A month ago, maybe a teensy bit more, I returned to FFXI after a 4 year hiatus.  Business irl moved me across the US and made me need to stop playing as I had no Internet access for awhile.  I resubscribed 2 days before the end of the month, the start of the month is when they bill.  Due to a proration policy, I thought they would charge me for only 2 days and then the next full month as they normally do.  Instead, I get charged 2 FULL months. :/   I call and the associate I get is pleasant and helpful, doing all the right customer service stuffs.  Promises me a free month :3 

So I get the Vanadiel 2008 collection for my love to join me in game (yes! doing my part to get new blood in!).  I had prviously gotten the first vanadiel collection which had the first 2 expansions in it and when i got that, it came with seperate registration codes for all the bits.  One for Playonline, one for tetra master, one for the game, one for each of the expansions.  I get this one thinking  "cool, I can give her the free 30 days and the 2 expansions and keep the recent 2 that I need for myself >:3 "

Nope.

Squenix does one code, and still makes you register the one code for each individually (or use some auto-register function that attaches he one code to all.  Why they offer this option and then do the following confuses me).  They also state that by registering one thing registers it all to me and I cannot share.  Sigh.

So anyways, I get her in on the free trial that comes in the box, the one specified for a friend.  Fun times are had by both of us.

Here's where it begins...

Next billing...  charged another month.  What happened to my promised free month?

I call, wait on hold for the customary 30minutes >.>

The associate is snippy and uncooperative and rude, while still managing to use polite words.  Wish I could do that and get away with it in the jobs I've held :/

Seems my free 30 days is 'still in queu' to be processed, and "it'll come, eventually" (the associate's words!) but in the meantime I must continue subscribing.  I ask about the free 30 days that came with the collection.  Nope, doesn't apply to me cause I'm already a subscriber.   The shiny 30days for free is only for new subscribers.  WTF?!?  AND, he throws this in my face, "All other MMO's out there do this.  The 30 days offered is for new accounts ~only~ and it specifies this on the box, if you look".

Bull.  City of Heroes gave me free 30 days when I upgraded to City of Villains.  No new account or anything cause the one account canvases both games.  And nowhere on the box or in ANY of the documentation for the Vanadiel collection does it state this situation.  When I asked to speak with a supervisor, the sup was short and rude as well stating no one within Squenix would be able to change this.

I tried going to Squenix's website and the support there refused to talk on the issue, telling me I need to take it up with PlayOnline.  The only time I've seen this in the professional world was when I was dealing with an umbrella-type company that had different departments that were in fact different companies.

My question to you is this:  Anyone else find themselves getting shafted like this by Squenix?  Anyone see the fairness in this?

I've been a fan of Square's products nearly all my life and even insist on getting the games new.  I've been buying Square products since before I was 10 years old.  Is this any way to treat a loyal customer of 20+ years?? ;_;

Well I don't know about your experience with CoH / CoV about getting 30 days of time on your account that had CoH.  I bought CoV but don't really remember...

I don't know of any other MMO that gives you the "30 days" advertised with an expansion IF its used on an existing account.

I do know that my experience with FFXI was....

If you came back and it happened to be say the 27th of the month... You will be billed a monthly fee on the 27th and on the first you would be billed another 30 days.

So you pay full price for 3 or 4 days (in this example)

and then get billed full price for another month on the 1st.

I actually took this to the BBB and their claim was that most utilities bill a month ahead and the BBB backed them.

Even tho as I stated to the BBB EVERY utility company I've ever dealt with will Pro-Rate your current month.  So if you have you power turned on the 27th of a 30 day month... You get billed for 3 days and then billed for the next 30 days .. so you would pay in effect for 33 days...  You don't get billed for TWO full months. *edited for a clarification*.  Those same 33 days in FFXI cost you the same as 60 days (2 months) and they are the ONLY MMO in the western market that does this... unless it was changed since I last went back.

