Pocket Gems, Inc

If the customer can supply us with any ticket number from contacting our support team we'd be more than happy to investigate and make sure their case was handled appropriately.

Dear Ms. [redacted]: This letter is in response to your original email of February 29, 2016 relating to customer complaint #[redacted] submitted by [redacted]. We were able to locate the previous support conversations started by Mr. [redacted] with the account information he provided in his response, regarding the Pocket Gems game War Dragons. There have been several separate conversations over the past few months, but we assume that the complaint in this report was in response to the one submitted most recently before this report.On February 21, 2016, Mr. [redacted] contacted us with the following complaint:"I have been having issues with your game since I started playing some ten weeks ago. Most bugs are just an inconvenience but some are actually wasting the money that I have spent on your game giving me absolutely no value for what I spend. A perfect example took place during the last event "king of the hill". During that event no less that twenty attacks that did not register for the event and in reality that number is most likely closer to thirty. Each of those attacks I had spent money on healing boosts, energy, and attack boosts that were wasted, not to mention the food, and chests lost for those attacks. On that event weekend alone I spent $250 and lost all that I mentioned above plus whatever levels that I couldn't reach because of the bugs within the game. Then shortly after that the game froze on me for some 13 hours which has happened three other times in the last four or five weeks for 25 hours, 22 hours and 18 hours before it was resolved. When I could not get into the game I contacted your corporate office by phone to express my concerns and was told to contact you guys at game support. My issues are simple. I have spent on average $100 a week from the beginning and the bugs within the game are taking a good portion of my hard earned money and not giving me anything in return. I do expect to get what I am supposed to get when I support you guys with my cash. Since your product is not performing as it should and I am loosing money I expect some kind of in game compensation or a complete and total refund of all cash that I have paid thus far. Please understand that I do not expect any machine to be perfect but the level of issues, that is literally costing me my hard earned money, should be addressed. I am not a freeloader and only want what I paid for....nothing more and certainly nothing less. I do love this game and want to continue playing here but make not mistake, at 55 years old I will fight for what is mine. Let's work this out fairly.P.S. I can't be 100% sure, because I did not keep up with it that closely , but I have some serious doubts that I have all of the event dragon fragments that I should have."Later that day, the Pocket Gems support team responded with:"I am terribly sorry for the trouble you have been experiencing. Could you please tell me if there is any specific issue you would like me to address for you? We are making a concerted effort to fix all issues currently plaguing War Dragons. However, bugs in code are extremely varied in their difficulty to fix. Some bugs can take 20 minutes to fix, and others can take months. Though it seems like bugs should theoretically be super easy to fix, it's actually extremely hard to code some of these things. The team is doing the best they can to fix the many issues facing the game. Thank you very much your patience and understanding."Over the next two days, Mr. [redacted]'s reiterated his general frustration with various aspects of the game, and repeated his requests for in-game compensation for collective perceived gameplay losses. Pocket Gems' policy is to credit players for specific issues that have quantified and verifiable in-game consequences, which unfortunately did not apply in this circumstance. In no conversation did anyone representing Pocket Gems say "come to California and sue us" as Mr. [redacted] alleges. That kind of response would be completely counter to the Pocket Gems' support team's policy to advocate and assist our players to the best of our ability. We are happy to work with Mr. [redacted] on any specific issues he's experiencing and will continue to assist him to ensure that his (as well as the rest of the community's) gameplay experience is as seamless as possible. With regards to refunds specifically, only Apple can issue them for purchases made through the App Store, as developers don't have access to the billing information submitted there.Pocket Gems is actively working on improving its technical foundation and fixing any issues that are reported. Like most live software, not every bug is caught in the QA process before going live, but we have a large team dedicated to fixing these issues when they do arise. Pocket Gems would also like to point out that the terms of service applicable to War Dragons state:YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT USE OF THE SERVICE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK AND IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF TITLE OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, NEITHER POCKET GEMS NOR ITS AFFILIATES OR SUBSIDIARIES, OR ANY OF THEIR DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, ATTORNEYS, THIRD-PARTY CONTENT PROVIDERS, DISTRIBUTORS, LICENSEES OR LICENSORS (COLLECTIVELY, "POCKET GEMS PARTIES") WARRANT THAT (A) THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR THE SERVICE MATERIALS OR USER CONTENT WILL BE VIEWABLE TO YOU OR (B) THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE OR ERROR-FREE OR THAT ERRORS WILL BE CORRECTED.Please feel free to contact me with any questions at ([redacted].

