test content
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc

Account suddenly turned to Silver

grimcatnipgrimcatnip Posts: 16 Arc User
edited October 2013 in PC & Technical Issues
I was gold account. Then logged out to switch. And now its Silver. What happened? The account is on auto renew. So I can't miss payments and account cant just expire. Did anyone else suddenly find your account turned to silver?
Post edited by grimcatnip on
«1

Comments

  • flamingbunnymanflamingbunnyman Posts: 2,035 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    First, log out and back in. It's possible it was a one-time error.

    Next, is it close to the time your account was due to renew? There's a number of things that could have caused the renewal to fail; insufficient funds or an expired credit card are the most likely, but a simple communications error could be responsible too. Check your account details. If the payment failed for any reason, it will no longer show you as having a subscription set up. If that's the case, check with your bank to see if there's a reason it didn't go through.

    If nothing seems amiss, and you still are flagged as a Silver account, contact customer support.
    _________________________________________________
    @flamingbunnyman in game. Formerly @Roderick in City of Heroes.
  • slowecsl4pweslowecsl4pwe Posts: 221 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    I am having a similar problem. I just happened to be checking my account info yesterday and it said my monthly gold renewal was inactivate and the expiration date was yesterday on the 26th. I just figured it was some fluke as I am on auto renewal and have been subscribed for 465 days.

    I checked it again today and it still showed inactive, but as of that check this morning I could still access my Gold characters. I checked the credit card and it was good expiration date wise and I checked the balance and there should be no problem.

    So I selected to re-activate and selected the good card and it gave me an error...

    Error updating subscription.

    I issued a tech ticket and I'm still waiting to hear.

    Thanks
    _________________

    Apathy is on the rise, but nobody seems to care.
  • grimcatnipgrimcatnip Posts: 16 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Then I'm not the only one. That's good to know. I'm still waiting to hear from tech support as well. Maybe since its Memorial Day everyone is off.
  • slowecsl4pweslowecsl4pwe Posts: 221 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Well, still haven't heard anything regarding my ticket. Now my account has gone back to silver and my 34+ characters are locked. Guess it's a good thing I wasn't planning on playing tonight as I have nothing to play until this is resolved.
    _________________

    Apathy is on the rise, but nobody seems to care.
  • grimcatnipgrimcatnip Posts: 16 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    ditto. Still no word. Have to wait till tomorrow I think. The one person at accounts and billing is probably off today ^^;;
  • pricanwarriorpricanwarrior Posts: 53 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Yeah same here, and i tried to upgrade subscription using my PayPal account like i always do and i keep having an error Internal Server Error. I as well sent a ticket but nothing yet, i hope they fix this soon.
  • slowecsl4pweslowecsl4pwe Posts: 221 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    I have still not heard back anything on the open ticket. I followed the support path over to the official PWE support forums, where I have posted about this issue.

    Along with this something rather disturbing happened while I was looking at the payment methods under my account. I attempted to change one of the credit cards stored there to reflect the new expiration date and CVV number. Upon attempting this I received this error on the web site...

    "We're Sorry...

    An error occurred while trying to add or update your payment method: Your payment method was declined. Please verify the information you have provided is correct. If you believe this is an error, please try another payment method or contact us for support here.

    You can go back and use a different payment method, or try again later."

    Immediately after this error I received a fraud alert from my bank informing my that there was an attempt by PWE to charge me $1 US.

    Now I have alarm bells going off all over from my credit card company wanting to know if this is fraudulent activity.

    I do hope that they get on the ball and let me know what is going on.
    _________________

    Apathy is on the rise, but nobody seems to care.
  • slowecsl4pweslowecsl4pwe Posts: 221 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    After messing with this for a bit, I went ahead and removed all payment methods from my account so to start fresh. I have noticed now that it will not allow me to enter any cards for payment method giving me the same error about being declined or entered incorrectly.

