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FYI: Pay lots, get treated like sh*t!

dbelinfante

dbelinfante

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Joined
Sep 24, 2005
Posts
3,596
Location
Magrathea
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Freelancer
Avatar Name
Sage
Yesterday afternoon, at about the same time the login screen started hanging for lots of people (including me), my cardreader stopped working. It had been functioning erratically for a while, but was doing ok for the last few weeks.
Now it just stopped altogether. So I sent a support case:
Sage said:
21 Sep 2008 You wrote:
Hi,

My card reader has just about died. It takes a LOT of trouble to get a code.
Can I please get a new one?

Regards,
Sage
Click to expand...

To which MA replied:
22 Sep 2008 Entropia Support:
Hi,
Please observe that in order to be replaced, broken items must be returned to Mindark PE AB (see address below). If the item turns out to be functional, you will have to cover your shipment costs. If the item is proven to be malfunctioned Mindark will refund the shipment costs.

Please return the broken item to:

Mindark PE AB
Support Department
Järntorget 8
SE-41304 Göteborg
SWEDEN

Please mark the letter with this support case number.

Kind regards,
Entropia Support
Click to expand...

So I get a new one WHEN they receive the broken one.
This will double (at the very least) the time it takes before I can log on again (And they're gonna check if it's actually broken, like I would send them a functioning reader :handjob: I wonder how long THAT'S gonna take them!).

Nice service MA. I personally don't know of any other company that I send hundreds of Euro's to every month and then get away with treating me like shit. @$$holes! :mad:
 
mmm ... if you bought your reader a long time ago, before they started out giving cards over certain deposit amounts, do they charge you? Imo should recieve a new FREE one. :rolleyes:

And broken ... best to check the warranty card. If damage is not specified decently just drop it in a glass of water to get the needed result :laugh:
 
I 100% agree.

Was thinking on sending them back with a piece of dogpoo...

...but I opened it ... cleaned it... and it still works after 1 years in 80% of the time.
 
psychnosiz said:
mmm ... if you bought your reader a long time ago, before they started out giving cards over certain deposit amounts, do they charge you? Imo should recieve a new FREE one. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

yup thats what i thought tryed it but MA said no buy ur self a new one.

anywho have u taken it apart changed the battery's or sumthing?( think they are watch sized so should be to hard to get hold of)
 
Sounds pretty strange... Last i heard a socm8 with a similar problem was asked to "buy a new one" in tt, then send the old one back to MA when he got the new one, and was told he would get paid back to his pedcard when they got the malfunctioning one... Atleast thats how i remember it, ill check incase.

That kinda ends with the same result but saves alot of time, and would be the logical solution imo? Wouldnt surprise me if you got a hold of one of the "ubanubs" in support and that this is simply a mistake, since it makes no sense for MA what so ever (customer service aside...) to keep a paying customer from playing...

Maybe another supportcase to ask if what im saying is what they meant? all theyre saying really is that to get the "old one covered you have to send it to them" which is fair enough, same as if you buy a TV that doesnt work they dont really come get it @your house or send a new one without getting the old one back first.
They dont mention a new one as such theyre just saying "to be replaced"... Wouldnt be the first time MA used some "broken english" :p
 
In the same situation I simply get me new reader from TT. Even do not submit support case.

And sending broken reader to Sweden just to refund 10 USD... well dont worth the effort for me. Lol I even do not know where is the post office close to my house so will spend that 10 USD on fuel diriving around :)

PS My reader worked for more then one year. Next one still working fine.
 
Wow, nice customer service. Way to go MA, you rock as per usual.

Eat nothing but meat and beer for a few days, take a nice steamy dump in your card reader and send it back, postage unpaid.

I think that should adequately display your satisfaction :)





---------

But more to the point.. Why would you even want another card reader unless yours IS broken? Why would you go through the hassle? Also, why would you go to the bother of paying however many Swedish Sheckles it is to send the damn thing back if there wasn't anything wrong with it? And another thing... I bet you paid for your one in the first place - not got one of the new free ones... Despite that, I'm sure you probably deposited more than the minimum allowance to get a free one SINCE then.

Why does nobody really take any notice of how shitty MA's treatment of their loyal customer base is and quit depositing altogether? It truely beggars belief!
 
Last edited:
sad but true.... :(
 
Wow way to blow things out of proportion. Just buy a new reader, then send the old one back.
 
