So I am now 13 days into my false ban for "coin distribution" with only 1 email from EA on day 8 saying my case was under investigation. Any form of contact with EA has had zero results as I just keep getting told to wait. I was able to talk with someone at Microsoft though so just a PSA: If you purchased anything ingame within the last 14 days (as I bought a $100 pack less then 48 hours before being banned) contact Microsoft and politely explain your false ban situation. Let them know that you would like a refund for points purchased because you are unable to play the game as intended. I received an email the following day stating I would be refunded. Maybe if enough people do this and EA starts losing money they will actually care and admit that they are wrong instead of continuing to falsely ban loyal paying customers, taking there sweet time then either not lifting the ban or saying "we found that the action that we took was correct In accordance with our TOS but have decided to reverse the action taken on your account". EA... Just admit you are wrong...

@Boodissy13 I’ve raised my complaint with PlayStation Network similarly. although in my case my point purchase was older than 14 days the agent I spoke with seemed very understanding and as a FIFA fan understood the frustration this has on gaming experience.At the end of the day, I’m 45 years old with 3 kids. I play Madden as a fan of NFL and if EA pi55 me off that much more with lack of response this will be 4 customers they lose going forwards.Oh and my son wants Assassins Creed Valhalla for a Christmas present. Isn’t EA part of Origin? Same company?Get it sorted EA or else your company will just keep missing out.

@EA_Blueberry I do appreciate your reply and I completely understand that it does take time. But I do believe that 2 weeks is extremely excessive. I would be the first to admit, bite the bullet and move on if I knew I was in the wrong in the slightest bit. But after reading through the TOS I know for a fact that I did nothing wrong. That is to say unless buying bundles, opening packs, selling cards from those packs and using the app to buy and sell cards is against the TOS. It seems to be the trend that people that use the app are getting banned for buying and selling cards. I work 12 hour days and tend to use the app quite often to sell cards while I am at work... BUT is this not what the app is intended for, to keep people invested in the game even when they are unable to be in front of their tv? If buying and selling on the app is the cause of ban's then EA should give a warning about this. "Don't use this app as we intended it to be used or we will ban you"EA has quickly lost a loyal paying customer due to "improved anti-cheating systems" that apparently does nothing to the thousands of auctions that sell gold and silver cards for 500,000+ coins on a daily basis, but just bans people that play the game as intended.

@EA_BlueberrySorry Blueberry, no my kids don’t play Madden. I’m the only one playing it. I mention my kids purely from the context of if I boycott EA, then they do - that includes Origin games like Battlefield and Assassins Creed which they do play.I’m surprised that your trying to leap to some conclusion that might explain my wrongful ban - why not just be honest and admit there is a serious problem that EA refuse to address publicly?

@Boodissy13 Exactly the same , I’m a working father. I use the app. I’ve heard a glitch on the app while playing on console may be the issue - but like you Boodissy, I certainly have NOT broken any rules or the TOS.It’s just very disappointing that EA refuse to own up to this glitch and make an announcement.

I too was using the Madden 22 companion app to finish the Dan Marino Team Diamond collection. Got lucky and pulled a full legend Ted Hendricks from a Pro Fantasy Pack, sold it for 578k and then bought the LTD for 555k and now boom, I’m banned. Is it because I used the companion app on iPhone that the EA team designed? Like come on now, you are giving us something to use and it’s going to ban us for it. I’m going to request a refund for all of the money I’ve spent in the last 14 days on this. Absolutely absurd, the ban detection is CLEARLY broken, but the consumer is the one who gets penalized for it.

False Ban refund | EA Forums

12 Replies

stalhill
5 years ago
@Boodissy13 I’ve raised my complaint with PlayStation Network similarly. although in my case my point purchase was older than 14 days the agent I spoke with seemed very understanding and as a FIFA fan understood the frustration this has on gaming experience.

At the end of the day, I’m 45 years old with 3 kids. I play Madden as a fan of NFL and if EA pi55 me off that much more with lack of response this will be 4 customers they lose going forwards.
Oh and my son wants Assassins Creed Valhalla for a Christmas present. Isn’t EA part of Origin? Same company?
Get it sorted EA or else your company will just keep missing out.
Boodissy13
5 years ago
@stalhill From what I have read Playstation is much more unlikely to refund. I did attempt to get refunds on older purchase as well but Microsoft would only do within 14 days. I figured it's better than nothing. I have been an avid gamer my whole life and EA has lost my respect as a consumer. The lack of resolution, as well as admittance of wrong doing is horrible.
EA_Blueberry
Community Manager
5 years ago
@stalhill

Account sharing or distribution is against the Terms of Service, I'm not sure if that's what you might have been flagged for but since you mentioned you had other kids that possibly play the game it leads me to believe coins were being transferred to accounts in the same household. I know some people aren't aware of this and maybe you fall under those circumstances, but giving you a heads up.

The rules for Madden NFL 21 can be found here: https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/madden/madden-know-the-rules/

In the link above you'll find reasons on what can cause bans and suspensions.

