I'm pissed off with Blizzard

[Phelan]

So I had WoW at home and my flatmate wanted to try it out. So they played for a while on my account and then went out and bought a computer, bought the game and expansion and have now set up an account.

I asked Blizzard to transfer her character to her new account and this is the email conversation:

Laura,

Thank you for that.

Due to your response I will probably cancel my World of Warcraft subscription and never buy another Blizzard game in the future as I am unhappy with your customer service.

In all of my years as a journalist I have not come across such terrible service to loyal customers. I am stunned that your company is willing to treat adults like children and I will also be raising this on the numerous internet gaming forums that I am a member on.

Yours Sincerely

Scott

-----Original Message-----

From: ******************

Sent: Tuesday, 27 March 2007 10:57 AM

To: Scott **********

Subject: Re: RE: RE: Hi There,

Hello Scott,

We have plenty of families that share accounts as we only allow one guardian and one minor child to share an account. If this is the case then we do allow the sharing of accounts and will assist with an account to account character transfer if the child is a minor. Since this is two adults sharing an account, this is not something that Blizzard supports. We also do not support character transfers between accounts unless they are the same owner on both accounts. At this time we are not making any exceptions to this restriction as we will not be able to assist you with a character transfer between your account and your friend's account.

Sincerely,

Laura

Billing and Account Services

Blizzard Entertainment

www.worldofwarcraft.com

-----Original Message-----

From: ******************

To: ***************

Sent: 3/25/2007 3:47:33 PM

Subject: RE: RE: Hi There,

Well that's just swell Laura.

So I manage to get someone into the game by allowing them to get a feel for what the game is like and I had the only computer in the house - then they go out to buy a computer solely to play the game on, they buy it and a copy of the game AND expansion and sign up and you are saying it's not only not possible but that you are chastising me for doing so?

That could possibly be the worst customer service I have come across in a number of years. So are you saying that families don't use the game? I know fathers and sons who play it on the same machine.

Is there a supervisor or someone that I can talk to in regards to this, as I find the situation wholly unacceptable.

Thank you

Scott

-----Original Message-----

From: ********************

Sent: Saturday, 24 March 2007 10:34 AM

To: Scott *********

Subject: Re: RE: Hi There,

Hello Scott,

At this time our account to account transfers are only available for accounts owned by the same person. We do not condone the sharing of accounts as we would not encourage you to continue to share the account with your friend.

Sincerely,

Laura

Billing and Account Services

Blizzard Entertainment

www.worldofwarcraft.com

-----Original Message-----

From: *****************

To: ***********

Sent: 3/23/2007 2:11:34 PM

Subject: RE: Hi There,

Hi Laura,

So you are saying it is impossible for me to transfer a character created by my friend to try out the game on my computer to now get her character transferred to the same realm but on her account - as both accounts are registered in different names ie hers and mine.

This seems strange. Surely the fact that she played it on mine an then went and bought the game and signed up to your game or a monthly fee means that she should be able to get her character off my account moved to hers?

Or am I reading your information to me wrong?

I'm interested in finding out more.

Thank you

Scott

-----Original Message-----

From: ******************

Sent: Sat 3/24/2007 5:45 AM

To: Scott **********

Subject: Re: Hi There,

Hello Scott,

Our character transfer service for World of Warcraft is designed to allow characters to be moved not only between realms, but also between accounts. For a minimal fee, you may move a character from one of your accounts to another registered to your name. To access this service, please visit the account management section of our website at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account/.

Character transfers are intended only between accounts which are registered to the same user. You will be required to verify both accounts, and the last name on each account must match. At this time it is not possible to bypass this restriction, even amongst friends and family.

For more information on character transfers, please review our FAQ at http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowbilling/?id=abl02008p.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding our character transfer service, or if you require assistance processing a transfer, please contact our Billing Department via telephone at 1-800-592-5499 (Mon - Fri, 9am - 6pm PST).

Sincerely,

Laura

Billing and Account Services

Blizzard Entertainment

www.worldofwarcraft.com

Customer satisfaction is a top priority here at Blizzard Entertainment, and we would like your feedback on the level of service you have received. Please feel free to provide such feedback at the following web

address:

http://www.blizzard.com/support/?id=eSurve...23/2007%2011:36

:51%20AM&t=******************

-----Original Message-----

From: *****

To: billing@blizzard.com

Sent: 3/22/2007 10:02:12 PM

Subject: Hi There,

My flatmate used my account on WoW (******) to play wow until she got herself a new computer.

She now has a machine and has bought WoW Her character on my account is called ******* And her new account is *****- both of us use the Kirin Tor Server in the US.

Can you tell me how much it would cost to transfer her character to her new account?

Thanks

Scott

I realise this policy is probably set up to prevent people from selling high-level chars but this is a level 22 Priest.

[NumberSix]

The policy is to stop you selling chars though. Seems fair enough, can't really think of a better way? Make the cutoff level 22 and you'll have sites selling 21 chars. Ruins the game, innit.

[Phelan]

The policy is to stop you selling chars though. Seems fair enough, can't really think of a better way? Make the cutoff level 22 and you'll have sites selling 21 chars. Ruins the game, innit.

