Re: EA24 banning people

Any questions around a ban need to be directed to our TOS team @supersi2110.

We cannot help further.

Darko

I get the impression EA are readily banning people from the game as the FC 24 cycle comes to an end to obstruct them transitioning into FC25. Of course means consumers lose the advantage of pre-release order benefits and FC25 reward packs earned in FC24.  My account was blocked when I used the phone app on an international flight and when I landed.  That had happened once before, in August, but it was reversed quickly.  This time EA are just doing nothing and it has been 10 days since the issue was raised. What shows the sham nature of the process is there has been no effort at all to follow up on the simple explanation for the activity on the account. I expect the worst even though I did nothing other than grind out some 85 x10s and buy plenty of gold rares at market price for the SBCs.  I am discussing this with UK consumer lawyers on the basis that the lack of accountability in the system is abusive for customers and the discussion groups indicate are lots of examples on line of unilateral action being taken without accountability. The UK now offers a variety of group protection litigation options, which would make progressing investigations into the mistreatment of consumers generally possible. I paid for the Ultimate pre-release package and invested some time earning pre-season rewards. It is obvious now that I will not be benefitting from the promotion because of what happened. Mere refunds are not enough to compensate for the value of consumer surplus.  

Hey @montmaster645 that is not simply a thing, our team does not ban people for any reason other than a breach of the EA Terms of Service.

I took a look at your account and can see that our TOS team has replied to you multiple times with all the relevant information about the action on your account.

Have you received this email with all the info?

Darko

All the emails have said is that EA considered there was a violation and the dispute is being reviewed other than those bare statements there has been nothing of the type of correspondence you describe.  I offered all information I could while travelling, which was somewhat limited, and now home have confirmed I can provide more but none has been sought.  I reviewed the ToS rules and none of them apply.  I just used the phone app on a plane wifi while travelling.  The same use lead to a mistaken ban in August, last time when I was on a plane, but that was reversed the next day.  This time exactly the same thing has happened and 10 days later all I have been told is that the issue is being considered, which itself is worrying since a) EA do not inform people what they consider the issue is and B) I have sought to provide information when I returned home and there has been no means of providing it.  My son in particular is very upset at the family losing out on the pre-release and the rewards. I have dealt professional with international banking fraud investigation agencies that are more forthcoming that EA have been.

As I said @montmaster645 our team has reached out to you with all the relevant information about the ban and what can be done. 

There is nothing more that we can do to assist on AHQ. 

Darko

Just so the general public know "all the relevant information about the ban and what can be done" means:

- EA tells a user they are banned 

- EA refuses to give reasons but instead tells the user to read the Rules and guess what the accusation might be.  Quite Kafkaesque.

- When a user contacts EA to see what the issue is and what information is needed, all that the user is told is "you will hear back, maybe in 10 days, but it might be longer, but in the mean time we don't want to work with you if there is an error or if information would help".

Apparently it might be the "world's game" but don't play while travelling the world!

I have no information about the ban and there is nothing I can do.  That is why I'm having to take this legal.  Does EA have a registered correspondence address for legal issues in the UK or does it still hide behind a boilerplate address in Switzerland? 

I have contacted many times and I can prove I never purchased any coins for money ever I play for free probably like most people it's a game for god sake why you need to waste real money on buying coins I used the transfer market to buy items on the games transfer market relist it for a few more coins so I made a profit it takes time and effort to do this but still this is a transfer market within the game that I am using on my PS4 

Once again not listening I contacted the team so many times now and still they come back with I am illegal coin trading really I asked them to give there evidence of this they can't show me why you can't show because I never brought any for real money and now I am going to attach the responses from EA which they don't want to do anything because they somehow after me contacting them about my coins going missing that I got in there game fair and through the transfer market of buying and relisting items now I'm coin trading I mean what do you have bloody kids working there that don't see anything 

Everything they have sent me is a joke I haven't and never will I be spending my real hard earned money to buy coins just get a better team come on it's a game something I play in spare time but honestly this most ridiculous thing to do to people lie about banning someone for what I played fair and square best thing you can do as a company is refund the money spent on the game because right now it's about as much use to me as a chocolate tea pot 

“ our team has reached out to you with all the relevant information about the ban and what can be done. ”

Let me tell the forum what such arrogance means:

- After this post I received an email stating I should contact chat to fix this 

- I said to chat when I followed up that the chat better not end with the cliché “we can’t help

because it’s a ban and EA banned chat advisors moving matters to the dispute team”. As you probably can guess that is exactly what happened. Liaising with EA as requested by their

own Customer Services was a complete waste of

time.

