jonnym
10-21-2008, 06:35 AM
This is a very long story but I think it fairly represents the customer service I have received with my copy of rock band, so here goes;
on the 22 September I put through am RMA for a faulty PS3 guitar, and I received the following:
Response
Dear Jonathan,
Thank you for contacting Electronic Arts regarding your Rock Band Guitar
You may use the Tracking Number below as a reference if you have any questions about your shipment.
Your UPS Tracking number is:
IMPORTANT: Please do not update your RMA incident as it may cause delays in shipment of your item. If you have any further questions, please contact us by visiting our support website at http://support.ea.com and click the “Contact Us” link to create a new incident.
Thank you,
Electronic Arts Customer Support
---------------------
Get your EA games direct, exclusively at the EA STORE!
I then e-mailed EA with:
Hi,
Can someone help me, I'm not sure what is actually going to happen with my replacement.
Do I need to box up my old guitar then swap it for the new one on delivery? No process has been specified to me as of yet....
Also the part in the mail where it tells me the tracking number is actually blank, is this an error in your system?
Thanks
Jonathan
they replied with:
Hello Jonathan,
Thank you for taking the time to contact us regarding your Rock Band purchase.It is always a pleasure to assist our customers in any way that we can.
We are sorry to inform you that, your RMA is failed,there was likely something wrong with the submission of the RMA or had an invalid address.I would like to request you to create new RMA for the replacement of your item.
If there is anything further that we can do for you, please don’t hesitate in contacting us. Additional support can be found on our help site located at http://support.ea.com/cgi-bin/ea.cfg/php/enduser/rockband.php.
Thanks
Sonia
Rock Band Support
Electronic Arts
I replied again with:
[===> Please enter your reply below this line <===]
I have tried again and this time I am getting the message
"Rock Band is not currently available on this platform in UK and Ireland."
Is this a joke?
Of course it is available on the PS3 in Ireland!
what am I supposed to do now?
Jon
[===> Please enter your reply above this line <===]
that was the 24th, no response for a couple of weeks so by the 10/10 I decided to e-mail again:
I e-mailed a couple of weeks ago [Incident:080922-003757] & [Incident: 080923-004734] about a return I tried to set up, that according to yourselves had failed (?!) whatever that means, and I replied on 24/09 to inform you that I still couldn't set up a return. I still have not recieved any reply.
I've noticed you have finally removed the message on the site stating that "Rock Band is not currently available on this platform in UK and Ireland." but now all I get is a UK number to phone, here's a newsflash, I live in the Republic of Ireland! a country that cannot be selected from you menus.
How are people in Ireland supposed to return their faulty instruments? It is getting very tiresome trying to deal firstly with a inadequate returns website then having to send e-mails to yourselves that will be left unanswered.
Is there any way you can set up a simple return for a PS3, Rock Band guitar for someone living in Ireland?
Jon
P.s. please do not just give me a UK number to ring.
Got a "Due to the nature of your issue, more time is required for investigation. I apologize for any prolonged delays this might cause, but please rest assured that we are trying to handle your issue in a timely manner." respnose then on the 14 Oct:
Dear Jonathan,
Thank you for contacting us about your concern. In the United Kingdom we do not stock drum sets or guitars as we have a contract with all of our authorized retail partners stating that they will process all warranty exchanges for those larger items. On top of that there is a federal law which states that your warranty through the store must be extended at least one year. If this retailer is violating this contract and/or law we would need to discuss this with them to persuade them to take it back. The best way for us to do this is to have you go to the retailer and ask them to call us at 0870-243-2435 or (650) 628-1001 so both you and the retailer are present and so that they know it's actually Rock Band they are calling and not some random person. I hope you find this response satisfactory but if you have any other questions or concerns feel free to call us at 0870-243-2435 or utilize our extensive self-help knowledgebase at support.electronicarts.co.uk. As always thank you very much for choosing Rock Band!
Caitlin
Rock Band Warranty Support
my response:
Hi Caitlin,
I don't have the reciept as the whole set was a gift, so I am actually unable to return it to the store.
I also cannot phone any of those numbers you gave as I DO NOT LIVE IN THE UK, as I mentioned in my previous mail.
I live in the Republic of Ireland, this is a seperate country,one which is not listed on your returns site.
This is getting very tiresome, as we seem to be going round in circles here.
