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An open letter to Square Enix Public RelationsFollow

#1 Mar 12 2007 at 9:41 AM Rating: Decent
I am one of your many customers that is experiencing difficulties using your product. We have been having many connection issues which I am sure you have been made aware of. We are not pleased with the way that you have handled the issue. We have been told numerous lines such as the following:

Quote:
We understand some players are currently experiencing connectivity issues. Our team of technicians investigated and confirmed that our FINAL FANTASY XI servers are working properly, and our service is not experiencing any technical difficulties at this time.

If you are having connectivity issue at this time, try connecting to FINAL FANTASY XI again at a later time.


Quote:
As of Mar. 9, 2007 5:00 (PST), we are aware of connection related issues with an underlying backbone outside of our servers control. This is not affecting all ISPs. This is affecting NA and EU players primarily. Please try again later.


These responses are very unsatisfactory. Many of your players are technically savvy, and have scoured the internet looking for any of these "Backbone" issues you speak of. There are no other major services affected by these problems. If these problems are because of a problem condition at the server farm where your hardware is located, then this *should* be relayed to your customers, as we would be much more understanding of that situation than this company line of "It's not our fault, so we're not going to do anything about it." If that is the case, then you should be pressuring your suppliers so that you can deliver your services to your paying customers. All of the players being affected by this are indeed paying customers, as I'm sure you know there is no free service to speak of that is being interrupted.

I myself and presumably the undersigned demand some sort of explanation for this, demand to know what is being done to rectify this situation and lastly demand an apology for being left completely in the dark.

Jason Stanton
Potatoboy of Shiva
Paying Customer

Edited, Mar 13th 2007 10:50pm by Pikko
#2 Mar 12 2007 at 9:50 AM Rating: Decent
i to am having the connection problems but know for a fact that its not modem/router related cause those problems do not prevent me from teleporting from where i am currently stuck at which is the Sandy/Jueno airship.i have tried to tele from this spot and keep getting the message incorrect job or job level to low but problem is im a 63 whm.i have now lost 4 days of playing time and if something is not done soon to rectify this problem then i will take my gaming enjoyment to another game ran by a company who cares about its customers and doesnt bs to them or blame them for the problems happening.
#3 Mar 12 2007 at 9:54 AM Rating: Default
Please quote the sentence where SE are apparently blaming us? Thank you
#4 Mar 12 2007 at 9:55 AM Rating: Decent
I would like to add that the handling of this situation has been some of the worst customer service I have ever experienced. I have been trying to call your customer service phone number and I am greeted with a busy signal. I have waited over an hour to speak with one of your online representatives, and have only this to gain:

Quote:
You have been connected to ICR Lonnie H.
ICR Lonnie H: Hello, Jason, thank you for contacting the PlayOnline Information Center. Just a few moments while I review your question, please.
ICR Lonnie H: As of Mar. 9, 2007 5:00 (PST), we are aware of connection related issues with an underlying backbone outside of our servers control. This is not affecting all ISPs. This is affecting NA and EU players primarily. Please try again later. We apologize for any trouble (connection related or otherwise) you are experiencing, but please be aware we are working on finding a resolution to any connection related problems. We are experiencing extremely high hold times for this reason, we cannot continue on this chat. Your understanding and patience is extremely appreciated.
Thank you for visiting our PlayOnline Chat line. Take care and hope to see you online!
Your session has ended. You may now close this window.


I was not given any chance to respond at all. This is the same line that has been repeated over and over by anyone affiliated with SE. I am not accepting this answer blindly, there must be more explanation.
#5 Mar 12 2007 at 9:55 AM Rating: Decent
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/nod

Same issue. No response or changes.

I've tried it all, and I sent them an email as well


Edit:

Quote:
Please quote the sentence where SE are apparently blaming us? Thank you


Quote:
Our team of technicians investigated and confirmed that our FINAL FANTASY XI servers are working properly, and our service is not experiencing any technical difficulties at this time.


How's that?

Sowers of Diabolos

Edited, Mar 12th 2007 1:58pm by Wickachow
#6 Mar 12 2007 at 9:58 AM Rating: Default
Sorry but that dosent really say SE is blamming us.

And what would you like them to say out of interest?

Edited, Mar 12th 2007 2:00pm by Oceanabyss
#7 Mar 12 2007 at 10:00 AM Rating: Excellent
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Potatoboy wrote:
I would like to add that the handling of this situation has been some of the worst customer service I have ever experienced. I have been trying to call your customer service phone number and I am greeted with a busy signal. I have waited over an hour to speak with one of your online representatives, and have only this to gain:

Quote:
You have been connected to ICR Lonnie H.
ICR Lonnie H: Hello, Jason, thank you for contacting the PlayOnline Information Center. Just a few moments while I review your question, please.
ICR Lonnie H: As of Mar. 9, 2007 5:00 (PST), we are aware of connection related issues with an underlying backbone outside of our servers control. This is not affecting all ISPs. This is affecting NA and EU players primarily. Please try again later. We apologize for any trouble (connection related or otherwise) you are experiencing, but please be aware we are working on finding a resolution to any connection related problems. We are experiencing extremely high hold times for this reason, we cannot continue on this chat. Your understanding and patience is extremely appreciated.
Thank you for visiting our PlayOnline Chat line. Take care and hope to see you online!
Your session has ended. You may now close this window.