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because: I opened the Revdex.com web page and got the following informatuion
[redacted]
Pocket Gems, Inc
8 years in business
[redacted]
 
Using this information I called the number and asked for technical support.  I was told they were busy so they took my phone number, email address and ticket number and said they would have someone respond. 
Sincerely,Todd [redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because: I have left several unanswered emails as well...

as even called and not received one word back in response.  I have invested numerous, numerous hours playing this game as well as real money for rubies to advance further in the game.Sincerely,Todd[redacted]

Please contact our support team at [redacted]. If you already have, please let me know what your ticket number is so that I can investigate and make sure your ticket is being handled appropriately.

Please provide us with the support ticket number(s) for your interactions with our support team so that we can audit and make sure this issue is being handled in accordance with our company policies.

We do not have a phone number where we accept calls. All emails that go into our support system are addressed by agents in the order they are received.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/10/14) */
VIA SITE
[redacted]
Golden Gate Revdex.com
[redacted] Suite [redacted]
Oakland, CA XXXXX
Dear Ms. [redacted]:
This letter is in response to your email of October 6, 2015 relating to customer complaint #XXXXXXXX submitted by [redacted]. ...


The technical concerns raised in Mr. [redacted]'s complaint are areas of Pocket Gems' mobile game War Dragons that Pocket Gems is actively working on improving. Like most live software, not every bug is caught in the QA process before going live, but we have a large team dedicated to fixing these issues when they do arise.
We haven't previously been contacted by Mr. [redacted], but if he has specific concerns about his game we are happy to discuss them via internal game support.
Pocket Gems would also like to point out that the terms of service applicable to War Dragons state:
YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT USE OF THE SERVICE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK AND IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF TITLE OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, NEITHER POCKET GEMS NOR ITS AFFILIATES OR SUBSIDIARIES, OR ANY OF THEIR DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, ATTORNEYS, THIRD-PARTY CONTENT PROVIDERS, DISTRIBUTORS, LICENSEES OR LICENSORS (COLLECTIVELY, "POCKET GEMS PARTIES") WARRANT THAT (A) THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR THE SERVICE MATERIALS OR USER CONTENT WILL BE VIEWABLE TO YOU OR (B) THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE OR ERROR-FREE OR THAT ERRORS WILL BE CORRECTED.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions at (XXX) XXX-XXXX.
Very truly yours,
[redacted]
Player Experience Manager
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 12, 2015/11/19) */
This has not been resolved. I have contacted them via support and they never fix anything.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 14, 2015/11/23) */
Dear Ms. [redacted]:
This letter is in response to your email of November 19, 2015 relating to customer complaint #XXXXXXXX submitted by [redacted].
We were not able to locate a support request in War Dragons from Mr. [redacted] yet. Our support team answers all requests sent their way within 48 hours, and we'd be happy to go over his specific situation with him and do what we can to help. Mr. [redacted] can contact support by opening War Dragons, going to his Settings, opening Help, and then tapping Feedback & Support to submit a new ticket. I've notified our support team to keep an eye out for his ticket.
If he's already done this, providing us his in-game player name would allow us to look up his communication history in our support system so we can better address his concerns.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:I have called and left messages and have sent several requests through the so called Zen Desk customer support onlineSincerely,Todd [redacted]

We last contacted this player on [redacted] 15th with next steps to fix their account, to which they did not reply. Please verify the email they want to be contacted on and we'll follow up again. 
Thank you.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because: That is absolutely false Sir.  I called the phone number that I received from this Revdex.com website.  The lady took my name, phone number, email address and case number and said someone would respond to my e-mail.  To date there has been NO response to my email regarding this issue.Sincerely,Todd [redacted]

Dear [redacted]:
This letter is in response to your Revdex.com customer complaint # [redacted]. 
We deeply value your participation in War Dragons.  Please allow us to address your complaint:
The feature that is the subject to your complaint is random.  The randomness is by design and is...