    This is really getting annoying.:mad:
    _________________

    Apathy is on the rise, but nobody seems to care.
  • grimcatnipgrimcatnip Posts: 16 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Yea I still haven't heard anything yet and still unable to do anything. -.- So no idea what the heck is going on over there.
  • slowecsl4pweslowecsl4pwe Posts: 221 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Day two and still no word or response to my ticket. Still can't enter a payment method for my account.

    I tried calling the actual phone number for Account and Billing support at 888-344-4478 during their business hours (10am-6:30pm pst M-F) for assistance and I all I received was a short time holding where a recording informed me that if I was calling during their actual operating hours, agents were to busy to take my call please try again later, CLICK.

    I can't remember a time where I had so much trouble trying to give someone my money.
    _________________

    Apathy is on the rise, but nobody seems to care.
  • hyperstrikecohhyperstrikecoh Posts: 472 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    I have still not heard back anything on the open ticket. I followed the support path over to the official PWE support forums, where I have posted about this issue.

    Along with this something rather disturbing happened while I was looking at the payment methods under my account. I attempted to change one of the credit cards stored there to reflect the new expiration date and CVV number. Upon attempting this I received this error on the web site...

    "We're Sorry...

    An error occurred while trying to add or update your payment method: Your payment method was declined. Please verify the information you have provided is correct. If you believe this is an error, please try another payment method or contact us for support here.

    You can go back and use a different payment method, or try again later."

    Immediately after this error I received a fraud alert from my bank informing my that there was an attempt by PWE to charge me $1 US.

    Now I have alarm bells going off all over from my credit card company wanting to know if this is fraudulent activity.

    I do hope that they get on the ball and let me know what is going on.


    Lemme guess. Bank of America?

    If so, your card was probably locked. You'll need to talk with your bank to let them know that transactions from PWE are "okay". You, or PWE, somehow managed to trip off your fraud prevention (BoA's PARTICULARLY uptight about stuff like this, I've had them lock down my card for making two purchases from the same place within an 8 hour period).
  • slowecsl4pweslowecsl4pwe Posts: 221 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Actually it was CITI, but thanks I hadn't thought of that one. I'll have to remember that for the future.
    _________________

    Apathy is on the rise, but nobody seems to care.
  • socrfcsocrfc Posts: 3 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    I had the same thing happen to my account last night. I just signed up on the 22th so I still have a whole month to go. Just checked my account and they took the money along with their .45 fee. Sent them a ticket last night and still have not heard from them just wanted to let you know you were not the only ones
  • slowecsl4pweslowecsl4pwe Posts: 221 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    I did want to post this info from one of the FAQ's on the PWE site regarding the dollar charge I saw pop up on my credit card that triggered a fraud inquiry...

    "I see a $1 (or 1? or ?1) charge, what is it?
    When you set up a payment method for a subscription, or to use for purchases through our site, we need to make certain that it is a valid payment method, and authorized for transactions through our billing system.

    To accomplish this, there is a $1.00 credit card authorization for all new purchases in addition to the total amount of your purchase, including any applicable local or state taxes or VAT. This $1.00 will not be charged but must be available at the time of purchase.

    For instance, say you just bought one of the Cryptic Studios games with a subscription, and you create your subscription while you install the game. Though you will not be charged a subscription fee until your included 30 days has expired, you may see a $1 authorization charge on your account. We do not take that dollar, but we need to confirm that your payment method is valid so that your play is not interrupted when the next billing period rolls around.

    This charge will also be visible if you change your payment method. If an authorization fails, you may see multiple $1 authorization attempts. If it does fail, you may want to remove your payment method and reenter it afresh (an error in the billing address is the most common cause for a failure)."


    That explains the $1 fee pop, just if I could get re-subscribed....
    _________________

    Apathy is on the rise, but nobody seems to care.
  • hyperstrikecohhyperstrikecoh Posts: 472 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Actually it was CITI, but thanks I hadn't thought of that one. I'll have to remember that for the future.

    Also, there's some evidence that PWE changed the billing service/bank they use.

