Machine Zone

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:All they will do is offer more in game items for a game that is broken and that has no concern for the satisfaction of the actual players, just their bottom line.Sincerely,[redacted]

Hello,
 
Thank you for bringing this to our attention and I am sorry to hear that you encountered an issue. I do see that in request [redacted] you were provided a solution to your concerns. If you are still not satisfied with this resolution please open up a new support ticket, as I do not...

currently see an open request, and work with our support agents and they will help to try and find a resolution to your concern. 
 
Once again, thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Hello,
Thank you for your message and your feedback. I apologize for the delay in having your issues resolved. I have tried to review your most recent support request but was still unable to locate a ticket in regards to your concern. Please respond back to our support staff if you have an open ticket, or submit a new ticket and our support staff will work to assist you with your game concern.Should you encounter any additional issues or concerns, we ask that you submit them directly to the support team.
Thank you.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/06/02) */
We have responded to the user's support request, and we have shown him all of the prizes he won from attacking monsters in the dungeon. If a user is unable to see their rewards, we recommend force closing the application, then starting it up...

again. This will refresh the device's connection to our server and update the game.
Unfortunately, Support does not have the ability to grant free in-app purchases or alter the sales schedule determined by our Marketing team.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 12, 2015/06/16) */
The representative did not do any of the choices I gave them . they did give me a crummy 90 k dark energy as "Good Faith" and the issue that originated this is STILL THERE !!! oh well at least I did not loose any money . It will be a cold day in [redacted] before they get of my earned income again
Really MZ is it that hard to reset the payment option back to the Original 4.99 a pack ? It dose not cost you anything to do that . If you Protest this I will record the issue and post on you tube
Final Business Response /* (4000, 14, 2015/06/19) */
We looked into this customer's claim, and found that the Dungeon feature properly awarded him all his prizes.
As stated before, we do not have the ability to push specific sales or alter the sales schedule our marketing team has created. We've passed [redacted] user's feedback that he'd like to see more of the $4.99 sales package options available to purchase more frequently.

Hello,
 
Thank you for bringing this to our attention and I am sorry to hear that you encountered an issue. I do see that in request [redacted]  you were provided a solution to your concerns. If you are still not satisfied with this resolution please open up a new support ticket, as I do not currently see an open request, and work with our support agents and they will help to try and find a resolution to your concern. 
 
Once again, thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Hello,Thank you for responding back about this. I do see that in request # [redacted] you were provided a solution to your concerns. If you are still not satisfied with this resolution, please continue to work with our support agents and they will help to try and find a resolution to your concern.Once again, thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Hello,
Thank you for your message and your feedback. I apologize for the delay in having your issues resolved. Please know that I have reviewed your most recent support requests and can see that you are currently working with our support agents in regard to your concern. Please work with the...

support agents, as they will be able to assist you with your game concern.Should you encounter any additional issues or concerns, we ask that you submit them directly to the support team.

Case #[redacted]
MZ Response:
 
Hello [redacted].
 
Thank you for your reply and feedback. I have reviewed the support requests related to this issue and can see that you have received a response for each request. Additionally I can see that appropriate compensation was added to your account in regards to the issues outlined here.
 
If you continue to encounter this issue, I ask that you update the support request so that we may further investigate.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2016/01/21) */
I have reviewed this users support requests and can see that their issue is in the process of being handled.
Due to our account security policy, we would not be able to discuss the details of any Machine Zone accounts or support requests sent...

by those accounts in this correspondence.

Hello,Thank you for your message and your feedback. I apologize for the delay in having your issues resolved. Please know that I have reviewed your most recent support requests and can see that in ticket # [redacted] one of our support agents provided you with the solution you were requesting, and...

provided the full list of items from the sales pack. If this does not fully resolve your concern please reply back to your support request or submit a new request directly and one of our agents will be happy to work with you to resolve your concern.Should you encounter any additional issues or concerns, we ask that you submit them directly to the support team.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2015/10/21) */
I've checked our support records, and I see that we have responded to this customer's support request. The support agent that received this ticket provided the customer with basic troubleshooting steps for the app. Following this, we did not...

