Some really silly responses from the blind followers in this post. I'll tell you why he was targeted. because he's bought a founder pack. I'll tell you why he had his account compromised, because he used the same password that he's used on his cryptic account for STO for years.
Not jumping on the popular bandwagon of "all companies are evil" is probably the opposite of being a "blind follower". But perhaps it really requires experience in the field to develop a broader view, to have dealt with all the ridiculous stuff customers pull and claim. It's symptomatic that no one actually knows anything, but everyone judges harshly. Nevermind that the guy got everything back he paid for, plus 2500 Zen, or that everyone has heard only one side of the story.
You also state speculation as fact. Did he say he played STO? Did he say he never changed his password? I don't recall reading it, but maybe I missed it. The only two valid concerns I see here are the response times and the curiosity of them not being able to restore deleted characters. But I don't see bad customer support here, just slow responses (though he said he sent multiple tickets).
I didn't get an answer to a ticket I submitted a week ago either, but I can only imagine how any inquiries they get at the moment, made worse by people sending the same tickets more than once.
(It is noteworthy that this thread hasn't been locked or deleted.)
Unfortunately, we are unable to restore this character.
We have restored your Founder's Pack items, astral diamonds and Zen, including an extra 2500 zen as a sign of our appreciation for your patience and understanding. We sincerely apologize for our inability to restore your characters.
Thank you again for your patience and we hope to see you in game soon!"
so they said they are sorry and gave you 25 bucks for your bad experience. how is that bad customer service?
Store credit, not money. That's "free" money that they literally print themselves.
It's bad customer service because it took them so long to reply, and when they finally did, they ended up DELETING the character instead of fixing it, and apparently they also forgot to save a backup of the character before fiddling with his account.
Which, of course, is BS. I know for a fact they will have a backup database somewhere with a prior version of his character. They will have multiples of these (hell, it's a beta for Pete's sake), they simply are choosing to bribe the customer instead of perform a proper character restore.)
That's completely amateurish, and no matter how much free zen is handed out, it won't make it any less amateurish.
-Travail.
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
You also state speculation as fact. Did he say he played STO? Did he say he never changed his password? I don't recall reading it, but maybe I missed it. The only two valid concerns I see here are the response times and the curiosity of them not being able to restore deleted characters.
I did play STO, and yes I still had the same password on my account from back when I was playing that. I guess It's plausible that my password would have been leaked if Cryptic's servers were hacked back then, I had never even heard about it or I would have changed the password obviously.
Also they took so long to reveal the stealing of the user information, who is to say it did not happen again and by their record we will not find out for 16 months.
I recommend everyone change their passwords to something unique to this game. Even than though it makes you question whether its worth spending money in a game with poor customer service and security.
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bzzzdMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 0Arc User
Which, of course, is BS. I know for a fact they will have a backup database somewhere with a prior version of his character. They will have multiples of these (hell, it's a beta for Pete's sake), they simply are choosing to bribe the customer instead of perform a proper character restore.)
ah, the famous "I know". never heard that one before from all the customers I had to deal with...
/bump because I am really curious how the customer service is in this game. I myself have lost AD through gateway a couple weeks ago and have gotten no response from customer service.
There would've been many ways to have helped this guy and the Zen, founder's pack that he bought, etc. is one of them. They could've given him a lvl 42 character too if they cannot bring back his old one.
A lot of things are possible in the digital world if the customer service person is creative enough. Of course, seemingly lack of accountability on the customer service group doesn't help with customers like the OP and other get the wrong impression. The OP bought a service/product that's as tangible as a new car or home mortgage or warranty repair, etc.
Bail out now. I've played a few PWE games and the CS is always the same. Wait a week or more, be told they can't help and given a pittance. It's some of the worst customer service I've had the misfortune of dealing with as a gamer.
As I said, if he's wrong and they don't have a backup that is a whole different issue. An even bigger one, IMHO.
true. but in the end it doesn't matter if they have or have not, if they don't restore the character because they can't or don't want to, the outcome is the same. wild claims just make you look stupid.
Yes, but it's not that simple. Obviously, not all sales, promotions, and special offers result in a net loss, or they would be a waste of time. If offering you some in-store credit is the only way to get (or keep, in this case) your business, then they would stand to lose much more by not offering you that store credit.
The beauty (for companies) of store credit is that you HAVE to spend it in their store. If their compensation doesn't interest you, and you decide to walk away, then they have, in point of fact, lost nothing. If you decide to stay, then they have successfully kept a customer, something more precious than a mere $25 bucks.
Additionally, that store credit still counts towards their sales records, meaning if they keep giving players store credit to "resolve" these issues, and those players spend that store credit, then the financial records look good, even though a percentage of it is money that the company handed out for free.
You think a company like PWE, or Cryptic (who are no strangers to game design) don't save backups? I'll just assume you're joking.
