Purchasing the PvP Access Kit from the in game store

I am posting here as a warning to those of you who may be thinking of purchasing the PvP Access Kit (and associated skill unlock packs) from the in-game store.

I logged into my account went to the in-game store and purchased the PvP Access Kit and the Factions/Nightfall skill unlock packs so that I could have a second PvP only account. It turns out after the purchase, that the PvP Access Kit and the skill unlock packs were added to my main account. Now this may be obvious to some people and there is indeed text that says, "purchases made in the online store will be added to your account."

I did read this, but mistakenly believed that the PvP Access Kit would be an exception to this rule. Since I own all three chapters as well as the EOTN expansion, I would have very little (if any) use for the PvP Access Kit.

I have been speaking with support and I believe there is very little (if anything) they can do to help with this issue.

As is, I'm out $32 unless I can dispute the charges with my credit card company.

My point is, if you end up purchasing the PvP Access Kit intending to use it as a second account, don't make the same mistake I did, there is a link here on the PlayNC site that allows you to make the purchase as a new account.

https://secure.plaync.com/cgi-bin/St...tem;item_id=61

Seriously, I don't think that can be more clear, how do you think it'd magically know you want to make a second account* (Misread the first time, my bad).

Words of wisdom: "This machine does not have a brain, use yours.''

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Oh and, I'm sure they'll reverse it, in most cases like this that I've heard, they did reverse everything, just gotta give them the right info.

1)
There's no option in the in game store when making this purchase to specify that you want it as a new account.

2)
They lock you out from buying campaigns you already own on that account.

By 1 and 2, I assumed that by allowing me to purchase the PvP Access kit, I would be able to make a brand new account with it. The only other reason someone who owns all 3 chapters + the expansion would buy this is for the "Free unlocks." There are currently better options if one wishes to unlock skills, the core, factions, nightfall etc. skill unlock packs for example. I incorrectly assumed that ANET knew anyone who bought this would want it for a second account. I am posting here to make sure no one else makes that same wrong assumption.

As far as support goes I've been back and forth today. Here is a selection that should explain things:

-----------------------------GW Support----------------------------------
Hello,

Thank you for contacting the Guild Wars Support Team! Any purchases made from the Guild Wars Official Store, in-game, are automatically applied to the game account they're made from. All purchases made from the in-game store are non-refundable and non-exchangable, as it states on the checkout page when finalizing your purchase.

I hope this message has been informative; please let us know if we can answer anything else for you!

The Guild Wars Support Team
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-----------------------------Myself---------------------------------------
Right, but the PvP-access kit itself is another Guild Wars account. I purchased it believing that I would be asked to make a new Guild Wars account with it.

Please try to understand, why would I purchase the PvP Access Kit for my main account which has both PvE and PvP access? Furthermore why would I purchase the Factions unlock pack when I have just finished unlocking most of the factions skills on my account?

As is, I have spent $32 in your online store and that amounts to practically nothing for me. The unlock pack has unlocked all the Factions skills (which were ~95% all unlocked prior to my purchase) and all my Nightfall skills which I was currently working on unlocking and actually enjoy spending my accumlated Faction on unlocking. In addition, the PvP Access kit grants a number of "free" unlocks which are of no value to me on this account which is well on it's way to unlocking everything.

Please try to understand. Put yourself in my position. I own Guild Wars Prophecies, Guild Wars Factions, Guild Wars Nightfall and Guild Wars Eye of the North, giving me access to all these campaigns in both PvE and PvP; why would I then choose to purchase a PvP Access Kit for this account that would allow me to access PvP content for 3 campaigns and an expansion which I already own?

I am asking for you to allow me to make a new account with the PvP Access Kit with both purchased unlock packs so that I can actually use them.

Thanks

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---------------------------GW Support------------------------------------
Thank you for your response. Unfortunately, we are unable to refund the recent purchase that was completed in the Guild Wars Online Store. As is stated during the checkout process, NC Interactive, Inc. does not give full or partial refunds for items purchased in the Guild Wars Official Store. I apologize for any frustration or inconvenience this may cause.

Regards,
Guild Wars Account Support
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Eh wow, that's retarded O_o.. Figured they'd actually reverse it, I've never really bought anything but a char slot from the in game store, which was right when they came out. So I didn't remember it was non-refund.