hear back from the player, so it was assumed that the issue was resolved.
I've opened an investigation with our Engineering team regarding this situation. Once we've completed our investigation, we will update this customer in our support system.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/11/03) */
I am unable to locate a support ticket from this user regarding the issue outlined here.
I ask that the user contact support directly so that we may investigate their concerns and provide assistance.
Due to our account security policy, we...

would not be able to discuss the details of any Machine Zone accounts or support requests sent by those accounts in this correspondence
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/11/05) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
here is my support ticket XXXXXXX.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/11/10) */
We're sorry to hear that this player was experiencing connectivity issues. I've checked our records, and we did not have any outages or issues with our servers on the date of October 19th.
Unfortunately, we would not be able to reverse the results of any combat that took place in the game. It would not be fair to the other user that participated in combat, they had no way to know this user was experiencing connectivity issues.
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2015/11/16) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
once again horrible customer service. I know for a fact numerous tickets were submitted for the very time the servers were overwhelmed. Please actually research my complaint and give me actual customer service. Not auto generated responses.

Hello [redacted],
Thank you for your message and your feedback. I apologize for the delay in having your issues resolved. Please know that I have reviewed your most recent support request and can see that you have received a follow-up ticket in regards to your concern. Please work with the support...

agent, as they will be able to assist you with your game concern.
Should you encounter any additional issues or concerns, we ask that you submit them directly to the support team.

Hello,
Thank you for your message and your feedback. I apologize for the delay in having your issues resolved. I have tried to review your most recent support request but am still unable to locate a ticket in regards to your concern. Please respond back to our support staff if you have an open ticket, or submit a new ticket and respond back here with the ticket number and our support staff will work to assist you with your game concern.Should you encounter any additional issues or concerns, we ask that you submit them directly to the support team.
Thank you.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/11/03) */
I've checked our support records and see that this users issue was replied to.
We ask that this user review their support request for important information regarding their account.
Due to our account security policy, we would not be able...

to discuss the details of any Machine Zone accounts or support requests sent by those accounts in this correspondence.

Hello,Thank you for reaching out about this. I am sorry to hear that you encountered these issues. Unfortunately, we are unable to process any refunds as per our Terms of Use, all sales are final on items that have been delivered in game. I see that you are currently working with one of our support...

agents in ticket [redacted]. Please submit a new request and one of our agents will be happy to assist you in finding an alternate and acceptable resolution. Once again, thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/10/01) */
I've checked our records, and located the correspondence the user is referring to. In his initial support request, the user claims to have completed the final goal for an in game Inferno Event but not received the prizes. The Support Agent that...

responded to his ticket informed the user that he scored 48,350,150 out of 50,000,000 points required, and that the event was not completed. Following this, the user told the agent that our service had crashed and was not available during this event. The agent checked our records, saw that our service was available at that time, and that users were able to complete this event normally. He then linked the player to a survey that our support team constructed alongside our engineering team designed to collect information that is helpful for our engineering team to resolve these kinds of problems that users sometimes experience.
The user responded "How many of these SURVEYS WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO FILL OUT???? How many times will you ignore my emails? I wonder if the government is aware of your fraud? I'll check."
We do not believe that collecting information about in game scenarios that the player faced is fraudulent in any way. We use this information to investigate the issues that our users report to us. This is an entirely voluntary process, we do not force users to provide information we request for in order to continue using the app.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/10/06) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Their response nor their actions fit the scenario. They also don't address the continued lack of customer service that I have requested repeatedly. I didnt request a refund from MZ in my complaints, I simply asked them to resolve the technical issue. Their statement that "The agent checked our records, saw that our service was available at that time, and that users were able to complete this event normally." is a blanket farce and could be used for any issue to negate their taking any responsibility. I didnt ask for any renumeration until they refused to even address my concerns...AFTER BEING A CUSTOMER FOR THREE YEARS! There's a reason why MZ has the volume of complaints...
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/10/14) */
"I didnt request a refund from MZ in my complaints, I simply asked them to resolve the technical issue."
I believe this is the source of the misunderstanding. To us, there is a significant difference between a customer asking us to credit rewards for an event, and reporting that the game was unavailable or did not function correctly. When we were asked to investigate a technical issue, we were not able to find one. We saw that the game was available during the course of the event, and that players were completing the event normally. When the user claimed that he completed the event but did not receive prizes, we saw that his score was not high enough to complete the event. In instances like this, we try to collect more information from the customer about the context surrounding the situation so our team can take a deeper look into what happened.
I understand that a sudden disconnection or interruption can be frustrating, especially when trying to reach a time sensitive goal like completing an Inferno Event. We have reached out to this player in our support system to follow up on this issue and ensure all his concerns have been addressed.
Final Consumer Response /* (2000, 11, 2015/10/20) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 11, 2015/10/09) */
I've checked our support records, and we have answered each of the support requests that have been sent to us from this email address. The last support request we received from this person was on September 11, 2014, regarding a different issue...