    So, seeing a PWE bill from a different provider may have tripped said fraud alert.
  • thatguymatikzthatguymatikz Posts: 65 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Ignore this post. I need to learn to read all the replies before giving out information that's already been given out. >.>
  • goestohgoestoh Posts: 13 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Same issue here. Very frustrating. I paid to upgrade my account to Gold on the 18th of May.

    All was fine until May 28th when my account was switched to silver. I don?t know what they?ve done.

    I sent tickets but no answer at all. Neither in game nor web site. This is extremely bad service. I paid in advance for something I can?t use and there is no way of contacting them and getting a response.

    Are we going to be compensated for this?
  • slowecsl4pweslowecsl4pwe Posts: 221 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Going on 4th day since I encountered this problem and have been locked out. Still no response to my 3 open tickets and the only glimmer of hope was a couple of days ago when trailturtle answered back in a thread to see if our problems had been handled by billing support.

    I answered back that no they haven't, nothing since from anyone.
    _________________

    Apathy is on the rise, but nobody seems to care.
  • flamingbunnymanflamingbunnyman Posts: 2,035 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Still no response to my 3 open tickets

    Don't do that - not only does it bog down the system with extra reports, slowing things for yourself and others, but now you have three tickets for the same issue in your account.

    Hypothetical situation: Rep #1 gets the first ticket and has ho idea how to deal with it, so puts it on hold while escalating the issue. Rep #2 gets the second ticket, and is about to fix the problem, but can't (due to lockout or company policy), because Rep #1 is already working on it. Rep #1's manager is busy, so doesn't get back to him quickly enough, and the ticket closes due to inactivity.

    If you don't get a response in a reasonable amount of time, it's far better for everyone involved if you update the existing ticket, rather than opening a new one.
    _________________________________________________
    @flamingbunnyman in game. Formerly @Roderick in City of Heroes.
  • slowecsl4pweslowecsl4pwe Posts: 221 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    You're probably right. Didn't think about that. I had updated the initial ticket 3 times before I accidental opened a 2nd one. The third was just out of pure frustration.
    _________________

    Apathy is on the rise, but nobody seems to care.
  • socrfcsocrfc Posts: 3 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    I got a little bit of a reply today:

    Recently you requested personal assistance from our on-line support center. Below is a summary of your request and our response.

    We are continuing to work on your issue. If you have more information, update your question here:

    Subject
    My account for Champion Online

    Discussion Thread
    Response Via Email 05/30/2013 09:57 AM
    Hello,

    Thank you for writing to us. I am directing your query to a member of our Technical Support team, for assistance.

    We appreciate your patience!
  • slowecsl4pweslowecsl4pwe Posts: 221 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    I received the exact same e-mail late this morning. I guess they have caught up to us.
    _________________

    Apathy is on the rise, but nobody seems to care.
  • klittyklitty Posts: 1,545 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Remembers guys not to post private messages with customer service here :3


    =^ _ ^= Kitty Lives!
  • grimcatnipgrimcatnip Posts: 16 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    still no word. Just email saying they forwarding ticket to billing. I took my info off the payment methods. Yea I'm done. Just gonna play silver from now on. If I want to play a freeform slot or archtype i'll just unlock it. It's not like I use all that stuff anyways. Besides the unlocks the only thing I'm paying a monthly fee for is to color my powers when ya think about it. So if they want my money they'll just have to wait till I feel I needa buy something from the Zen store. Not going to give them money monthly if stuff like this is happening. -.-
  • slowecsl4pweslowecsl4pwe Posts: 221 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    I understand how you feel. I have one open Freeform slot I could use, and I have almost all the AT's unlocked, bought before I decided to subscribe. Unfortunately I up converted all my existing characters to gold (34+) and I have little desire to restart all over with Silver AT's.

    Not to mention all the costume pieces that will go POOF, as well as the bag slots, the free hideout etc.