That was my biggest issue with the games billing.  Every other MMO bills you every 30 days from the day you activate or re-activate....

But if you are talking about the 30 days (from buying an expansion or collection) I personally have never played an MMO that wouuld apply that 30 days to a pre-existing account.

/shrug

Yeah, they stated the same... but the thing that really steams me is the fact that:

1.  Every rep today that I've spoken to has been rude as hell.  Spoke online with a rep after posting the starting post for this thread and he discontinued the conversation after I asked where on the box it states that the 30days is for new subscribers only. "SEI POL Michael: I have already provided you with a resolution to this issue. As it seems you have no other new issues I can assist you with, I will be removing you from chat at this time.
Thank you for visiting our PlayOnline Chat line. Take care and hope to see you online!"

2.  It's been over a month since the free month request was placed and it STILL hasn't even been looked at!  It's not like a service tech needs to drive from california to florida to come on my pc and do something to give it to me.  They get on a pc, hit a few keys and it's done!  I mean damn... they have a decrepid old man processing the requests and it's my sorry luck that everyone in FFXI is getting a free month at the same time?

I may even swallow the crap about the 30 days free being for new subscribers.  I'm an adult and can admit that maybe I've missed something in the fine print somewhere.  But I've also been a loyal Square fan since long before the FFVII bandwagon.  And I'm being shoved off to some black hole to eventually be seen to for something most companies can do in a instant.  If they have the ability to get me my character back from 4 years ago with all her equipment, even the stuff sitting in her mailbox and do this as soon as I had over a credit card number, they should be able to do this free month thing in a shorter time than a month plus.

And yeah, CityofHeroes DID give me the 30days free when I got city of villains good vs evil pak.  it registered immediately in my account info when I registered.

 This only happens with Square? No, I had this happen when I played WoW, but you just get over it, you lost $15 for a few days, oh wow :/

Whoever told you that you get a free month for coming back or for upgrading an expantion lied to you.

That is simply not their policy, and never has been.

I've never heard of any game that gave you an additional free month when you purchased their exp pack.  Wrath of the lich king and Burning crusade sure didn't.

UO's the 2nd age sure didn't.

No Ever Quest exp pack did.

Never heard of this, not sure where you'd get the idea that this was common practice.

Wish you the best of luck though.

I think the issue of CoH/CoV was that CoV wasn't really an expansion. It was a completely seperate game. There's no other MMO on the market that makes their expansions like that, except for Guild Wars, which is free to play after purchasing the box anyway.

All other MMOs charge for the expansion which basically just opens up new areas in the game for you. You MUST have the base game, and you MUST have all previous expansions in order to enjoy the newest one. They don't give free time for the expansions, because with the business model that they're using, they've already got people hooked, so don't need to dangle extra incentives in front of their noses.

Now for the other issue, the billing issue, every other MMO I've ever dealt with credited your account with 30 days the moment you reactivated. You pay your money, and 30 days later, you pay again. To me, it's BS to charge a full month, then 2 days later charge again. You paid for a full month, and your best option is either calling your bank the reverse the charges, or hound support on the phone until that "free month" is actually given to you.

LOTRO gave me a free 30 days when I bought Mines of Moria expansion, and FFXI gave me a free 30 days when I bought Vana D'iel collection '08. Also nowhere on the bok does its ay it's for new subs, however after your first 30 days they prorate. Otherwise if you join on the 27th/30th they charge for 2 months. Which i hope they change in FFXIV because that is just a dumb way of charging.  

Some clarification here:

The vanadiel collection is not a expansion.  It is a FULL PACKAGE.  It has the game AND 4 of the expansions AND a stamp on the front of the box stating "FREE Subscription for 30 days".  CoH had this and honored it when I purchased the CoH/CoV Good vs Evil Pak which is 2 complete games instead of one.

Seriously, wish flamers would read before mouthing off.