Is there anything I can do or am I just stuck with a very large doorstop?
their response
Hello Jonathan,
Thank you for contacting Rock Band warranty support. We are sorry about the trouble your experiencing with the warranty system. The problem is that we don't have a warranty system or any warehouses for it set up in Ireland. The closest we have is in the U.K. and from what I understand, replacements can be sent to Ireland from there. There is no other number that we have to give you other than the U.K. one and I'm sorry for any inconvenience there. Your first order failed because the address you were having it sent to was way too long. If you can provide us with a shorter physical address, (residence is preferred over business) then we can try to set up the replacement for you again. Please make sure the street address is under 35 characters long and it should work just fine. We have had callers on that U.K. number from Ireland before and there orders have been completed for them, so you should be able to use that method as well. We look forward to hearing from you soon for the opportunity to help you resolve this. Thank you very much for your patience and understanding Jonathan.
Sincerely,
Jared
EA Customer Support
another response from me:
Hi Jared, thank you for your quick response.
I would really prefer not to have to call the UK number as even if it is possible, I would be charged International rates and it would cost me a small fortune, I realise this creates some problems but hopefully we can work something out and if it is possible I could just provide you with my address over e-mail? my residential address is a bit shorter but there wouldn't be anyone there during business hours, as myself and my partner both work during the week, so perhaps my job may be a better option?
my work address is
**EDITED**
I could bring the guitar in to work anytime if this is okay.
Please let me know if you can set up a return for me or if I will need to do anything else.
thanks for your help
Jonathan
their response:
Dear Jonathan,
Thank you for contacting Rock Band Warranty Support.
I apologize for the confusion, but we are unable to send a guitar to Ireland. Also, There is no other number that we have to give you other than the U.K. The retailer you purchased your guitar from is required to replace it for you, should you have any issues with it.
For further questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us at (650) 628 1001.
Thank You,
Heather Harris
Electronic Arts
Warranty Support
another one by me:
Did you even read any of the information I have already written?
I was given the 'Band in the Box' as a gift, I do not have a receipt and therefore cannot return it to the store.
I have been contacting you guys now for nearly 4 weeks and the best you can do now is tell me you cannot help me? I cannot believe that a company as big as EA would have this poor a level of customer support.
So, can you tell what am I supposed to do now with my broken guitar?
yawn... another from them:
Hello Jonathan,
Thank you for contacting Rock Band warranty support. First let me apologize for any inconvenience thus far. It is never our intention to provide anything but the very best customer support we can and if we have let you down I am very sorry. Here in the states we only have the ability to ship within the United States and Canada. The only other place we have a warranty system set up is in the U.K. and even there we can only replace the smaller items like bass pedals, USB hubs and software. Anyone over there that has problems with the larger items like the guitar and drum pads, needs to go back to the retailer for replacement. In your case, this is what would have to happen since we simply do not have the ability to replace the item through our system. I do understand you received it as a gift and because of that, you don't have a receipt. All I can recommend is that you find out if the person that bought it for you has that receipt still and maybe the retailer they purchased it through would be willing to help exchange it. I am extremely sorry that there isn't much we can do from our end in this situation, but we simply don't have the means to do so in this case. Depending on what's wrong with the guitar, you may be able to fix the problem yourself too. Otherwise, the purchase of a new guitar may be the only alternative and I'm sorry for that inconvenience. If you have any further questions, we will certainly do our best to answer them for you.
Sincerely,
Jared
EA Customer Support
(told you it was long), my last response:
Hi Jared, thank you for your help, I realise you are not in a position to help me but I have to say that this is single-handedly the worst experience I have ever had with a faulty product / customer support department.
It is almost a month since I fist tried to set up the RMA, only to be told a few days later that it had failed (I thought a replacement was on it's way to me a this stage) then spending weeks trying to get a straight answer, only to be told that I would be okay if I live in the US, but because I live in Ireland I am totally screwed.
This whole thing has definitely made me reconsider whether or not I will buy any future EA products, and I will definitely avoid your products whenever possible.
I can not think of any European company that would spend so long fobbing a customer off, only to tell them that they will have to re-purchase a product because their geographical location is not close enough to their warranty centre.
Perhaps treating customers like this is commonplace in America but in Europe we expect a better level of support when we purchase a company's goods.
Jonathan
A disgruntled customer
p.s.
I might also mention that I found it very distasteful that your company was happy to use the mediocre Irish version of The Apprentice to advertise both Facebreaker and Spore, yet you do not even have an Irish number for your customer service department. Perhaps that is something your company should take a look at in the future.
and so the story ends, a month later, still no joy. I'm off back to work to earn some money so I can buy another guitar since no one wants to replace it for me.