    I'll continue to wait and see how long it takes to get someone to reply back. I'm just really disappointed in how long it takes for this to be looked at. It isn't a CO specific problem, but an account issue. Even if all resources are being funneled to NW, you would think there is someone at the helm of billing and account support.
    _________________

    Apathy is on the rise, but nobody seems to care.
  • flamingbunnymanflamingbunnyman Posts: 2,035 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Not to mention all the costume pieces that will go POOF, as well as the bag slots, the free hideout etc.

    For what it's worth, the free hideout will NOT be taken away, nor will anything in your shared bank.

    Unpurchased gold costume parts will only be taken away if you edit the costume. Costume slots beyond the first (+1 if in a SG, plus any purchased) will be saved, but locked out. You keep the first X on the list, you don't choose.

    Your unpurchased bag slots will be emptied into your overflow bag, and the bags in those slots unequipped.

    If you're over 250g, I'm not sure if the excess is retained but can't go up until you get under the cap, or if the excess is lost.

    You can always convert a Gold character to a Silver AT for free (if you own the AT), but you can only convert an AT to FF for free ONCE. I personally would start a new character while waiting, rather than have to pay to go back to FF later.
    _________________________________________________
    @flamingbunnyman in game. Formerly @Roderick in City of Heroes.
  • slowecsl4pweslowecsl4pwe Posts: 221 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    I agree. Thanks. I hope the excess money in my shared bank stay as I had over 900g in there. Guess I will find out.
    _________________

    Apathy is on the rise, but nobody seems to care.
  • grimcatnipgrimcatnip Posts: 16 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Here we go. finally got response.


    They said they can't respond to my ticket due to backlog. But my favy line of the email.

    "

    If you are still experiencing an issue or need further assistance, please respond directly to this ticket and we will look into your issue as fast as we can."

    >_>;;; Such great help. Thanks. Doesn't matter anymore.
  • flamingbunnymanflamingbunnyman Posts: 2,035 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    I agree. Thanks. I hope the excess money in my shared bank stay as I had over 900g in there. Guess I will find out.

    The shared bank has no cap; my girlfriend is Silver, and at one point had a few thousand in hers. Getting it out and passing it to me 250 at a time so I could buy expensive things from the AH for her was tedious. :tongue:
    _________________________________________________
    @flamingbunnyman in game. Formerly @Roderick in City of Heroes.
  • slowecsl4pweslowecsl4pwe Posts: 221 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    grimcatnip wrote: »
    Here we go. finally got response.


    They said they can't respond to my ticket due to backlog. But my favy line of the email.

    "

    If you are still experiencing an issue or need further assistance, please respond directly to this ticket and we will look into your issue as fast as we can."

    >_>;;; Such great help. Thanks. Doesn't matter anymore.

    Mine must be two steps behind you, received the same response last night.

    flamingbunnyman, thanks for letting me know. I couldn't stand it anymore and started a new Silver AT I had purchased in the past. The only major problem is that I have all my 36+ Alts in my own personal supergroup, since all my ALTs are locked, I can't access my supergroup bank or add any new characters to it. That stinks as my supergroup vault is where all my level 5-7 mods are stored and my level 40 gear, costume pieces, etc.
    _________________

    Apathy is on the rise, but nobody seems to care.
  • grimcatnipgrimcatnip Posts: 16 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    That sux. I just ended up turning one of my golds into a silver so that I was able to still run my SG. Sux I lost my build but I needed to otherwise I wouldn't be able to run the SG properly. There are some things my officers don't have access to and only my toons do. But now that the problem isn't going to be fixed I just started converting toons into silver.
  • skcarkskcark Posts: 715 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Mine must be two steps behind you, received the same response last night.

    flamingbunnyman, thanks for letting me know. I couldn't stand it anymore and started a new Silver AT I had purchased in the past. The only major problem is that I have all my 36+ Alts in my own personal supergroup, since all my ALTs are locked, I can't access my supergroup bank or add any new characters to it. That stinks as my supergroup vault is where all my level 5-7 mods are stored and my level 40 gear, costume pieces, etc.

    I had to deal with this issue with the support too, they can't do anything, and i miss out on my subscription payment rate and have to pay more now if i wish to continue paying cryptic to remove content and add broken crap.

