Banned from the Game!

[The Eephus 0]

Just got notice that I have been 'banned from the game'.

This is a first for me. I used a PayPal account to pay for the download version, ~24 hours later, after activation, I received a refund notice from PayPal that indicated FRAUD on the notes. I have never had a problem with this PayPal account. First time issue. My financial institution has not contacted me about any static on their end.

I *immediately* contacted Monte Cristo support via e-mail and let them know that I wasn't sure what the problem was, but that I wanted to re-pay them for the game so as to be legal, legit, etc. I included my order number as well as my activation key.

I have not received any response from them since that time (~3 days ago).

Today when I went to log on, I was banned.

So...any suggestions? This would be funny if I weren't actually enjoying the game. I WANT to pay MC, they just won't let me. This is certainly among the more amusing, but frustrating things I've had to deal with as a consumer of entertainment.

Anyone else had this happen?

[The Eephus 0]

Just paid them again. Back in under a different e-mail, but apparently have lost all of my saved cities .

Begs the question of where my cities went.

[Psycho_Teddy 25]

This was paypal's issue, not MC's. Do not blame them. Paypal detects fraudulent activities and revokes payment to protect their consumers. Considering your money was going to... Say... France (where MC is based), I would think that any normal person could assume that an out-of-country purchase would be indicative of fraud. I've seen it happen first hand, paypal is very quick about it. Response times are less than five minutes. When paypal rejects payment, MC likely was contacted by paypal and they suspended your account because they were told (by paypal) that you were a fraudulent consumer.

[side note:] Can we please stop jumping the gun and blaming EVERY little problem we have on MC?  Half of the time it's not even their fault.  If you don't believe me, see above.

[The Eephus 0]

PT, I would completely be on board with that EXCEPT for the fact that I very specifically contacted tech support at MC to find out how I should proceed. A simple note (or ANY reply) would've satisfied my question, and allowed me to actually PAY them.

I certainly understand that there can be issues with PayPal, but what I don't understand is a no-reply. It's bush league.

On top of that, I used my initial e-mail address for a reason. It'd be nice if they hadn't banned that particular address and username. Right hand, left hand.

[Psycho_Teddy 25]

Well, how long has it been since you've filed your complaint with MC? Many companies can take a couple days to respond. It's a fairly common standard for response times to take days. [Direct2Drive takes up to three in some cases, personal experience]

Additionally, most companies don't respond to requests from people that PayPal has deemed fraudulent, as well. I'd go through a different payment method such as Steam. Worked fine for me. Again, I re-iterate that this is PayPal's mistake.

[The Eephus 0]

Please re-read my initial post. It has been well over three days. No reply. There is joint responsibility here. PayPal was overzealous. MC has just been amateur.

[Psycho_Teddy 25]

I'd like to point out that MC can only go on what PayPal has told them up to this point. Their customer support lines are probably so bogged down with requests right now that it's going to take some time to respond. Remember, they're only a small, independent company so you're not going to get top-tier response times. Just give them time, the game has only been out for a week.

[The Eephus 0]

Again, my problem is two-fold. If they're not going to respond for a week, that's fine, but don't 'ban' me. If you're going to ban me, then tell me how to rectify the problem. It's pretty simple. Customer service isn't hard, small company or no. If they're doing that well, hire some temps. If not, get it taken care of.

[DCMetro34 576]

But, really this is Paypal's problem, they should be contacted as well. Then MC, to see if you can get your account back.

[JakeMD 107]

Ok guys. Teddy has said the same thing in each post, and The Eephus has said the same thing in his post.

What has happened here, is MC has realized that You, The Eephus, have made a fraudulent payment with Paypal. Obviously it was a mistake on Paypal's part. Monte Cristo has to look at this with all seriousness. They took action based on their trusted way of payment.

if you allow time for Monte Cristo to investigate, you may be able to get somewhere.

[tdwarrensr 0]

I used a bank of America visa/debit card. was approved...downloaded the game....played for a week...then "Banned from the Game". This is not only a paypal problem.

[Adnoxaei 0]

Originally posted by: tdwarrensr

I used a bank of America visa/debit card. was approved...downloaded the game....played for a week...then "Banned from the Game". This is not only a paypal problem.quote>

Are you sure it was approved, or was a hold placed for approval while you downloaded? Some transactions can take 7 business days to actually approve and a hold of that amount is placed on your account to ensure you don't overspend and reassure the seller that you have the money. My bank puts a one week hold on all my payments to my college because they investigate each payment for fraud on my university's end. My bank also blocked spending online once to a retailer that was out of country because it was not my normal purchase pattern. I had to call my bank to sort the mess out. It is annoying, but it can save you from identy theft...

[kusanagi-sama 1]

Originally posted by: Adnoxaei

Originally posted by: tdwarrensr

I used a bank of America visa/debit card. was approved...downloaded the game....played for a week...then "Banned from the Game". This is not only a paypal problem.quote>

Are you sure it was approved, or was a hold placed for approval while you downloaded? Some transactions can take 7 business days to actually approve and a hold of that amount is placed on your account to ensure you don't overspend and reassure the seller that you have the money. My bank puts a one week hold on all my payments to my college because they investigate each payment for fraud on my university's end. My bank also blocked spending online once to a retailer that was out of country because it was not my normal purchase pattern. I had to call my bank to sort the mess out. It is annoying, but it can save you from identy theft...

quote>

I hate it when banks put a hold on your money for that long.  Bank of America did that alot, and I still wound up with overdrafts (mainly due to clearing largest transaction first).  I switched to my local City Credit Union, they hold transactions for two days (online transactions are held two days, transactions using the debit/credit card are cleared instantaneously, including the ATM), and I don't have problems with overdrafting anymore.