I was not given any chance to respond at all. This is the same line that has been repeated over and over by anyone affiliated with SE. I am not accepting this answer blindly, there must be more explanation.


What part did you not understand there? I'm sure there are hundreds of people behind you that are waiting to get an answer.
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#8 Mar 12 2007 at 10:03 AM Rating: Good
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I'd like them to say 'Sorry, we want to find a solution to the
problem, but we kinda suck...' followed with 'Here's a million
gil to compensate you for your time and effort'. :D
#9 Mar 12 2007 at 10:07 AM Rating: Decent
23 posts
"We understand some players are currently experiencing connectivity issues. Our team of technicians investigated and confirmed that our FINAL FANTASY XI servers are working properly, and our service is not experiencing any technical difficulties at this time.

If you are having connectivity issue at this time, try connecting to FINAL FANTASY XI again at a later time"

I agree with the OP
This is NOT ACCEPTABLE.. We pay for this service but cannot connect thru no fault of our own, and this is how they handle it? To me it seems like a slap in the face.

Hrmmm my credit card service is not experiencing any technical difficulties at this time maybe SE should try to connect to it again at a later time...
#10 Mar 12 2007 at 10:07 AM Rating: Good
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427 posts
Quote:
What part did you not understand there? I'm sure there are hundreds of people behind you that are waiting to get an answer.



I think he is trying to say that isn't the answer he is looking for...





Quote:
Sorry but that doesn't really say SE is blaming us.

And what would you like them to say out of interest?

Edited, Mar 12th 2007 2:00pm by Oceanabyss


Corrected your spelling. But for starters how about, "We all connected and were working fine prior to the update, and now hundreds of users with dozens of different ISP's are all of a sudden unable to connect all over the country..."


There is no rhyme or reason as to why I should have to pull teeth to get some direction or put in hours of time and effort changing my IP address, router settings etc, for a service I pay for.

Edited, Mar 12th 2007 2:11pm by Wickachow

Edited, Mar 12th 2007 2:55pm by Wickachow
#11 Mar 12 2007 at 10:08 AM Rating: Default
But serious why is it not acceptable?
#12 Mar 12 2007 at 10:08 AM Rating: Decent
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Quote:
What part did you not understand there? I'm sure there are hundreds of people behind you that are waiting to get an answer.


I think it is nothing new that people like to read and discuss that part they prefer, not the complete statement. :3
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#13 Mar 12 2007 at 10:08 AM Rating: Decent
I haven't had the chance to call SE for any assistance yet, so I'm unsure of how it will be. I can say this, the minute that you start the blame game your going to tick people off. It's like being in a party and the WHM constantly losing connection when the tank needs a heal. It's not the WHM's fault, but I'm damn sure if he/she doesn't figure it out in short order they are going to be dumped for someone else.

Honestly right now I don't think SE can say anything right at this point until the problem is fixed.
#14 Mar 12 2007 at 10:13 AM Rating: Decent
Pikko Pots wrote:
What part did you not understand there? I'm sure there are hundreds of people behind you that are waiting to get an answer.


It's customer service. I don't know of any companies that instruct their customer service representatives to blindly give a prewritten response to customers, and then disconnect. I can deal with standard lines. You don't just spurt them out and disconnect. The key to customer service would be to service the customer you are dealing with. I appreciate the fact that there are others waiting as well, but you need to assist the person you are currently handling. If that is their standard response, it should be made an announcement, and then if you want to discuss it further with customer assistance, then you can be connected to a rep. Many people will choose to read that and leave, some will not. Those are the people that need further assistance, and those are the people that should be focused on.
#15 Mar 12 2007 at 10:18 AM Rating: Excellent
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I quote again:

Quote:
please be aware we are working on finding a resolution to any connection related problems. We are experiencing extremely high hold times for this reason, we cannot continue on this chat.


"We are working on finding a resolution" implies they still don't have an answer for you. So should their customer service to sit there and pet your hands and tell you everything will be all right or should they try to answer the probably hundreds of people waiting an hour just like you did? Are you more important than the next person that they also will not have a solution for?