Side Note* EA have update my complaint with 'Updated by EA' but have not responded, I can only assume this means I will got no response.
J
on the 22 September I put through am RMA for a faulty PS3 guitar, and I received the following:
Response
Dear Jonathan,
Thank you for contacting Electronic Arts regarding your Rock Band Guitar
You may use the Tracking Number below as a reference if you have any questions about your shipment.
Your UPS Tracking number is:
IMPORTANT: Please do not update your RMA incident as it may cause delays in shipment of your item. If you have any further questions, please contact us by visiting our support website at http://support.ea.com and click the “Contact Us” link to create a new incident.
Thank you,
Electronic Arts Customer Support
---------------------
Get your EA games direct, exclusively at the EA STORE!
I then e-mailed EA with:
Hi,
Can someone help me, I'm not sure what is actually going to happen with my replacement.
Do I need to box up my old guitar then swap it for the new one on delivery? No process has been specified to me as of yet....
Also the part in the mail where it tells me the tracking number is actually blank, is this an error in your system?
Thanks
Jonathan
they replied with:
Hello Jonathan,
Thank you for taking the time to contact us regarding your Rock Band purchase.It is always a pleasure to assist our customers in any way that we can.
We are sorry to inform you that, your RMA is failed,there was likely something wrong with the submission of the RMA or had an invalid address.I would like to request you to create new RMA for the replacement of your item.
If there is anything further that we can do for you, please don’t hesitate in contacting us. Additional support can be found on our help site located at http://support.ea.com/cgi-bin/ea.cfg/php/enduser/rockband.php.
Thanks
Sonia
Rock Band Support
Electronic Arts
I replied again with:
[===> Please enter your reply below this line <===]
I have tried again and this time I am getting the message
"Rock Band is not currently available on this platform in UK and Ireland."
Is this a joke?
Of course it is available on the PS3 in Ireland!
what am I supposed to do now?
Jon
[===> Please enter your reply above this line <===]
that was the 24th, no response for a couple of weeks so by the 10/10 I decided to e-mail again:
I e-mailed a couple of weeks ago [Incident:080922-003757] & [Incident: 080923-004734] about a return I tried to set up, that according to yourselves had failed (?!) whatever that means, and I replied on 24/09 to inform you that I still couldn't set up a return. I still have not recieved any reply.
I've noticed you have finally removed the message on the site stating that "Rock Band is not currently available on this platform in UK and Ireland." but now all I get is a UK number to phone, here's a newsflash, I live in the Republic of Ireland! a country that cannot be selected from you menus.
How are people in Ireland supposed to return their faulty instruments? It is getting very tiresome trying to deal firstly with a inadequate returns website then having to send e-mails to yourselves that will be left unanswered.
Is there any way you can set up a simple return for a PS3, Rock Band guitar for someone living in Ireland?
Jon
P.s. please do not just give me a UK number to ring.
Got a "Due to the nature of your issue, more time is required for investigation. I apologize for any prolonged delays this might cause, but please rest assured that we are trying to handle your issue in a timely manner." respnose then on the 14 Oct:
Dear Jonathan,
Thank you for contacting us about your concern. In the United Kingdom we do not stock drum sets or guitars as we have a contract with all of our authorized retail partners stating that they will process all warranty exchanges for those larger items. On top of that there is a federal law which states that your warranty through the store must be extended at least one year. If this retailer is violating this contract and/or law we would need to discuss this with them to persuade them to take it back. The best way for us to do this is to have you go to the retailer and ask them to call us at 0870-243-2435 or (650) 628-1001 so both you and the retailer are present and so that they know it's actually Rock Band they are calling and not some random person. I hope you find this response satisfactory but if you have any other questions or concerns feel free to call us at 0870-243-2435 or utilize our extensive self-help knowledgebase at support.electronicarts.co.uk. As always thank you very much for choosing Rock Band!
Caitlin
Rock Band Warranty Support
my response:
Hi Caitlin,
I don't have the reciept as the whole set was a gift, so I am actually unable to return it to the store.
I also cannot phone any of those numbers you gave as I DO NOT LIVE IN THE UK, as I mentioned in my previous mail.
I live in the Republic of Ireland, this is a seperate country,one which is not listed on your returns site.
This is getting very tiresome, as we seem to be going round in circles here.
