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How To: Cancel Your Account And Get Your Money Back
Dawnherald
Member Posts: 146
1. You have to have paid via credit card.
2. Phone up the company and say you want to dispute the charges for Star Trek Online.
3. Cite http://www.startrekonline.com/about_star_trek_online as your reason, as it advertised features that were NOT IN THE GAME.
4. Wait a few days if it isn't done instantly. Your credit card company cannot really give you any trouble on this.
5. Go buy a decent game with your money.
And, yes, this is a perfectly legal method of getting your money back. A customer who plays via credit card for things over the internet can use the protection against damaged, mislabelled or misadvertised goods to reclaim that money.
However, I have to say that this may cause Cryptic Online to get blacklisted by many banks, as they will refuse to allow customers to buy products from a company that does misconduct like this.
Good luck, everyone!
Comments
Nice guide ;-)
I kinda did the same with my pre-order of D2D (they don't offer refunds, not even for pre-orders), but turned to PayPal to cancel the payment.
not ONLY will your credit card company give you your money back, but everytime a chargeback (industry term) is issued against Cryptic, they pay an additional fee to the card processor they use.
so, what was $50 to them, could actually cost them $10 - $35 (depending on the merchant service agreement).
and if they exceed over 1% of their monthly volume in chargebacks, they'll get fined heavily by Visa and MasterCard. Causing further expenses to them.
If you call Cryptic directly and demand your money (this mostly applies to Lifetime subs), and threaten them with a chargeback (esspecially if you used an Amex card. Amex always sides w/ their card holders) I bet they cave and give you the money to avoid the Chargeback fee.
It's always nice to see people uphold their rights as customers, especially when people are arguing that companies have the right to charge money whenever they like on whatever they like.
The company can bite you back occasionally if the interpretation of the features was within reason. Say you insisted you couldn't do something yet you could, just only to a extent. As long as they can argue its part true they win. In which case your hit with the false charge fee lol.
I'll pull up an example of a falsity on the page:
"Your ship will retain a Star Trek "feel," but it will also represent your style. What’s more, anyone can create their own species in Star Trek Online, meaning you can tell your own story about how you came to be in the galaxy. Leave your mark on the Star Trek universe!"
You cannot create your own species, at all. This is a feature that was removed to allow Cryptic to nickel and dime players.
I'll pull up an example of a falsity on the page:
"Your ship will retain a Star Trek "feel," but it will also represent your style. What’s more, anyone can create their own species in Star Trek Online, meaning you can tell your own story about how you came to be in the galaxy. Leave your mark on the Star Trek universe!"
You cannot create your own species, at all. This is a feature that was removed to allow Cryptic to nickel and dime players.
Wow, I didn't realize that. Did they actually take out the custom alien race feature? That more or less kills the character creation aspect, if it's true and accurate.
Uh, this is a lie. You can, in fact, create your own custom race.
"Because it's easier to nitpick something than to be constructive." -roach5000
I'm no fan of the game, but this is just nonsense. Of course you can create your own species. It's right there in the character creator.
I'm all for gamers being fiscally responsible, but the time for prudence is BEFORE you buy the game, not after. You don't deserve a refund just because you don't like the product.
Indeed chargebacks are a valid way to get your money back...but you yourself might get blacklisted for doing do. Your argument that Cryptic blatantly removed features to nickel and dime you is blatantly false. I present screenshots from the character creator showing that you are indeed wrong. Please try exploring the game before you try to spread such inaccurate information.
I'm called what you just did a lot in real life.
Uh, this is a lie. You can, in fact, create your own custom race.
I was wondering where he got that bit of misinformation considering the people I've talked to on the site who are having fun with that feature.
Currently Playing: World of Warcraft
Also be wary of taking financial advice from some random off the internet.
If Cryptic decides to dispute your chargeback, the credit company will likely side with them (they are, after all, a multi million dollar business), and that might lead to a black mark being put on your credit report, lowering your credit rating.
Trust me, you will care a lot more about a black mark on your credit report than Cryptic will.
"Because it's easier to nitpick something than to be constructive." -roach5000
Then: What the hell is the point in selling klingons etc if people can just make them?
See, this feature wasn't in game last time I heard someone ask about it.
Another example, then: "In this massively multiplayer online game from Cryptic Studios, players can pioneer their own destiny as Captain of a Federation starship. Or, they can become a Klingon Warlord and expand the Empire to the far reaches of the galaxy."
Players can, in fact, do nothing to alter the Empire's size.
this should be front page headlines!
SNIP
Then: What the hell is the point in selling klingons etc if people can just make them?
See, this feature wasn't in game last time I heard someone ask about it.
Another example, then: "In this massively multiplayer online game from Cryptic Studios, players can pioneer their own destiny as Captain of a Federation starship. Or, they can become a Klingon Warlord and expand the Empire to the far reaches of the galaxy."