    So my best conclusion is, they are intentionally making errors with subs to reset people on the lower subscription rates and jack it up, and also affecting normal people too to cover their tracks and make it just look like anyone who mentions as "crazy" . Well, that's how i'm seeing it as untill they prove me wrong, just as i'm still waiting for them to prove me wrong about poor quality when claiming to provide high quality content
  • goestohgoestoh Posts: 13 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    grimcatnip wrote: »
    still no word. Just email saying they forwarding ticket to billing. I took my info off the payment methods. Yea I'm done. Just gonna play silver from now on. If I want to play a freeform slot or archtype i'll just unlock it. It's not like I use all that stuff anyways. Besides the unlocks the only thing I'm paying a monthly fee for is to color my powers when ya think about it. So if they want my money they'll just have to wait till I feel I needa buy something from the Zen store. Not going to give them money monthly if stuff like this is happening. -.-

    I got the same answer. Just forwarded to billing. Waiting to see what comes out of this. It?s been a week and still can?t play my gold account which I paid for in advance.

    Not good at all.
  • goestohgoestoh Posts: 13 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    grimcatnip wrote: »
    Here we go. finally got response.


    They said they can't respond to my ticket due to backlog. But my favy line of the email.

    "

    If you are still experiencing an issue or need further assistance, please respond directly to this ticket and we will look into your issue as fast as we can."

    >_>;;; Such great help. Thanks. Doesn't matter anymore.


    Surreal answer. :eek: :mad:
  • slowecsl4pweslowecsl4pwe Posts: 221 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    skcark wrote: »
    I had to deal with this issue with the support too, they can't do anything, and i miss out on my subscription payment rate and have to pay more now if i wish to continue paying cryptic to remove content and add broken crap.

    So my best conclusion is, they are intentionally making errors with subs to reset people on the lower subscription rates and jack it up, and also affecting normal people too to cover their tracks and make it just look like anyone who mentions as "crazy" . Well, that's how i'm seeing it as untill they prove me wrong, just as i'm still waiting for them to prove me wrong about poor quality when claiming to provide high quality content

    I'm sorry to hear that. I'm not sure they are doing it on purpose to push everyone to a higher monthly payment, as that's what my subscription was. The more expensive $14.99 US / month payment. Taking guaranteed money out of your pocket from reoccurring subscriptions is definitely not a winning business model.

    I don't see why they can't fix this or at least give some reasons why it has happened. I'll continue to play free sans all my supergroup stuff until they get this thing solved.

    What can I say, I love this game. :redface:
    _________________

    Apathy is on the rise, but nobody seems to care.
  • humandynamo125humandynamo125 Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Hello All, I am a 400+ day Veteran that has been with the game since it launched. During my free time, I purchased a one month subscription using Pay-Pal linked to a healthy bank account on the 21st of May. Roughly 6 days later, while launching the game, I noticed I was a silver account. There was never a message or E-mail saying that there was any kind of change in subscription. I don't play this game often anymore and it is honestly very frustrating to have to deal with this garbage.
  • klittyklitty Posts: 1,545 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Hello All, I am a 400+ day Veteran that has been with the game since it launched. During my free time, I purchased a one month subscription using Pay-Pal linked to a healthy bank account on the 21st of May. Roughly 6 days later, while launching the game, I noticed I was a silver account. There was never a message or E-mail saying that there was any kind of change in subscription. I don't play this game often anymore and it is honestly very frustrating to have to deal with this garbage.

    You answered your own question. You purchased one month, then you turned into silver.

    I do recall in the Atari times that you could buy months instead of a recurring fee. I don't think those are available under PWE... :confused:


    =^ _ ^= Kitty Lives!
  • morghastmorghast Posts: 3 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    I am having the same problem

    On the 20th of May, I returned to Champions and paid $15 for a one-month gold subscription. 9 days later on the 29th, when I logged in, I had been changed to "silver" and all my gold chrs were locked out.

