EA = Bad

And now I'm going to rant about Electronic Arts! (yep it's rant time again!)

It's notable how the negatives drive me to blog way more often than the positives. This time it about customer service at the hands of Electronics Arts (EA). I'd heard alot of horror stories about how terrible EA are, I've never really had an issue with them until now however!

Recently I purchased All Points Bullitin (APB) which I suspect everyone interested in the MMO arena knows went out of business not very long after lunch (the fastest close down in MMO history according to MMORPG.com)

[Un]Fortunately for me I never got around to breaking the factory seal before APB got switched off and I thought that was the end of it until I stumbled upon a post saying that EA were offering an alternative game to people who had purchased APB after a certain date (who would not have got their moneys worth online) and who's retailers would not take it back (as in my case).

I send in an email not really expecting much (there was also talk of EA tightening the eligibility screws due to attempted scams) but got a reply back saying that if I could send in photos of the game, manual (presumably to prevent mutiple uses of the same game key) and receipt I could choose an alternative game from the EA online store (I wasn't thrilled about this because, as you may know, I've had bad experiences with digital games distribution in the past but it's better than a kick in the knackers).

If you've been paying attention you'll already have worked out that I can't provide a photo of the manual as the game is still sealed and, to make matters worse, I'd binned the receipt pretty much as soon as I got home from the shops - "Never fear" I thought, "The receipt will only be needed to prove purchase date and since mine is still sealed it's obvious I haven't 'got my moneys worth' or that it's a duplicate key" oh how wrong I was!

The lack of receipt was an immediate problem with the first line EA rep unable to deviate from policy stating the receipt was required. I don't have a problem with this as the guy is just doing his job so I just asked for the request to be escalated to someone with the authority to deviate from policy as surely the application of some common sense would see me through right? Nope!

The next line support (3rd tier apparently, no idea what happened to 2nd?) is where the real fun started.

It begins with the usual sympathetic opening and then launches right into the fact that the replacement policy had changed (no one appears to have told first line support!) and the forum post I am quoting is wrong (what the hell? I never quoted or even mentioned a forum post!) as they are now only offering an alternative to people who purchased APB from specific digital partners. It then closes with the predictable policy stuff which is why we're not giving you anything.

At this point I'm past caring about the game, what really gets me is crappy customer service. I really struggle to understand how the US, who in my experience typically have exceptional retail customer service, fail so utterly the minute you put the internet between the them and the customer.

So I reply pointing out the sudden U-turn and the fact that, as I made no reference to a forum post, it's pretty obvious I've been sent a stock reply and he hasn't even bothered to read the request and the fact the policy stuff came up again the new rep. doesnt have the authority to deviate from policy either so I request another escalation.

Another reply from the same guy, no apology or explanation for the U turn or not reading my issue, just a statement that he's as far as the escalation path goes but he does have the authority to deviate from the policy, only he's not going to.

Which of course just makes me more motivated to upset this apple cart!

At this point I realise it's pointless discussing the replacement game (which is a secondary cause now anyway) and just reply back pointing out the lack of apology or explanation and asking for the HR and complaints departments email addresses (as I'm not paying to send postal mail to the US).

His next reply just keeps on giving, I get a generic postal address (didn't see that coming) and a feeble explanation that the policy changed during the communication*. He did also mention that the issue would be passed on (as per my request) as an example of how not to deal with customers issues (which of course I believed /sarcasm). For good measure he added I'd still have needed the receipt anyway (because common sense isn't so common around EA but they obviously like to get in a parting shot when they can!)

*full disclosure: my original request was about 3 weeks ago but it turns out EA have a policy of closing an incident after 6 days of no reply, unfortunately I never got around to replying in time so had to start again 3 weeks later. However the first line rep never mentioned the policy had been changed since my previous request at any point during the second request so the U-turn stands!

So as it stands right now I've just gone back asking again for the email addresses and not bothered to engage him on any other points as it's obvious he's not going to be of any help. Unfortunately he's sticking to his guns that this is the only line of communication open to me. I've not given up exploring other ways to crack that particular nut open yet.....