Rebate from Character Select Screen

[ronalmb]

<p>Hello,</p><p>I notice that there are certain things available as rebate from character select (addtional character slots, Destiny of Velous expansion). I purchased the Destiny of Velous Expansion through it and have not recieved the rebate. I saw a post in the General Topic related that suggested filing a /petition to talk to a GM, but that just opens up an FAQ database.</p><p>Is this broken? Was the expansion not supposed to be at a rebate? I intended to purchase the Expansion and two character slots with the rebate, but can't/won't purchase the slots until my rebate kicks in. I was told the rebate is instantaneous, but it isn't kicking in at all.</p><p>Any advice or assistance is greatly appreciated. Thank you.</p>

[retro_guy]

<p>I want to buy a couple of things too, heard the rebate was broken.</p><p>It's a bit of a stupid way to handle the "specials", why not just lower the price of the item like they do for all the other specials.</p><p>And also this method limits who can but the items e.g. someone has 1000SC, but they can't buy a mount that is 1200SC (actually 600SC with rebate).</p><p>Dumb / strange. </p>

[ronalmb]

<p>I'm inclined to agree. It really would have been easier to just mark the desired items half off.</p><p><EDIT> I have created a free account and went to the character select screen and grabbed a screen shot of the Sony Market Rebate page for expansions. Note: Both the DoV expansion and the latest expansion appear as being on rebate. I find it hard to believe that the latest expansion would be half-off so I am willing to bet this is a bug with the Sony Market from the character select screen.</p><p>I have filed a /petition and included a screenshot there as well. I purchased the DoV expansion under the belief that it is on rebate and really hope that I can either get a refund on the expansion or my rebate.</p><p>I have a screenshot as well, but as Gravy has already posted the same exact one, I see no reason to repeat it.</p><p>Thanks, Gravy, for responding.</p>

[Gravy]

<p><img src="http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/7084/43494404.png" /></p><p>Here's the screenshot. It clearly says rebate.</p>

[Kesstryl]

<p>My husband bought the AoD expansion in the character select because it was flagged for rebate.  He did not get the rebate.  He saw the exact thing which is posted in the above screenshot, it was flagged for rebate.</p>

[ronalmb]

<p>They have now modified the character select screen and taken these items off rebate.</p><p>I am glad that Gravy got that screenshot posted!</p><p>Hopefully, we'll get our rebates on this.</p><p>They haven't modified the extra character slots yet so they haven't thoroughly fixed the issue.</p>

[Kesstryl]

<p>I just logged in on my bronze account which I've never bought expansions for, and yes the AoD is indeed flagged for rebate, here is my screenshot <img src="http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/Kesstryl/Screenshot_2.jpg" width="1022" height="535" /></p>

[ronalmb]

<p>I have recieved a reply from a GM. They will forward me to Technical Support to address the issue. Technical support is not available until Monday, so there will be no immediate resolution of this issue (which means no rebate and no taking advantage of this sale).</p><p>This is disappointing to say the least. I want to scream out in indignant nerd-rage... but I will restrain myself and hope that things will work out for the best on Monday.</p>

[Kesstryl]

<p>I agree, I've been trying to get my husband to play this with me for ages, and he finally agreed to thinking he might like the mercenaries and extra stuff to make gameplay more interesting, now this issue has just further alienated him from playing.  He had SC on his account for other games like DCUO, and feels really cheated.  I hope SOE does the right thing and refunds the rebates for those who already bought the expansions expecting to get the Presidents Day deal. It really makes it hard for those of us who are trying to get family and friends on board with thier games.  Wait until Monday?  He will be back to playing SW:TOR by then, so time I could have been playing with him over the weekend is now lost as he will not touch this game while feeling cheated like this.</p>

[ronalmb]

