GM's Ignoring Tickets?

[Pfold]

I'm hearing complaints from fellow guildmates that GM's are ignoring tickets. One guildmate in particular called Turbine and was advised to open in game ticket and ask for "senior GM". Ticket was promptly closed.


What's the deal? Why the run around? Where's the customer service?

Also I personally would like to know if there is a rating/ranking/feedback system in place for GM's and if so how does it function?

I know from experience Blizzard has such a system (not sure about other games though) and it seemed to work well. Then again, their GM's didn't avoid customer contact and went well outof their way to help.

[Impaqt]

WHat were the Issues?

I've never had a problem getting a gm. SOmetimes if its "Prime time" I have to wait a while... But I get contacted eventually.

[AZgreentea]

Maybe the GM was asleep, and you have to land the plane yourself?

I've only submitted an ingame ticket twice, and both were answered promptly. We are heading into a holiday weekend, maybe they are short staffed?

[Pfold]

WHat were the Issues?

I've never had a problem getting a gm. SOmetimes if its "Prime time" I have to wait a while... But I get contacted eventually.

Talking specifics about anything these days on the forums seems to create more problems than alleviate.

While I could understand a primetime wait, this was not the case. The ticket was closed.

[herzkos]

i've opened about 15 tickets over the course of 4 years playing.
sometimes the gm's are slow to respond during peak playing times (understandable).
every time i've opened a ticket, the gm has been professional and done what they could
for me. One exception: when the reflagging for velah was removed I had a character screwed up.
they told me it was a known issue and there was nothing they could do.

the key:
be professional and respectful. in your ticket put all of the info that you can.
know what you're asking for and if possible what went wrong.
don't treat the gm like a lackey or a dirtbag.
don't submit tickets for ridiculously small things. (example, i can't find the quest giver where is he? unless
of course the quest giver has disappeared)


if you do the above, you'll most likely find that your help tickets are responded to more to your liking.
or more to your guildies liking as the case may be.

[Impaqt]

Talking specifics about anything these days on the forums seems to create more problems than alleviate.

While I could understand a primetime wait, this was not the case. The ticket was closed.

If it was anything that cant be talked about on the forum, the in-game help probably was not the correct attempt at a solution.

They cannot confirm or deny an exploit.

They will not respond to any ticket regarding an exploit

They will not respond to any ticket on harassment

THey dont respond to tickets regarding naming violations.

they cant fix bugs.


the GM's can move you if yer stuck, advance a quest if it got stuck, sometimes they can even replace an item that was lost.... thats about it. None of that stuff is tabu on the forums.

[Pfold]

If it was anything that cant be talked about on the forum, the in-game help probably was not the correct attempt at a solution.

They cannot confirm or deny an exploit.

They will not respond to any ticket regarding an exploit

They will not respond to any ticket on harassment

THey dont respond to tickets regarding naming violations.

they cant fix bugs.


the GM's can move you if yer stuck, advance a quest if it got stuck, sometimes they can even replace an item that was lost.... thats about it. None of that stuff is tabu on the forums.

Again, a request was made to speak to a Senior GM as directed via telephone by another Turbine CSR. I'm not sure how else to explain it.

[Shmuel]

They cannot confirm or deny an exploit.

They will not respond to any ticket regarding an exploit

They will not respond to any ticket on harassment

THey dont respond to tickets regarding naming violations.

they cant fix bugs.

You are correct, they will not do these things. (note that it is will not instead of can not)
So my question is then...

Who can respond to these types of issues and how can they be contacted?

I tried calling account support at turbine, they told me to contact in game support.
I tried in-game support, they told me to submit a ticket at Turbine's support web site.
The email was responded to with a very short and very general response. When I emailed them back asking for specifics, they simply have not responded. It is clear that the office is not closed for a holiday or something, so what is the proper avenue?

[Impaqt]

You are correct, they will not do these things. (note that it is will not instead of can not)

Pretty sure getting fired put most of these into the "Can Not" territory actually... but semantics...

So my question is then...

Who can respond to these types of issues and how can they be contacted?

I tried calling account support at turbine, they told me to contact in game support.
I tried in-game support, they told me to submit a ticket at Turbine's support web site.
The email was responded to with a very short and very general response. When I emailed them back asking for specifics, they simply have not responded. It is clear that the office is not closed for a holiday or something, so what is the proper avenue?

fact is, no one responds to most of that. I get an acknowledgement sometimes when I file a bug report... But often get nothing. and Exploits. Tey have said over and over again they wont talk about them.