*cough* you mean just like a company like sony would have better account security? maybe they really don't. who knows?
let me tell you a story, might be real, might be not: backups are done at the datacentre. which might or might not be in the same city customer support is located. these are done automatically, to access them a service technician has to drive out there, look for the specific backup, put it into a custom DB to access it, THEN dig through it to get player X's character data. then put THAT data back into the live DB (<- this is always particularly fun)
is it theoretically possible to restore a character? yes
is it feasible to do so? no
in the end it doesn't matter. outcome is the same.
of course we can debate if they should refine their processes, still wouldn't change anything in this particular case.
Yes, but it's not that simple. Obviously, not all sales, promotions, and special offers result in a net loss, or they would be a waste of time. If offering you some in-store credit is the only way to get (or keep, in this case) your business, then they would stand to lose much more by not offering you that store credit.
The beauty (for companies) of store credit is that you HAVE to spend it in their store. If their compensation doesn't interest you, and you decide to walk away, then they have, in point of fact, lost nothing. If you decide to stay, then they have successfully kept a customer, something more precious than a mere $25 bucks.
Additionally, that store credit still counts towards their sales records, meaning if they keep giving players store credit to "resolve" these issues, and those players spend that store credit, then the financial records look good, even though a percentage of it is money that the company handed out for free.
You think a company like PWE, or Cryptic (who are no strangers to game design) don't save backups? I'll just assume you're joking.
-Travail.
Do you work for PWE or Cryptic? Every post I see from you makes you come off as a "know it all" type person, yet the truth is you're just ignorant.
What if they don't keep backups?
What if they only keep backups on certain intervals, and the last few, his character/items/etc isn't there either.
What if their process of restoring portions their databases is much more difficult than you think?
What if all of the posts in this topic aren't even true?
Know what is true? You don't work for the companies that you're assuming stuff about.
Do you work for PWE or Cryptic? Every post I see from you makes you come off as a "know it all" type person, yet the truth is you're just ignorant.
What if they don't keep backups?
What if they only keep backups on certain intervals, and the last few, his character/items/etc isn't there either.
What if their process of restoring portions their databases is much more difficult than you think?
What if all of the posts in this topic aren't even true?
Know what is true? You don't work for the companies that you're assuming stuff about.
It's not so much a case of lack of backups as it is a case of why was my character even deleted to begin with?
I know the effects, just saying money they give away isn't always money they get back
*cough* you mean just like a company like sony would have better account security? maybe they really don't. who knows?
let me tell you a story, might be real, might be not: backups are done at the datacentre. which might or might not be in the same city customer support is located. these are done automatically, to access them a service technician has to drive out there, look for the specific backup, put it into a custom DB to access it, THEN dig through it to get player X's character data. then put THAT data back into the live DB (<- this is always particularly fun)
is it theoretically possible to restore a character? yes
is it feasible to do so? no
in the end it doesn't matter. outcome is the same.
of course we can debate if they should refine their processes, still wouldn't change anything in this particular case.
What kind of backwards datacenter doesn't have service techs on site or that can access it remotely? Why are you even assuming that they need to access a data backup anyway?
I used to work Blizzard customer service and restoring characters was literally a button that I could just press.
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anoraxMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero UsersPosts: 1Arc User
Bumping in the hope someone from Cryptic might actually respond. I sympathise OP but given the parent company is PWI it does not surprise me.
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daowaceMember, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited May 2013
This needs more views; it is absolutely appalling.
I am glad I deal with the hassles of password managers and multi-factor authentication so I don't have to deal with compromises anymore, but knowing their customer support is as bad as Nexon's is just disgusting.
OP, sucks, but to tell you the truth. This game is in OPEN BETA. You have to expect these sort of things happening, yes, even in customer service.
What!? You think that justifies taking $200 and then deleting your entire account on a beta with a no wipe clause? I don't think so!
This has got to be the worst customer service I've ever heard of!
It doesn't matter if they refunded his items and gave him a <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> amount of Zen back, it's the fact that not only did it take so long to resolve he also had his entire account deleted because of their incompetence.
This is just bloody disgusting. No really, I am so angry right now and it didn't even happen to me! How can any business wanting to succeed succumb to such levels of incompetence? Really?
I hate this happened to the OP, but PC security is very important these days, I spend a lot on my MMO's, so I have a top notch anti-virus/Anti malware system that puts all my passwords on an encrypted key, I also use a email system with a two step verification process to keep it from being hijacked. If I get hacked I point the finger at myself first, because locking down your system isn't rocket science and it's very affordable, especially when you consider the alternative.
However Cryptic also needs to make it's account guard more effective, it is nothing for them to require a five digit code sent to your Cell or landline in order to change a password or to alert you to when a unauthorized browser has logged on to your account.