<p>Update:</p><p>This morning I talked to an agent from Customer Service, who promised me that I would recieve the rebate in the next couple of days. He was fairly courteous and I thought that was to be the end of it.</p><p>However, I just received a reply informing me that there were "some items erroneously flagged for Rebate in the sale on Saturday before the issue was resolved" and that I would not be receiving a rebate for the items. I was offered two solutions:</p><p>1. Keep the item at full price</p><p>2. Return the expansion and have 20.00 put back into my Station Cash.</p><p>AS I put money into station cash specifically for the offered rebate, neither of these solutions were acceptable to me. I spent some time on the phone with Account and Billing again and was informed that management has a policy of not refunding Station Cash. This well, irked me, as it was their error, and I explained it as so and asked to speak to management.</p><p>After being put on hold for a short time, the CS representative returned and told me that since the error was theirs, they would make this "one time exception" and return my purchase. </p><p>SO my advice to anyone else experiencing this and feeling unhappy with the resolution: do NOT settle for the solution that still ends up with your money in their pocket. Ask for a member of management and get the option that returns your money to you.</p><p>I would like to say that the CS Representative I spoke with on the phone was polite, if not a little overly formal. She was patient with me and cooperative enough that I did not embarrass myself in a nerd-raged fit.</p>

[TSR-MattG]

<p>Firstly, I'd like to apologize to anyone who experienced issues with the marketplace sale this weekend.</p><p>For those who bought the Mahogany Furniture at N/C (No cost) and were charged 100SC a piece, please contact CS and we'll refund those purchases. In this case the items themselves are small and were clearly advertised as no cost, and we'll allow you to keep the furniture.</p><p>For those who bought product that was mis-labeled with rebates (DOV/AOD Expansions and Character Slots primarily) - we can either revoke the expansion and process a refund, or otherwise you're free to keep it, as that is their regular and intended price, promo or not.</p><p>We have a ton of contacts on this and our reps are getting through them as fast as we can! We'll get to you all soon, but if you haven't yet, please <a href="https://help.station.sony.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/28939" target="_blank">open a support ticket</a> so we can address this with you.</p>

[Mizlek]

<p><cite>ronalmb wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Update:</p><p>This morning I talked to an agent from Customer Service, who promised me that I would recieve the rebate in the next couple of days. He was fairly courteous and I thought that was to be the end of it.</p><p>However, I just received a reply informing me that there were "some items erroneously flagged for Rebate in the sale on Saturday before the issue was resolved" and that I would not be receiving a rebate for the items. I was offered two solutions:</p><p>1. Keep the item at full price</p><p>2. Return the expansion and have 20.00 put back into my Station Cash.</p><p>AS I put money into station cash specifically for the offered rebate, neither of these solutions were acceptable to me. I spent some time on the phone with Account and Billing again and was informed that management has a policy of not refunding Station Cash. This well, irked me, as it was their error, and I explained it as so and asked to speak to management.</p><p>After being put on hold for a short time, the CS representative returned and told me that since the error was theirs, they would make this "one time exception" and return my purchase. </p><p>SO my advice to anyone else experiencing this and feeling unhappy with the resolution: do NOT settle for the solution that still ends up with your money in their pocket. Ask for a member of management and get the option that returns your money to you.</p><p>I would like to say that the CS Representative I spoke with on the phone was polite, if not a little overly formal. She was patient with me and cooperative enough that I did not embarrass myself in a nerd-raged fit.</p></blockquote><p>Good for you. I hope to get the same resolution. Though I haven't gotten my initial response back. I kinda figured they would tell me tough luck. Like they did when I purchased a year subscription and didn't get the subscription bonus which they decided to cancel after the purchase. Not this time.</p><p>-Miz</p>

[ravenhair]

<p><cite>TSR-MattG wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Firstly, I'd like to apologize to anyone who experienced issues with the marketplace sale this weekend.</p><p>For those who bought the Mahogany Furniture at N/C (No cost) and were charged 100SC a piece, please contact CS and we'll refund those purchases. In this case the items themselves are small and were clearly advertised as no cost, and we'll allow you to keep the furniture.</p><p>For those who bought product that was mis-labeled with rebates (DOV/AOD Expansions and Character Slots primarily) - we can either revoke the expansion and process a refund, or otherwise you're free to keep it, as that is their regular and intended price, promo or not.</p><p>We have a ton of contacts on this and our reps are getting through them as fast as we can! We'll get to you all soon, but if you haven't yet, please <a href="https://help.station.sony.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/28939" target="_blank">open a support ticket</a> so we can address this with you.</p></blockquote><p>Hmmmm..... so some furniture items were mislabelled, but you will honour the sale because they are just fluff? But refuse to honour the mislabelled expansions? I don't see how you can have it both ways.....</p>

