Re: My XBox Game Pass has been automatically linked to someone elses EA Account

Hi Jason,

Thanks for responding. Unfortunately it's not my account.
We've proven this with EA.
I've spent hours on phone and email with EA and we've gone through every phone number, email address and physical address I've ever had. I've listed every single EA game I've ever played, The details don't match. The only game that is linked on both accounts was Mass Effect and the last time I played that doesn't match with the last time that was recorded on this other persons EA account. 
II've gone through this with four different EA people and they all go through the same rigamarole of asking me to verify this other persons EA account. It's not my account so I can't verify it. I can't give them someone elses email and phone number because its not me. 
They simply refuse to do anything about it and when I politely request to speak to a supervisor, manager or higher security level technician, they tell me there's no-one else and they hang up on me. 

It's actually kind of offensive that they simply don't care and have zero interest in helping me.
All I need is for them to disconnect this other persons EA account from my XBox account but they refuse.

I'm completely stumped and honestly feeling like al the complaints about EA being such a terrible company are fully justified.

Hi @Starganderfish,

I'm sorry to hear that, but there's one more thing that you can try. 

• You can go to https://help.ea.com/au/
• Click on Log In in the top right
• Click on the option to log in
• When you're logged in, press Contact Us

Thank you Jason for your suggestion.

I need to be careful with my response due to an EA Community Rule: 
"The forums aren't the ideal place for legal discussions and posts including legal chat will be removed"

So I will reply instead with basic guidelines on what is needed to get this issue resolved, so that all the other people who have their accounts linked by EA to other people are hopefully able to resolve it.

I was able to log in to the other person's EA account using my own personal Xbox credentials, which let me view all the personal information on the other users EA account. I could also see that EA had linked four other XBox user's accounts to this one person's EA Account.

I was able to then initiate a chat with an EA Help desk rep from the other person's EA account, I was able to use the personal info I could see in that other account to satisfy the EA reps verification requests and then ask them to unlink the accounts. 

They agreed to do this because I had satisfied their verification requirements, even though I wasn't the EA Account Holder. 

This whole process did take a total of nine different communications attempts with EA Helpdesk staff through four different methods (forums, phone, Facebook messenger and chat) before I worked out the exact details of what needed to be done and found a rep willing to do it.

So when this happens to others, use the above method to resolve it and just keep trying until you get someone willing to fix it for you.

Hopefully, this description is vague enough to not upset the forum rules but contains enough information to allow others to resolve the issue when it happens to them.

I had the exact same issue, except I too had someone else's Xbox account tied to my EA account.

When I first initiated EA Desktop through Xbox Game Pass, it had automatically logged into someone else's EA Account and linked my Xbox profile to theirs. Yada-yada-yada, I go through 3 different support lines to eventually unlink both the random Xbox account in my EA account, and unlinked my Xbox account from the random EA account. However, because my EA account now already had an Xbox account linked to it, I cannot link any other Xbox account to it, permanently.

In EA's terms and conditions when it comes to unlinking an Xbox account, "Only one Xbox account may be linked within the lifetime of the EA account". So I'm SOL.

"Only one Xbox account may be linked within the lifetime of the EA account"

Really?

Because I have a screenshot of this other person's account (names and data redacted)that shows 5 different XBox accounts linked to this one person's EA Account? I've attached a copy with everyone's name redacted so no personal information is visible but you can see that this one account had five XBox accounts linked all at the same time. This is pretty clear evidence that not only can multiple accounts be linked, but that EA's systems are so broken that one account can mistakenly get 5 different accounts linked to it without the account holder's permission.

It's pretty obvious that a lot of  EA's policies are just arbitrary and not functionally or technically limited in any way.
And from the way most of the EA Help reps responded it's pretty clear that EA enforces these arbitrary restrictions really tightly on their staff. All the staff pushed back really strongly on any hint that EA was responsible for the data breach and several of them outright blamed me and stated plainly that I must have linked my account to someone else's. Ignoring the fact that if it's that easy for me to llink my account to someone else, without having a password, username email etc then there's a fundamental flaw in their process.  And for me to then be able to access all that other person's information from my own account? Crazy.
Worst of all is that, while talking to these EA Help reps, I know that they all had access to see this other persons account, they could see that the names and DOB and email didn't match my XBox account, they could see 5 different accounts all linked to this one EA account at the same time... Any one with an ounce of common sense or integrity would be able to tell immediately that a mistake has occurred...and still none of them was willing to even acknowledge that there might have been a problem or offer any hint of a solution or even to consent to escalate the problem to someone else.