I'm not trying to sound biased, but seriously. They're telling you they're working on it. What else do you want?
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#16 Mar 12 2007 at 10:21 AM Rating: Decent

ok so If i get it right, you want them to hold your hand while explaining you slowly that they dont know what the problem is and they are working on it ?

they told ya :

Quote:
please be aware we are working on finding a resolution to any connection related problems. We are experiencing extremely high hold times for this reason, we cannot continue on this chat


what more did you want ? you wanted to be the 10000000th to tell them you were unhappy with it ? they know you are unhappy....

so wait... do something else... there is nothing more that can be done...

#17 Mar 12 2007 at 10:21 AM Rating: Good
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Which would you prefer?

1. Their non-customer support people take the time to make an official announcement that you will not bother to check?


2. Their non-customer support people get busy on trying to find a solution to the problem.



I say non-customer support people because their customer support is obviously busy answering the calls of porbably 50 to 100 thousand unhappy customers who are too impatient to let them fix the problem.

Edit : Thier = Their. I hate that word.

Edited, Mar 12th 2007 2:32pm by Talarian
#18 Mar 12 2007 at 10:27 AM Rating: Good
Apparently, those of you that are saying this is bad customer service have never called any company during a wide spread outage in your area. When I was in college, there was a few days that there were serious internet connection issues. When you were asked to dial in your phone number, they gave you an automated response that there were issues in the area, repeated the message and then disconnected you from the phone. This is standard procedure for any company having large outages because there's no way that they can handle the calls and listen to all the half-witted people that think they know the solution. It'd take them far too long, and it's not like they're an company that didn't think to check for some ID-10t error. So it's not bad customer service. It's getting the answer they can give to as many people without holding up the lines.
#19 Mar 12 2007 at 10:28 AM Rating: Default
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681 posts
Quote:
Which would you prefer?

1. Thier non-customer support people take the time to make an official announcement that you will not bother to check?


2. Thier non-customer support people get busy on trying to find a solution to the problem.

3. That you spell "their" correctly

anywho, My problem differs from hardcore connection issues, I'm able to connect to the game just fine, all areas are fine, but I can't return a successful search that is over 1 page in length, I'm trying to get help yet I keep getting the feeling that I'm going to be ignored by that message they keep spamming in the webchat window
Quote:
As of Mar. 9, 2007 5:00 (PST), we are aware of connection related issues with an underlying backbone outside of our servers control. This is not affecting all ISPs. This is affecting NA and EU players primarily. Please try again later.
#20 Mar 12 2007 at 10:31 AM Rating: Default
Pikko Pots wrote:
"We are working on finding a resolution" implies they still don't have an answer for you. So should their customer service to sit there and pet your hands and tell you everything will be all right or should they try to answer the probably hundreds of people waiting an hour just like you did? Are you more important than the next person that they also will not have a solution for?

I'm not trying to sound biased, but seriously. They're telling you they're working on it. What else do you want?


"We are working on finding a resolution" implies that they are aware of the issue and are finally getting around to giving up hope that it will go away on it's own. (Which was evident when the standard response was "We do not detect any problems, please try again later.")

What I want is someone to finally admit that they were wrong, and this is a problem with their service. At this point we are still being told that there's some unidentified problem, but they're pretty sure that it's probably not their fault. This sort of blame passing is what is upsetting me, not the fact that I can't play.

In a nutshell, yes, I am more important than the others waiting. I was waiting longer than them. It's a first in, first out queue. When your cable/satellite is out, do you expect to call customer service and have a rep answer and only hear "We're working on the problem! *click* If you'd like to make a call, Please hang up and try again. If you need help, please hang up and dial an operator." If any of you had that happen, you'd probably be upset, why are you allowing another service you pay for to treat you any differently?
#21 Mar 12 2007 at 10:33 AM Rating: Default
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No, I don't think anyone is asking for a comforting voice on the other end of the phone, or a personalized email.

I think it's clear though that with the numerous different types of issues facing players, they just are trying to voice their frustration with all being blown off without getting to submit so much as a trouble ticket. Heck, that might even help them if we put in the ticket what we have tried, done, etc.


Quote:
I keep getting the feeling that I'm going to be ignored by that message they keep spamming in the webchat window
#22 Mar 12 2007 at 10:38 AM Rating: Default
Pikko wrote:

"We are working on finding a resolution" implies they still don't have an answer for you. So should their customer service to sit there and pet your hands and tell you everything will be all right or should they try to answer the probably hundreds of people waiting an hour just like you did? Are you more important than the next person that they also will not have a solution for?


I find that my inability to rate a moderator up is a glaring technical oversight on behalf of Allakhazam's forum technicians. I demand an answer as to why I am incapable of doing so with a service that I could be paying for if I gave you all money.
#23 Mar 12 2007 at 10:39 AM Rating: Decent
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324 posts
Wickachow wrote:
Quote:
Sorry but that dosent really say SE is blaming us.

And what would you like them to say out of interest?