    I've tried to phone customer support, but I get the same disconnect-and-go-away message as the people above.. I have opened a ticket, it lists as "pending."

    Also, I encountered a brand new player last night who bought himself a 1-month and has been playing silver since he started, because he just was never given gold.

    More and more people are being hit by this.. Please keep this thread alive. We need action
  • socrfcsocrfc Posts: 3 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    So for 5 days I have not been able to play my character and had an open ticket for possibly the worse tech support in any game I have ever played. So I figured I would never hear from them so I made sure to cancel my credit card today at about 3 pm pst and at 5 pm pst my account suddenly was fixed. Good luck to you all I hope they get you all fixed soon.
  • slowecsl4pweslowecsl4pwe Posts: 221 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    socrfc wrote: »
    So for 5 days I have not been able to play my character and had an open ticket for possibly the worse tech support in any game I have ever played. So I figured I would never hear from them so I made sure to cancel my credit card today at about 3 pm pst and at 5 pm pst my account suddenly was fixed. Good luck to you all I hope they get you all fixed soon.

    After I read your post I gave it another try, and I was able to add the payment method and reactivate my account. I noticed they added a verification code to the login to access your account, so they must have done something.

    Update. Upon checking today after successfully activating my account yesterday, it has gone back to inactive again.

    Here we go again.

    Well good news, I was able to reactivate it again, with the same card again. Now I'm going to have to check my account to make sure I wasn't double billed.

    Well upon checking mu account, there is no charge for the $14.99 subscription when I activated it yesterday. Today when I reactivated it again all it shows is that $1 pre authorization hold. When do they actually charge the account for the monthly fee?
    _________________

    Apathy is on the rise, but nobody seems to care.
  • morghastmorghast Posts: 3 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    I got this email today:

    Thank you so much for your patience regarding this matter.

    We have identified the issues affecting our subscription services; and we hope to have a fix as soon as possible. We are taking the extra attention to make sure that we correct the issue in its entirety, to prevent problems like this one from occurring again in the future. Once fixed, your account should reflect the correct subscription status, and will receive all the standard benefits associated with the subscription chosen. Thanks again!

    And just now I logged in, I'm back to GOLD again!
  • ichampion4everichampion4ever Posts: 24 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    so i am not the only one who lost my sub after 9 days?

    i have made a thread called "CO not again",still waiting my gold.
  • morghastmorghast Posts: 3 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    I got my message from PWE today, that said they would credit me the extra days I had lost, so I've been seen to and everything is settled =)
  • ichampion4everichampion4ever Posts: 24 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    morghast wrote: »
    I got my message from PWE today, that said they would credit me the extra days I had lost, so I've been seen to and everything is settled =)

    lucky you,still waiting my gold status.
  • grimcatnipgrimcatnip Posts: 16 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    one of my SG mates said that her account was changed from credit card to paypal and was only a day from losing her gold status. clearly their billing department is all kinds of messed up. i
  • sevans87nvsevans87nv Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    I just subscribed about a week ago and now it says I'm silver. When I click support, the page is broken... What kind of amateur operation is this???
  • ichampion4everichampion4ever Posts: 24 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    sevans87nv wrote: »
    I just subscribed about a week ago and now it says I'm silver. When I click support, the page is broken... What kind of amateur operation is this???


    the same is happening to me too,and i can't acess the support page.

    check here my nightmare > http://co-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=226291
  • brognor1936brognor1936 Posts: 6 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Had the problem about a year ago. I got it again... I payed for 1 month Gold in June 1st and now it's June 11th and my sub is Inactive... WILL YOU EVER FIX THIS?!
  • ichampion4everichampion4ever Posts: 24 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Had the problem about a year ago. I got it again... I payed for 1 month Gold in June 1st and now it's June 11th and my sub is Inactive... WILL YOU EVER FIX THIS?!


    did you get your money back?
  • kojirohellfirekojirohellfire Posts: 2,075 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Yeah, inactive account again. :rolleyes:
Sign In or Register to comment.