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Ripperdoc1

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Joined: 12/31/1969
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NCsoft account banning

I attempted to log into my CoH acoount a few days ago to find that my account had been permanently banned. I was in shock. I couldn't believe it. I didn't even get an email telling me WHY it was banned. The first thing that went through my mind was that someone, somehow had managed to hack my account. So, I tried repeatedly to contact Customer Support by phone. That's an entirely separate ordeal that I'll go into later on in the story/

Several phone calls and support tickets later, I get this response back:

------------------------------------------------------------

Response (PJ) 02/01/2008 11:32 AM

Greetings,

Thank you for verifying this information. The owner of the credit card, that was used to pay for the subion fees on this game account, contacted the issuer of the card claiming that the use of the card with our service was not authorized by them. As a result of this dispute, the issuer of the card has reversed the funds paid to NCsoft back to the issuer of the card. Due to this claim of unauthorized credit card use, which resulted in a chargeback, this PlayNC Master account and all associated game accounts have been permanently closed and are not eligible to be reactivated.

------------------------------------------------------------

WHAT??? The next thing that went through my mind is that someone had gotten my wife's credit card info somewhere online. So, I had my wife call American Express to find out what was going on.

Keep in mind what I just quoted you directly from Customer Support.

American Express faxed my wife a copy of our statement with the current charges listed. On this statement was the charge to NCsoft - PlayNC Games - Austin TX (withholding their 866 phone number) - $14.99 on Jan. 19 2008. The charge was not only paid by American Express, they also gave us the reference number for the transaction. Here's were NCsoft really steps in the poo.

Having been told by NCsoft that someone from American Express had called them and told them they had been contacted by the cardholder and the charge was fraudulant and they were going to chargeback the money to the cardholder, we queried American Express about it. They are leagally required to make a notation on the cardholders record if any instance of ID theft or fraud occurs so that there is a record for the company. They had received no such call from the cardholder and they had not contacted ANYONE at NCsoft about such an incident. Obviously so, as my wife is the cardholder and the charge is one that she and I made!!! The Customer Support Rep at NCsoft LIED! My wife had all the information faxed to her from American Express. I'm sitting here with proof, in hand mind you, that they flat out lied and cancelled my acoount for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

This brings me to the issue with phoning Customer Support. Don't bother calling the 1-512-225-6359 number. All they do is get some very basic info from you and then tell you they can't help you. The last time I called, I asked the NCsoft rep what I needed to do to get my account re-instated once all of this was cleared up and this is what he told me...

"Not my call. That's up to the Accounts department. It's up to them. And there's no way to contact them by phone or I would have put you through and passed you off to them."

I didn't ask him to re-instate my account. What I asked was, "What is the procedure that I need to follow to have my account re-instated?".

The response I got was, "I mean, I guess you'll just have to start another ticket."

So, here's the basics...

1. The card was valid.

2. The charge was paid to NCsoft.

3. NCsoft LIED about what transpired.

4. I have hardcopies from American Express that prove they lied.

5. They banned my account for no reason and then lied to cover up their mistake rather than just apologizing and accepting responsibility for what they had done. I'd like to give them the benefit of a doubt and say they got my account confused with someone's account that probably DID fraudulantly charge a credit card. But, I don't think that's the case at all. I really don't know why they did it, I just know that I was punished for someone at NCsofts' mistake. It was certainly no fault of mine or American Express. This is an indisputable fact.

I don't expect people to stop playing CoH just because some guy on the internet was shafted by NCsoft. But, people need to know that NCsoft doesn't care about Customer Support or doing what's right when they make such an obvious mistake. They refuse to even issue an apology for it.

I can't believe this is how they treat their customers.

***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***

02/02/08 18:34

BishopDon

GameAmp Staff
Posts: 10
Joined: 04/19/2005
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RE: NCsoft account banning

Hey Ripperdoc1, Unwelcome to Gameamp.

Sorry to hear about your issue and all I can say is hope that it gets resolved. Since I haven't experienced this, I don't have any helpful tips to assist you. If it was a mistake on their behalf, I would hope that they would resolve the issue swiftly.

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02/02/08 22:24

Epsilon Unit

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Joined: 08/22/2007
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RE: NCsoft account banning

Been there done that, happened to me aswell a year or so ago, and i had quite a bit of time and money put into that account, aswell that there are a few other people ive met randomly on different servers have had that happen aswell i got tired of the frustration and just started over

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02/03/08 23:13

govtmorgue

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RE: NCsoft account banning

It happened to me, a LONG while ago, and since then I've been CoH/CoVless. Been trying to get the account thing hammered out lol.

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02/05/08 10:58

lani

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Posts: 570
Joined: 09/08/2005
Credibility: 28 pts

RE: NCsoft account banning

Wow, I'm impressed:

http://forums.firingsquad.com/firingsquad/board/message?board.id=pc&message.id=49674#M49674
http://www.progamerforums.com/12617-ncsoft-bans-city-heroes-account.html#post211472
http://www.talkvideogames.com/showthread.php?tid=41704
http://www.gamerevolution.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=139434&highlight=&sid=8f00de32de602a93e56bc066f33c78e8#139434
http://1upgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=404
http://www.atrip.net/forums/showthread.php?p=240053
http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=536558&topic=41179818
http://vnboards.ign.com/city_of_heroes_villains_general_board/b22054/106187535/p1/?1
http://boards.stratics.com/php-bin/coh/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=3690&Main=3690
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/cityofheroes/show_msgs.php?topic_id=m-1-41179818&pid=536558
http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=games_mygames&thread.id=19152
http://www.atrip.net/forums/showthread.php?p=240123#post240123

Tell me, are you doing some kind of cross-site comparison social experiment to find out how different communities react to your post?
That'd be so cool!