Thanks to the 2 that wished me goodluck on it. 

The issue here isn't a 15$ charge so much as getting treated like shit when I was a long time player and I've been a long time supporter of Square.  I'm not some fan of FFVII that jumped on the bandwagon.  I've been with Square since the beginning, have purchased most of the Final fantasies as well as several other Square titles.  It's like getting punched in the gut by an old friend.

But yeah, sucks a-- losing out on the money too.  Those thinking that 15$ isn't anything to fuss over in this economy are likely rich, stupid, or thier parents are paying all thier expenses.  My love lives long distance from me and 15$ gets me a quarter of the way to her place when I visit.

This doesn't seem shady on SE's part so much as maybe a bit of improper wording.

FFXI's always given 30 free days to new accounts and never when you upgrade expansions, otherwise you'd get another 30 days right out of the original retail box since it comes with Rise of the Zilart. I don't have the Vana'diel Collection on hand, but I'm guessing that if you read somewhere on the fine print it might mention the whole new account thing, but otherwise I think it's safe to expect that they're not going to give you another 30 days for expanding an existing account.

Originally posted by Lickitung

Some clarification here:

The vanadiel collection is not a expansion.  It is a FULL PACKAGE.  It has the game AND 4 of the expansions AND a stamp on the front of the box stating "FREE Subscription for 30 days".  CoH had this and honored it when I purchased the CoH/CoV Good vs Evil Pak which is 2 complete games instead of one.

Seriously, wish flamers would read before mouthing off.

I've never played an mmo, in my entire history of gaming in the last 10 years, that offered a free month to exisiting accounts; no matter if it was a single expansion upgrade or a compilation. It's just never typically worked that way.
 

I hate to sound harsh, but you're just going to have to get over it. They most likely don't list it specifically on the box because, at this point, it's pretty much universally understood by the majority of mmo gamers. But I'll admit; it wouldn't kill them (as well as other gaming companies) to be more specific I suppose.

Originally posted by alacres

Originally posted by Lickitung

Some clarification here:

The vanadiel collection is not a expansion.  It is a FULL PACKAGE.  It has the game AND 4 of the expansions AND a stamp on the front of the box stating "FREE Subscription for 30 days".  CoH had this and honored it when I purchased the CoH/CoV Good vs Evil Pak which is 2 complete games instead of one.

Seriously, wish flamers would read before mouthing off.

I've never played an mmo, in my entire history of gaming in the last 10 years, that offered a free month to exisiting accounts; no matter if it was a single expansion upgrade or a compilation. It's just never typically worked that way.
 

I hate to sound harsh, but you're just going to have to get over it. They most likely don't list it specifically on the box because, at this point, it's pretty much universally understood by the majority of mmo gamers. But I'll admit; it wouldn't kill them (as well as other gaming companies) to be more specific I suppose.

Yeah, really, i already have gotten over it.  Canceled my subscription and have moved on.  The game just isn't what I fell in love with years ago and this just ruined it for me.

But to build on what you said, it also wouldn't kill them to give the 30days.  I already spent that money with them and can provide a photocopy of the box if they like, it wasn't on there.  With the replies I've seen, I see that I was mistaken to expect what I did.  The part that truly hurts tho is the way I was treated by SE in the 3 contacts I've had with them concerning this issue.

But yeah, water under the bridge now.

Thanks to all that replied to this thread!  Very constructive replies for the most part and no where near the abuse I expected from the community.  TC to all the players remaining and have fun :3
 

yup i cancelled my account with ff 11 and a few months later i started to get charged 15 for the monthly sub. i called but no one ever answered and even better i lost my account name and there is no way to recover it or the password.  so i had to end up cancelling my credit card. im not doing buisness with them again (even though it was my fault partially, but they really need some way for you to be able to recover your account)

Originally posted by alacres 

I've never played an mmo, in my entire history of gaming in the last 10 years, that offered a free month to exisiting accounts; no matter if it was a single expansion upgrade or a compilation. It's just never typically worked that way.
 

