SOE Prez John Smedley Makes Right Half-Price EQ2 Subs
One month ago (May 20th, 2012), SOE offered a 50% Rebate on the entire StationCash Marketplace. When compounded with Triple StationCash weekends and Walmart 500SC Bonus cards, this meant $15 could buy one year’s EQ2 subscription.
On June 8th, EQ2 Subscriptions vanished from the StationCash Marketplace. After an outcry, SOE President John Smedley stepped in and admitted that the pricing of EQ2 Subscriptions was being impacted by various SC discounts and sales, and then announced that EQ2 Subscriptions would be restored to the Marketplace for a one week grace period so players who wanted to fund EQ2 Subscriptions with StationCash could do so. Mischief managed, or so we thought.
On late Thursday June 15th, a 50% Off StationCash deal was announced for the June 16-18 weekend, along with the news that EQ2 Subscriptions would stay on the Marketplace over this 50% Off weekend. Players who had already divested their StationCash during the “grace period” (which had an unknown end date) to fund EQ2 Subscriptions were unsurprisingly infuriated.
Cratoh illustrated the point:
SOE – ‘Hey guys, you’ve got a week to spend your SC, then we are taking away non-recurring subs.’
Customers ‘Ah, thanks SOE, when does this week you talk of begin’
SOE ‘………….silence……………’
Customers ‘Oh snap, we better assume it started when he posted. *buys SC subs*
1 week later….
Customer. ‘Phew I’ve managed to spend all my SC, bought more SC i wouldn’t otherwise have bought to make up my existing SC into 3 or 6 or 12 months subs.’
The very next day!
SOE – ‘Hey guys, we leaving the sale of non recurring subs up for another 3 days until the 18th – AND WE’RE GOING TO SELL EVERYTHING< INCLUDING NON-RECURRING SUBS, FOR 50% OFF!!!!!!!
Customers ‘………silence……….’
Perhaps sensing that the EQ2 player community’s trust in its Community Team is in tatters, John Smedley has again responded to players on the EQ2 forums and extended a personal invitation to contact him if we have concerns:
If anyone feels like that was done to them email me at jsmedley@soe.sony.com and I’ll personally make sure they get refunded so they can participate in the sale. I guess I was only trying to show that there was another way it could have gone. ‘oh I bet he made sure that week the subs were up ended right before the sale so SOE made more money’.
Hence my comment about the rock and the hard place on this. Seriously though if anyone that bought a sub with SC this week feels in any way upset that we included them in the sale please let me know at jsmedley@soe.sony.com and I will personally make sure you get a refund. This was only ever intended to help make up for pulling the sku with bad communication on short notice. That’s all.
We have received reports from several players whose SC balances have already been adjusted accordingly.
In case you didn’t catch the hint, this weekend is the last time, for the foreseeable future, to fund an EQ2 subscription with StationCash.
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Comments (11)
Savas
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I felt a little upset over it, I was waiting for the next rebate or sale to pick mine up since I was out of town during the last one. So when they took it away I understood why, when they brought it back, I knew to buy it because it was going to be gone in a few days so I bought it, then they put it on sale which I was waiting for to begin with, so I bought another year just so I wouldn’t have to deal with it.
I did send smed an email on sunday morning, and he got back to me within in a few hours with a cc to a csr to do the refund, it hasnt happened yet but when the president sends an email to a customer saying I’ll take care of it and your cc’d I know it gets done.
Now if I only could find a ps2 key.
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Nyna
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I always find it sooo ridiculous when players complain about a 50% off weekend just because they spent their SC the day before.
That’s life guys, I don’t know a business other than SOE who would give you your money back (or half) just because you bought “too early”.
Nobody forces you to spend at any time, why should SOE re-pay you? Cause you’re a moron? WTH.
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Savas
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all online retailers like amazon, best buy etc. will refund you the price within 90 days of a purchase, have you not heard of price matching before?
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Anaogi
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That’s life guys, I don’t know a business other than SOE who would give you your money back (or half) just because you bought “too early”.
Actually, there are many. Several specific instances were cited in the threads on this topic on the site. Remember the old aphorism, “The customer is always right”? Well, it sounds like someone is starting to drive this home at SOE…
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Nyna
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right. i have seeen something like it on amazon.
anyway, it’s still kinda ridiculous to complain about things like that – esp. if you got your SC from plat sales anyway and just want a bigger handout. 🙂
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Errrorr
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True to his word, when I emailed Smedley about this (Having bought a subscription earlier in the week knowing of the imminent removal of the option), I received a prompt reply, in which it was being referred to another member of the technical support, and within about 2 hours of the original email, I had received the different in SC that I would have saved if I had bought during the sale.
Nice to see someone taking responsibility and fixing issues for once, although my forum ban still stands for my earlier comments in that thread. Oops, what a loss.
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Gunthore
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It’s actually common practice for many stores to price match and refund for things like sales 2-4 weeks after a purchase. The only reason I take issue in this circumstance is because they warned everyone that subs were only put up for a limited time so I, at least, felt that I needed to get them while I could. Then a few days later they have a 50% off sale.
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Nyna
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if you want to make money you cant announce your whole strategy ahead of it OF COURSE.
so they offered a good deal to you – get subs with cheap SC (platsales, triple event etc), and afterwards they made the deal even better – to milk the last drops of cash from people who were previously unwilling to buy.
what’s the big deal?
BTW – the practice of shops to refund cash usually only is given is a COMPETING company offeres a better deal, not the same one…
but EQ2 players are world famous for their whining , so what..
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Feldon
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A growing number of retailers have price protection on their OWN prices.
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skippydippy
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Not sure what you’re problem is Nyna,for once SOE have tried to do the right thing as far as i can see it didn’t cost you a dime so why bleat and moan about it?
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Steve
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SkippyDippy – some people just like to complain. Others have weird hobbies that involve battery of dead beasts of burden.
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