As for your experience with them refusing to link your XBox account, all I can suggest is to try to show them the above screenshot, and force them to admit that there is nothing technically stopping them from linking a new account. You have evidence that their system can do it. Refer them to your own account and chat history logs where you proved that it wasn't your account that had been linked and that it was EA who was responsible for screwing it up. Make it clear that you are not asking for them to do something unorthodox you are asking them to undo the mistake that they made. I don't expect it will work but that's about the only shot you have. Try multiple cases with multiple Help Desk people and see if you can evenually find one that will help you.

Otherwise, I guess you can just do what I've now decided to do. Recognise that EA is a garbage company with terrible customer support who don't care about their customers, and just don't buy or install any of their games, move on to other developers.  I'm entitled to a bunch of EA games for free through XBox Game Pass, but I'm not really interested in putting my personal information at risk by signing up to their systems anymore. I'll probably be closing this EA account eventually as well, though I doubt that would make a difference, given their IT and Data security clearly leaks like a sieve.

When my account got linked to the someone else's account, I was able to log into their account via logging in through Xbox Live, and within THEIR account I had seen something similar - 3 different Xbox Live accounts hooked up to their EA account, with one of those accounts being mine. I can't explain how, or why, and I should've honestly taken a screenshot of that.

However, any time I try to re-link my Xbox account to my EA Account, I get this message:

Having the same issue, except slightly different: the original linked account was not some random's account, it was MY account, the same one I use now, prior to an XBOX gamertag name change.

EA Account's system seemingly lost track of my account and became dissociated when the name was changed. I never 'unlinked' the account, never even had the option, because it doesn't show up in my Connections page at all and never did. I always just assumed it was still linked and then found out it wasn't anymore. Try to link with the new name and get the message others have posted here and in 1000 other threads on these forums - can only link to one account in an EA Account's lifetime.

It's totally ridiculous this is an issue at all and EA Support seems totally worthless. Agents on the forums tell you to go talk to the chat support, chat support tells you there's nothing they can do and close the ticket despite you telling them not to. Ask to be put in contact with anybody knowledgeable about the accounts system and they refuse and send you copy + pasted responses.

At this point I really don't see the point in buying EA products anymore because their account system is flat-out broken. There's only two ways to view this:

• it is an issue with the Accounts system that has gone unfixed for a long time, and EA doesn't care enough to fix it and shuts down discussion of it on the forums
• it is a 'policy' to only ever connect to one account and that's it, which is a terrible policy, and furthermore it makes no sense why you would ever even be able to unlink an account at all if you can't link to another one ever again.

I only hope that with XBOX + Game Pass connecting to EA Account on PC, thousands and thousands more people are going to run into this problem and be vocal about it - because right now EA doesn't seem to care at all.

I have this issue.. myxbox account is linked to some other ea account that is not mine and also has another Xbox account linked to it... I can no longer use chat support as they seem to lock you out.

I can't verify I own that account as it has no personal details in it, it only has a created date of when I tried to link to my own account.

The best I can get is the email address, the other person's Gamertag and year of birth.

I am completely stumped and quite angry about this...

Don't spose anyone has any other suggestions?

I have tried everything in this article. The support team will not assist me because i cannot verify that i own someone elses account BECAUSE I DONT!

I cannot unlink the account myself like the other guy in the thread could because the EA account i have been incorrectly linked to is not verified.

The support team won't even allow me to submit a complaint.

I do not even have words for how insane this is.

Please get in touch with our support team for further assistance. 

I'd like to bump this thread again as it appears I am also having a similar issue to OP.

I purchased XGP and it appears to have auto linked to a temporary account that I had no control in creating... I wasn't given the option to link to my current / only used Origin EA account and i'm now unable to move my XGP to my own account as EA Desktop states that it was previously linked to "TMPL0UKKY5" and that "EA Accounts can only be linked to one Xbox account in it's lifetime."

Now, I have spoken to support on the issue and have had word from a specialist on EA's side that nothing can be done. At all. Ever.

So now i'm left in a situation where one of the main reasons I even purchased XGP is useless to me as I cannot get the benefits to ANY of the games i've purchased on my Origin EA account the last decade OR even want to play any of the new titles as they aren't linked to my own account...

