World of Warcraft - English (NA) Forums -> Chargeback Concerns With PhoneBill Pay Method

Sirantus

Blizzard Poster

0. Chargeback Concerns With PhoneBill Pay Method 07/30/2009 11:40:36 AM PDT

[Update - 08/05/2009]
As part of our accounting review process, we identified prior payment reversals resulting from chargebacks issued by the local telephone companies among a small percentage of World of Warcraft accounts whose monthly subscription is paid via the accountholder's local telephone company bill. Due to the missing payments, we temporarily suspended these accounts.

The communication that was provided to the players affected by these temporary suspensions was unclear -- we want to take this opportunity to clarify that these problems are not the fault of PaymentOne, which acts as an intermediary between the local telephone companies and Blizzard Entertainment. Note that the chargebacks were issued by the telephone companies and not PaymentOne. We regret any confusion over this issue and will be reinstating all of the affected accounts while we conduct a further investigation.

Please note that those affected players who recently sent in payments have had their World of Warcraft accounts restored, and no further action is required. With regard to the accountholders whose accounts still show missing payments, we will be contacting them directly to further address any outstanding issues.

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Good morning, everyone—

Due to the recent concerns many players have expressed regarding chargeback issues with PaymentOne, we’d like to provide you all with some additional information.

If access to your account has been disabled due to a filed chargeback for a telephone payment, this means that your telephone company has withdrawn funds already paid to Blizzard Entertainment via PaymentOne. This chargeback may have happened for a number of reasons, including, but not limited to: non-payment on the associated phone bill, a delinquent phone bill account, a requested refund via the telephone company, or a disputed payment.

If your chargeback (or the amount owed) happens to be less than your original subscription fee, this means your telephone company was able collect part of the payment using your available funds, but not all of it. This sort of "partial payment" can occur if your telephone company attempts to pay its own fees first and then the fees to outside companies, such as Blizzard Entertainment. If the payment you provided to your telephone company could cover your phone bill, but only part of your subscription fee, your chargeback will have only been for the amount of the subscription fee which was not covered.

So, for example, if your subscription fee was $14.99 and your phone bill was $50.00, your telephone company will attempt to pay off the $50.00 phone bill first. If you provided your telephone company $60.00, $50.00 would immediately have gone to cover your phone bill and only $10.00 would have gone towards your subscription fee. This means the amount owed to Blizzard Entertainment at this time would only be $4.99 USD.

If you have any questions regarding why these charges were withdrawn, please contact the telephone company which was used at the time the now-withdrawn payment(s) were applied to your account. If you have any concerns related to the retrieval process or what options may be available to you at this time, then please feel free to contact Billing & Account Services at your earliest convenience.

Billing and Account Services

Email: billing@blizzard.com
Web form: http://us.blizzard.com/support/webform-us.xml?gameId=11

Live Representatives Available Mon-Fri, 8am to 8pm PDT
For phone assistance please call: 1 (800) 592-5499 || 1 (800) 59-BLIZZARD
- Players in Australia should call 1-800-041-378
- Players in Singapore should call 800-2549-9273
- Players in Chile should call 1230-020-5554
- Players in Mexico should call 001-888-578-7628
- Players in Argentina should call 0800-333-0778
- All other international players should call: (949) 955-0283

[ Post edited by Sirantus ]

Customer Service Forum - Billing Support

Domarona

Farstriders

1. Re: PaymentOne Chargeback Concerns 07/30/2009 12:18:39 PM PDT

1st?

anyways i agree to this ... but like i said i called my phone company they said i payed .. payment one contacted them for payment they refused on the grounds they already were paid.. so payment one came back to you guys saying its fraud.

But all in all im paying you guys friday to play my account again. no biggy. if it comes to light either way i did what was right.

i agree with what blizzard did, they had to. With payment one i just don't know. Im waiting for a call back on them once the decide. I dont think they are americans.. (nothing meant by that just its hard to deal with people that hardly speak english or understand american terms and at most gamer speak) ,,twice ive gotten the outta states sounding people, so i think they go over seas for their customer support.

Like the blues have stated, nothing they can do about this.. they have to by law pay back what is given to caeser in this case payment one. If blizzard pursues this its up to them. wither it affects us in anyway its not for me to dispute.

