UPDATE: 7/14/2010 @ 1:30PM
I finally got a response back from support and I was able to log in. In all actuality, the response time from NCSoft wasn’t bad. Their fatal flaw was in their lack of communication. I went over 36 hours without an update after asking for one, twice. Now, they may have been working on it. They may have had to wait for something before they could resolve my issue. I wouldn’t have known as they didn’t communicate with me. If I had known I would have been far more forgiving. When you don’t talk to your users they tend to think you are ignoring them and that looks poorly on you.
That said, I do think NCSoft responded in a timely enough manner compared to my other customer service issues this last month.
Grades:
Initial Response Time: A
Overall Response Time: B-
Communication: C-
Overall (not an average): C
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UPDATE: 7/13/2010 @ 11:04PM
One whole day without a peep from NCSoft and Guild Wars Support. I sent in two requests to the ticket looking for an update and received nothing. My ticket is lost and drifting much like the fans of Auto Assault and Tabula Rasa.
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BACKGROUND
I bought Guild Wars on a whim last night. Court and I were bored and looking for something to play and we didn’t want to pay another monthly fee so I mentioned Guild Wars. I picked up the Trilogy from PlayNC directly which was more expensive but got me playing a bit quicker.
After buying the pack I went to apply my serial to an account. I was, given the option of upgrading an old trial account I had or starting a whole new account and I was thinking that I should just start a new account. That was when I read the NCSoft’s little tip on the bottom of the screen that told me it was smarter to upgrade an existing account. So, I followed their advice and upgraded my account.
I grabbed the client, installed, and a short while later I was looking at the login screen. That was when I discovered that, in the interest of security, I would need to enter my account name, password, and the name of a character on the account. Now, keep in mind, this was a trial account in which I probably just used a throwaway name. I ran through all of my regulars but none of them worked. The only reason I upgraded the account was because NCSoft suggested it. Perhaps, they could have also said: “Oh, by the way, don’t upgrade an account if you can’t remember your characters’ names because you will never be able to log in!” That tip would have been good to know. I went to the NCSoft’s support site and found that, sure enough, this is a problem they have had before. I went ahead and opened a ticket according to their specifications and sent it up. Happily, I received an update an hour later from GM Merrick telling me:
I am escalating your ticket to our Guild Wars senior staff members to assist you further. Once they have reviewed your question, one of them will contact you as soon as possible.
That was last night.
Since then, I have heard nothing. I don’t know about you but spending $40 on a game I can’t use makes me a little frustrated. I stayed positive, though, and sent a very polite request asking for an update.
Support Staff,
I am following up to see if there has been any progress on this ticket. I purchased a game key and used it to update a trial account that I had used for a short while six months ago. I was unaware of the Character Name requirement during login and have run through my usual combination of names without success.
If there is anything else you need from me to speed resolution of this ticket, please let me know.
Thank you
That was several hours ago and still nothing.
When I get back this evening, we’ll see if anything has changed. If not, I will update them and my little saga here. If I am going to be pissed off, I might as well make a game of it.
alternatively, you could return the game, saying whatever you’re comfortable telling them, and use the credit to get a game from a competitor. ^.^
Unfortunately, there really isn’t a way to return the game. I bought an access code from NCSoft directly and I doubt they are going to give that back. Perhaps, I could contact their support and find out. Oh wait!
Honestly, I am not even all that upset about the whole thing. I can’t play a game I wasn’t playing before, there isn’t much of a loss there. I’m a little more annoyed at losing money, but mostly I am terribly amused. Video games are one of the most unimportant things there are. They are a complete luxury item. In NCSoft’s case, these games aren’t even that. They are purely services. NCSoft is, at its core, a company that lives or dies on the quality of its service. If your service is purely luxury, you better damn well make sure it is worth it. I’ve been a big fan of the company and, being an MMO player, I have bought everything they have released with the exception of Auto Assault and the first Lineage. Now, I am ready to never buy a thing from them again.
If a company whose only value is its service doesn’t care, what hope do I have for other companies? The real reason this post exists is because I have spent the last month dealing with a lot of departments whose job is, in part, customer service. To a one, they have all been absolutely terrible. NCSoft, because of its unimportance, was just the final straw. After all, what’s the worst they can do: take my money and not let me log in to their games? Done that. Now I am just curious to see how long, if ever, resolution will take and if I can find some amusement along the way. This is the game, now, and I intend to get my money’s worth.