Ultimate Game Card for PWI rant

Wrathx - Heavens Tear · October 2008

I just have to share my experience trying to get some zen for the first time in this game. I do have paypal but I noticed that there was another option which was using Ultimate Game Cards. Part of the reason I didn't want to use Paypal is because it's hooked through my bank account and I have to wait at least 7 days before a payment will clear which means if I paid for Zen today, I wouldn't get it until next week sometime. So anyways I looked and sure enough there were a bunch of stores around my city that had them. I should mention that I live in Canada as well. I figured it would be easier to just go down the street and pick one up, don't have to mess with online payments, waiting or anything. I bought a $20 card which of course I had to pay tax on it so I paid $22.40 in all at the store for it. That's normal, I was happy. So I get home and go to redeem my Ultimate Game Card to charge my zen. I go through the steps and I pick the $20 Ultimate Game Card option. On the right of the page I notice it says something about $27.36 owing. The next page I put in the pin number of the game card and it shows it as redeemed.....BUT.....it says that there is still $7.36 owing which can only be paid using another Ultimate Game Card.

So yea I start losing it. I am royally pissed because first of all I bought a $20 card thinking I would get $20 credit in Zen meaning 20 gold, that didn't happen. Secondly I already paid tax at the store to get the card and now it's wanting another $7.36 just so I can get $20 worth of Zen???? So basically it's going to cost me almost $30 to get $20 worth of Gold which is quite a rip off. Third, I could only pay the remaining $7.36 using another Ultimate Game Card which the stores here only sell the $20 ones. So if I wanted to get $20 of gold I would have to buy $40 worth of game cards. The only thing I could do to get any Zen at all was choose the $10 Ultimate Game Card option which ended up being $13 and change. So I ended up only getting 10 gold out of this deal. The remaining credit from the game card (like $6.61 I believe) is being stored for my next purchase. Now tell me do you think I'm really wanting to buy another game card? NO. BUT if I want to use up that $6 and change, I'll have to buy another $20 game card which still won't get me the 20 gold, I'd have to still choose the $10 card option and have a balance again. So basically I either have to leave the few bucks and right it off as useless or keep going through these stupid game cards and do this over and over. I think I'll just have to use Paypal next time I want to buy some Zen........if I really want to after this experience, and just wait the 7 days or so for the payment to go through.

Anyways, sorry for the long post. This is basically a warning to other Canadians that were thinking of using Ultimate Game Cards. They are a rip off and I'd stay away from them. It ruined it for me and makes me think twice about buying more zen even though I know there are other options. I'm sure I'll end up buying more zen at some point but I'm in no rush now.

/end rant

starman17 · October 2008

oh man that sucks, does it only happen like this in canada, or any foreign soil?

dvorak · October 2008

sorry to hear about your issue, Wrathx:

if its not too much trouble could you please submit a billing ticket through:

http://support.perfectworld.com/ticketing

we will make sure that a billing rep assists you over the next 24 hours (they're all gone for the day but we will be back in the office tmw morning).

thanks!

starman17 · October 2008

I thought that you could use a credit card with paypal for just a one-time purchase (no need to create an account). That should clear immediately.

also, you could try google...

darthpanda16 · October 2008

Yeah, I looked through the http://www.ultimategamecard.com/ website and found nothing to find out info on exchange rates, country differences, fee they charge before the amount is passed through to game companies, etc; that would help their customers.

Out of my area.

Billing should be able to give you some kind of response, per Dvorak's post.

Wrathx - Heavens Tear · October 2008

Thanks, I appreciate the info and yea I will send a ticket in after typing this post. The whole thing was quite frustrating.

@starman, yea you can use credit cards through paypal but I don't have mine linked to my account and don't really want to either.

Thanks again for the info.

Sindygoboom - Sanctuary · October 2008

Wrathx, would you mind posting whatever you find out here? I was considering using the game card as well as it is one of my options for this "reward" program I'm in. But if my $20 card is going to be taxed to $30, I'll opt for a free pizza or something

Wrathx - Heavens Tear · October 2008

Yea I'll let you know what I find out.

