Zen Probation Period

dacia

Hello, I started playing STO about six months ago and despite the numerous bugs in the game I've been having fun. Until today I haven't spent a single dollar on the game. I got my first T6 ship from a phoenix prize pack. And then a Fleet ship purchased with modules earned through reputations. In an effort to gear these ships properly, I've been spending dilithium like crazy to get rep items. even going so far as to use the echange to transfer dilithium from an alt to my main.

I've just about completed my mid tier build when I discover we're having an upgrade weekend. I really wanted to take advantage of it, but found myself spent on dilithium. So I said TRIBBLE it, I'll buy some zen. Use it to load up on dill and finish getting all the rep items I wanted, upgrade them and maybe buy a few keys with the leftovers.

Immediately upon purchasing the zen, I discover the probation period. I'm given information that this probation period can be up to seven days, which of course is long after the upgrade weekend is over.

Does anyone have experience with this? How long does the probation period last? Is there anyone I can appeal to in order to expedite the process?


Did I get completely ripped off?

dacia

It was paid for via a steam card purchased at a store.

tribbulater

Well, it also happens to accounts who've been playing for months, and purchased Zen previously on the same card. So apparently the algorithm for deciding when and where to apply it is a bit sloppy.

That said, I've heard that you can send in a support ticket for it and ask for it to be lifted, although I've never tried that myself. Click the SUPPORT link at the top of the page and see if you can send one off.

leemwatson

dacia#9992 wrote: »

Hello, I started playing STO about six months ago and despite the numerous bugs in the game I've been having fun. Until today I haven't spent a single dollar on the game. I got my first T6 ship from a phoenix prize pack. And then a Fleet ship purchased with modules earned through reputations. In an effort to gear these ships properly, I've been spending dilithium like crazy to get rep items. even going so far as to use the echange to transfer dilithium from an alt to my main.

I've just about completed my mid tier build when I discover we're having an upgrade weekend. I really wanted to take advantage of it, but found myself spent on dilithium. So I said TRIBBLE it, I'll buy some zen. Use it to load up on dill and finish getting all the rep items I wanted, upgrade them and maybe buy a few keys with the leftovers.

Immediately upon purchasing the zen, I discover the probation period. I'm given information that this probation period can be up to seven days, which of course is long after the upgrade weekend is over.

Does anyone have experience with this? How long does the probation period last? Is there anyone I can appeal to in order to expedite the process?


Did I get completely ripped off?

It can be 24 hours to a week. This is a security measure and can be triggered also by 'abnormal' spending. No, you cannot appeal it, and no, you didn't get ripped off. It's to protect you, as well as themm from fraudulant charge-backs etc.

phoenixc

The fact that you used a Steam card is probably a big part of it too. It turns out that steam batch pays Cryptic once a week and depending on what day you bought it (if you are very unlikely that would be just after the batch payment is transferred) it can take up to a week. I don't know what day of the week it is that they do the transfer, or whether they vary the day of the week much but that was the explanation when they first instituted the probation period.

Usually you can buy things with the zen before the period is up, about the only thing you usually cannot do is speculate with it on the exchange and I rarely use the exchange for much more than shifting dil around so I never paid much attention to the probation stuff so I am not sure if it has other snags somewhere or how much your first purchase status might effect things.

seaofsorrows

Do not spend any of the Zen you bought yet.

Shut down the game, and relaunch it.

Last time I saw that on Steam, I just reloaded and it fixed it. Otherwise, open a ticket with support and they can remove your probation period. This only happens the first time you buy from Steam, it shouldn’t happen again once you get past this one.

The time of week has absolutely nothing to do with it, if reloading doesn’t fix it, support can. I don’t know how long it will take but with the holiday on Friday I am sad to say I don’t like your odds of getting it resolved during the upgrade weekend.

protoneous

seaofsorrows wrote: »

Shut down the game, and relaunch it.

^ This worked for me as well to get rid of probation. Definitely give it a try.

howtor

Also contact support they can release the probation early. I had it happen when I switched cards. took less then a day to get it fixed

dacia

Relaunching was the first thing I tried. Glad it worked for you, but no luck on my end. Still no response on my ticket. I guess all I can do is hope they resolve it by the time the weekend is over.

dacia

Welp, it took two days. But then I got this response:

Hello,

Thank you for writing in.

I've read that you are unable to freely use your purchased Zen. I'd be happy to assist you with this. And to put me in a better position to do so, I would like to ask for additional information about the issue. May I know what exactly happens when you try to use your Zen? Could you please provide any error/warning message that appear when the attempt fails? Also, is there any error/warning message that pops up when you try to purchase items on the C-store or when you sell them on the Dilithium Exchange?

Thank you for your patience and cooperation. Looking forward to hearing back from you.
Regards,
GM Ovric
Game Master





When I logged in, the issue was cleared up. So, thank you GM's Ovric and Edgewater. I appreciate it.

seaofsorrows

Glad you got it sorted.