Is there anything I can do or am I just stuck with a very large doorstop?
their response
Hello Jonathan,
Thank you for contacting Rock Band warranty support. We are sorry about the trouble your experiencing with the warranty system. The problem is that we don't have a warranty system or any warehouses for it set up in Ireland. The closest we have is in the U.K. and from what I understand, replacements can be sent to Ireland from there. There is no other number that we have to give you other than the U.K. one and I'm sorry for any inconvenience there. Your first order failed because the address you were having it sent to was way too long. If you can provide us with a shorter physical address, (residence is preferred over business) then we can try to set up the replacement for you again. Please make sure the street address is under 35 characters long and it should work just fine. We have had callers on that U.K. number from Ireland before and there orders have been completed for them, so you should be able to use that method as well. We look forward to hearing from you soon for the opportunity to help you resolve this. Thank you very much for your patience and understanding Jonathan.
Sincerely,
Jared
EA Customer Support
another response from me:
Hi Jared, thank you for your quick response.
I would really prefer not to have to call the UK number as even if it is possible, I would be charged International rates and it would cost me a small fortune, I realise this creates some problems but hopefully we can work something out and if it is possible I could just provide you with my address over e-mail? my residential address is a bit shorter but there wouldn't be anyone there during business hours, as myself and my partner both work during the week, so perhaps my job may be a better option?
my work address is
**EDITED**
I could bring the guitar in to work anytime if this is okay.
Please let me know if you can set up a return for me or if I will need to do anything else.
thanks for your help
Jonathan
their response:
Dear Jonathan,
Thank you for contacting Rock Band Warranty Support.
I apologize for the confusion, but we are unable to send a guitar to Ireland. Also, There is no other number that we have to give you other than the U.K. The retailer you purchased your guitar from is required to replace it for you, should you have any issues with it.
For further questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us at (650) 628 1001.
Thank You,
Heather Harris
Electronic Arts
Warranty Support
another one by me:
Did you even read any of the information I have already written?
I was given the 'Band in the Box' as a gift, I do not have a receipt and therefore cannot return it to the store.
I have been contacting you guys now for nearly 4 weeks and the best you can do now is tell me you cannot help me? I cannot believe that a company as big as EA would have this poor a level of customer support.
So, can you tell what am I supposed to do now with my broken guitar?
yawn... another from them:
Hello Jonathan,
Thank you for contacting Rock Band warranty support. First let me apologize for any inconvenience thus far. It is never our intention to provide anything but the very best customer support we can and if we have let you down I am very sorry. Here in the states we only have the ability to ship within the United States and Canada. The only other place we have a warranty system set up is in the U.K. and even there we can only replace the smaller items like bass pedals, USB hubs and software. Anyone over there that has problems with the larger items like the guitar and drum pads, needs to go back to the retailer for replacement. In your case, this is what would have to happen since we simply do not have the ability to replace the item through our system. I do understand you received it as a gift and because of that, you don't have a receipt. All I can recommend is that you find out if the person that bought it for you has that receipt still and maybe the retailer they purchased it through would be willing to help exchange it. I am extremely sorry that there isn't much we can do from our end in this situation, but we simply don't have the means to do so in this case. Depending on what's wrong with the guitar, you may be able to fix the problem yourself too. Otherwise, the purchase of a new guitar may be the only alternative and I'm sorry for that inconvenience. If you have any further questions, we will certainly do our best to answer them for you.
Sincerely,
Jared
EA Customer Support
(told you it was long), my last response:
Hi Jared, thank you for your help, I realise you are not in a position to help me but I have to say that this is single-handedly the worst experience I have ever had with a faulty product / customer support department.
It is almost a month since I fist tried to set up the RMA, only to be told a few days later that it had failed (I thought a replacement was on it's way to me a this stage) then spending weeks trying to get a straight answer, only to be told that I would be okay if I live in the US, but because I live in Ireland I am totally screwed.
This whole thing has definitely made me reconsider whether or not I will buy any future EA products, and I will definitely avoid your products whenever possible.
I can not think of any European company that would spend so long fobbing a customer off, only to tell them that they will have to re-purchase a product because their geographical location is not close enough to their warranty centre.
Perhaps treating customers like this is commonplace in America but in Europe we expect a better level of support when we purchase a company's goods.
Jonathan
A disgruntled customer
p.s.
I might also mention that I found it very distasteful that your company was happy to use the mediocre Irish version of The Apprentice to advertise both Facebreaker and Spore, yet you do not even have an Irish number for your customer service department. Perhaps that is something your company should take a look at in the future.
and so the story ends, a month later, still no joy. I'm off back to work to earn some money so I can buy another guitar since no one wants to replace it for me.
Side Note* EA have update my complaint with 'Updated by EA' but have not responded, I can only assume this means I will got no response.
J