known to our players.  Each time a treasure chest is spent, a random item drops and is received by the player.  All drops are random.
Given that the feature is random, there is the probability that some players do not receive the specific items that they desire.  While you did not receive the particular item mentioned in your complaint, you did receive other items. 
The algorithm was not malfunctioning.  This type of random treasure chest and similar designs are ubiquitous among free-download games. 
Very truly yours,
Dan Yuen
General Counsel
Pocket Gems, Inc.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this...

response because:
 
the information you you requested is as follows. User name is [redacted]. My pocket is is [redacted]. My support is is [redacted]. I hope this information helps. The email I am using for the game is [redacted] Sincerely,[redacted]

The player paid for a temporary "boost" in the game in connection with that month's event.  The boost functioned correctly during that period.  After the month was over, this boost ended, as intended. The temporary nature of this was clearly stated in the monthly event rules, and we also...

explained the same to the player on [redacted]. The player's complaint is without merit.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/10/14) */
VIA SITE
[redacted]
Golden Gate Revdex.com
1000 Broadway, Suite 625
Oakland, CA XXXXX
Dear Ms. [redacted]:
This letter is in response to your email of October 6, 2015 relating to customer complaint #XXXXXXXX submitted by [redacted]. ...


On August 29, 2015, Mr. [redacted] (whose player name in Pocket Gems' mobile game War Dragons is Dracorubio) contacted Pocket Gems with the following message with concerns regarding gameplay and connection issues in War Dragons:
Skirmish event SUcKS!!!!!!
1. Connection issues suck - keep getting booted, unable to enter, the prange spinning wheel of death
2. Matchups totally unfair, diamond can attack bronze
3. Wait between skirmishes too short, should be six hours instead of one to recharge - WE ARE NOT GOING TO WASTE MONEY ON RUBIES!!!!!!!!
Pocket Gems support responded to Mr. [redacted] the next day (August 30, 2015):
Hi Dracorubio. Sorry about this. My immediate suspicion is that your device is running out of RAM. I would recommend the following:
1. Killing all other apps on your device,
2. Closing all tabs on safari (or any other browser installed),
3. Rebooting your device
4. Restart the game
Let me know if you see an improvement after trying this. Thank you.
As for the match-ups, teams are being matched up with other teams in their same league. This is true except for platinum and diamond leagues. There are too few teams in the diamond league in order to provide a fun experience, so we mix platinum and diamond together in events like this.
That was the last communication we had with Mr. [redacted] on this matter.
The technical and gameplay concerns raised in Mr. [redacted]'s complaint are areas of War Dragons that Pocket Gems is actively working on improving. Like most live software, not every bug is caught in the QA process before going live, but we have a large team dedicated to fixing these issues when they do arise. If Mr. [redacted] has specific concerns about his game we are happy to discuss this via game support, but so far we haven't received any further communication beyond what was provided above.
Terms of Service
Pocket Gems would like to point out that the terms of service applicable to War Dragons state:
YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT USE OF THE SERVICE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK AND IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF TITLE OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, NEITHER POCKET GEMS NOR ITS AFFILIATES OR SUBSIDIARIES, OR ANY OF THEIR DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, ATTORNEYS, THIRD-PARTY CONTENT PROVIDERS, DISTRIBUTORS, LICENSEES OR LICENSORS (COLLECTIVELY, "POCKET GEMS PARTIES") WARRANT THAT (A) THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR THE SERVICE MATERIALS OR USER CONTENT WILL BE VIEWABLE TO YOU OR (B) THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE OR ERROR-FREE OR THAT ERRORS WILL BE CORRECTED.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions at (XXX) XXX-XXXX.
Very truly yours,
[redacted]
Player Experience Manager
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/10/16) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Their continued refusal to address game issues is unacceptable. This is reflected in the game's online forums, where it is clearly evident that a growing number of customers are becoming more and more dissatisfied with the quality of service that PG is providing, for what they advertise. The service is supposed to provide reasonable entertainment value at no cost but the quality of entertainment has degraded to a point where it is no longer enjoyable to play the game. Weekly 'special events' cause massive server hangups making it impossible to even attempt to play. These events and the game in general are clearly designed to force customers to pay in order to derive any tangible benefit as relted to game performance. The two clauses referenced above have nothing to do with the nature of the thousands of complaints regarding the quality of service that PG is (sic) providing. They are in direct conflict with both in-game and outside advertising promises, which constitutes fraudulent representation of an advertised product.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/11/02) */
Dear Ms. [redacted]:
This letter is in response to your email of October 16, 2015 relating to customer complaint #XXXXXXXX submitted by [redacted].
Mr. [redacted] has not contacted Pocket Gems since August 29, 2015, so we have not been able to discuss any of his concerns directly with him - but we are always happy to hear feedback and engage in constructive discussion if we would still like to contact us.
That said, we'll address the concerns raised in this most recent response individually:
Mr. [redacted]'s comments begin with:
