EA Support and you

Discussion in 'Off Topic Area' started by Rhythmkiller, May 22, 2014.

  1. Rhythmkiller

    Rhythmkiller Animo Non Astutia

    Hi Guys,

    Below is a transcript from my conversation with an EA support advisor for your viewing pleasure. I highlight this really as an excercise in dealing with customer service types and how unfriendly to the customer these guys are.

    The scene is this. When i bought my Xbox one i also purchased Fifa 14. the game has been unplayable. I get to season 4 and the game won't load the next season. I sim most of the games and play the champions league games so i have had maybe about 10 hours of game time since November. i have been trying to get it fixed with EA customer support since November.

    Below is the transcript. For those of you interested. No real point other than to vent and help - maybe even be helped.

    info: Your approximate wait time is 10 minute.
    info: Your approximate wait time is 9 minute.
    info: Your approximate wait time is 4 minute.
    info: You are now ready to chat with Rommel.
    Rommel: Thanks for contacting EA Customer Experience, my name is Rommel. How may I assist you today?
    you: hello
    you: I was actually already onto one of your guys and got no response from him
    Rommel: Hi there! How are you?
    you: I’m not too bad Rommel
    you: i am still having problems with Fifa 14. The game crashes at end of season at preparing new season
    Rommel: I understand that you want assistance regarding to your previous case.Let me assist you regarding this matter.
    Rommel: May I have your full name and your email address associated with your origin account?
    you: i was told i would receive a call and I was told this would be fixed, I was told I’d get a call from the specialist dept. well it has been months and I have received no call and the game is still broken
    you: My name is Barry Gordon and my email address is e-mail removed
    you: .com sorry
    Rommel: Thank you for the information Barry. Please give me a few minutes while I locate your account and review your case.
    Rommel: Thank you for waiting. I checked your previous case and see that you should have been called by our specialist team however, due to some reason it not happened. I'm really sorry about that. What I'm going to do is to escalate your chat now to our specialist so they can further assist you regarding this matter.
    you: Before you do that. i have had no call. no call was recieved.
    you: sorry thats what you said, accept my apologies Rommel
    Rommel: Yes, I can see that. No worries on that :)
    Rommel: I will now escalate your chat to our specialist. Anything else you want to add before I escalate your chat?
    you: no that’s fine. Thank you
    Rommel: Thank you so much, please hold on our chat.
    you: ok
    info: Please wait while we get this chat session where it needs to go.
    info: You are now ready to chat with Rommel.
    info: Please wait while we get this chat session where it needs to go.
    info: You are now ready to chat with Steven.
    you: Hello Steven
    you: Hello?????
    you: Am i even speaking to anyone?
    info: Your chat transcript will be sent to e-mail removed at the end of your chat session.
    Steven: You are speaking with Steve at EA Specialist Support. Can I verify your first name please?
    Steven: My apologies, we seemed to experience some lag in our chat.
    Steven: Are you still there?
    you: hello
    Steven: Hi there
    Steven: Sorry about that!
    you: no problem
    you: so can you help me Steven? have you seen my case notes?
    Steven: Can I confirm your first name please?
    you: Barry
    Steven: Hi Barry. You are experiencing crashes in FIFA, is that correct?
    you: yes at the end of the season when it says preparing new season
    you: the bar fill 3/4 and then freezes
    you: you can see from my past discussions all troubleshooting possible has been done and I guess that’s why I am talking to you now
    Steven: Is this in career mode Barry?
    you: yes it is, I only play career mode
    Steven: OK great thank you for confirming!
    you: no probs
    Steven: Can you advise if it is in a certain Career save or is it in all?
    you: it has happened with tree career saves, so yeah all of them
    you: three
    you: when I get to season 4 the game crashes
    Steven: OK, I suspect this has something to do with your EAS FC updates. I am guessing you have gone through some troubleshooting already?
    you: tonnes of troubleshooting with you guys. In regards to updates. I got my xbox day one and bought this game day one. the problem has been since the launch
    Steven: Have you tried your disk in another console, or vica versa (another disk in your console)
    you: it's a digital download copy
    Steven: I am aware of this issue as it actually happened to me too, Barry. It only happened to me on one save though, and when I restarted it was fine.
    you: it's happened with all of mine
    you: I have spent hours trying to play this game but it won't let me
    Steven: Ah ok. I believe what causes the error is one of the AI teams has players missing or has an incomplete squad, so the game doesnt have a full team to load for the following season.
    you: how does it get fixed?
    Steven: Unfortunately, the only people that can shed light on that is the Studio themselves. HAs your case never been escalated to them yet?