Sorry to hear that you encountered this issue. It's always sad to see when a player has a negative experience in one of our games.
To start out the discussion, I do want to begin with a friendly reminder that posting individual ticket correspondence is against our forum guidelines. I understand that not being able to share one's feedback under certain circumstances can be frustrating, but this rule is in place due to customer privacy guidelines that we must abide to.
However, even though this thread will need to be closed, I still feel that I can share some insight here that may be helpful. The most important thing to understand is that we are doing our absolute best to assist each and every customer to their satisfaction. To be fully transparent, we are currently challenged with meeting this goal due to the high volume of requests we are receiving.
To share a bit more detail, Neverwinter has been growing in popularity, and the number of players we are supporting has been increasing at a rate that is faster than our team has been able to keep up with. Due to this, we have staffed up the team on numerous occasions, and will continue to do so until we are able to respond to all tickets in a timely manner while meeting our intended quality standard. We've had new agents starting almost weekly, but unfortunately there is a bit of a ramp up time while they become familiar with the tools and the issues.
In regards to deleting characters, currently that is something we do not do. I do apologize if that appeared to be the case due to the previous ticket correspondence, but our records show that this is not the case. Also, while we make effort effort possible to restore characters that have been deleted, maliciously or unintentionally, restoration is not always possible. I do understand that having a character deleted can be a very serious loss, so we are always working to improve our tools to increase the scope of situations where restoration is successful.
I sincerely apologize to anyone who has had their account compromised. Responding to these reports and getting players into the game is a high priority for us. To share some insight on our process, temporarily blocking an account is a necessary step during this process, as it locks the malicious third party out of the account and let's us confirm 100% that only the appropriate owner has access.
In closing, I do apologize deeply to anyone that has had an unsatisfactory experience. This is something we acknowledge as an issue and are taking as many steps as possible in order meet our desired customer experience standards. In the event that anyone experiences an issue with their ticket in the future, please note that the most appropriate way to share this feedback is to update the ticket so that we can review your request and respond appropriately.
Comments
Not jumping on the popular bandwagon of "all companies are evil" is probably the opposite of being a "blind follower". But perhaps it really requires experience in the field to develop a broader view, to have dealt with all the ridiculous stuff customers pull and claim. It's symptomatic that no one actually knows anything, but everyone judges harshly. Nevermind that the guy got everything back he paid for, plus 2500 Zen, or that everyone has heard only one side of the story.
You also state speculation as fact. Did he say he played STO? Did he say he never changed his password? I don't recall reading it, but maybe I missed it. The only two valid concerns I see here are the response times and the curiosity of them not being able to restore deleted characters. But I don't see bad customer support here, just slow responses (though he said he sent multiple tickets).
I didn't get an answer to a ticket I submitted a week ago either, but I can only imagine how any inquiries they get at the moment, made worse by people sending the same tickets more than once.
(It is noteworthy that this thread hasn't been locked or deleted.)
Store credit, not money. That's "free" money that they literally print themselves.
It's bad customer service because it took them so long to reply, and when they finally did, they ended up DELETING the character instead of fixing it, and apparently they also forgot to save a backup of the character before fiddling with his account.
Which, of course, is BS. I know for a fact they will have a backup database somewhere with a prior version of his character. They will have multiples of these (hell, it's a beta for Pete's sake), they simply are choosing to bribe the customer instead of perform a proper character restore.)
That's completely amateurish, and no matter how much free zen is handed out, it won't make it any less amateurish.
-Travail.
I did play STO, and yes I still had the same password on my account from back when I was playing that. I guess It's plausible that my password would have been leaked if Cryptic's servers were hacked back then, I had never even heard about it or I would have changed the password obviously.
Won't get one either, they won't discuss account issues here. They'll just say contact support since that's really all they can do as mods and CMs.
I recommend everyone change their passwords to something unique to this game. Even than though it makes you question whether its worth spending money in a game with poor customer service and security.
ah, the famous "I know". never heard that one before from all the customers I had to deal with...
oh boy
Bail out now. I've played a few PWE games and the CS is always the same. Wait a week or more, be told they can't help and given a pittance. It's some of the worst customer service I've had the misfortune of dealing with as a gamer.
As I said, if he's wrong and they don't have a backup that is a whole different issue. An even bigger one, IMHO.
true. but in the end it doesn't matter if they have or have not, if they don't restore the character because they can't or don't want to, the outcome is the same. wild claims just make you look stupid.
Yes, but it's not that simple. Obviously, not all sales, promotions, and special offers result in a net loss, or they would be a waste of time. If offering you some in-store credit is the only way to get (or keep, in this case) your business, then they would stand to lose much more by not offering you that store credit.
The beauty (for companies) of store credit is that you HAVE to spend it in their store. If their compensation doesn't interest you, and you decide to walk away, then they have, in point of fact, lost nothing. If you decide to stay, then they have successfully kept a customer, something more precious than a mere $25 bucks.