Sorry, but we are not "Entitled" to any of those answers......

[Kinerd]

Yes, GMs sometimes close tickets without a response and without identifying themselves.

Yes, it is a system devoid of accountability.

[Shmuel]

You both are correct. I may not be entitled to anything. It may be a common practice.

However, I would argue:

Just because one can do something does not mean one should do something.

It is not necessary to ignore your customers' polite requests for information. In fact, it is rude. It leaves a poor taste in the mouth of the customer and detracts from what the business would hope would be a positive reputation.

I would humbly suggest that if Turbine wished to have a good rather than a bad reputation for customer service, OR if they are interested in doing what is right rather than what is simply expedient, there ought to be a simple, easy, and reliable way for customers to get answers to basic questions and have an opportunity to address issues of concern to the players and the GMs in an interactive way.

....or they can continue to focus on what they can do and what is common practice without pausing to think about if that is what they really ought to be doing. In my mind, that's a lot like them telling me to go ahead and **** off, but hey, they may not be thinking about that either.

[Antheal]

I would humbly suggest that if Turbine wished to have a good rather than a bad reputation for customer service, OR if they are interested in doing what is right rather than what is simply expedient, there ought to be a simple, easy, and reliable way for customers to get answers to basic questions and have an opportunity to address issues of concern to the players and the GMs in an interactive way.

I think that ship sailed a long time ago... and got wrecked outside of Korthos.

[mostoasty]

there customer service is awful. who cares what ur demeanor is toward a gm in a ticket, u are a paying customer. seems like all gm's are good at doing is tossing out bans and not answering questions.

[EODGunner]

I've had two dealings with GM's. One was a gold spammer (prior to the implementation of the Report Gold Seller option in the chat window) and the other was to help fix a bugged quest. Both times I got responses. I was able with the bugged quest to get about 10 more minutes of play, and shrine before they responded. I think that the GM was helpful. IMHO, I don't see a problem with the GM's. I do however see a problem with the programmers. That however is an entire 64 post rant though.

[AZgreentea]

who cares what ur demeanor is toward a gm in a ticket, u are a paying customer.

And this is why I think every person in the world should be required to work retail for a year. It really changes your perspective when you are on the receiving end.

[mostoasty]

retail is a different situation then this. this is like saying, u are paying for cable every month but not getting all of ur channels, and if u are not nice to the cable company about it they dont have to give you what you are paying for. it shouldnt matter how you are, when you are paying monthly for a service that is not provided. most ppl putting in tickets are probably ****ed about something or another, or they wouldnt be doing it. with the exception of high end retail stores, rich ppl who come in and shop daily, retail is usually a once in and out situation. 95% of ppl going clothes shopping arnt in the store daily for hours at a time, and they arnt paying the store monthly to come in and look around, be serviced by employees, ect. im not saying ppl shouldnt have manners, what im saying is a service paid for should be provided reguardless of ur demeanor.

[herzkos]

retail is a different situation then this. this is like saying, u are paying for cable every month but not getting all of ur channels, and if u are not nice to the cable company about it they dont have to give you what you are paying for. it shouldnt matter how you are, when you are paying monthly for a service that is not provided. most ppl putting in tickets are probably ****ed about something or another, or they wouldnt be doing it. with the exception of high end retail stores, rich ppl who come in and shop daily, retail is usually a once in and out situation. 95% of ppl going clothes shopping arnt in the store daily for hours at a time, and they arnt paying the store monthly to come in and look around, be serviced by employees, ect. im not saying ppl shouldnt have manners, what im saying is a service paid for should be provided reguardless of ur demeanor.

continuing the NECRO.