Well I guess you're out of that 30$. Sorry to hear it really, fortunately it wasn't a lot of money, but none the less it really sucks.

Update: I have spoken a little bit more with the support team, the following is the transcript.


---Myself------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you for your response, XXXX.
I understand it is out of your hands as far as refunds go, but would it possible for you to somehow transfer or have a brand new account with only the PvP Access Kit and the two unlock packs?

If this is not possible, my only recourse will be to dispute the charges with my credit card company and that is a course of action that I think no one (including myself) wants to resort to.

Thank you again.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------


------Myself---------------------------------------------------------
Possible Solution:

I have heard that in the past you have disabled CD keys for products and provided new ones in exchange. As the 3 items I bought in the store all have unique CD-keys that were all emailed to me would it be possible to just disable those three keys (I can tell you what they are) and in exchange just get 3 new product keys that are unactivated so that I can just activate it and create a new account?

Thanks
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__________________________________________________ _______________

------------------GW Support---------------------------------------------
Hello XXXX,

Thank you for contacting the Guild Wars Support Team! The actions you've requested are not possible; access key reissues are for specific cases, and even then we can only reissue retail campaign serial codes. We cannot reissue skillpack unlock access keys.

Additionally, please be aware that any account associated with a credit card dispute may be subject to permanent closure.

I hope this message has been informative; please let us know if we can answer anything else for you!

The Guild Wars Support Team
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Wow...I'm speechless...

Shhhhhhit. That's pretty... harsh.

you can access the play nc store without having to log into guildwars..... thus avoiding the problem of accidentally linking anything bought in the store in a case like these to your account.

https://store.plaync.com/

You clicked accept on the EULA, no? I was just about to add that warning to you, but I see you've already gotten it from support. It was added into the EULA awhile back as a clarification of how they disable access keys, especially when they are brought with stolen credit cards. They can't invalidate individual keys once added to an account, so like when they reissue keys, they disable everything associated with the key and then reissue as needed. If you dispute it, that means Anet doesn't get paid for the product, which means they close that account.

I feel for you but tough luck, should have paid closer attention when you visited the store.

Right, except it's absolutely silly for a technology company (or any company, for that matter) to specifically NOT allow themselves a way to fix a problem that a customer is experiencing. "Too bad, so sad" is great Business Law, but terrible Business Ethics.

If, as a company, you plan to develop a product - oh, I don't know, let's call it an "Online Store" - and you develop said product to a point, it then goes through User Acceptance Testing prior to implementation. If you mean to tell me that this problem did not arise AT ALL in either product development or UAT during the development of the Online Store, I am here to tell you to put down the crack pipe. End Users make mistakes all the time, and companies foresee these mistakes 99.5% of the time. Considering the incredibly intricate weave of PlayNC Accounts and GW Accounts (or, for that matter, any other NCSoft game like Dungeon Runners), the developers of the Online Store had to know that this would be a problem.

Now, when you know something's a problem, you can either:
1) Ignore it, hum a tune and hope it goes away
or
2) Develop a workaround/solution for the unfortunate nincompoop like Jiro here (<3 Jiro)

Say it with me kids, #2 is the only responsible solution. Sure you're not supposed to make the mistake Jiro did. That's why it's called a mistake. When ANet makes mistakes (see threads 1 through 4,379,427 regarding said mistakes), we are expected to say, "Oh, no worries, we'll keep playing your game". And we do - but why would we not expect ANet to fix a relatively benign User-error based mistake? But they say it "Cannot be done". Hoo-hah. I would ask, Cannot be done, or will not be done? Seems like it's the latter moreso than the former. It's called Customer Relations - and it's not really all that difficult.

It's unfortunate that they can't transfer things to other accounts, like a "gift" option. I'd never assume that anything bought in-store would go to any account but the one I'm using at the time (I always access the store via login; I couldn't even tell you if there's another way! XD), but it's still damn harsh that there's no way to reverse it, and fighting it could get your account shut down.

Just... damn. They really should have put in some sort of workaround for people with multiple accounts.

No, A-Net can reverse everything and re-issue you new keys, but they just won't because it's their policy. I love how they say they ''Can't'' - It's not like they designed a system that they cannot control.

Heh, either way done deal.