Lord of the Rings Online does!  When I only had my Shadows of Angmar account, and I was awaiting the MoM expansion in the mail.  I reactivated my account for something to do while it was on the way.  Anyway, when I applied the MoM code to upgrade my account I was granted a free 30 days to my active account!

I asked my Kin, Friends and Others in world chat and those that noticed got a free month as well!  This was 2 months after MoM went live!

Lets see...

Asheron's Call gave a free month when you purchased both expansions.

DAoC gave a free month with each individual expansion(packaged expansions was only one month, but still a month).

FFXI gave me a free month with Chains of Promethia when I purchased that and added it.

CoH gave a free month with CoH and CoV.  Hell, I purchased both at the same time and I got TWO free months back to back.

LoTRO gives a free month with the Mines of Moria expansion.

Even Shadowbane gave me a free month with the expansion.

I can see why the OP would be upset, it IS common practice to include a free month of subscription with an expansion purchase.  Just because WoW doesn't give a free month because they're rich and know people will buy their game and expansions anyway, doesn't mean it's common practice for other MMORPGs.  In fact, I find it the opposite.

Originally posted by alacres

Originally posted by Lickitung

Some clarification here:

The vanadiel collection is not a expansion.  It is a FULL PACKAGE.  It has the game AND 4 of the expansions AND a stamp on the front of the box stating "FREE Subscription for 30 days".  CoH had this and honored it when I purchased the CoH/CoV Good vs Evil Pak which is 2 complete games instead of one.

Seriously, wish flamers would read before mouthing off.

I've never played an mmo, in my entire history of gaming in the last 10 years, that offered a free month to exisiting accounts; no matter if it was a single expansion upgrade or a compilation. It's just never typically worked that way.
 

I hate to sound harsh, but you're just going to have to get over it. They most likely don't list it specifically on the box because, at this point, it's pretty much universally understood by the majority of mmo gamers. But I'll admit; it wouldn't kill them (as well as other gaming companies) to be more specific I suppose.

Anarchy Online gives 30 days free if you upgrade from SL to the full deal. I also received the 30 days free when I upgrade EQ2 with the RoK expansion AND whe I upgraded with the TSO expansion. So yes, some games do do this.
 

However, I do find it telling that PlayOnline has been dumped for FFIV. It has never been a customer friendly experience.

Well i can tell you it was the same "Michael" that gave me a hard time when  i re activated my account but forgot my password.He is a total jerk and has zero ability to think or rationalize.He turned me off because i could not provide a ZIP CODE when i clearly stated i was Canadian and we use Postal Codes not zip codes.

pretty much an inept customer support person this Michael guy.I had to call again and then got a very nice person who was not there to give me a hard time but was helpful.

Squares Customer support on a whole is dreadful,the ONLY way to get anything done is via the phone and that can put you on hold for up to 30 minutes and cost you a lot of money for long distance.Even with that ,they demand EVERYTHING from you,even though common sense would tell them that emails and phone calls can be just as good as any ID tags.

There billing practices are just plain wrong,since when do we work at our jobs in real life and get paid for a full week when we only work for 3 days?or better yet ,would be nice to get a full months pay for owrking only 3 days,,just a total joke.IMO it does not matter if EVERYONE else does it this way,it is still wrong.

As far as i am concerned ,if you are a new customer,you would think a developer would treat you with open arms and probably give you the 3 days free,it is not like they went out and bought more bandwidth for the month to cover you.So their idea of being "FAIR" is we'd rather rip you off for 27 days rather than give you the 3 days....lmao to all developers that pull that crap.

I guess it is a good thing i quit playing FFXI for the 3rd time,they really piss me off when i hear some of the stories and of course witness some total BS myself in game and out.

BBB! LOL! Yeah, that scares companies, lol!