Wrathx - Heavens Tear · October 2008

Ok sent them all the info I had including scanned images of the gamecard and receipt. They emailed back today saying they are going to look into and get ahold of PayByCash and find out what's going on. They said they will let me know when they find something out.

ttyork · November 2008

I bought two $10 cards and they both worked ok for 1000 zen purchases

Jebbediah - Lost City · November 2008

bUMP CONCERNED EX-CUSTOMER

Wrathx - Heavens Tear · November 2008

ttyork wrote: »

I bought two $10 cards and they both worked ok for 1000 zen purchases

Do you live in the US or Canada? I live in Canada and I'm still waiting to hear back from them. I doubt there would be a problem using them in the US. I think it might have to do with me living in Canada but they should be letting us know of extra charges before we buy them. A 7Eleven which is only a 5 minute walk from my place just started carrying them as well. I don't know what will come out of this but it's a shame I have an easy way of getting them but doubt I will be using them again. I'll wait and see what the PWI billing department finds out first.

stewie222 · November 2008

b:sad OK, I need to hear what happens with this situation!

I live in Canada as well. I do not have a credit card. Therefore, the gamecard has always been the way i've payed for my mmo fun. WOW, AOC, and WAR charge the same amount for US and Canadian customers. I hope PWI can do the same! I really like this game, and hope billing issues won't stop me from playing. I'd gladly drop 60$ on an ititial zen purchase, with occasional top ups when needed, because thats what any decent mmo costs anyway.

Edit: nvm, just looked into all payment options, and think i'll go with interac. It will cost me 68$ Can for 50$ worth of zen because of exchange ( which kinda sucks, other mmos cost same in Can or US despite exchange, but thats another rant).

Still hope this gets resolved for others

Thanks, have fun. b:bye

Randiaxia - Lost City · November 2008

I bought one it had left overs and how do i use the left over towards my next purchase some one plz help

Wrathx - Heavens Tear · November 2008

Randiaxia - Lost City wrote: »

I bought one it had left overs and how do i use the left over towards my next purchase some one plz help

In one of the payment steps near the top, it will say that you have a balance and asks if you would like to use it.

Wrathx - Heavens Tear · November 2008

I'm still communicating back and forth with the billing department but so far it's looking as if it's a bad idea for Canadians to use these because they don't seem to be taking the exchange rate into consideration. I'll keep you guys posted.

dante95 · November 2008

Alright, so me and my wife have been playing perfect world for a long time, and we decided to get married in-game. we used game cards, and the transaction took two days to complete. no worries, right? so we played for a month with the married title (yay) and we decided to buy a mount from the cash shop. when we went to the site, it said we both had -3000 Zen. apperently, perfect world decided that our cash card was bad (after a month of having it) and banned us both from the game until we pay them ANOTHER $60 USD. Which that puts us in a bind, as we are leader and director of a faction. That being the case, no one in the faction can do TW, and i cant even get online to give them the coin back that they donated to the TW fund. (900k). Its sad, because i love this game, and my guildies as well as myself are suffering because of a mistake that happened between paypal and them.
Sorry for the long post, but i wanted to see if anyone else has had this problem

gattsuru · November 2008

Please use the Support Ticket system or phone number attached to your receipt to discuss any administrative actions.

Aelric - Lost City · November 2008

heres a solution i came up with for buying cubi-gold from pw-my from a different country.... it is outdated and the information is slightly different relating to this version but the general concept should still work....

I too have had trouble getting cubi-gold. I did not want to give all of my credit card information to some random internet site but I wanted my cubi-gold. Below are a few simple steps that you can take to buy your cubi-gold WITHOUT GIVING PERSONAL INFORMATION, EXCEPT ADDRESS, NAME, AND A PHONE NUMBER (a cellphone will work too). All the information you must give is no more than anyone could find in a phonebook! This (I know) works great for people living in the USA, but should work for anyone, any where in the world that can buy Visa Gift Cards!

STEP 1:
Go to a local grocery store/gas station (some)/any place where gift cards are sold and buy a VISA gift card.

STEP 2:
Follow the instructions that come with the gift card to activate it. When you buy the gift card the cashier may say you do not have to activate it but for this you will. In mine there was a section "Do I need to register my Visa Gift Card for online, mail or telephone purchases?" that told you how to activate. You MUST follow these instructions.