"Their continued refusal to address game issues is unacceptable. This is reflected in the game's online forums, where it is clearly evident that a growing number of customers are becoming more and more dissatisfied with the quality of service that PG is providing, for what they advertise."
The War Dragons forums to which he's referring are located here: http://wardragons.pocketgems.com/
The forums are a mix of many discussions surrounding strategy, gameplay, team recruiting, events, updates, feedback, and technical issues. While there are definitely many threads about ongoing technical issues, they by no means are the dominant topics.
In fact, Mr. [redacted] has been called out by other players for being overly negative and bringing down the spirit of the forums. For example, in one thread (http://wardragons.pocketgems.com/forum/all-forums/general-discussion/XXXXX-unus...⇄ in response to feedback about a recent in-game event, Mr. [redacted] (forum name "[redacted]") stated:
"By how they do during normal game time, not during special events.Special events are designed to con people into spending money to get relatively worthless prizes whereas during normal gameplay it is the wars that determine team rankings. The two should remain separate, especially when PG refuses to address the ever constant disconnection issues during these events. Besides, we all know that the events are geared towards CC suckers garnering the pigs share of prizes anyways!"
To which another forum member (Lx460) responds:
"Is EVERY post you make whining about people spending money? Do you think development, maintenance, etc. is free? Would you rather be clicking to X out an ad for some stupid product every 60 seconds? Or completing surveys to "earn" rubies? How the [redacted] do you think this game exists? I can tell you it isn't just a labor of love to entertain you...
To be successful at this game one must choose to devote time and effort or money. You seem to complain about (or have excuses for) both. Why don't you just play another game if it makes you this miserable? On top of that, you constantly suggest class action suits, reporting to Revdex.com, etc...and people call ME the troll? Get real."
Back to Mr. [redacted]'s claims, in which he continues by stating
"The service is supposed to provide reasonable entertainment value at no cost but the quality of entertainment has degraded to a point where it is no longer enjoyable to play the game. Weekly 'special events' cause massive server hangups making it impossible to even attempt to play."
War Dragons is continuously improving performance and fixing bugs. For instance, the latest update to the game contained over 400 bugfixes and reduced startup time from an average of 40 seconds to 18 seconds (in addition to adding several new player-requested features). We currently have most of our engineers working on improving overall technical stability, which has visibly been paying off in meaningful improvements.
Mr. [redacted] continues:
"These events and the game in general are clearly designed to force customers to pay in order to derive any tangible benefit as relted sic to game performance."
It's unclear what Mr. [redacted] means here, as performance and stability are not influenced in any way by paying for in-game items.
Mr. [redacted] concludes:
"The two clauses referenced above have nothing to do with the nature of the thousands of complaints regarding the quality of service that PG is (sic) providing. They are in direct conflict with both in-game and outside advertising promises, which constitutes fraudulent representation of an advertised product."
Pocket Gems' Terms of Service are not in conflict with any Pocket Gems advertising. The excerpts from the Terms of Service were included to point out that anyone playing one of our games has acknowledged and agreed that the game is provided to players with no guarantees regarding service or technical performance.
Again, if Mr. [redacted] would like to discuss any of these issues directly with our support team, we would be happy to hear from him.
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2015/11/04) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Regarding the complaints in the forums not being the 'dominant' topic: Of course they are not the dominant topic - most of the posters are high level players who are also paying players, discussing their strategies and findings. Their quotes of other player responses to my 'gripes' in the forums are exactly that - PLAYER responses, not PG's. For a more representative sampling of player complaints regarding the game's issues the correct place to go is the Apple Store reviews -the majority of those give the game the lowest rating possible due to its unsolved technical issues and player advancement opportunities if they are non-paying players. These players feel an entitlement to what they pay for (rightly so, because they pay to play), but PG does not provide equal opportunities for advancement for non-paying players. Their advertising is designed to lure people in, without due warnings that expectations of advancing significantly in the game are only possible via cash outlays. Thier excuse of quoting their Terms of Service re 'non-guarantee of performance and playability" are in direct opposition of what they so blatantly hyper-advertise. My reference to game events being "tailored to forcing players to play in order to derive tangible benefit as related to game performance" is not about connectivity or physical gameplay, but rather the in-game experience of obtaining game-related awards, bonuses, etc which help the player advance in ranking. This favoritism towards paying players is not stated anywhere in the terms of service nor is it expressed or communicated to players in ANY form - it is not stated anywhere that they must pay to expect significant advancement within the game. Regarding their connectivity issues having been 'improved' - I have not seen any improvement in connectivity issues; I still experience numerous disconnects, lags, and the same extended game boot-up time as when I started. Nothing in that respect has improved. Again, they do not state anywhere in game advertising or service terms that older devices are not adequatelt supported.