I can only dispute with my old phone company and payment one. BTW blizzard account admin work'd their tails off to get me through this trying time and help me bring to light all the shadowy details i was missing to help me contact those that reside in the darkness and bring it to light.. i thank you.

[ Post edited by Domarona ]

Renzoküken

Eredar

2. Re: PaymentOne Chargeback Concerns 07/30/2009 01:00:16 PM PDT

Q u o t e:
Good morning, all—

Due to recent concerns regarding chargeback issues with PaymentOne, we’d like to provide you all with some additional information.

If access to your account has been disabled due to a filed chargeback for a telephone payment, this means that your telephone company has withdrawn funds already paid to Blizzard Entertainment. This may have happened for a number of reasons, including, but not limited to: non-payment on the associated phone bill, a delinquent phone bill account, a requested refund via the telephone company, or a disputed payment.

If your chargeback (or the amount owed) happened to be less than the original charge, this means your telephone company only collected a partial payment. This occurs because, as part of the PaymentOne process, your telephone company will attempt to pay its own fees first and then the fees to outside companies, such as Blizzard Entertainment. If your available funds could cover your phone bill and part of your subscription fee, your chargeback will only be for the amount which was not paid. For example, if your subscription fee was $14.99 USD and only $5.00 USD was withdrawn by your telephone company, the amount owed to Blizzard Entertainment at this time would only be $5.00 USD.

If you have any questions regarding why these charges were withdrawn, please contact your telephone company which was used at the time the now withdrawn payment(s) were applied to your account. If you have any concerns related to the retrieval process or what options may be available to you at this time, then please feel free to contact Billing & Account Services at your earliest convenience.

Billing and Account Services
Email: billing@blizzard.com
Web form: http://us.blizzard.com/support/webform-us.xml?gameId=11

Live Representatives Available Mon-Fri, 8am to 8pm PDT
For phone assistance please call: 1 (800) 592-5499 || 1 (800) 59-BLIZZARD
Players in Australia should call 1-800-041-378
Players in Singapore should call 800-2549-9273
Players in Chile should call 1230-020-5554
Players in Mexico should call 001-888-578-7628
Players in Argentina should call 0800-333-0778
All other international players should call: (949) 955-0283

and about the people who've disputed this months to a year ago, who shouldn't have to pay, whats up with that?

Pricilla

< Azure Tempest >

Terokkar

3. Re: PaymentOne Chargeback Concerns 07/30/2009 01:09:46 PM PDT

Q u o t e:

and about the people who've disputed this months to a year ago, who shouldn't have to pay, whats up with that?

I guess that would depend on your issue.

"my future self is a nub that melee's in caster form..."

-Lissanna

Brugh

Norgannon

4. Re: PaymentOne Chargeback Concerns 07/30/2009 01:11:11 PM PDT

Q u o t e:
this means that your telephone company has withdrawn funds already paid to Blizzard Entertainment. This may have happened for a number of reasons, including, but not limited to: non-payment on the associated phone bill, a delinquent phone bill account, a requested refund via the telephone company, or a disputed payment.

If, after contacting your phone company, you are unable to rectify this situation, the state and federal regulatory agencies that oversee the TelCo would be your best point of contact. This would be your State Public Utiliity Commission, and the FCC.

for California, you can contact them via the web or over the phone.

http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/PUC/CEC/e_complaint/a_utilitycomplaint.htm

(You can find a similar page for your state PUC, i'm sure)

The FCC's webpage for these complaints is : http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm?sid=d1e174&id=d1e353

Hitting some cheater with the banstick must feel great. Like whacking a pinata. Swing the stick, and the QQ comes out.
-- Earthenfury, after the S3 mass smackdown
Newbies are like Veal for Zombies.

Uzerial

< Thunders of Blood >

Ghostlands

5. Re: PaymentOne Chargeback Concerns 07/30/2009 01:12:08 PM PDT

Why don't you quit ignoring the facts Blizzard? We've been calling our phone companies, and said phone companies have confirmed our charges were paid in full. They also tell us that they don't know anything else about PaymentOne because it's not one of their services. We call PaymentOne and they dodge us. You're completely ignoring that there could even remotely be something fishy going on, and not even investigating that there could be something wrong on PaymentOne's end, when thousands of people suddenly became effected by this on the same day. Have you even been reading whats been going on?

