I can only assume either hackers have a lot more information about me than I give them credit for, or the first time someone requests a change of password is smooth sailing, and only when you want it back does it go to hell.

I think, if I were in charge of cyber security at a gaming firm, and someone changed their password, and associated the account with something foreign, and then within 24 hours a request was submitted to change it back – I’d be lenient – it’s far more likely the original request was a hack, rather than being a jerk and say ‘are you sure you didn’t move to China? come on, prove you didn’t.’

Argh.

I understand your point when shopping – and I agree, you should buy where you got the best service or information. Don’t use the floor-techs/sales-reps and buy at acme.com ;)

However, Azeroth or Tattooine, they’re in the customer service market. The game is their service, as is their support. It’s not as if I pay money for the CDs/DVDs, I pay money to get a service, and the provided service is the game. If I have problems with the game, then the support staff is supposed to help me, because, well, if I can’t get their service (play the game), then I’ll stop paying, I might rant, and odds are that at least one other person will stop being their customer as well.

I understand that a lot (most?) complaints at that level are from “real” shady people who just want to see how far they can abuse the game. The problem are the “real” conned people who really are clueless about why they got banned etc. Tech support, customer support, end-user support, they’re all extremely frustrating and challenging areas (see Sam’s comment) – and trust me, I know first hand – including changing jobs because of the stress. The trick is how to handle those incidents. That’s what sets companies apart, and in the end, makes or breaks a customer-service oriented business.

On another note, one of the most successful “sweep problems under the carpet” businesses would probably be Rolls Royce. From what I understand, there are no confirmable incidents on publicly accessible records of any Rolls ever having any kind of trouble or malfunction ;) Rumors say, though, that in the illusionary event that there may have been a hiccup, equally illusionary help arrived extremely quickly and effectively, so fast as if things never happened :)

Businesses have a right to deny service for nearly any reason short of government imposed discrimination laws. Your constitutional rights do not follow you into Azeroth or Tattooine.

Customer service is an operating expense to a business. A very expensive one. When future profits are uncertain, customer service is going to be cut.

Poor customer service sucks and can sink a business. Remember that the next item you go to several electronics stores, pumping their paid staff for demos and information, then ordering the equipment from an internet clearing house to save 10 bucks. We reap what we sow.

But looking at their wowstead forums, they still don’t appear to have a particularly thriving customer base – there aren’t a lot of posts on there, and you can inevitably find someone complaining about a problem they have brushed under the carpet for months. Their CS guys main weapon of choice is the locking of threads (when they don’t delete), which is really not the way to go – especially when they seem to wield that power with such gusto.

Personally, I’m glad I bit the bullet and moved on (luckily just before I was pushed) – I just feel really sorry for the guys who hung on in there. I’m tempted sometimes to go and tell them there is an alternative, but I know that would be inviting more aggravation from the Curse/Wowstead guys, so just have to hope they work it out for themselves, in time.

I realise this is slightly OT – but it is a horrible feeling. You start doubting yourself, you get very stressed and paranoid, you start wondering if you are a horrible, nasty, poisonous individual as they have suggested. It affects your online life, personal life and even work life.

Customer Service people should understand that they are there for that purpose – to provide a service to the customer. If they can’t do that, then they’re in the wrong job.

So I certainly believe you about how it was. Blizzard had improved greatly I have no complaints lately I’m really glad Battlechicken got their incident resolved , one can feel pretty distressed and frustrated in that kind of situation.