Even if I did stop the subscription or update my Microsoft Xbox / EA profiles, I'll never be able to link the correct accounts together as in EA's own words... "EA Accounts can only be linked to one Xbox account in it's lifetime."

Is there nothing that can be done at this point? It seem's like a ridiculous oversight on EA's part...

I can create cases and contact support all i want... they just keep closing them and saying they can't help me because I cant verify the EA account that is not mine that the system linked me to.

to nswer you directly. yes i have logged in with my xbox credentials and open a case and i get the exact same outcome.

All i can say mate is good luck.... they won't help you and they don't care... sure some of the individual staff i have spoken with (mainly via twitter) have seemed to genuinely understand my frustration but they still won't help.

I really just wanted to play some star wars battlefield as all ove my xbox game pass app it keeps showing up but nooooo i guess no star wars for me.

"in EA's own words... "EA Accounts can only be linked to one Xbox account in it's lifetime."

This is gotta be one of the most blatant loads of BS that EA has spouted... which is saying a lot:

Five linked accounts based on this screenshot from the random EA account that absorbed my XBox.

Unfortunately, it's not an oversight from EA, it's a policy, and one they have no interest in changing. Your only real solutions are to do what you can to try and scam your way around it like I did or set up an entirely new account. 

Sorry you're in that same boat.

yea the random account I got linked to has another xbox account already linked to it also... I tried pointing out to support that they say there can only be 1 xbox account linked so please unlink mine but that didn't fly either... they just won't help full stop nothing more to say.

i tried asking microsoft for help.. they just said only EA can help and didnt care when i said that they wouldnt.

Just wanted to provide an update to what happened on my account with this issue.

TL:DR:

After speaking to Three EA reps and Two Microsoft Xbox employees, I have found the issue relating to why I couldn't move my subscription from one account to another.

And yes. It seem's like a MASSIVE oversight on EA's end and a ridiculous part of their policy. An incredibly old EA Account cannot be linked to a new Xbox account if it was tied to an account from 10+ years ago. Spanning two console lifecycles, I am unable to move the account link from one device to another...

Ok. So for some background info...

I used to play Battlefield Bad Company 1 & 2 on an old Xbox 360 that I no-longer own or use (I became a PC gamer when BF3 released.) This old Xbox 360 account was linked to my email that I use for EA Desktop / Origin. Created around 12-13 years ago and still used on an almost daily basis due to me now playing EA games on PC.

Now, when Gamepass added EA Play to their service, I was interested and created a new Xbox account through the PC app with the aim of getting the EA Play benefits on my existing EA / Origin Account. When prompted to download the EA Desktop app, I did so and was auto created an account with my New Xbox ID / email. After unlinking my Xbox Account and Personal PC account through EA's website, I was now stuck with attempting to link my new Xbox account with my old (but still used) Origin / EA account.

So what did I learn from Microsoft?

The issue isn't on their end. Here is a snippit from the chat I had with the staff member.

Me: "Linked Accounts Found - Your accounts can't be linked because EA Account for ***EMAIL ACCOUNT*** (the correct email I want to use) was previously linked to the Xbox account for "TMPL0UKKY5" (Unknown account). An EA Account can only be linked to one Xbox account in its lifetime."

MS Employee: "that's weird cause is saying like your email is attached to a xbox profile TMPL0UKKY5 but that gamer tag doesn't exist.

*After a bit more chat between them and myself*

MS Employee: "Yes is quite confusing but I think I got it, so far is like the EA is not letting link your due to was linked before and it can only be linked once in its lifetime! Unfortunately, we can't unlinked any account from our end since we don't have the tools to do it. So I would recommend you to get in contact with EA support again, to see if there are able to link your account again to the correct email address you want to use!"

How did EA respond?

Here's the response I had from an EA Staff member.

EA Employee: "Thanks for waiting! As far as I am concerned. I believe the reason you are getting the error message while linking the Xbox Account to EA Account is that your Xbox Account can only be linked to an EA Account that was never connected to an Xbox Account before. (Confirming that it was originally linked to an old account from 10+ years ago.)

It is working as intended as per the wording in the disclaimer player gets on their end via self-service tool and the help article for linking persona. You can relink the same persona again with which account it was unlinked. (We cannot change the link from your new account to the already existing account you want to connect to.)

