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BakedBrii's avatar
BakedBrii
4 years ago

Missing Purchased Content from Sims 3 Store

I recently installed the Sims 3 on my new PC after a 7-year hiatus from the game. Back in the day I had the Sims 3, along with a handful of expansion packs and purchased Sims 3 Store content, installed on a laptop and put HOURS into the same. Now that I have a PC capable of handling the Sims 3 and all of the added content, I decided to install the Sims 3 once again for nostalgic purposes.

When I launched the game and began playing with a new household, I realized some of the content that I had purchased YEARS ago via Sims 3 Store was not in the game (some CAS items like hair styles and clothing, Build/Buy objects, and some other misc. stuff). I went to the Sims 3 Store to view my purchase history and billing history. The purchase history contained most of the missing content - which I then downloaded and installed into the Sims 3 game successfully. Interestingly the billing history page was blank - suggesting that I have no billing history, which is strange given there are purchased items in my purchase history. 

Anyway, the issues is that some but not all of my purchases showed up in my purchase history. I KNOW for a fact I had several other sets and stuff that I purchased from the Sims 3 store back in the day that are no longer among the list of items in my purchase history - including:

  • Everyday – Cool Summer Nights set
  • Everyday Casual Chic set
  • Luxury Resort Attire set

I'm sure there are more things missing, but these are the ones I have identified as FOR SURE MISSING.

I reached out to EA Customer Support, who provided me with generic troubleshooting methods: Re-install the Sims 3, Clear Origin Cache, etc... which I did!

Obviously these things did not resolve the issue because the problem is with the Sims 3 Store and not the game nor origin. I did not purchase these things through origin. They were purchased through the Sims 3 Store: https://store.thesims3.com/   - a concept that customer support could not comprehend, because they told me to keep re-installing the game and clearing my Origin cache until my items showed up. The thing is, these items are not showing up in my game because they are no longer purchased items on my account. I need real help to get these items back, and not some waste-of-time generic troubleshooting tips. The customer service rep basically told me that if re-installing the game didn't fix it, I'm SOL. NICE error handling, EA 😠!

I read a forum post dated ~6+ years ago that mentioned the same problem I was having with missing Sims 3 Store content from their account. They mentioned the issue possibly rooted from them changing the email linked to their EA account. When they changed the email, some of their purchased Sims 3 Store items were no longer linked to their accounts purchase history, and their billing history disappeared. I too changed the email on my EA account a few years ago, and ironically I am not facing the same issue: missing store items (several items but not all), and billing history missing completely.

Has anyone else had a similar issue? How did you resolve it? I really REALLY want the items back that I purchased!

UPDATE January 2024:

I had to scour the Sims 3 store to find the items that were not appearing in my purchase history. I found the item pages on the store and noticed the prompt said "Download" rather than "Buy Now". So even though these items did not appear in my history, I was still able to download them. Unfortunately, this is an exhaustive method. I had to go through literally every store page, looking for items I recognized. I noticed some of my items were one-off items from a pack, which required me to visit the store page for that item instead of the page for the pack that was it was apart of. Using this method, I believe that I have finally identified all of the items that I purchased from the store. If this method works for you, I highly recommend bookmarking the store pages for your items because they will not appear in your history, even after downloading.

This brings me to my next discovery: the Sims 3 launcher will not recognize your purchased items after you launch the game and close out of it. The items show up in the launcher downloads page, but they won't be installed. Trying to install them again from the launcher won't work, and I noticed that if you try to re-download the items from the store and install them, it just created a second instance of that same item, which exasperates the issues. Uninstalling/reinstalling the game isn't enough. Apparently, this is a known issue with the Sims 3 launcher, and because it is no longer supported, it isn't a bug that will ever be addressed. There is a method that I found online that works 99% of the time, but unfortunately, I have to do this every single time I want to play the sims 3.

The instructions are found in the links below - the second link is REALLY helpful.