Immortal said:
Wow way to blow things out of proportion. Just buy a new reader, then send the old one back.
Click to expand...

That's hardly the point, dear fellow! Where are your moral sensibilities?
 
xedin said:
In the same situation I simply get me new reader from TT. Even do not submit support case.
Click to expand...

If your reader doesn't work and you can't login, how the hell do you manage to buy a new one from the TT :scratch2::laugh::laugh::laugh:
 
First , when your reader was showing it going to die , you should have buy new one , so when first die , you still can play while you deal with monkey support...

Second , when you send a broken reader , they send you one back for free...

I kinda understand they dont want send zillion free reader around , but if i where them , i would simply send a free reader per year to any player that ask it...(and that actually play)...
 
Noggin said:
But more to the point.. Why would you even want another card reader unless yours IS broken? Why would you go through the hassle? Also, why would you go to the bother of paying however many Swedish Sheckles it is to send the damn thing back if there wasn't anything wrong with it? And another thing... I bet you paid for your one in the first place - not got one of the new free ones... Despite that, I'm sure you probably deposited more than the minimum allowance to get a free one SINCE then.

Why does nobody really take any notice of how shitty MA's treatment of their loyal customer base is and quit depositing altogether? It truely beggars belief!
Click to expand...

Problem started to be very crapy when a player made thread about how fun it was to ask for her new reader and card evry 6 month or years...
That she can ask and MA was dumb enought to send it to her... so she had a great colection of reader and card and its nice decoration around her computeur...
Now i understand that after such a thread MA did change rules...
I just think the change are a bit overkill.
 
Etopia said:
Problem started to be very crapy when a player made thread about how fun it was to ask for her new reader and card evry 6 month or years...
That she can ask and MA was dumb enought to send it to her... so she had a great colection of reader and card and its nice decoration around her computeur...
Now i understand that after such a thread MA did change rules...
I just think the change are a bit overkill.
Click to expand...

Oh, well that makes sense. There's always one isn't there! But yeah, one a year wouldn't hurt. I can understand dbelinfante's frustrations totally, but it wouldn't be so difficult for MA to give people the benefit of the doubt, especially on the first time around.
 
That blows, but hey... try this, it works when i have issues with a reader.

First try to flex the card downwards in the back as you shove it in, to force the chip up against the reading pins.

If that doesnt work, slide the card in a few mm and then with your finger give it a smack so it goes in pretty hard.

If all else fails (and this is the one that allways works, trust me), hold the reader like 50cm above your floor and drop it (drop not throw). Try the card, and if it doesnt work drop it again till it does.


Ive so far had a 100% success rate on three diffrent readers using these methods :D. GL!
 
BTW Good workaround in case your reader is already dead.

Just go to you friend who has GoldCard reader working with your GC and write down couple of numbers. That will allow you to login couple of times while your new reader is traveling.

And dont worry numbers that you write down does not depend on time when you use reader. everything will work fine.
 
Had 2-3 readers who broke down so far and got replacements without any problem. Seems a little weird how eratic can support be. They should make public any changes to their policies.
 
xedin said:
BTW Good workaround in case your reader is already dead.

Just go to you friend who has GoldCard reader working with your GC and write down couple of numbers. That will allow you to login couple of times while your new reader is traveling.

And dont worry numbers that you write down does not depend on time when you use reader. everything will work fine.
Click to expand...

i dont know from what they depend ... but i have hear that you should not make a too big list , like 5 number or so ...It seems after 5 or 10 code , the list become wrong and you have to syncronise again the card ...
Its not a 100% sure info , since i did not do it myself , but i tend to bilieve the persone who told me that .
 
Mikass said:
Had 2-3 readers who broke down so far and got replacements without any problem. Seems a little weird how eratic can support be. They should make public any changes to their policies.
Click to expand...

That would suggest they had formal policies in the first place!
 
xedin said:
Just go to you friend who has GoldCard reader working with your GC and write down couple of numbers. That will allow you to login couple of times while your new reader is traveling.
Click to expand...

I used my sisters reader when my own one was broken, that worked fine.
Got my reader replaced and I am very happy how MA support handled my case.
It was very fast, got the new reader 2 days after contacting support.
 
Noggin said:
That would suggest they had formal policies in the first place!
Click to expand...
they maybe have one that is not public...
or they maybe have one that is even public , but noone find it on site...
Or they have one , public , that som crazy maze fanatic manage to find , but dont read cuz its a political lawyer munbo jumbo...