Edited, Mar 12th 2007 2:00pm by Oceanabyss


Corrected your spelling. But for starters how about, "We all connected and were working fine prior to the update, and now hundreds of users with dozens of different ISP's are all of a sudden unable to connect all over the country..."
Remind me to never hire you as a proofreader lol

But seriously besides you feeling the need to point out that he misspelled something which is completely irrelevant to the subject, I do believe his question was what do you expect them to say to you and not what you wanted to say to them.

There is definitely a problem and something that Square-Enix changed has had an effect on a lot of people's connections, it's not in their best interest to not try to fix this and I'm sure their working on trying to resolve the issue as best they can but put yourself in Square-Enix's shoes at the moment if you will...

Imagine how many GM/Service/Phone calls they are receiving because of this problem, it's not realistically possible to be able to respond to each and every one of them especially when the manpower and time would be better off spent trying to fix the problem rather than trying to reply to everyone with a problem they already know exists.

I'm not trying to say they shouldn't be more considerate to everyone affected by this problem that would be bad customer service, but getting mad at them because the response they had given you wasn't what you wanted to hear isn't going to help either; considering most of the problems started popping up over the weekend give them a bit of time to work on this and if something isn't address in a timely manner like it should then people should be angry.
#24 Mar 12 2007 at 10:41 AM Rating: Decent
Quote:
i to am having the connection problems but know for a fact that its not modem/router related cause those problems do not prevent me from teleporting from where i am currently stuck at which is the Sandy/Jueno airship.i have tried to tele from this spot and keep getting the message incorrect job or job level to low but problem is im a 63 whm.i have now lost 4 days of playing time and if something is not done soon to rectify this problem then i will take my gaming enjoyment to another game ran by a company who cares about its customers and doesnt bs to them or blame them for the problems happening.


Try this, if you can get a WHM or BLM friend who is willing to do some running around for you, it worked unsticking my friend yesterday:

Figure out if you are on the way to Sandy or coming from, you can tell even if you can't move because on the way to Jeuno you will have Passenger NPCs for quest.

Once you know, have your friend get on the ship at the destination (and wait for takeoff if they can't get to you at the dock) and invite them to your party (if it's like my friend, you can't take invites only send) and then D2 or tele you away. Hopefully they can get you out that way, assuming wherever your HP is you don't get stuck all over again. D2 did remove my friend to her HP and she was able to play, but she didn't go back to Delkfutt's just in case. Really it was lucky she has access to IMs on her laptop w/ LS friends or they would never have found her, she couldn't talk in any chat mode to even tell us there was a problem.

Be patient with SE, because everyone is having issues in a different zone it is going to be harder to fix than if it was everyone getting stuck at the same point. They can't just reset one area and hope for the best, it's pervasive. I have seen people stuck at Delkfutt's Tower, Phomunia Aqueducts, all cities, various teleports, all kinds of crazy stuff that doesn't make much sense. And these people are not all on PC, some PS2 and some Xbox so you can't just see one simple cause or solution or because of windower or other things I have heard.



Edited, Mar 12th 2007 11:42am by Cairstiona
#25 Mar 12 2007 at 10:43 AM Rating: Excellent
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I seriously wonder if you live in an area without trees and inclement weather. The power company does this all the time where I live when an ice storm rolls on through and decimates the electricity network.

They get all thier technicians out of their beds(HA spelled it right that time) and get them to working for hours sometimes days on end to get things fixed. They might have 10 people to field the calls from the thousands of customers in the area so instead they set it up so you get an automated response for the phone number ranges of areas with known outages.

The answer to your question is leave them alone and let them work.
#26 Mar 12 2007 at 10:44 AM Rating: Good
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388 posts
It is reasonable to be upset and/or demand more information when you have waited up to 3 days just to contact them. I have sympathy toward the OP about being closed out of web-chat before being allowed to even respond, after waiting most likely 1hr+ to get the CSR, that's like a slap in the face. It's not good business to not listen to your customers. Maybe they need more CSR's to handle the load. Either way they are handling it poorly. I'm not talking about the connection problems, im talking about the customer service in regards to a widespread problem. People just need to feel better about the problem, and CSR's at SE, all of SE, could be less apathetic about the situation. Without formal announcments we're left to assume they do not care or do not ackowldege the problem. I would never treat my customers with a pasted blanket response. Give us some credit.

Pretend I do not know of Allakhazam. I have R0 issues in specific zones. I check the POL site over and over and see nothing addressing the problem of some zones disconnecting people. I see that SE says their equips are working fine, so I check my settings, all seems fine. How would I have any clue at all on what to do next?? Calling a CSR and waiting 1+hr to speak to someone, only to get a pasted response and then closed out before I can even say Hi, I'd be annoyed at the very least. Feedback is utterly important, and SE completely fails at communication.


on the side:
It is spelled THEIR .

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