    you: Yes, I thought this was the escalation call I was waiting on
    Steven: Ah, I can see that it has, but it seems to have been taken out of our queue.
    you: am here again, i tried to play my game last night and the same problem has happened I was supposed to get a call back months ago and never received it that is why I
    Steven: Ok, what I will do is send this to them again, but can I ask that this time, if you wish an update, that you open a new case?
    you: wait a second, I have been dealing with this for months, the fault is not mine it is EA's
    Steven: The reason for this is that when you update your existing case, it takes it out of the Studio queue so that we can respond to it.
    you: ere job and contacting me you can't blame me for EA's shoddy customer service not doing th
    Steven: I am not saying it is your fault Barry.
    you: you can blame me for EA's shoddy customer service not calling me as promised
    Steven: We try to leave as much visibility on your case as possible through the help centre, but updating the case pulls it back to us for a reply, as the Studio do not have live support.
    Steven: I am not blaming you for a single thing Barry, nor would I, when clearly you have upheld your side of the bargain perfectly.
    Steven: I am merely trying to advise how these things happen and what I need to do next.
    you: This is ridiculous, I have had it with this game. Please remove my game code and compensate me appropriately. The product I purchased is not fit for purpose.
    Steven: I cannot do that without first having this assessed by our Studio Barry.
    Steven: If that was the case, people would play the game for 8 months then come back and tells us there was an issue all the time.
    you: I am saving this transcript and I will post on every game site and forum I can because this customer service is an absolute disgrace. Just give me back my money and take the broken product
    Steven: I appreciate you are frustrated, I genuinely do, and yes, the process should have been explained better earlier, but rest assured I will get back to you as soon as I can with ajn update on this.
    you: but I didn't play it for 8 months I have been trying to get you to fix it since November last year and had nothing but constant lies from you.
    you: rest assured, the same assurance I got from the last person i spoke to
    info: Your chat transcript will be sent to e-mail removed at the end of your chat session.
    Steven: We arent lying to you Barry. Not being advised of part of our systems is not lying. It is an oversight, and I will ensure the people that can ensure it doesnt happen again will know about it.
    Steven: All that I can do is have our Studio team look at this and prioritize it for a fix, or the very least, an update to you.
    you: No it's not an oversight it is poor customer service and regardless of wither it was explained or not you didn't do what you were supposed to do. I did not receive the promised call back from the studio, I was told a lie. That is not misinformation
    you: Take my broken game back, delete the code or whatever you do and give me back my money or compensate me in whatever way you wish.
    Steven: I appreciate where you are coming from Barry, and were I in the same position I too would be as frustrated as you are. I can only do what my systems allow, however, and these errors need to be verified before appropriate compensation can be granted.
    you: Verified??? go onto your own origin fifa 14 forums and you will get all the verification you need.
    Steven: Your game is a Digital Download, which means that I have no control what-so-ever when it comes to removing it or adding it to your account and processing a refund for it.
    Steven: The most that I could do is arrange to have a new, hard disc copy of the game sent to you as a gesture of goodwill, while we escalate the case to our Studio for proper and thorough investigation.
    you: Yes please do that, anything that tells me you are at least trying to help me. A hard disc copy will do and let me try that. but keep my case open please.
    Steven: I will of course. I will escalate it to our Studio for you. I would simply ask that we you reconnect with us, you do so through a new case, so as not to affect this one.
    you: Ok. that’s fine.
    Steven: Great! Can you verify your full name and address for me please?
    you:
    you:
    you:
    info: Your chat transcript will be sent to [e-mail removed at the end of your chat session.
    Steven: I have sent this request to our Warranty team now to get this game out to you Barry, with a request for something a little extra too.
    you: Thank you Steven. I just want to know that EA is at least trying to help me and until I spoke to you I haven't had that satisfaction
    Steven: They should be with you within 10 business days, so please persevere and reconnect after 10 business days if you have not received them.
    Steven: In a new case thoguh, of course! :)
    you: ok thank you Steven
    Steven: No problem at all!
    Steven: Can I assist with anything else in the meantime?
    you: No but I will thank you for your time.
    you: Thanks again
    Steven: No problem. Thanks for contacting EA Support and have a great day Barry. :)
    you: You too
    info: Your chat transcript will be sent to e-mail removed at the end of your chat session.