Sims 3 Store Content is Missing from game (carls-sims-4-guide.com)

How To: Re-Install Sims Store Items (carls-sims-4-guide.com)

I hope this helps everyone. It's so unfortunate that this software has been completely abandoned by the Sims team.. they really dropped the ball with supporting the integrity of their customers purchases. Hopefully they make better choices in the future. 

technical issues
the sims 3 store

9 Replies

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    4 years ago

    @BakedBrii  If you check your order history on ea.com, you may find placeholder entries for the missing purchases.  It's difficult to tell what each purchase is from the info there, but the entries do list the points you've spent.  For example, my most recent "purchase" used 45 SimPoints to complete a set, and the info looks like this:

    If you go back far enough, you should find all of your purchases, and it's possible you'll be able to match the cost in points to each set.  With that and the order number, you may be able to explain the issue to a support rep and get some help.  I've personally had a range of experiences with support, ranging from having to explain a store issue over and over to finding someone who knew what they were looking at and was ready to fix it before I'd finished typing, so if you're not getting anywhere with a support rep, it's worth trying again later.

    On that note, I'd also recommend trying EA Help on Twitter, especially during U.S. business hours.

  • BakedBrii's avatar
    BakedBrii
    4 years ago

    That is very good advice. I will look through my order history to see if I can match up some purchases with items I am missing. Thank you!

    UPDATE: Looked through my order history on Origin and it doesn't display any orders placed before August 2013. I know I have orders placed before then because I purchased The Sims 3 prior to August 2013. I will have to keep digging to see if I can find something else to prove I have other purchases.

  • debraacts's avatar
    debraacts
    New Traveler
    3 years ago

    I am in the same boat.  Have a new computer so there was no cache to clear.  How do we go about getting what we paid for?

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    3 years ago

    @debraacts  What content are you missing that you paid for?  If you refresh the store page a few times, does the content show as owned?  Please check both your purchase history (Store > My Store Account > Purchase History) and the items' product pages.

  • mustangschelle's avatar
    mustangschelle
    2 years ago

    I too had almost every add on and expansion. For some reason I lost access to my old email address. I updated all to a new address. I found this problem because the Army movers misplaced half of my games. I recalled they were on the app to install though I bought them at a store and disk loaded them. For years all was good. Now I have nothing. I did load by disk what I can find. But the real fun was all my add ons. How can I re claim it all?

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    2 years ago

    @mustangschelle  Are you saying your expansions and stuff packs were previously available on your EA account, but you lost access to the email associated with the account, and therefore the account itself?  If so, then the only move here is to regain access to the old account.  There's no way to move your purchases from the old account to the new one; that goes for expansion and stuff packs as well as Store content.

    If you think you can prove ownership of the old EA account, you can contact support and go through the account recovery process.  I would strongly recommend using live chat rather than email; if you don't see the option, choose a different category of issue.  And you can also access support without signing in if you use the "can't login" category (or similar), so try that if nothing else works.

    https://help.ea.com/en/help-home/

  • mustangschelle's avatar
    mustangschelle
    2 years ago

    I am not familiar with a lot any longer but I can lig into the place that shows your merits and badges and contacts. It even shows my games and expansions. At least it shows most. Katie Perry wasn’t there. It shows all the extra stuff  I bought  like outfits and baby gear and so forth. But the app I think Origin. That had my downloads. And purchases, that I could load them onto my laptop from is gone. I had registered every single purchase with codes. Like Generations, late nights, Ambitions, world Adventure, Seasons, Super Natural, Showtime, Master Suites, Town life, Outdoor living and Fast Lane. Then Roaring Heights, Midnight Hollow, aurora Skies, Lucky Palma, Lunar Lakes, Sunlite Tides, Dragon Valley and River View. Those ate all lost plus individual purchases randomly. All off this was registered on Origin and I downloaded from there numerous times to new laptops. As I said the stuff shows in my badges and games and expansions I registered. 
    M Homawoo

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    2 years ago

    @mustangschelle  You're referring to the Sims 3 Store.  Can you sign into the EA App with the same email address and password you use on the Store site when you see your purchased content?  If so, you should be able to download your expansion and stuff packs as well.

  • jrdragon31's avatar
    jrdragon31
    New Novice
    11 months ago

    Similar issue here. Mine, even things I played with even just a couple weeks ago, have entirely disappeared. My entire store history is gone despite that some of it is newer than you are describing too, even on the sims3.com website where they were purchased. It flashed in the history on the screen then disappeared so the data is there somewhere. I wonder if this isn't on purpose?

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