They make enough money to be able to look at these things on a case by case basis.

One guy getting chars to level 21 and selling them wouldn't be able to happen.

[Phelan]

People asking the sam thing here:

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.h...13385&sid=1

[NumberSix]

it wouldnt' be one guy though, it would be every power levelling & gold faming service out there. I hear what you're saying, but I understand why they have the policy, esp when you can have a 10 day free trial.

[Phelan]

Yes but the 10 day account doesn't allow them to do a lot of things.

I am honestly thinking about packing in my account and cancelling my subscription over this. I really don't want to give a company money with whom I disagree about their policy.

[mechamonkey]

Buy a new account for pennies, register it to you, transfer the character.

They do state everything in that mail on the website, its the norm for pretty much all mmogs.

[kitten]

Yeah if she'd registered the new account in your name, you could have transferred the character with no fuss whatsoever.

I know the Blizzard policy is not particularly user-friendly but I always thought it was pretty well documented that they disapprove of account sharing (even between siblings, spouses and misc other people who only have access to one computer) and that account-account transfers are heavily restricted. Or maybe I just browse various Blizzard forums too much

I wouldn't personally cancel my account over something like this (and I'm perhaps better placed to say that than most, since when I bought my second computer and second WoW account Blizzard didn't do transfers at all) but if Blizzard's attitude is affecting your enjoyment of the game, then perhaps it is the right thing for you. On the other hand now that your friend has her own access to the game you could both start fresh characters and play through one of the starting areas alongside her.

[therealjohnpeat]

Yes but the 10 day account doesn't allow them to do a lot of things.

None of the restrictions really matter - Level 20 max, no AH, no mail, no public chat channels - nothing life-saving in there...

I am honestly thinking about packing in my account and cancelling my subscription over this. I really don't want to give a company money with whom I disagree about their policy.

You're gonna find life gets pretty-much impossible if you choose not to deal with companies who's policies and practices you disagree with tbh - but good luck with that

The solution to your problem is simple tho - you setup another account yourself (buy a box, register it) and then you xfer the char to that - and she pays for that account using Gamecards

Problem solved...

p.s. I do have to admit tho, their policies are kinda unfriendly - they charge a LOT of money to xfer chars - they claim this is to prevent 'abuse' - and then they add silly conditions to the transfer as well which sort of suggests that the cost is more 'cos the suckers will pay it' than anything else.

I think long-term subscribers should get some freebies - couple of free xfers or a 'free' 2nd account (have to pay the subs) or something like that - they've had my cash monthly for 2 years now and it's time for a little 'thank you' IMO

[sprite]

In Blizzard's defence (eek), these policies are outlined on the sites etc. :\

Plan B is to make a second account in your own name and transfer the character to that account and your flatmate can pay for the account with Gamecards? Though, since she has already created another account, that would mean purchasing another copy of the game. Here that's only £9.99 though now.

[suzakuseven]

So they liked the game so much they went out and bought a PC, a copy of the game and an account subscription just to play it and yet are not willing to level another character to 22? Yeah....right. To be honest, I wouldn't pay 15 quid for a level 22 character to be transferred, even if you could. Just delete it and recreate it.

[Raane]

Attack of the drama Llama.

[Hardwired]

Laura,

Thank you for that.

Due to your response I will probably cancel my World of Warcraft subscription and never buy another Blizzard game in the future as I am unhappy with your customer service.

In all of my years as a journalist I have not come across such terrible service to loyal customers. I am stunned that your company is willing to treat adults like children and I will also be raising this on the numerous internet gaming forums that I am a member on.

Yours Sincerely

Scott

Seriously Phelan, get over it.

[TehStu]

Indeed, one should never voice concern over silly, inflexible practices.

Stiff upper lip, Phelan!

[PinkMoon]

Indeed, one should never voice concern over silly, inflexible practices.

Stiff upper lip, Phelan!

The policy might be inflexible, but I don't think it's silly. If characters could be levelled then stripped out of accounts and sold separately, then the botting situation - which is bad enough already - would be exponentially worse.

Besides... levelling another character up to 22 again will take no time whatsoever, in the grand scheme of WoW-things.

[Hardwired]

Indeed, one should never voice concern over silly, inflexible practices.

Yeah, that's exactly what this is about. Phelan could at least have been honest in his original email to Blizzard...

Dear Blizzard,

I broke your terms of service and shared my account with a friend. I realise that I agreed not to do that by clicking "I Agree" several times, but I did it anyway.

Now I want you to bend your character transfer policy to accomodate people like myself abusing your service. I realise that my friend could quite simply start a new character and reach the heady heights of level 22 in a few hours, but that is beside the point.

And if you don't agree to help me, I'm going to storm off in a huff.

Regards,

Phelan.

[NumberSix]

Hey Phelan - do you have an actual person's email address, or is it the generic one? I'm trying to get a response about my banned account, and it's been over a week now without anyone replying to my mail. If you have a direct email address, could I get that off you please?

[Phelan]

Yeah sure, the email address was

laural@blizzard.com

And for the record I did cancel my subscription and gave my girlfriend around 600gold for her characters.