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Please update TOS rules, work on support requests-nevermind-what tech support option can I try next?
kaloesche68
Posts: 815 Member
Hello,
I hope no one thinks that this thread is whiney or complaining, but I feel it is very valid. I have tried to put it in the proper section.
Recently a post I wrote was flagged for a TOS violation, and then I had my account suspended for another posting. The emails that I got about the flagging and suspension were not clear at all. I was able to "dispute" the violations-but it took 2 different customer service reps to explain to me what the actual infractions were-and I got two different answers-and that was only after I sent 2 support tickets and 3 emails.
Also, another thing I considered funny was the timing. While I understand that I am responsible for what I write, I got the email about the flagging, with a warning stating that any further violations could result in a suspension or a termination of my account-and then 7 minutes later I got the email about the suspension-from another violation. In my opinion- the violation that I got suspended for is not clearly stated in the TOS rules-but more on that in a minute. While I don't think it is fair to be flagged and then suspended in 7 minutes, I could understand if I was clearly breaking a TOS rule. As the "flagging" violation email stated-it was a friendly warning to make me aware of the rule, so how does 7 minutes allow my behavior to change? The really funny fact is-I wasn't even on the boards while all this happened. But as I stated before, I should be responsible for what I write, and obviously I had written it before I logged off.
But, LOL-this is the kicker. The reason I was given for the second violation that led to the suspension was that I had violated a TOS rule-
Violation: Service Disruption
Disrupt the flow of the webpage with vulgar language, abusiveness or inputting large images so the screen goes by too fast to read, use of excessive shouting (all caps) in an attempt to disturb other users, “spamming” or “flooding” (posting repetitive text), or posting off-topic.
When I disputed this (they had copied what I wrote in the email I received) I pointed out that what I had written was none of the above. After contacting EA again, I was finally got this-"The reason this was an offense is that we do not want to cause disruption for the moderators by discussing them in any, slightly negative way." Yes, my post mentioned a SimGuru. The EA customer relations rep said this may or may not have been my intention, but this was the reason.
I sent another email to EA-after reading TOS AGAIN-and I pointed out that there was nothing in the TOS that mentioned moderators. If there is I must have missed it, please anyone show me where it is.
To make a long story short, LOL-please update TOS. I did not realize this was an infraction-and I've seen many other posts that also break this rule. How can we follow rules that are not clear?
Last but not least, I have to say, it's kinda funny. If this gets me in trouble, well-I submited a support issue to EA about my broken game on Nov. 18. I got an auto response, with some ideas to try and help (very generic). I updated my support ticket on Nov. 23, Nov 28, and some other date. I called EA, spent time on the phone, to no avail. I was told my crashing problems were gameplay problems, not technical, but they did give me some generic fixes to try-the same things in the auto response that I had already received. I was finally contacted on Dec. 13 about my support ticket from Nov. 18. The tech suggested I give my DXdiag report-which was in my first ticket, and suggested my comp may not meet min. requirements-which the dxdiag show they meet and exceed. He did apologize for the delay in getting back to me, and offered more generic help. During this past weekend, one of the customer relations-while not being able to overturn my suspension-offered to help me on my support ticket-so I sent that, and haven't gotten a reply back. So I'm on 33 days of a "broken game", but I got flagged and suspended in 7 minutes. That says it all.
This is what one EA customer went through, please consider updating the TOS rules, and replying to support requests sooner-even if there is no certain answer on how to fix the problem.
Sincerly,
Kendra
I hope no one thinks that this thread is whiney or complaining, but I feel it is very valid. I have tried to put it in the proper section.
Recently a post I wrote was flagged for a TOS violation, and then I had my account suspended for another posting. The emails that I got about the flagging and suspension were not clear at all. I was able to "dispute" the violations-but it took 2 different customer service reps to explain to me what the actual infractions were-and I got two different answers-and that was only after I sent 2 support tickets and 3 emails.
Also, another thing I considered funny was the timing. While I understand that I am responsible for what I write, I got the email about the flagging, with a warning stating that any further violations could result in a suspension or a termination of my account-and then 7 minutes later I got the email about the suspension-from another violation. In my opinion- the violation that I got suspended for is not clearly stated in the TOS rules-but more on that in a minute. While I don't think it is fair to be flagged and then suspended in 7 minutes, I could understand if I was clearly breaking a TOS rule. As the "flagging" violation email stated-it was a friendly warning to make me aware of the rule, so how does 7 minutes allow my behavior to change? The really funny fact is-I wasn't even on the boards while all this happened. But as I stated before, I should be responsible for what I write, and obviously I had written it before I logged off.
But, LOL-this is the kicker. The reason I was given for the second violation that led to the suspension was that I had violated a TOS rule-
Violation: Service Disruption
Disrupt the flow of the webpage with vulgar language, abusiveness or inputting large images so the screen goes by too fast to read, use of excessive shouting (all caps) in an attempt to disturb other users, “spamming” or “flooding” (posting repetitive text), or posting off-topic.
When I disputed this (they had copied what I wrote in the email I received) I pointed out that what I had written was none of the above. After contacting EA again, I was finally got this-"The reason this was an offense is that we do not want to cause disruption for the moderators by discussing them in any, slightly negative way." Yes, my post mentioned a SimGuru. The EA customer relations rep said this may or may not have been my intention, but this was the reason.
I sent another email to EA-after reading TOS AGAIN-and I pointed out that there was nothing in the TOS that mentioned moderators. If there is I must have missed it, please anyone show me where it is.
To make a long story short, LOL-please update TOS. I did not realize this was an infraction-and I've seen many other posts that also break this rule. How can we follow rules that are not clear?
Last but not least, I have to say, it's kinda funny. If this gets me in trouble, well-I submited a support issue to EA about my broken game on Nov. 18. I got an auto response, with some ideas to try and help (very generic). I updated my support ticket on Nov. 23, Nov 28, and some other date. I called EA, spent time on the phone, to no avail. I was told my crashing problems were gameplay problems, not technical, but they did give me some generic fixes to try-the same things in the auto response that I had already received. I was finally contacted on Dec. 13 about my support ticket from Nov. 18. The tech suggested I give my DXdiag report-which was in my first ticket, and suggested my comp may not meet min. requirements-which the dxdiag show they meet and exceed. He did apologize for the delay in getting back to me, and offered more generic help. During this past weekend, one of the customer relations-while not being able to overturn my suspension-offered to help me on my support ticket-so I sent that, and haven't gotten a reply back. So I'm on 33 days of a "broken game", but I got flagged and suspended in 7 minutes. That says it all.
This is what one EA customer went through, please consider updating the TOS rules, and replying to support requests sooner-even if there is no certain answer on how to fix the problem.
Sincerly,
Kendra
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Comments
So on the 4th ticket update response last night, what do they respond about? Yes, how to rename the save files, take out the legacy extensions all of that.
There are at least 1000 words in my logged support ticket requests, in only about 20 words did I mention those lost files. The other 980 words were clearly about crashing.
I have heard before that sometimes tech support reps use one name-even though it may be more than one person responding to you, so there isn't an angry mob after one person. I hope this isnt' the case, because besides the auto reply I got in regards to the inital support request-both human responses from the same name that I have gotten gave me steps to take to try to fix my games-after I clearly said I had already tried them. Both times.
I did not reply yet to the latest email, words had escaped me. They are coming back to me though. I will still try to be polite and concise as I have been the whole time.
What other options are open to me? During my punishment from the boards, I was contacted by a customer service rep, she offered to look at my tech ticket and help, I sent the whole long drawn out affair to her, but I've not gotten a response.