[ronalmb]

<p>Matt -</p><p>Thank you for your reply. It may not be the answer I and other folks were looking for, but I do appreciate the time you took to answer this post as well as the apology you offered. One of the things that bothered me the most about this ordeal (and why I demanded a refund instead of keeping the item) was the lack of conveyed sympathy, remorse, or responsibility for the mistake that occurred through my normal ticket and phone process. Through out the entire experience, most of the support I received was very polite but very informal, cold, and impersonal. The only live person I interacted with that was sympathetic also promised me that I would receive the refund - so I can't put much stock in that experience.</p><p>What I really don't understand is why you would not choose to honor the refund? It seems to me that there are four options here:</p><p>a. Customer keeps the item at full price (Customer feels cheated, unhappy. Sony keeps money. Sony likely to lose some accounts)b. Customer returns the item, gets the Station Cash back (Customer is likely to still feel cheated and unhappy. They are still out the money. Sony keeps money. Sony wins in the short term.)c. Sony makes an exception and refunds even the Sony Cash. This happened for me. (Customer gets money back. Likely feels mildly annoyed, but will get over it. Sony loses the sale and wastes time and resources going through refund. Customer is winner in short term.)</p><p>and:</p><p>d. Sony honors rebates offered. (Customer is happy. Sony makes some money on the digital purchase and wins in long term).</p><p>To me, it would seem like D is the correct answer. I'm not sure why the character slots would be an issue and EQ2 has a history of eventually bundling up previous expansions into the main download so I'm not sure why the DOV is that much of a concern - so i imagine that the real issue is the rebate offered on the Age of Discovery expansion. I have no idea as to how many people jumped all over that offer - I certainly would have had I not already purchased it earlier this month. But does that matter? How would the rebate offer have been different than having made these purchases during a Sony Double Station Cash weekend event (which I will wait for)? Any of the items above would essentially be "half off" during any of those events as well (and Sony does have them) so I fail to see the issue other than stubbornly adhering to the confines of one's box.</p><p>I do sympathize with the headache that such a simple error causes but the mistake was made and Sony must weigh the costs incurred to them against the goodwill and faith of their customer base.  Given the increased competitiveness of the MMO market, it seems to me that the right thing to do would be for Sony to honor their rebate offer. But that is just one man's opinion.</p>

[TSR-MattG]

<p>@Ronalamb</p><p>In response to option C - this is an exception which shouldn't be hard to grant in most cases. Basically, if you funded SC just for this purpose, and havent spent any outside of the mis-labeled expansion purchase, we should be able to refund you for the Station Cash.</p><p>This will vary from case to case depending on circumstance but so long as this isn't SC funded long ago, or you haven't spent part of it outside of the mis-labeled expansion purchase (IE you fund 5000SC, spend 2000 for DOV and then buy other stuff with the rest/part of the rest) we should be able to get you a refund. There is no intention of sleighting our customers here, and we do want to make this right.</p><p>The only other exception to the above would be SC funded by game cards, we do not have a way to refund those in to cash, only back to SC, or in to game time.</p><p>As far as why our stance is different on expansions vs. the marketplace furniture referenced here - those are business decisions made far above my paygrade <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Afraid I can't offer much more than that on that specific topic.</p>

[ronalmb]

