Support unable to tell an account is VIP
By
Stormbird,
Posted on: 2011-11-02 09:48 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
Reopen the ticket if it was closed, otherwise just update the ticket with the following information:
Politely tell them that you ARE a VIP and that the SG base permissions are set so that members of any rank are allowed to pay rent, not just the Leader. Let them know that as a VIP player with priveleges to pay base rent, the fact that the registrar won't allow you to pay rent and says that the rent is paid is not working as designed.
Be firm, be polite, and if necessary ask them to escalate it to a senior GM if they still aren't understanding the problems. Most of all, be polite. If you stay polite throughout the process they are less likely to be dismissive of the problems. Having done technical support myself via email, phone and web forms, I've seen both sides of that situation.
If the game spit out 20 dollar bills people would complain that they weren't sequentially numbered. If they were sequentially numbered people would complain that they weren't random enough.
Black Pebble is my new hero.
I know, that's why I'm venting here.
My response to them was simply: "This account *is* VIP." And a copy of my account status page showing VIP through Nov 16 (so it's not something that "just" updated or anything.)
I'm just (A) irritated that was kicked back so fast with that, (B) irritated it's the second time in less than a month I've been told I'm not VIP, and (C) pointing out a possible overall problem if either I'm not being recognized as one (though none of my slots are locked, etc.) or if the red-star holder is non VIP and screwing up the rest of the SG.
Wanted: Origin centric story arcs.
If you've only played an AT once (one set combo) and "hate" it - don't give up. Roll a different combo. It may just be those sets not clicking for you.
Understood. I assumed it might be a way of venting, but wanted to put the advice there for you and others that might be in a similar situation.
I've worked with some people in the past that skimmed problem tickets and answered with canned replies that didn't address the issue at all.
I've dealt with support at other companies that did the same and it was only after repeatedly putting in the same information, along with the statement that they weren't reading what was in the original information and were giving answers that had nothing to do with the problem that I finally got a resolution.
I've been lucky in the 7+ years I've been playing CoH to have only gotten one canned reply that made it quite evident that the person simply skimmed the report and replied with a cut/paste response that in no way dealt with the problems I was having. That one quickly got resolved when responded to it asking them to read the entire post and not just skim a few words. Surprisingly, it also got me an apology from the GM that responded after my reply (not the original GM).
Now, I have had some back and forth conversations with them about some things, but it wasn't due entirely to them misreading the problem.
If the game spit out 20 dollar bills people would complain that they weren't sequentially numbered. If they were sequentially numbered people would complain that they weren't random enough.
Black Pebble is my new hero.
So, I go to my SG base. I have permission to pay rent, etc. Teleporters are off.
OK, it's been a while since I've been to this server. /petition "Power/control off, registrar says rent is paid."
Their reply?
"This is working as intended. Bases are a VIP feature, you need to have at least one VIP member of the group."
...
Yeah. I didn't have to unlock the character, I've got all my server slots, and, oh, look up here:
"Welcome Stormbird. As a VIP Subscriber you enjoy full posting privileges on these forums. "
Now, I don't know if the red-star is VIP still or dropped to premium. I believe they did. But every single rank has rent paying authority.
I admit part of this is a PO'd Stormbird ranting - but if this is because of what I think it is - that the red star holder went premium, which means we're stuck for a while longer - that REALLY needs to be looked into and fixed. Even if it's just support seeing "Red star = premium, the entire SG is considered 'premium,' that needs to be rectified, since that would just be policy as opposed to a technical change.
I will say it sure doesn't make me *want* to stay VIP if this is the "priority support" we get.
Edit:
I'll also point out that this is not the first time they've screwed up on my status. I've had zero gaps in staying paid up, but recently trying to invite someone to a (different) SG gave me a "You must be reward level 2" error message. So they've got something screwed up, I think.
Wanted: Origin centric story arcs.
If you've only played an AT once (one set combo) and "hate" it - don't give up. Roll a different combo. It may just be those sets not clicking for you.