Additionally, that store credit still counts towards their sales records, meaning if they keep giving players store credit to "resolve" these issues, and those players spend that store credit, then the financial records look good, even though a percentage of it is money that the company handed out for free.
You think a company like PWE, or Cryptic (who are no strangers to game design) don't save backups? I'll just assume you're joking.
-Travail.
I know the effects, just saying money they give away isn't always money they get back
*cough* you mean just like a company like sony would have better account security? maybe they really don't. who knows?
let me tell you a story, might be real, might be not: backups are done at the datacentre. which might or might not be in the same city customer support is located. these are done automatically, to access them a service technician has to drive out there, look for the specific backup, put it into a custom DB to access it, THEN dig through it to get player X's character data. then put THAT data back into the live DB (<- this is always particularly fun)
is it theoretically possible to restore a character? yes
is it feasible to do so? no
in the end it doesn't matter. outcome is the same.
of course we can debate if they should refine their processes, still wouldn't change anything in this particular case.
Do you work for PWE or Cryptic? Every post I see from you makes you come off as a "know it all" type person, yet the truth is you're just ignorant.
What if they don't keep backups?
What if they only keep backups on certain intervals, and the last few, his character/items/etc isn't there either.
What if their process of restoring portions their databases is much more difficult than you think?
What if all of the posts in this topic aren't even true?
Know what is true? You don't work for the companies that you're assuming stuff about.
It's not so much a case of lack of backups as it is a case of why was my character even deleted to begin with?
What kind of backwards datacenter doesn't have service techs on site or that can access it remotely? Why are you even assuming that they need to access a data backup anyway?
I used to work Blizzard customer service and restoring characters was literally a button that I could just press.
Bumping in the hope someone from Cryptic might actually respond. I sympathise OP but given the parent company is PWI it does not surprise me.
I am glad I deal with the hassles of password managers and multi-factor authentication so I don't have to deal with compromises anymore, but knowing their customer support is as bad as Nexon's is just disgusting.
PC specs: http://forum.daow.net/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4#p99
What!? You think that justifies taking $200 and then deleting your entire account on a beta with a no wipe clause? I don't think so!
This has got to be the worst customer service I've ever heard of!
It doesn't matter if they refunded his items and gave him a <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> amount of Zen back, it's the fact that not only did it take so long to resolve he also had his entire account deleted because of their incompetence.
This is just bloody disgusting. No really, I am so angry right now and it didn't even happen to me! How can any business wanting to succeed succumb to such levels of incompetence? Really?
However Cryptic also needs to make it's account guard more effective, it is nothing for them to require a five digit code sent to your Cell or landline in order to change a password or to alert you to when a unauthorized browser has logged on to your account.
Sorry to hear that you encountered this issue. It's always sad to see when a player has a negative experience in one of our games.
To start out the discussion, I do want to begin with a friendly reminder that posting individual ticket correspondence is against our forum guidelines. I understand that not being able to share one's feedback under certain circumstances can be frustrating, but this rule is in place due to customer privacy guidelines that we must abide to.
However, even though this thread will need to be closed, I still feel that I can share some insight here that may be helpful. The most important thing to understand is that we are doing our absolute best to assist each and every customer to their satisfaction. To be fully transparent, we are currently challenged with meeting this goal due to the high volume of requests we are receiving.
To share a bit more detail, Neverwinter has been growing in popularity, and the number of players we are supporting has been increasing at a rate that is faster than our team has been able to keep up with. Due to this, we have staffed up the team on numerous occasions, and will continue to do so until we are able to respond to all tickets in a timely manner while meeting our intended quality standard. We've had new agents starting almost weekly, but unfortunately there is a bit of a ramp up time while they become familiar with the tools and the issues.
In regards to deleting characters, currently that is something we do not do. I do apologize if that appeared to be the case due to the previous ticket correspondence, but our records show that this is not the case. Also, while we make effort effort possible to restore characters that have been deleted, maliciously or unintentionally, restoration is not always possible. I do understand that having a character deleted can be a very serious loss, so we are always working to improve our tools to increase the scope of situations where restoration is successful.
I sincerely apologize to anyone who has had their account compromised. Responding to these reports and getting players into the game is a high priority for us. To share some insight on our process, temporarily blocking an account is a necessary step during this process, as it locks the malicious third party out of the account and let's us confirm 100% that only the appropriate owner has access.
In closing, I do apologize deeply to anyone that has had an unsatisfactory experience. This is something we acknowledge as an issue and are taking as many steps as possible in order meet our desired customer experience standards. In the event that anyone experiences an issue with their ticket in the future, please note that the most appropriate way to share this feedback is to update the ticket so that we can review your request and respond appropriately.