Oh, and let's not forget this:

Q u o t e:
in 2002 the US Federal Trade Commission forced the internet pay company e-Billit to refund $1.6 million to customers for fraudulent charges.

From J. Howard Beales III, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection: "This settlement serves notice to billing aggregators that if they support fraudulent activities, they will be held responsible for their actions. It also points to the importance of consumers filing fraud complaints with the FTC. By spotting trends among the consumer complaints in our database, we were able to identify the fraudulent activity and put a stop to it in less than three weeks.

After all the bad publicity e-Billit changed its name to PaymentOne.

How about acknowledgment of that, Blizzard?

You may be the ones out of money because of PaymentOne, but the fact that you keeps feeding us this copy/paste without knowing whats even really going on with us is truly disheartening considering we trusted your good judgment and service endorsed by you. You put us all at risk by partnering with a company that's been known for fraud in the past, and now you won't even acknowledge that there's obviously something more than simple charge backs... to thousands of people from different telephone companies... on the same day... with the only constant in the mess being PaymentOne.

https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

Go to the link above and shutdown PaymentOne. It's become quite obvious what they're really doing, because thousands of peopel from DIFFERENT BANKS, can all CONFIRM, that the charges were paid in full the first time.

[ Post edited by Uzerial ]

http://www.scionsofdarkrealms.com/forums/

Pricilla

< Azure Tempest >

Terokkar

6. Re: PaymentOne Chargeback Concerns 07/30/2009 01:13:30 PM PDT

Q u o t e:
Why don't you quit ignoring the facts Blizzard? The majority of us have called our phone companiesn, and said phone companies have confirmed our charges were paid in full. They also tell us that they don't know anything else about PaymentOne because it's not one of their services. We call PaymentOne and they dodge us. You're pretending to lay low, and not even investigating that there could be something wrong on PaymentOne's end, when thousands of people suddenly became effected by this on the same day. You've sunken really low Blizzard.

Oh, and let's not forget this:

How about a response to that, Blizzard?

It may not be Blizzard's fault, but the fact that Sirantus keeps feeding us this copy/paste without knowing whats even really going on with us is truly disheartening.

https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

Go to the link above and shutdown PaymentOne. It's become quite obvious what they're really doing, because thousands of peopel from DIFFERENT BANKS, can all CONFIRM, that the charges were paid in full the first time.

If PaymentOne is dodging you, you need to take it up with THEM. Blizzard has nothing to do with PaymentOne. All they know is they didn't get their money, and until they do you owe them.

"my future self is a nub that melee's in caster form..."

-Lissanna

Doesntheal

< Tyranny >

Lothar

7. Re: PaymentOne Chargeback Concerns 07/30/2009 01:14:33 PM PDT

Q u o t e:

If PaymentOne is dodging you, you need to take it up with THEM. Blizzard has nothing to do with PaymentOne. All they know is they didn't get their money, and until they do you owe them.

Gmail: sippycup.csf

Q u o t e:
I use Excircision when I swap my duel spec in Ulder.

-Ghostcrawler, Lead Systems Designer

Brugh

Norgannon

8. Re: PaymentOne Chargeback Concerns 07/30/2009 01:19:17 PM PDT

You, the consumer, have business relationships with your local telephone company and with Blizzard.

You give your money to the telephone company. The telephone company says they received your payment. Blizzard is saying they didn't receive a full amount from the Telco via payment one, (or that certain funds were charged back due to phone company billing disputes)

The agencies that oversee the correct billing of consumers by the telephone company, and their appropriate allocation of gathered funds, are the state public utility commission and the federal communications commission.

I've linked their websites for complaints/disputes above.

Please take the correct steps if you wish to dispute how your telco allocated your payments.

(rephrased for clarity)

[ Post edited by Brugh ]

Hitting some cheater with the banstick must feel great. Like whacking a pinata. Swing the stick, and the QQ comes out.
-- Earthenfury, after the S3 mass smackdown
Newbies are like Veal for Zombies.