I believe linking your Xbox Account to an EA Account that was never linked to an Xbox will help you link the accounts without any issue. I hope that you will understand. (Link your Xbox PC account to a brand new EA account to solve the issue.)

Conclusion:

Basically. We cannot do anything about unlinking your account that you haven't used for over 10 years since the launch of Battlefield Bad Company 2 and we plan to do nothing to fix the issue.

Because of this response, I've no use for the Xbox Game Pass or EA Play so decided to unsubscribe from the services as I will not ever be able to get any of the benefits of EA Play on my already existing account.

Ridiculous that there's "nothing" they can do.

well that definitely sucks in your situation, it is a little different from mine though. My xbox account has been linked to anther persons ea account that i have no control over and I cannot unlink it from there. If i could unlink it (which if it was a second account of mine for example then i could) then i would be able to link it to my EA account as it has 100% never had an xbox account linked to it.

your problem seems to stem from not being able to link to your account as its previously had one linked where as mine is that i cannot unlink from someone elses account.. both equally as stupid and frustrating though 🙂

This whole thread is rather horrifying to read. I wish you all the best of luck solving your issues.

hahaa, while i appreciate the wished luck I don't believe there is any chance of being able to do anything about it. I am stuck between two giant company's that don't give a crap. Microsoft just says its EA's problem and EA says "meh too bad".

I have concluded that the only two options that seem to exist in my situation are to:

1) create a new microsoft account and subscribe to game pass on that account and then link that one to my EA account... problem with this option is i have have my microsoft account for about 15 years and i dont want to part from all that gamerscore and other things i own etc. Plus my other subscriptions (o365) are linked to that account, plus my windows licences etc etc..

2) some kind of consumer rights legal action as the EA games access is advertised as included in the game pass offering but the organisations involved are not allowing me to access them... but that would be a long shot at best and really who has the time or money to try something like that just to play games... would probably be cheaper just to buy the games i wanted to play.

it just ticks me off that there are so many games i would like to play that are locked inside EA and right now i completely and utterly refuse to spend a cent with EA and just knowing some of my gamepass subscription cost is going to them is pushing me towards ditching that also.. which is sad because it's an amazing service.

I just sent this as a direct message but then i figured i should post it here incase it helps anyone else... i removed my discord ID but if anyone else wants to chat about the issue happy for you to direct message me and I can give you my discord..... excuse the typos... its been a long day.

"

Hey mate,

I managed to get my issue sorted out!

Finally got someone with half a brain from EA support... it was a great day 🙂

I am happy to walk you through exactly what I did to get it sorted. I can even give you the name of the support guy that fixed it (if i can find it), but it might be easier to chat about about it rather than back and forward through here.

If you want you can add me on Discord and I can explain what happened to fix it. Meisner57#0222

Otherwise feel free to just reply here and I and I can try to help.

The general overview was:

 - log a ticket with microsoft stating the issue and record the ticket number (they can't help)

 - Log into help.ea.com with your actual EA account username and password

 - start a chat support with EA while logged in as your EA account (note down the ticket number for the chat)

 - tell them that your xbox account has mistakenly been linked to someone else's account

 - when they argue tell them you have a ticket from microsoft proving you own that xbox account gamertag, give them ticket number, and that you can prove directly to them that it is your xbox account and that it is linked to the wrong account... here is where it gets confusing. The guy got me to go into another web browser and log into help.ea.com with my xbox account (which logs you in as the account you are linked to) then he got me to log a support ticket from that account to some specific type of issue (not related to this problem) and in the subject line and description to put the ticket number for in progress EA chat from your actual account, then submit it and note the ticket number and go back to your chat in your actual account and give them the ticket number

 - they then looked up the ticket and confirmd i did it and then boom! he was happy to unlink my xbox account from the other account as i proved the issue and ownership etc.

 - i then successfully linked my xbox account to my actual EA account while i still had the guy in the chat active incase i had issues again.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,

Meisner"

Wow, this is the biggest  I have ever seen. I just found out I have the exact same issue. I just sent you a friend request on discord. I guess i'll be trying to get this sorted out soon. Hopefully they can actually help me...

EDIT by EA_Jason: Don't attempt to bypass the swear filter. 

hope it works for me! Ill try it tomorrow

If you want to hear something even more horrifying, at least in my case, it automatically logs me into their account on this site. I had to log out, and then manually log back in to get my account.

This is seriously messed up.