I never undersdand why , all those stuff with contract , dont write in simple and normal way the 5 or 10 usual normal rule that evryone use ...

in the curent case its easy to find , and write it easy and simple :

After you have accepted this offer you will be entitled to another three (3) Card Readers per year in the case that your Card Reader stops working due to an error. Even your Gold Card can be replaced in the case of flaws in the card, which make you unable to use it, though you will be entitled to no more than one (1) Gold Card per year.
Click to expand...

I think they should give less free reader , 3 per year sound too much to me ... but send it straight away ...1 should be enought ...beside som very rare case , never heard about 2 broken reader in a year ...

anyway i understand MA want to protect them self for abuse i described before...sadly , its always 1% of population that make the 99% get pissed and bored with stupid rules.
 
Immortal said:
Wow way to blow things out of proportion. Just buy a new reader, then send the old one back.
Click to expand...

MA won't let you buy a new reader with card with your current one activated. You must sent them a support and proof of yourself (like a passport copy) to deactivate you gold card first. Then you can buy a new card. I tried because I thought my gold card was wearing out and I wanted to buy a back up just in case and this was the procedure.
 
burnsey said:
MA won't let you buy a new reader with card with your current one activated. You must sent them a support and proof of yourself (like a passport copy) to deactivate you gold card first. Then you can buy a new card. I tried because I thought my gold card was wearing out and I wanted to buy a back up just in case and this was the procedure.
Click to expand...

As i understood it this was due to bad reader, which don't require idnetity for new ones(and it probably just needs cleaning?)...still though it's people jumping on a "me hate support" bandwagon which i didn't think was necessary. I know it's been a week since the last "i hate support" thread, but still...
 
burnsey said:
MA won't let you buy a new reader with card with your current one activated. You must sent them a support and proof of yourself (like a passport copy) to deactivate you gold card first. Then you can buy a new card. I tried because I thought my gold card was wearing out and I wanted to buy a back up just in case and this was the procedure.
Click to expand...

You can just buy the reader from tt and no problem there. You don `t need to buy both reader+goldcard package.
 
Immortal said:
As i understood it this was due to bad reader, which don't require idnetity for new ones(and it probably just needs cleaning?)...still though it's people jumping on a "me hate support" bandwagon which i didn't think was necessary. I know it's been a week since the last "i hate support" thread, but still...
Click to expand...

Yeah I know that he says it's the reader but I have 3 readers so how do you know when it's the card that's broken and not the reader? If you send them back your reader and it still doesn't work, you've just wasted a ton of time and still need to wait even more for a new card + reader.
 
Semai says| ...

Let's put it this way... if they absolutely want you to use card readers and they hand out readers for free now (I had to pay for mine) then they should replace them for free if they default...
 
dbelinfante said:
Nice service MA. I personally don't know of any other company that I send hundreds of Euro's to every month and then get away with treating me like shit. @$$holes! :mad:
Click to expand...

not defending MA, but you obviously dont use many other businesses. that responce is not particually unusual.

however, what are we talking about here, a $5 reader + P&P. they dont need to check its faulty, just offer it in the damn auction next to the goldcard. 50ped, whos going to argue about that? That said, they do provide free ones, i really dont understand why they make it difficult for themselves, just send the dman thing out on request, who's going to want one if they dont need it?
 
burnsey said:
Yeah I know that he says it's the reader but I have 3 readers so how do you know when it's the card that's broken and not the reader? If you send them back your reader and it still doesn't work, you've just wasted a ton of time and still need to wait even more for a new card + reader.
Click to expand...

Good point... How do you know if it's the card not the reader?

To rectify this situation, I suggest putting your big steamy dump in a jiffy bag, then put both the card AND the reader inside, seal and send to MAHQ.

Lets rely on Swedish efficiency for freshness!





And I don't think people hate support - I think modern life carries with it a natural dislike for all things 'automated' in a haphazard fashion. MA support often display this in a very curt manner by not giving full regard for the contribution each player has put into the game, and not considering their individual situations.

The odd time they do comes as a pleasant surprise, but I do feel we're treated as children more often than not. It really wouldn't have hurt MA to just have popped a new card reader in the mail for this poor chap. It wouldn't have taken too long to actually look at his personal circumstances to see he wasn't in it to make the next card reader mountain.
 
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