than the one brought up in this correspondence.
I've checked our account records, and there is not currently a Machine Zone account registered to this email address. If this customer is having an issue with their Machine Zone account, we recommend they contact us by either sending us a support request inside Game of War, or by sending an email to [redacted]@machinezone.com.
Due to our account security policy, we would not be able to discuss the details of any Machine Zone accounts or support requests sent by those accounts in this correspondence.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/10/20) */
Game of War has had Terms of Use since its release, and by playing Game of War, users have always been bound by our Terms of Use. In line with industry standards, the recent popup users have seen was a notification that we have updated our Terms...

of Use. Requiring users to affirmatively assent to Terms of Use before continuing to access a site or service is quite common for service providers, including providers of mobile apps and games.
If users would prefer not to agree to our Terms of Use, as with any mobile app they are free to do so, but then they will not be permitted to continue to access Game of War. The decision not to accept our Terms of Use and to not continue to access the Game does not entitle users to a refund of any kind. In addition, please be aware that by accepting our Terms of Use and proceeding to access the Game, users accept them in full, and that they may not partially accept or reject all or any of the Terms.
Our updated Terms of Use can be accessed from our website at http://www.gameofwarapp.com/termsofservice.html.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/10/26) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Acceptance of the TOS was never required previously to access the game platform. The updated TOS is not consumer friendly. Unfortunately, after many players have made significant monetary & time investments into their profile, the investment and progress will be lost if no longer allowed to access without agreeing to the TOS. The below section from the TOS implies users are issued a license, but without any measure of value, time decay, or expiration. As the new terms do not include any "Time Consideration", but are revocable at-will by Machine Zone, they do not comply with legal requirements of licensed use. Due to this, I am asking for a full refund.
""You agree that you have no ownership interest in your Game account or any In-Game Items associated with your account, regardless of whether you "earned" or "purchased" such In-Game Items. You agree that In-Game Items, including "Gold," "Silver," and any other virtual currencies within the Game are for personal non-commercial entertainment purposes, have no independent value outside of the Game, may not be redeemed for any cash value, and is simply a measurement of your limited license""
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/11/03) */
As previously stated, should users prefer not to agree to our Terms of Use, as with any mobile app they are free to do so, but then they will not be permitted to continue to access Game of War. The decision not to accept our Terms of Use and to not continue to access the Game does not entitle users to a refund of any kind.
As for their concerns with the updated Terms of Use; users may review our previous Terms of Use here: http://web.archive.org/web/XXXXXXXXXXXXXX/http://www.gameofwarapp.com/termsofser...⇄ /> Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2015/11/04) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
The investments in both time and money were made in good faith under the previous TOS. The money invested by players is used to advance their player profile. Without continued access to the game platform, the majority of advancement and progress will be wiped out. The end result is very similar to the legal definition of Extortion or operating in bad faith, whereas continued access to the game is essential to maintain and protect the profile advancement.
I would possibly be open to a partial refund to settle this matter. But as it stands currently, Machine Zone has only responded with scripted refusal of working with its paying customer.

Hello,Thank you for your message and your feedback. I apologize for the delay in having your issues resolved. Please know that I have reviewed your most recent support requests and can see that there was a solution offered to you in ticket # [redacted] from one of our support agents. If this does not fully resolve your concern please reply back to your support request or submit a new request directly and one of our agents will be happy to work with you to resolve your concern.Should you encounter any additional issues or concerns, we ask that you submit them directly to the support team.