- Worse after the first email and before the chat I received a second inconsistent email that said “you have already raised a ticket, we couldn’t find any record of a dispute regarding the ban. Therefore, we request you to follow the steps and raise a dispute.”

- So after 10 days of waiting and being told the dispute was being handled by an expert team blah blah blah, it turns out that was a complete lie

- I was promised the new dispute would be prioritised. As you can guess nothing has happened.

AHQ mods should not give the forum a false

impression that the process is handled in anything close to a professional manner. Doing so would be untrue.

I can only work off the information you share @montmaster645 and I can see that our TOS team has replied to your appeals with all the information they can share. 

If you are not receiving them then you need to check your email account and settings. 

There is nothing more anyone can do to assist you with his. 

Darko

Darko, you need to get your own information correct.  Yesterday, after 10 days of waiting to be substantively contacted re wrongful ban after raising a dispute and being told, repeatedly that the dispute was being reviewed by the ToS "experts", I received an email from EA that said:

"Although you have already raised a ticket, we couldn’t find any record of a dispute regarding the ban. Therefore, we request you to follow the steps and raise a dispute."  The only buttons on the browser after clicking on the Dispute button are to send an email to EA which I did. 

There is nothing in spam or other holding folders, I would appreciate if you stayed away from victim blaming or shaming. 

How many EA accounts do you have @montmaster645?

Darko

I did not know one could have more than one account!  On that basis the answer must be only 1. I am concerned that the implication of the question is yet more attempts at victim blaming.

The ban was tabbed as dispute pending but then that was wiped for some reason at the EA end and I was asked raise it again, albeit 10 days later. However, the button for disputing an improper ban is not an option on the browser.

The last time made this sort of error it was sorted in less than an hour, which was a bore but at least it was sorted. Now 10 days, 4 or 5 sessions of chat and about 30 emails in, nothing had happened. That was despite being told the resolution was give. A form of priority status.

With the game launch clock now at 12 hours it seems clear that this error by EA compounded by further later mismanagement, will mean I will not be getting the benefit of advanced purchase benefits.

As I've said @montmaster645 I checked your account and can see that our TOS team has replied to your appeals with all the relevant info. From your posts it sounds like you may have multiple accounts and if that is the case then our team can only reply to the account you have contacted from.  

I have repeatedly viewed your account and can see that our team has provided you with all the info they can. 

There is nothing more that we can do to assist you on AHQ. You need to review your accounts and check the associated emails. 

Darko

I have received nothing from the ToS team.  Not one message.  I have been told by chat advisers the issue has been flagged with the ToS team but yesterday EA emailed to say there was no record the dispute.  How can there be no record when apparently I have been fully briefed.  Since 10 September nothing has happened.

I do not have multiple accounts.  I just confirmed that.  But replying to every email does generate a new case number which is incredibly confusing.

1. No-one has replied to my appeal.

2. In fact yesterday EA asked me to re-file the appeal as the company has messed the process up.

3. I have checked all the emails on the account.  There is no "associated account".

4. If you have evidence of the ToS team providing the information to me please make sure that comes to me - so far I have received nothing.

Even if AHQ can do nothing, recording the process and the failures of EA for others to see may be helpful when others lose out because of EA's failed administration.

Hey @montmaster645 as I have said there is nothing more we can do.

I have shared all the info I can with you in relation to this and can see what our team has sent you. 

Darko

It's not all bad Darko, at least I've earned lots of new forum badges from this!