Players can, in fact, do nothing to alter the Empire's size.
Gotta love people who believe everything they read on the internets. Why post false info about a game you arent even playing?
Believe it or not, they're entitled to a certain amount of poetic license when marketing their game. If a movie poster says a film is going to "change your life," and at the end you don't feel your life has been changed, the movie theater isn't going to refund your money, and I'd love to hear your conversation with the bank when you try to charge back the cost of a ticket. "But my life isn't changed at all!"
For that matter, I'd love to hear the exchange over the very subject you mention.
Outsourced customer service rep in a cubicle in India: "How may I help you today?"
You: "I'm supposed to be able to alter the size of the Klingon empire, but really it's just a lot of PvP!"
Outsourced customer service rep in a cubicle in India: ". . ."
Like the above poster said, why are you so angry about a game you've clearly not played?
I'm not a big fan of the concept of people using charge backs for stuff just because they don't like it. In fact doing so just because you don't like it is pretty unethical. However...
I think an argument could be made that most if not all of the sites selling this game say nothing about micro-payments being required to access some of the features of the game. All the ones I check only mention a subscription fee. Its kinda like leasing a car where you agree to a make/model/options and the price of the lease (e.g. box fee and monthly fee) and then find out after you give them your money that you'll have to pay extra if you want to be able to actually open the trunk.
I'm not a hardcore MMO follower but I can honestly say I had no idea STO would have Subs + micro payments much less micro payments to access things like playable races. If I had bought the pre order and found out the day the game was released that there were micro payments I would have demanded a refund and gone as far as doing a charge back because "requires a subscription to play" is a hell of a lot different from "requires a subscription to play and some features can only be unlocked via cryptic points"
Then: What the hell is the point in selling klingons etc if people can just make them?
The Klingons being sold in the store are Federation Klingons. Meaning if you want to play as a Klingon on the federation side then you have to pony up extra. As far as I know, you can't make one with the character creator, but you can create a wide variety of races.
See, this feature wasn't in game last time I heard someone ask about it.
That's because the game is new and they are constantly adding things.
Another example, then: "In this massively multiplayer online game from Cryptic Studios, players can pioneer their own destiny as Captain of a Federation starship. Or, they can become a Klingon Warlord and expand the Empire to the far reaches of the galaxy."
Players can, in fact, do nothing to alter the Empire's size.
One can take that to mean many things. I admit it's a bit misleading, but not enough to warrant a cry of "I want my money back" to a credit card company.
Currently Playing: World of Warcraft
I'll pull up an example of a falsity on the page:
"Your ship will retain a Star Trek "feel," but it will also represent your style. What’s more, anyone can create their own species in Star Trek Online, meaning you can tell your own story about how you came to be in the galaxy. Leave your mark on the Star Trek universe!"
You cannot create your own species, at all. This is a feature that was removed to allow Cryptic to nickel and dime players.
Wow, I didn't realize that. Did they actually take out the custom alien race feature? That more or less kills the character creation aspect, if it's true and accurate.
This just goes to show how ignorant most are when reading these forums. There is so much disinformation going on on here that many are lead to believe that what ever is posted is true. It's sad really.
Was that directed at me? Go ahead and read the highlighted part of my post again. Just for fun.
Incorrect. I work for a merchant service company. the card holder never is charged a "false" charge. They just lose the case. And, they can re-issue the same chargeback up to 3 times in 3 months. You're wrong. Never is the card holder held accountable, even when they lose. The merchant however (Cryptic in this case) will still be charged the chargeback assessment fee, even is they win.
also 100% wrong.
A) the credit card company is more likely to side w/ the costumer, b/c the customer is king. If the customer is not happy, they no longer use a credit card, if they no longer use a credit card, there's no need for merchants to carry card services, therefore, the customer is the king in the eyes of the card issuing bank.
I'll pull up an example of a falsity on the page:
"Your ship will retain a Star Trek "feel," but it will also represent your style. What’s more, anyone can create their own species in Star Trek Online, meaning you can tell your own story about how you came to be in the galaxy. Leave your mark on the Star Trek universe!"
You cannot create your own species, at all. This is a feature that was removed to allow Cryptic to nickel and dime players.
This is incorrect. You can create your own species. You must have only done beta.
I was lucky enough to get into open beta, and from there I realized I would not be purchasing this game. I do believe however that once you buy a game, you bought it. It's like a piece of produce( fruits or vegatables), you take your chances on whether or not its going to taste good. Can you return a music cd because you didn't like it?.....no. This is one of those things. It does suck that you don't like the game that you bought and you may even feel duped or even wronged, but making visa pay for your gamble it just plain wrong.
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Science has never proven that what we see in front of us is in fact real.
Just curious, but perhaps the first step would be to call Cryptic and try to resolve differences with them before going to such extremes?
**edit** changed Mythic to Cryptic.
You can return your music CD if it advertises having a feature it does not have.