    Baza
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 22, 2014
  2. Pretty In Pink

    Pretty In Pink Moved on MAP 2017 Gold Award

    They seemed to do what they could for you. Please understand that these guys have a VERY limited degree of control over your account. It's not fair to call them out when it was not their fault. The person who you spoke to in November should be held responsible IMO.

    I use to work in retail :(
     
  3. Unreal Combat

    Unreal Combat Valued Member

    To be honest, I thought you were given good customer support there and that Steven was genuinely quite pleasant and patient with you and he seemed like he really wanted to help you.

    In general I've had good dealings with EA's customer support team in the past.
     
  4. Rhythmkiller

    Rhythmkiller Animo Non Astutia

    Yeah i had just been cut off two previous chat sessions and have been dealing with this for quite a long time. Really unwilling to drop it. Steven wasn't the issue but everything that lead to that was and is most definately the issue. Also putting the onus in the customer for there issue isn't good customer service. bare in mind this has been on-going since November last year. Steven did well with an Irate Barry at this point and he was thanked however, dred the day you call EA support. Almost 8 months to get to this point.

    The collective are to blame not the very first guy i dealt with. I'm quite aware of how much control they have as i have worked in the industry before my current job and it's not my account they had to control it wa a support ticket and that is their job (I currently work in the support industry). The fact is this is maybe the eighth or ninth call to EA support. Didn't even mention battlefield horrors to them. Another game i have and played for only an hour or so because it's so broken.

    Baza
     
    Last edited: May 22, 2014
  5. belltoller

    belltoller OffTopic MonstreOrdinaire Supporter

    That was your first mistake
     
  6. Rhythmkiller

    Rhythmkiller Animo Non Astutia

    I'm beggining to agree, but this particular problem affects all formats.

    Baza
     
  7. belltoller

    belltoller OffTopic MonstreOrdinaire Supporter

    Ya, I canna say as I've never had to deal with CS too much with our 360, but from what I can tell, as everyone here's said, your CS rep seems engaged and willing.
     
  8. Unreal Combat

    Unreal Combat Valued Member

    Nothing wrong with the Xbox One. It's a bit rough around the edges from launch but it's really starting to progress well with updates. Just needs more games. Fall can't come quickly enough!
     
  9. Rhythmkiller

    Rhythmkiller Animo Non Astutia

    He was alright (Wasn't calling him out on a personal level). The transcript is there as proof of how bad EA support is and 8 months down the line i don't think anyone could argue that it's good (Ask the battelfield customers and shareholders). Not with the content you understand but the fact that EA as a company have poor customer service. They put ill equipped Customer Service reps on the front line, that guy steven couldn't even admit in the first instance that my problem was genuine and needed verification. The verification is on his company website and then states that "oh Yeah, i had that problem too". I don't know what it is but i have alway taken issue with people that try to make you seem silly.

    Either he genuinely didn't know about it and has missed his company's recent press releases regarding the game in which case he's not doing his job. All consultants would have been made aware of this by EA you can guarantee that. Or he did know about it (and we know he did) and thought i'd let him off the hook after 8 months?????

    One more thing, had i not pressed the issue my ticket would have gone back to the studio again and i'd have heard nothing....again. He was willing but so were the previous 5 reps, i have went through this same scenario with quite a few of them all with the exact same dialogue.

    Baza
     

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