I attempted to log into my CoH account a few days ago to find that my account had been permanently banned. I was in shock. I couldn't believe it. I didn't even get an email telling me WHY it was banned. The first thing that went through my mind was that someone, somehow had managed to hack my account. So, I tried repeatedly to contact Customer Support by phone. That's an entirely separate ordeal that I'll go into later on in the story/
Several phone calls and support tickets later, I get this response back:
Response (PJ) 02/01 11:32 AM
Greetings,
Thank you for verifying this information. The owner of the credit card, that was used to pay for the subion fees on this game account, contacted the issuer of the card claiming that the use of the card with our service was not authorized by them. As a result of this dispute, the issuer of the card has reversed the funds paid to NCsoft back to the issuer of the card. Due to this claim of unauthorized credit card use, which resulted in a chargeback, this PlayNC Master account and all associated game accounts have been permanently closed and are not eligible to be reactivated.
WHAT??? The next thing that went through my mind is that someone had gotten my wife's credit card info somewhere online. So, I had my wife call American Express to find out what was going on.
Keep in mind what I just quoted you directly from Customer Support.
American Express faxed my wife a copy of our statement with the current charges listed. On this statement was the charge to NCsoft - PlayNC Games - Austin TX (withholding their 866 phone number) - $14.99 on Jan. 19 2008. The charge was not only paid by American Express, they also gave us the reference number for the transaction. Here's where NCsoft really steps in the poo.
Having been told by NCsoft that someone from American Express had called them and told them they had been contacted by the cardholder and the charge was fraudulant and they were going to chargeback the money to the cardholder, we queried American Express about it. They are leagally required to make a notation on the cardholders record if any instance of ID theft or fraud occurs so that there is a record for the company. They had received no such call from the cardholder and they had not contacted ANYONE at NCsoft about such an incident. Obviously so, as my wife is the cardholder and the charge is one that she and I made! The Customer Support Rep at NCsoft LIED! My wife had all the information faxed to her from American Express. I'm sitting here with proof, in hand mind you, that they flat out lied and cancelled my acoount for absolutely no reason whatsoever.
This brings me to the issue with phoning Customer Support. Don't bother calling the 1-512-225-6359 number. All they do is get some very basic info from you and then tell you they can't help you. The last time I called, I asked the NCsoft rep what I needed to do to get my account re-instated once all of this was cleared up and this is what he told me...
"Not my call. That's up to the Accounts department. It's up to them. And there's no way to contact them by phone or I would have put you through and passed you off to them."
I didn't ask him to re-instate my account. What I asked was, "What is the procedure that I need to follow to have my account re-instated?".
The response I got was, "I mean, I guess you'll just have to start another ticket."
So, here's the basics...
1. The card was valid.
2. The charge was paid to NCsoft.
3. NCsoft LIED about what transpired.
4. I have hardcopies from American Express that prove they lied.
5. They banned my account for no reason and then lied to cover up their mistake rather than just apologizing and accepting responsibility for what they had done. I'd like to give them the benefit of a doubt and say they got my account confused with someone's account that probably DID fraudulantly charge a credit card. But, I don't think that's the case at all. I really don't know why they did it, I just know that I was punished for someone at NCsofts' mistake. It was certainly no fault of mine or American Express. This is an indisputable fact.
I don't expect people to stop playing CoH just because some guy on the internet was shafted by NCsoft. But, people need to know that NCsoft doesn't care about Customer Support or doing what's right when they make such an obvious mistake. They refuse to even issue an apology for it.
I can't believe this is how they treat their customers.
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