STEP 3:
Once the card is activated you can now buy your cubi-gold!! I use AsiaPWorld to buy my cubi-gold. However, you will have to make an account with the site in order to make purchases, but this doesn't require any personal information. Once you're ready find how much cubi-gold you want to buy, WARNING: make sure you will not be spending more that the amount you have put on your gift card!, and add it to your cart. Once in checkout make sure you provide the EXACT same information you used to activate your Visa Gift Card. Please follow the instructions with the site.

STEP 4:
After you have bought the cubi-gold you will receive and e-mail with your top-up code. (Be warned that this could take some time because they must verify and send the e-mail) Take this Top-Up code and login to your cubizone account and follow the instructions for topping-up your account. Make sure you put in the correct server name! Take your time to avoid any accidents. Once you finish just buy the ingots and get into the game and buy, Buy, BUY! LOL

Tips:
*The amount of cubi-gold you will recieve from each card is the number of cubits minus one place value. Example: a 1000 cubits card will get you 100 cubi-gold.
*Also, the amount of cubi-gold you will recieve is the same number as the RM. Example: an RM100 card (1000 cubits) will get you 100 cubi-gold.
*If you are confused about the ingots part, dont be! You are spending your cubits to buy the ingots, which are what gets you cubi-gold in the game. (very strange, I know =P)
*This is also a way for someone who is not an adult to buy cubi-gold, and for people without a PayPal/credit card.

Hope this guide Helps!
:P

p.s. If you find any mistakes, want to add something, are confused about anything, or need more help, please feel free to post here and I or hopefully another generous player can answer your question!

None of the links work and this is strictly a copy and paste... but the general concept of using a visa gift card instead of a credit card, but putting it in as a credit card should still work... however... i have not tried this yet because i am satisfied with the ultimate game card (live in the US). good luck b:victory

Wrathx - Heavens Tear · November 2008

Ok so I haven't got a final answer from the billing department but this is what I can tell you so far.

To buy 2000 zen, in Canadian currency right now with the exchange rate it is $25 plus change according to the webpage when you go to buy zen.

Now having said that, if I buy a $20 Ultimate Game Card, it won't be enough to pay for 2000 zen if you live in Canada. You will need to buy another card which for me would have to be another $20 card because they don't sell the $10 ones around here. Buying the $20 Ultimate Game Card will get you $20 Canadian so if it costs $25 plus change Canadian to get 2000zen, you'll still need another $5plus to pay for the rest of it which you can only do using more Ultimate Game Cards which is ****.

The part that really bugs me is that if I lived in the USA and bought a $20 Ultimate Game Card, I'd be able to use it to get 2000 zen no problem and not have to pay any extra. If I buy the exact same $20 card, except I live in Canada, I have to buy more then one just to get 2000 zen. I understand there are exchange rates and all that but it's the exact same card up here as it is in the USA and it's $20USD down there and $20 Canadian up here. The $20 is printed right on the card, not just a sale price.

Now I went and bought 1000 zen with my first $20 card which gave me a bit of a balance because 1000 zen ended up costing something like $13 plus change. There was enough of a balance left over from the first $20 card that I was able to buy another $20 game card and get 20 gold. I won't be buying another Ultimate Game Card to pay for zen, that is for damn sure.

The point is, to me it's not fair that in the USA, you can buy one $20 card and pay for 2000 zen and be done but up here we have to buy more than one card even if all we ever wanted to buy was 2000 zen. I really did plan on just buying 20 gold for now and was going to wait until later on to see if I was still playing. The only reason I bought another card was because I had a balance and I didn't like the idea that I had wasted money just sitting there because of what I call a flaw in the system.

Anyways this is a warning for Canadians that are planning on buying zen with Ultimate Game Cards.

Thanks for reading.

dante95 · November 2008

gattsuru wrote: »

Please use the Support Ticket system or phone number attached to your receipt to discuss any administrative actions.