Ok, replace retail with customer service in any environment and you get the same results.
just because you are unhappy does not give you the right to treat another like garbage. if
you do so, you are more unlikely to get what you want than if you treat them as a human being.

cuss me out over the phone, or in game, or at a courtesy desk, or at a register, or on a sales floor or
anywhere and the likelihood of me going the extra mile to help you just got modified to ZERO.

p.s. (edit) after re-reading your post sir, it's obvious that you don't know a whole lot about retail (high end or otherwise).
most stores make their money off of repeat customers hence the "customer service" focus. unfortunately, this approach leads
to people who "game" the system by being obnoxious and rude. Often times these players are paid off just to get them out
of the store and away from the paying customers. Only problem is, in a game (like DDO) the impact on other customers is
ruled out due to the anonymous nature of the internet. sure you can tell your guildies but thats about it. try quoting on the forums
or posting a screenshot and it won't last long. You'll probably get points as well for your effort.

All you end up doing is harassing an employee who may or may not have been motivated to help you before you started acting the clown.
I can guarantee you that once you start acting like a clown the employee will be less motivated to help you than before.
you do the math.

[grausherra]

most stores make their money off of repeat customers hence the "customer service" focus. unfortunately, this approach leads
to people who "game" the system by being obnoxious and rude. Often times these players are paid off just to get them out
of the store and away from the paying customers. Only problem is, in a game (like DDO) the impact on other customers is
ruled out due to the anonymous nature of the internet. sure you can tell your guildies but thats about it. try quoting on the forums
or posting a screenshot and it won't last long. You'll probably get points as well for your effort.

All you end up doing is harassing an employee who may or may not have been motivated to help you before you started acting the clown.
I can guarantee you that once you start acting like a clown the employee will be less motivated to help you than before.
you do the math.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease. People wouldn't act like this if it didn't get results, sadly.

Frustration leads to this sort of behavior though, and while it is not very productive, it can lead to a feeling that you are accomplishing SOMETHING in a situation where you otherwise have 0 control.

Add to this that turbine's CS seems to operate under policies which are deliberately obtuse and restrictive and you get what we have in DDO now.

Good queue times for CS response, due to the inability of their CS to actually resolve issues. At least when you wait 2 days in queue in other games you end up with a resolution to your issue. So far I've got a (very polite and professional) middle finger :P

I've not yet turned to this path, but quite frankly it is tempting.

[Falco_Easts]

retail is a different situation then this. this is like saying, u are paying for cable every month but not getting all of ur channels, and if u are not nice to the cable company about it they dont have to give you what you are paying for. it shouldnt matter how you are, when you are paying monthly for a service that is not provided. most ppl putting in tickets are probably ****ed about something or another, or they wouldnt be doing it. with the exception of high end retail stores, rich ppl who come in and shop daily, retail is usually a once in and out situation. 95% of ppl going clothes shopping arnt in the store daily for hours at a time, and they arnt paying the store monthly to come in and look around, be serviced by employees, ect. im not saying ppl shouldnt have manners, what im saying is a service paid for should be provided reguardless of ur demeanor.

To use your analogy. Would you

• Complain to your cable company because you don't like the shows on your channels.
• Have everyone in your house call them about the same issue.
• Call the cable company and expect them to tell you why your DVD player is not working.
• Complain that you hear TV coming from next door that doesn't sound like the channels you have so they must be stealing free channels?

I would say a lot of the tickets that get put in aren't GM issues and do nothing but tie up GM's for the rest of os.

[Kinerd]

continuing the NECRO.

Ok, replace retail with customer service in any environment and you get the same results.
just because you are unhappy does not give you the right to treat another like garbage. if
you do so, you are more unlikely to get what you want than if you treat them as a human being.

cuss me out over the phone, or in game, or at a courtesy desk, or at a register, or on a sales floor or
anywhere and the likelihood of me going the extra mile to help you just got modified to ZERO.

p.s. (edit) after re-reading your post sir, it's obvious that you don't know a whole lot about retail (high end or otherwise).
most stores make their money off of repeat customers hence the "customer service" focus. unfortunately, this approach leads
to people who "game" the system by being obnoxious and rude. Often times these players are paid off just to get them out
of the store and away from the paying customers. Only problem is, in a game (like DDO) the impact on other customers is
ruled out due to the anonymous nature of the internet. sure you can tell your guildies but thats about it. try quoting on the forums
or posting a screenshot and it won't last long. You'll probably get points as well for your effort.

All you end up doing is harassing an employee who may or may not have been motivated to help you before you started acting the clown.
I can guarantee you that once you start acting like a clown the employee will be less motivated to help you than before.
you do the math.

I worked in retail. If I ever ignored a customer, I would have been fired. It's just unthinkable.