devtrackers.gg
Gather round, boys and girls, for my tale of woe.
I know a lot of people don't like spending any money on this game, and frankly I don't spend much but I would spend $10 or $20 here or there over time. Being able to spend to shortcut the patience needed was part of the fun for me.
Over time, between this game and others, I'd saved up enough Google Play points to use in the Google play store to use on a Large Galactic Enhancement Kit. So, 4 days ago, I used those points. But the kit never arrived in my inbox. I waited a couple hours and then opened a support ticket.
What follows is a critique of the EA support system.
Day 1, +5 hours after the issue:
I opened a support ticket. I received an automated email with ticket #, access code, and a link to where to see my case. So far so good.
Day 2
Nothing
Day 3, +29 hours since the support ticket was entered
I get a response asking for "how the content was received" (it wasn't, that's the issue) and "time and date of the issue". Then they also gave me a link to a "how to contact EA support" article, and told me to "resume the case" using that article.
The article only gave me information on how to start a new case, which isn't what I want to do.
So, I responded to the email with the answers to the questions. I remember the earlier link with ticket # and access code, click through to it and see the ticket updated with my latest email. I add a screenshot of my Google Play receipt with the same information.
Day 4
Nothing
Day 5 (today)
I respond with a 2nd email asking for an update. I'm considering purchasing another bundle in the game, but don't want to until this issue is resolved.
Within an hour, I receive a response from a new support person telling me that the first support case I opened failed to pull in data from my game account, so I have to "resume" by following the same process I used to open the original ticket. I see no "resume" option, but I go back and open a new ticket. I include the same screenshot of the email receipt. This time I have available time to deal with this realtime, so I opt for a the recommended option of a callback.
This time, I don't receive an email with options to access the existing case.
Within about 15 minutes, I receive a call. The guy is pleasant and helpful, but he tells me he can't accept my mobile screenshot as proof of purchase. He sends me a follow up email with instructions on how to provide a proper proof of purchase. That's fine. Having interacted with their system enough at this point, I ask him if I'm supposed to add the documentation to the existing ticket or open a new ticket. He says I can do either.
However, I can't find a way to access the existing case to add the documentation. So, I go back and create another new ticket, with the correct screenshots as documentation.
This time a receive a call back almost immediately. This guy doesn't seem quite so on top of his game, but he's looking into the details, he sees my transaction, we're working through this thing.
He ultimately, after some research, informs me that their system indicates that they delivered the bundle to me, and that I must have used it and just forgotten about it.
Of course, that's not what happened, I never received it. I inform him that regardless of what his system says, I never received the content. He says I did. I ask to be transferred to someone else. He says he can't. He tells me that he's solved my problem, he's closing the case, and hangs up on me.
...
I open another ticket - I go immediately from the ticket into the case history, so I don't have to rely on them to send me the info. I get a call back almost immediately, but within 10 seconds the call gets cut off mid sentence when the support guy is speaking. I hang around on a silent phone for 5 minutes waiting to see if we get reconnected, and then it hangs up.
I wait a few minutes for a call back, and then try to use their system to resume an existing case. It just keeps shunting me into creating a new case. I try that. Nothing. I start over and create another new car from scratch. Nothing.
I'm reasonably certain that at this point they've shadow banned me and my support tickets are just going into a black hole.
If I can't get through to anyone, then there's no protection at all to ensure you'll get what you've paid for. That's enough to break me thoroughly if the habit of paying for anything in this game or any other from EA. I've spent some money on many games over the years, and occasionally had issues with those purchases. They've all gotten resolved satisfactorily until now. Not only is the issue not resolved, but EA support seems designed from the ground up to frustrate your attempts to even pursue resolution.
I hate feeling like a whiny bitch about this, but I've been stolen from, and it's not OK, not even something worth what amounts to a few bucks.
TL;DR
I spent some play points on an in-game bundle, never received it, and EA can't be bothered to fix the issue and have stopped responding altogether.
External link →