I have spoken to someone in billing personally, as well as sent my reciept, but the only answer i can get is to pay for paypals mistake. i would even accept perfect world taking away my wife and my married title, and paying back the coin that i got for the gifts i got. i just wanna play my game b:sad

anneugc · November 2008

There are a number of game cards offered by different publishers. However, you should choose something that gives you maximum value for money. I have purchased Ultimate game card many times and never had a bad experience. They are safe and their cards come in $10 and $20 value. So, whenever I play a game that exceeds the stored-value amount, I have to use more than one card. b:cute

saphire1960 · November 2008

Go to a local grocery store/gas station (some)/any place where gift cards are sold and buy a VISA gift card.

this is a bad idea seeing as how those cards cost $15 and then on top of it there is a $6 monthly fee (maybe more) i just wanted to give everyone a heads up on this.

Ps. The website for the store locator where u can buy em says US only i dont know if u noticed that or not cause i believe u said that u bought it from 7-11

Wrathx - Heavens Tear · November 2008

I bought my first card at a Macs store which was listed in the store locator thing as having them. They just started carrying them at the 7Eleven near my place like a month ago maybe so I'm guessing that they haven't updated the website showing which locations have them.

I'll say that the Ultimate Game Cards do work but the problem I was having was basically that there is an option to buy $20 using the UGC game cards and in the US you can do that using just one card but up here we have to use more than one even if we werent' planning on spending that much. If I want 2000 zen, I have to buy $40 worth of UGC cards because that is the only ones sold around here. If a person from the US wants 2000 zen they just have to go buy one UGC card. When I buy one, why don't they just charge what it would be so that I would have the equivalent of $20USD. I wouldn't have minded that so that I know when I buy a $20 card, I'm going to have $20 USD considereing it looks like every game that UGC works with is not based in Canada. Anyways basically I've learned my lesson and won't be buying them anymore.

gattsuru · November 2008

dante95 wrote: »

I have spoken to someone in billing personally, as well as sent my reciept, but the only answer i can get is to pay for paypals mistake. i would even accept perfect world taking away my wife and my married title, and paying back the coin that i got for the gifts i got. i just wanna play my game b:sad

Please stay in contact with the Support Ticket folk; I can't provide any guarantees, but they will likely try to find a way to clear this up.

Tara - Lost City · November 2008

Costs me 80 dollars Aus to get 50 Zen so canadians are still better off

Wooooooooooo - Heavens Tear · November 2008

Wrathx - Heavens Tear wrote: »

If I want 2000 zen, I have to buy $40 worth of UGC cards because that is the only ones sold around here. If a person from the US wants 2000 zen they just have to go buy one UGC card. When I buy one, why don't they just charge what it would be so that I would have the equivalent of $20USD.

So with exchange rates and stuff, a $20 card costs you $20 cdn (ignoring tax/fees), but it is only worth $15.5 usd. if they had an option to buy 2000 zen for $15.5 so your 20 still gets you 2000, everyone in the US would use that option as it is much cheaper for them than the $20/2000z.

it would end up being cheaper for you to buy zen than for people in the us. 20cdn != 20usd, so why would you get the same amount of zen for each?

yeah, i agree that it sucks that you can't use the cards as designated, but they would have to have way too many options for each currency's exchange rate, 15.5 for cdn, 20 for usd, 12.2 for aud, etc... ah well, non-us just be careful

Wrathx - Heavens Tear · November 2008

I'd actually rather the card say that it is worth $20USD specifically and have to pay for what the card is worth with the exchange rate (so approx. $25 canadian with current exchange) right at the till when I buy the card. Basically exchanging canadian money for a $20usd cash card. To me that would be better and make more sense especially considering most of the games or game companies that the UGC card works with are from the US.

Anyways I NOW know how they work so I know that if I want to get my money's worth I won't use them anymore.

Deago - Lost City · November 2008

so macs sells these cards i am goin to have to look into that for ontario cause the stupid site doesnt say that but i can check and man all i can say to that is best of luck

Zeelonia - Sanctuary · November 2008

I guess it is because the Canadian Dollar is worth less than the US Dollar ...

Wrathx - Heavens Tear · December 2008

Well just a small update and I'll leave it at this. I learned my lesson not to buy these anymore because of the exchange rate being a hassel with the way that these cards work. If I decide to buy anymore zen for this game it will be with a different means.

Also I'd like to point out that in dealing with the billing department, at first they seemed to be generally concerned but shortly after just stopped replying to my emails and pretty much seemed to ignore me. Thanks for that...../end sarcasm.

Ultimate Game Card for PWI rant

Comments

Categories