LM-17 Banned Again. Anyone Else?

My original BBB complaint:

Square Enix, Inc
999 Sepulveda Blvd., 3rd Floor
El Segundo, CA 90245
Contact: Bravo, Micah
Phone: (310) 846-0345

Complaint ID: 12345678
Complaint Classification:

Complaint Description - Posted 7/24/2009 9:55:32 AM

I have a total of 6 accounts with your service and run a reputable linkshell on the server Odin of your FFXI MMORPG service. My CC was stolen which I reported to the CC company which resulted in a new card# and the auto deactivation of 3 of my accounts. I then registered my first account with the new CC with no problems. When I registered the 2nd account, I got a UCS-XXXXXX error. I finally got it activated with a different CC #. I decided to wait one day to activated the last account, which is the account in question. I activated the 3rd account with no problems with the card that originally had the UCS-XXXXX error. On July 10, 2009 I discovered the account I had activated with the first card had been banned with a LM-17 message. I called your Information center and a nice gentleman put in a ban complaint and said they could do nothing else. I've spoken with a Melanie K which was by far the rudest person I've ever spoken with from POL in which she made myself and others feel like we were criminals. Another Rep has told me my account was mass banned and that the reason was "RMT activity" in which more then one person has access to my account. I've explained that I have AT&T DSL at work, Charter Internet at home, 2 sprint aircards, and 1 verizon access card as I work at a security company, that I occasionally access my account from different locations. On top of all of this I have a Security token on this account and all other accounts are fine.

Complaint Summary

My account in FFXI has not been unbanned after being banned wrongfully through a mass banning tool after reactivating my accounts with a new CC.
Resolution Sought

I would like Square Enix to take another look at my account POLID# ABCD1234 in a timely fashsion as its been over 10 days in which I have received no response in this matter. I'm told that I will be contacted if they choose to unban this account and never contacted if they decide otherwise. CHECK YOUR LOGS, this is a linkshell storage account, with all of the work and our worth in the last 6 years on it. YOU HAVE WRONGFULLY BANNED THIS ACCOUNT. I awaiting an answer.

Additional Information
Date Problem First Occurred:
7/8/2009
Product or Service: Japanese MMORPG gaming services localized in US and EU terrorties.
Model Name or Number: Final Fantasy XI
Date Purchased:
Order Number:
Amount In Dispute: $0.00

Company's Response

Company's Initial Response - Posted 07/24/2009
We apologize to our customer for any frustration or problems they have experienced in this situation. Also, we apologize if the customer feels that they were mistreated or disrespected in any way while speaking with a representative at PlayOnline. Our management team will be made aware of the situation. While we cannot address account specific inquiries without proper verification through any other means of communication than with the PlayOnline Information Center (phone and chat), we are able to discuss policy. As stated within the Member Agreement under Article 4: (Ownership, Rights, and Restrictions) Section 4.4 (Revocation of User Rights), Square Enix shall reserve the right in its sole discretion to revoke or suspend the PlayOnline user account and the ability to use PlayOnline services at any time without prior notice to the user, particularly but not limited to, if SEI should determine (in its sole discretion) or should reasonably believe that the user is responsible for, or have participated in, any Prohibited Activities. This customer is welcome to contact the PlayOnline Information Center during normal business hours Monday through Friday, 9:00am to 6:00pm PST, for further clarification on the banned account; however, there will be no reversal of the action taken to this account.

Initial Response Summary

The customer is welcome to contact PlayOnline for further clarification on the banned account; however, there will be no reversal of the action taken on this account.

My Rebuittal

"if SEI should determine (in its sole discretion) or should reasonably believe that the user is responsible for, or have participated in, any Prohibited Activities"

While I understand the need to protect the service you are providing, the company needs to recognize the possibility of mistakes being made while determining these activities. As with any automated system, there is always a chance of error.

Square Enix needs to understand that the relationship between customer and service provider is a privilege is not a right. It’s important to maintain a relationship and understand the customer before making choices that affect the overall integrity of the service.

The account in question has the extended description from your reps “more then one person has access to the account.” I’ve spoken with your reps which can’t understand why it was banned as there is a security token on it, and the emergence of aircards, and tethered 3g networks will appear as though different entities are accessing an account. Closure of this account didn’t’ just affect myself, but many that believe in your service.

My complaint has not been resolved as I intend to continue to purse this with your Information Center.

I appreciate the response whether it is in or not in my favor.

SHRINK YOUR WALL 'O TEXT... UNTIL THEN YOU *** FAIL... cz no one cares.. seriously... no one does.

just because you took the time out of your day to post this wall 'o useless ***.

So turns out a bunch of people recently all got the same e-mail. I had originally thought it was localized to 2-3 people. I've been doing the brunt of my posting on allakhazam. Hope this information helps on pursing to get our accounts back.

Kungfuhustle lol. Sorry to blind you. Don't get upset XD It is pretty useless to you. :) Ich bin eine Macho Mahn? lolol

They did it again. New wave, coming up.

By the way... Nice letter, Gummy.. but the BBB won't do anything. It's just a place you can lodge your complaints about a business, that other people can call up, to see if there have been any previous complaints regarding that company. I tried that a long time ago, in a completely unrelated issue.

An account was recently unbanned for irregular activities. If you were banned it might be a good time to give good ole POL chat another try. Good Luck!

/stare

Here is what was deleted


Hi i was in crawler nest right now as blu/bst soloing getting experince when all of the sudden i got kicked and relogged to find a LM-17 saying i was banned. I wasnt doing anything wrong or broke any rules!!!! Ive been reading about some CC problems that SE is having and i think the CC thing just happend to me right now. >.< Dam you SE i hate you so much right now!!! I have to call tommorow and find out whats going on!! My Fiancee logged on her character and did a GM call and he says he dont know anything about why i got banned. He just said contact the support center when it opens.

Sounds like a typical Credit Card issue POL always *** up on. Sadly they don't do a very good job at dividing their error messages and their purposes, so getting banned is the universal You-Can't-Play error -.-

Hope they clear it up for you asap.

This happened to me before, I simply had to ring up with my CC details and they sorted it over the phone. Even though it's classed as a perma-ban, it's not.