@Boodissy13

I'm very sorry it's been taking this lkong to get it addressed for you, the Madden NFL team made improvements to their anti-cheating systems based off feedback from the community on better handling cheaters and coin selling in the game, thus a rise in players reporting bans is due to accounts being actioned faster. There are cases where some rare cases where accounts shouldn't have been banned and for those impacted we sincerely apologize. It's important our teams review each case carefully and it's done by a human so it can take a little bit longer to process depending on the time of year and amount of players contacting our terms of Service team. With the Pandemic year and success of Madden NFL 21 we are attempting to process these as quickly as possible.

Thank you for your patience and keep an eye on the email address associated with your EA account. It's possible replies are directed to the spam/junk/promotion folders so be sure to double-check those areas on your email provider as well.
Boodissy13
5 years ago
@EA_Blueberry I do appreciate your reply and I completely understand that it does take time. But I do believe that 2 weeks is extremely excessive. I would be the first to admit, bite the bullet and move on if I knew I was in the wrong in the slightest bit. But after reading through the TOS I know for a fact that I did nothing wrong. That is to say unless buying bundles, opening packs, selling cards from those packs and using the app to buy and sell cards is against the TOS. It seems to be the trend that people that use the app are getting banned for buying and selling cards. I work 12 hour days and tend to use the app quite often to sell cards while I am at work... BUT is this not what the app is intended for, to keep people invested in the game even when they are unable to be in front of their tv? If buying and selling on the app is the cause of ban's then EA should give a warning about this. "Don't use this app as we intended it to be used or we will ban you"

EA has quickly lost a loyal paying customer due to "improved anti-cheating systems" that apparently does nothing to the thousands of auctions that sell gold and silver cards for 500,000+ coins on a daily basis, but just bans people that play the game as intended.
stalhill
5 years ago
@EA_BlueberrySorry Blueberry, no my kids don’t play Madden. I’m the only one playing it. I mention my kids purely from the context of if I boycott EA, then they do - that includes Origin games like Battlefield and Assassins Creed which they do play.

I’m surprised that your trying to leap to some conclusion that might explain my wrongful ban - why not just be honest and admit there is a serious problem that EA refuse to address publicly?
stalhill
5 years ago
@Boodissy13 Exactly the same , I’m a working father. I use the app. I’ve heard a glitch on the app while playing on console may be the issue - but like you Boodissy, I certainly have NOT broken any rules or the TOS.

It’s just very disappointing that EA refuse to own up to this glitch and make an announcement.
tjayharris10
4 years ago
I too was using the Madden 22 companion app to finish the Dan Marino Team Diamond collection. Got lucky and pulled a full legend Ted Hendricks from a Pro Fantasy Pack, sold it for 578k and then bought the LTD for 555k and now boom, I’m banned. Is it because I used the companion app on iPhone that the EA team designed? Like come on now, you are giving us something to use and it’s going to ban us for it. I’m going to request a refund for all of the money I’ve spent in the last 14 days on this. Absolutely absurd, the ban detection is CLEARLY broken, but the consumer is the one who gets penalized for it.
EA_Blueberry
Community Manager
4 years ago
@tjayharris10

We've raised these concerns up to the team. Please see my response in the Madden 22 forums here: https://answers.ea.com/t5/Madden-NFL-Ultimate-Team/14-days-ban-for-selling-gold-cards-to-high/m-p/10804167/highlight/true#M2383
tjayharris10
4 years ago
@EA_Blueberry wrote:
@tjayharris10

We've raised these concerns up to the team. Please see my response in the Madden 22 forums here: https://answers.ea.com/t5/Madden-NFL-Ultimate-Team/14-days-ban-for-selling-gold-cards-to-high/m-p/10804167/highlight/true#M2383
Thanks @EA_Blueberry , I appreciate it. I’ve already sent in a dispute claim. And it doesn’t look promising based off the link you posted. There are limits on what you can sell a card for and if you happen to get lucky to pull a gold card that is hard to find, you get banned for selling it based off the limits that the game applies. To me, that does not make any sense and to a court of law, it also would not make any sense. I don’t even want to think about the number of low and high gold exchanges I did to try and pull gold cards that were over priced due to Team Diamonds, so if I got lucky a pulled a second one, yes I will sell it for the inflated price since I would have had to buy it at that any ways.
UnchangingOne
4 years ago
I got banned for using the Companion App and am blocked out of 80% of the game modes in a game I've spent close to $200 on and probably close to 100 hours playing. I've been playing Madden since the 90's. It's been my favorite game. I'm a 46 year old Grandfather who too was using the Companion App on my Iphone to buy and sell cards in attempt to finish the Very Expensive Dan Marino set. I ended up getting 2 of the 32 sets completed. I didn't do anything illegal. I wasn't breaking any rules. Just using the software EA created.
Now, I'm to the point of where I don't even want to get "unbanned" for something I didn't do. I just want my money back and I'll never buy another EA game again or spend money on it. I quit playing them all even Madden Mobile. This is not how you treat loyal, lifelong customers. It's absolutely disgusting.