Punkin

Gilneas

9. Re: PaymentOne Chargeback Concerns 07/30/2009 01:19:36 PM PDT

Blizzard rep said that my FIRST payment that was made through PaymentOne was the chargeback , not any subsequent ones. And Verizon said I'm in the free and clear as far as the bill is concerned. They said they never rejected PaymentOne placing the charge on my bill. PaymentOne says that they only bill the phone companies and they don't issue any chargebacks at any time ever.

[ Post edited by Punkin ]

Thunderwulf

Bonechewer

10. Re: PaymentOne Chargeback Concerns 07/30/2009 01:21:39 PM PDT

Q u o t e:
Blizzard rep said that my FIRST payment that was made through PaymentOne was the chargeback , not any subsequent ones. And Verizon said I'm in the free and clear as far as the bill is concerned. They said they never rejected PaymentOne placing the that charge on my bill. PaymentOne says that they only bill the phone companies and they don't issue any charbacks at any time ever.

Lets do this the easy way?

Who benefits more from lying? Payment One or Blizz.

Blizz doesn't need the money, Payment one could be put out of business.

42
90% of all computer problems are caused by the PEBKAC Virus.
READ THE STICKIES BEFORE POSTING
That is an incredibly weak, spurious and irritating argument-Malkorix

Pricilla

< Azure Tempest >

Terokkar

11. Re: PaymentOne Chargeback Concerns 07/30/2009 01:22:34 PM PDT

Q u o t e:
Blizzard rep said that my FIRST payment that was made through PaymentOne was the chargeback , not any subsequent ones. And Verizon said I'm in the free and clear as far as the bill is concerned. They said they never rejected PaymentOne placing the charge on my bill. PaymentOne says that they only bill the phone companies and they don't issue any chargebacks at any time ever.

Clearly, somewhere, PaymentOne issued a chargeback. Otherwise, you wouldn't be having this problem.

Did you ask them how, if they don't issue chargebacks, Blizzard received one from their company?

"my future self is a nub that melee's in caster form..."

-Lissanna

Uzerial

< Thunders of Blood >

Ghostlands

12. Re: PaymentOne Chargeback Concerns 07/30/2009 01:23:05 PM PDT

Q u o t e:

If PaymentOne is dodging you, you need to take it up with THEM. Blizzard has nothing to do with PaymentOne. All they know is they didn't get their money, and until they do you owe them.

I'm glad it's just fine and dandy that we trusted Blizzard's judgment on who they partner with, which ended up being a company guilty frauding $1.6 million out of people in the past, and they don't even raise an eyebrow or acknowledge that something could possibly be wrong other than that poor Blizzard is missing a few dollars. Forget their customers. Just give us more information that doesn't even touch upon the facts of the situation, and don't even acknowledge their customer's concerns, because hey it's not their problem as long as they get their money, right?

God forbid they acknowledge there's something more to this than just your average chargeback server when suddenly thousands of people, at the same time, from a company with a fraudulent past, that Blizzard formed a partnership with, is all far too coincidental.

If it's our banks then why don't you people that seem to think you know everything, explain why those thousands of people were suddenly charged at the same time, on the same day, all from different phone companies.

I'm seeking acknowledgment from Blizzard that there's something wrong with this picture, and you're dodging the facts of the matter.

[ Post edited by Uzerial ]

http://www.scionsofdarkrealms.com/forums/

Thunderwulf

Bonechewer

13. Re: PaymentOne Chargeback Concerns 07/30/2009 01:25:06 PM PDT

Q u o t e:

I'm glad it's just fine and dandy that we trusted Blizzard's judgment on who they partner with, which ended up being a company guilty frauding $1.6 million out of people in the past, and they don't even raise an eyebrow or acknowledge that something could possibly be wrong other than that poor Blizzard is missing a few dollars. Forget their customers. Just give us more information that doesn't even touch upon the facts of the situation, and don't even acknowledge their customer's concerns, because hey it's not their problem as long as they get their money, right?

God forbid they acknowledge there's something more to this than just your average chargeback server when suddenly thousands of people, at the same time, from a company with a fraudulent past, that Blizzard formed a partnership with, is all far too coincidental.

