form response alerting me to the new system and directing me to https://support.guildwars2.com
5.) Also received an e-mail telling me that a support account has been created…that I need to click on this link to set it up. I click on it, I get an “untrusted certificate” warning (very unprofessional of the company, by the way, to not renew its certificates when it expired six months ago).
6.) I reply a bit upset saying that I’m not restarting the process when the system they want me to use is what I used in the first place.
7.) They replied with the same form response.
8. ) I replied asking what they want me to do since they have the information with everything being in the e-mail thread, which was triggered by that system.

I’m not going to get into the details of my support ticket. What’s relevant is that I provided a lot of information using the online system….everything but a DNA sample. They followed-up via e-mail asking for more information (which was basically what I had already provided I put more time into providing more information to verify my identity. And then I received a form letter telling me to use the online support ticket system.

One could be upset about the going in circles (i.e. them redirecting me to how the process started in the first place). However, I’m mostly concerned because I have twice now provided personal data, and I’m wondering if this is a phishing scam. Is this typical for this company?