<p>Matt -</p><p>Thank you again for your quick reply and for your style of approach to this issue. It helps restore a bit of my confidence in Sony. I am glad to hear that folks that spent money specifically to take advantage of the rebate have some options open to them!</p><p>I understand your inability and reluctance to offer more beyond your paygrade - times are too tight to be unnecessarily putting yourself out on a limb for annoymous folks on the "interwebs". I appreciate what you can do and have been doing.</p><p>Perhaps there is something else you can do for the community, however - certainly someone in the proper paygrade could take the time to explain exactly why "D" is not the best option? I want to think that Sony SOE is a fairly successful business and I can't imagine that the folks at the top would willfully want to alienate a portion of their user base callously - so there must be something more at play.</p><p>It would behoove them to do a little public PR on this and come forward and better explain their stance. I'm not asking for the divulgence of company secrets, just simply someone that CAN educate us on the basics of sound business decisions spend a little time illuminating us on why D is a bad idea.</p><p>Also of note, I received a PM from a free account user that shared his own experiences. Unable to post due to free account restrictions, he sent me a message. With his permission, I have included it here to illustrate the severity of the issue.</p><p>--------------------------------------------------copy and pasted from PM-----------------------------------------</p><p><span></span></p><p>I am one of many "free" users who are restricted from posting on the forums. As such, there is a whole mass of voices not publicly heard on this issue.</p><p>I applaud your constructive and well-reasoned response. Thank you for saying publicly what so many other players cannot due to account status.</p><p>Like probably many free account holders, I took advantage of the advertised rebates to purchase class packs. I also did not receive the advertised rebate. I too contacted customer service and received the same answer as you. I too expressed nearly exactly the options you laid out in your 4 points. The resolution, from SOE: we lock your class (which meant my character) and refund the station Cash or you keep the class and we keep full price. SOE was more than happy to keep $3.75 and lose a customer (I was coming back to EQ and deciding whether to subscribe to EQ1 again or EQ2). Now they have nothing and friends that I play MMORPs with are also not going to play EQ, EQ2 or Star wars...we all are avoiding SOE products.</p><p>As well, SOE is shooting themselves in the foot--the whole business model of free to play relies on players making purchases for slots, classes, races, unlocking keys, etc...But those that feel cheated and are angry at SOE's response, will think twice if they even play at all.</p><p>Thank you for expressing what we "free" players cannot. You are right on point.</p><p>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>It saddens me to see a lost opportunity and to see EQ2 lose a player. Im greatly enjoying the game and find it much more vast and complicated than the World of Warcraft gameplay that has dominated much of my MMO experience in these recent years. Lacking the bigger picture, I only see that for 3.75, Sony could have kept him playing.</p><p>It is my hope that you will be willing to take the risk of approaching upper management (and yes, i acknowledge that it is indeed a risk) and pass along the suggestion that someone step forward to express Sony's side of things. I try to be an optimist, and I believe that such a move can only strengthen Sony and EQs userbase.</p><p>Thank you again for your time,</p><p>Michael</p><p>Edit: Fixed Behoof to Behoove</p>

[Mizlek]

<p>Here's the thing. SOE held this rebate stunt to get people to convert cash into SC, under the guise of a sale. It sounds like it worked. Whether I then spend all of my SC or none of it, shouldn't matter to SOE. They've already won when I gave them my money. Now they want to take issue with me over a 1000 SC character slot, versus a 500 SC character that they offered me? The SC or the virtual items I buy with it, are valueless. What is it going to cost SOE in customer support hours to argue this with me? What is it going to cost SOE in goodwill? Is 500 SC worth a gold subscriber?</p><p>The only sensible solution as I see it, is for SOE to honor the transactions they offered. They already have my money, isn't that what's important to them?</p><p>By the way, I finally got my response this afternoon. As expected, they are not going to honor the purchase. I am debating with myself to take them to task over this or not. Unfortunately, I must leave town and will not be able to deal with this until next week. What ever I decide will have to wait until then. And they better not give me a bad time about that.</p><p>-Miz</p>

[smogfire]

<p>I was under the impression I only had 72 hours to accept the refunded SC or I was stuck paying full price for both expansions.</p><p>You are correct that from a financial pov, they already have my money, so why bother honoring their mistake.</p><p>It is similar to when they told everyone to come back with F2P and then returning players could not access any of their chars. Except in this case it is probably not as large a group to concern them with the repercussions.</p><p>Fool me once shame on you,</p><p>fool me over and over,</p><p>shame on me.</p>