Really? Why didn't YOU do any research in to it before you used it?

42
90% of all computer problems are caused by the PEBKAC Virus.
READ THE STICKIES BEFORE POSTING
That is an incredibly weak, spurious and irritating argument-Malkorix

Uzerial

< Thunders of Blood >

Ghostlands

14. Re: PaymentOne Chargeback Concerns 07/30/2009 01:26:42 PM PDT

Q u o t e:

Really? Why didn't YOU do any research in to it before you used it?

Because I trusted Blizzard Entertainment to use good judgment in their business partners, since I've been buying Blizzard Entertainment products and services since the original Warcraft? It's called a betrayal of trust, sir.

I love how people that aren't even remotely affected by this love to blame the customer for believing in a company that built their trust up.

[ Post edited by Uzerial ]

http://www.scionsofdarkrealms.com/forums/

Scüba

< Rebellion >

Azuremyst

15. Re: PaymentOne Chargeback Concerns 07/30/2009 01:27:55 PM PDT

Q u o t e:
Blizzard rep said that my FIRST payment that was made through PaymentOne was the chargeback , not any subsequent ones. And Verizon said I'm in the free and clear as far as the bill is concerned. They said they never rejected PaymentOne placing the charge on my bill. PaymentOne says that they only bill the phone companies and they don't issue any chargebacks at any time ever.

Read this:

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/466/RipOff0466693.htm

It is an employee admiting that their management (PaymentOne) edits call logs and tapes... Do you really think they are gonna tell you the truth?

"How can I leave her?
Where would I start?
Let man's petty nations tear themselves apart
My land's only borders lie around my heart!"
Gmail - ska [dot] t73 at google

Kurigan

< Magically Delicious >

Hellscream

16. Re: PaymentOne Chargeback Concerns 07/30/2009 01:27:58 PM PDT

Its surprising that Paymentone is not realizing that MMO players would be a very vocal group.
This would be an interesting subject for social interaction and activism.

Anyways, all indications at this time point to paymentone messing up big time.
Blizzard is just following the rule of law on how to handle charge backs so you really cant fault them.

At this point, I would suggest you complain to the correct parties.

https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

Also, there is the option of news organizations as well.

Utz

< Grym >

Gorefiend

17. Re: PaymentOne Chargeback Concerns 07/30/2009 01:29:01 PM PDT

i am gonna have to say that i doubt blizzard really can say much more than they are saying. although i think "hey we know you guys are having problems, we've set up billing so we can take the payments via credit card" would be nice so that ppl could get their accounts back quicker and also they could recover their money. it is kind of insulting that our posts are "hey we already paid that" and the thread gets locked and the response is "you didn't pay your phone bill"

Thunderwulf

Bonechewer

18. Re: PaymentOne Chargeback Concerns 07/30/2009 01:29:26 PM PDT

Q u o t e:
It's called a betrayal of trust, sir.

Yes, they betrayed Blizz's trust.

Blizz did not betray yours.

Me? I investigate services on my own before I use them. And I didn't use PaymentOne.

42
90% of all computer problems are caused by the PEBKAC Virus.
READ THE STICKIES BEFORE POSTING
That is an incredibly weak, spurious and irritating argument-Malkorix

Domarona

Farstriders

19. Re: PaymentOne Chargeback Concerns 07/30/2009 01:29:56 PM PDT

here is the full listing of payment one and their list of reports against them

http://ripoffreport.com/searchresults.asp?q1=ALL&q2=&q3=&q4=&q5=&q7=&q6=paymentone&searchtype=0

and wow there is a ton from wow to inmate collect billing to others..

after seeing this I will be in the future researching any and all payment methods i will be using in any game.

the site is safe .. i just want the community to be aware of what is going on with this company..

and blizzard .. did you company really do your homework on these people.. no really..

again i support blizzard in all they do i agree to what they did to my account as was their right and im in the process of paying what i owe to blizzard. which i do. wither that changes in the future ill wait and see.

I hold by my honor. ive a perfect track record with blizzard in all their games and products and i want to keep it that way.

And yes.. i took a shower for 3 hours two days ago because i felt so dirty over all this.

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