Unfortunately our customer service team is not seeing this email address in our system, and therefore we are unable to locate the relevant information.  Could you provide the email that was used to contact our customer service team please?
Thank you.

Hi,
We are currently aware of the issues with Tap Paradise Cove and our team is investigating them. At this time we have no updates, but when we do they will be posted to the official forum.

Dear Ms. [redacted] This letter is in response to your original email of March 24, 2016 relating to customer complaint #[redacted] submitted by [redacted]. The assertion that our disclaimers do not apply to Mr. [redacted]n is without legal merits. Our Terms of Services apply to all users and are legal binding. And as such, even though the team is committed to providing as solid of a gameplay experience as possible, Pocket Gems has never guaranteed that this will be the case. From the Pocket Gems Terms of Service:YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT USE OF THE SERVICE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK AND IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF TITLE OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, NEITHER POCKET GEMS NOR ITS AFFILIATES OR SUBSIDIARIES, OR ANY OF THEIR DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, ATTORNEYS, THIRD-PARTY CONTENT PROVIDERS, DISTRIBUTORS, LICENSEES OR LICENSORS (COLLECTIVELY, "POCKET GEMS PARTIES") WARRANT THAT (A) THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR THE SERVICE MATERIALS OR USER CONTENT WILL BE VIEWABLE TO YOU OR (B) THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE OR ERROR-FREE OR THAT ERRORS WILL BE CORRECTED.That said, while those are the legal policies covering this issue, on a situational level the support team is happy to help Mr. [redacted]n or any player with any issues they might encounter. While we can't guarantee a desired outcome in terms of compensation or immediate game fixes, the support team's goal is to help players enjoy War Dragons to the best of their ability (albeit within policy). It appears that Mr. [redacted]n has sent in several support tickets since this case was opened, which seem to have been resolved satisfactorily, and we are happy to keep working with Mr. [redacted]n via these channels. As mentioned previously, Pocket Gems is highly appreciative of dedicated players like Mr. [redacted]n, and as a team we'd very much like to see this engaged community continue to play and enjoy War Dragons.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:
 
I did not buy any boost. I have been keep tabs on the amount of money I spent and the defense I earned within the confines of the game. it wasn't a month later, I emailed the games admin days after and they kept telling me to wait while they investigate my issue. it till this day I was left with the understanding to wait while they "supposedly" look through code to see where the error is. I informed them that I was an IT professional and it didn't take over two months to look through code for my issue and not they are saying something else. I am insulted by they way they have dealt with me as a paying customer and I feel robbed because I paid to play and they took my money and did not provide me service for the money I spent.  I told them to refund me my money and I will stop playing their games.Sincerely,[redacted]

This is a constant thing. They say that they investigate and then don't respond back or if...

they do, they say that they are working on it. The issue doesn't get resolved. They ask to send a ticket and the issue doesn't get fixed.Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:Sincerely,[redacted]