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02/05/08 11:29

Ripperdoc1

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Joined: 12/31/1969
Credibility: pts

RE: NCsoft account banning

LOL No, not a social-comparison experiment... but, that would be interesting.

I just wanted to get the word out to as many gamers as possible. The community just needs to be aware of this company's business practices.

***UPDATE: After contacting American Express, the Better Business Bureau along with several other consumer watch-dog groups and gaming forums across the internet, I am proud to say that NCSoft has repented and seen the error of their ways. My account was unbanned yesterday.

Sometimes you CAN fight city hall and win.

02/05/08 13:49

BishopDon

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RE: NCsoft account banning

QUOTE

Wow, I'm impressed:

http://forums.firingsquad.com/firingsquad/board/message?board.id=pc&message.id=49674#M49674
http://www.progamerforums.com/12617-ncsoft-bans-city-heroes-account.html#post211472
http://www.talkvideogames.com/showthread.php?tid=41704
http://www.gamerevolution.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=139434&highlight=&sid=8f00de32de602a93e56bc066f33c78e8#139434
http://1upgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=404
http://www.atrip.net/forums/showthread.php?p=240053
http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=536558&topic=41179818
http://vnboards.ign.com/city_of_heroes_villains_general_board/b22054/106187535/p1/?1
http://boards.stratics.com/php-bin/coh/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=3690&Main=3690
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/cityofheroes/show_msgs.php?topic_id=m-1-41179818&pid=536558
http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=games_mygames&thread.id=19152
http://www.atrip.net/forums/showthread.php?p=240123#post240123

Tell me, are you doing some kind of cross-site comparison social experiment to find out how different communities react to your post?
That'd be so cool!

Hmmm, there are other CoV forums out there???? lol

And all this time I thought GA was the one and only (mainly because this is where I reside :) )

***Looking for new content***

02/05/08 18:22

Mzzkc

Posts: 1
Joined: 01/12/2006
Credibility: 0 pts

RE: NCsoft account banning

QUOTE

Pro-activity ftw.

How do you keep an idiot busy? (see bottom of sig)

Silence is golden. Duct tape is silver.

How do you keep an idiot busy? (see top of sig)

02/05/08 18:29

Poolio

Posts: 1
Joined: 01/02/2006
Credibility: 0 pts

RE: NCsoft account banning

This kind of situation makes me so glad that my most recent account is payed for strictly by pre-paid timecards. A similar issue came to my cousins attention, so I immediately changed my ways to diminish the chances of this phenomenon.

"Believe none of what you hear, half of what you see, and all of that you feel."

02/06/08 20:16

BishopDon

GameAmp Staff
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Joined: 04/19/2005
Credibility: 0 pts

RE: NCsoft account banning

3 years and counting with no issues.... **knock on wood**

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02/06/08 21:20

Orcis

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Joined: 11/02/2006
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RE: NCsoft account banning

Ya exact same thing happened to one of my accounts except they said that they do not reverse bans. Makes me think perhaps I should pursue it further with them LoL

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02/07/08 00:55

Epsilon Unit

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RE: NCsoft account banning

*sighs* i might have persued it further, for my account i guess after getting like 20 seperate replies from different people saying they're sorry and the account cannot be unbanned, or something like that, and effectively spending 3 months on the issue, i just started a new account, what can i say i admit im an addict >.>

02/07/08 01:09

Jorden_Yen

Posts: 13
Joined: 07/26/2005
Credibility: 0 pts

RE: NCsoft account banning

I am completely freaked out. I'm glad you got it worked out, but I never imagined someone would bother to hack a game account. I just updated my passwords and I'm a little ticked they don't allow special characters. But my password is more than 9 characters long so hopefully that will help.

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02/08/08 07:59

lani

GameAmp Staff
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Joined: 09/08/2005
Credibility: 28 pts

RE: NCsoft account banning

QUOTE

Although it's wise to frequently switch passwords on your game account, your main concern should be your PlayNC Master account. That's the one with your credit-card attached, and the means to get control back of your game account should it ever be stolen. Whatever you do, keep your PlayNC account name and password different from any game account you may have. And always have a real, working e-mail address attached.

Now to really freak you out: It's more profitable today to steal / hijack WOW accounts than Credit Cards. A WOW account is easier to get, less likely to be investigated / shut down in time and sells for more on the black market than a CC does.

02/08/08 08:05

Jorden_Yen

Posts: 13
Joined: 07/26/2005
Credibility: 0 pts

RE: NCsoft account banning

QUOTE

Is there a particular reason for keeping the passwords separate? Is the security of the CoH password less than PlayNC?

02/08/08 08:06

lani

GameAmp Staff
Posts: 570
Joined: 09/08/2005
Credibility: 28 pts

RE: NCsoft account banning

QUOTE

Is there a particular reason for keeping the passwords separate? Is the security of the CoH password less than PlayNC?

There is, and it's called Keyloggers.
You're more likely to get one of those through some kind of add-on / plug in / mod* for a game than on the PlayNC site.
Someone gets your game account that way, it's worth a shot to see if you're like 82% of the populace and are using the same password on other accounts. Using the same password on more than one account means the security-level of each account using it can be divided by the total amount of accounts using that password.

*This is why I never use any binary for a mod. If it's not open sourced or XML, i.e. readable by me, I don't care how many other people use it, I'll not run it.

02/08/08 08:14

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