[TSR-MattG]

<p>@Ronalamb/the others concerned - I've spoken to the bosses today and we will be re-examining our stance on the items marked with rebates, and possibly doing something different than what I've described here. All the info I can give for now but this is being looked at by the higher ups.</p><p>I'll provide more info when able.</p>

[TSR-MattG]

<p>We're going through now and manually honoring rebates on the items which were marked as such at character select purchased up until 5PM PST on 2/18/2012 (this was the time span where the mis-labeling issue existed).</p><p>This should be done by end of the day, so if you feel you haven't gotten your rebate by then please <a href="https://help.station.sony.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/28939" target="_blank">open a support ticket</a>.</p>

[ronalmb]

<p>Matt -</p><p>Thank you very much for your continual checking in upon this matter. I appreciate it immediately. I recieved this update to my ticket a few moments ago in regards to the rebate issue, and thought that I would share it to keep communication flowing:</p><p>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>Greetings ronalmb,Thank you for contacting Sony Online Entertainment. As you are aware, there was an issue with the President's day promotion this past weekend. Some items were marked as rebated when they should not have been. And other items were marked as "No Charge" when they should not have been. After some discussion, we have decided to honor these purchases. You should see that the station cash has been added to your account for the rebate of these items. We are very sorry for any inconvenience that this has caused you. I would suggest checking your station cash balances over the next couple of hours and you should see that the station cash has been added. If you do not see a change in your station cash balance, please let me know so that I can investigate the issue. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience that this has caused. If you have any more questions or concerns, please let me know. Regards,CSR Steven G. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>My understanding of this message is that the decision has been to honor the rebates - option 'D' from an earlier post. If my interpretation is correct, I believe that this is the correct decision for Sony to have made and I am pleased to see that they have come to this decision.  When my rebate arrives I will immediately put it to good use - buying yet another character slot!</p><p>EDIT: I have just seen your latest update and it does indeed seem my interpretation is correct. I am glad to see this result and would ask my fellow customers to be patient while you proceed through the task of issuing those rebates, and to continue to give EQ2 their support. It's a great MMO (although I miss the old crafting <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>Michael</p>

[TSR-MattG]

<p><cite>ronalmb wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Matt -</p><p>Thank you very much for your continual checking in upon this matter. I appreciate it immediately. I recieved this update to my ticket a few moments ago in regards to the rebate issue, and thought that I would share it to keep communication flowing:</p><p>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>Greetings ronalmb,Thank you for contacting Sony Online Entertainment. As you are aware, there was an issue with the President's day promotion this past weekend. Some items were marked as rebated when they should not have been. And other items were marked as "No Charge" when they should not have been. After some discussion, we have decided to honor these purchases. You should see that the station cash has been added to your account for the rebate of these items. We are very sorry for any inconvenience that this has caused you. I would suggest checking your station cash balances over the next couple of hours and you should see that the station cash has been added. If you do not see a change in your station cash balance, please let me know so that I can investigate the issue. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience that this has caused. If you have any more questions or concerns, please let me know. Regards,CSR Steven G. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>My understanding of this message is that the decision has been to honor the rebates - option 'D' from an earlier post. If my interpretation is correct, I believe that this is the correct decision for Sony to have made and I am pleased to see that they have come to this decision.  When my rebate arrives I will immediately put it to good use - buying yet another character slot!</p><p>EDIT: I have just seen your latest update and it does indeed seem my interpretation is correct. I am glad to see this result and would ask my fellow customers to be patient while you proceed through the task of issuing those rebates, and to continue to give EQ2 their support. It's a great MMO (although I miss the old crafting <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" /></p><p>Michael</p></blockquote><p>Your interperetation is correct, and for the record, I miss being killed by the forge too <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>Glad we were able to come to a satisfactory resolution in the end - and good luck with your new character!</p>

[smogfire]

<p>It appears tthat "D." was a viable option and just wanted to say thanx to SOE CS</p><p>Good job</p>