[:1]Hello, new poster here.
Unfortunately I was drawn to this board not by positive experiences from playing Warcraft III but rather fraudulent service that I felt obliged to warn others of.
The aim of this thread is not to ask posters to solve my problem (there is no solution as far as I can tell) but rather to warn about bad service. And yes, rant a bit -- it's about all I can do at this point.
My problem is pretty simple: I bought the Warcraft III Battle Chest from a Target store the other day. After opening the box a couple days after the purchase, I realized the CDs that you need to play the game were not in the box. All the other things (strategy guides, etc. ... even the WoW trial CD) were present but no game CDs. The box I bought was outwardly normal and sealed just like all Blizzard games I have bought in the past.
Has this happened to anyone else? It seems like a pretty serious quality control issue to me.
(Mods: this is in no way shape or form an attempt to get a CD key, just my personal tale of a bad experience)
I have contacted both Blizzard and Target about the problem and both sides blame the other. Target won't accept games that have been opened, reasonable enough policy, really, except that there is no way I could have known the product was defective until opening. They say the problem stems from the provider and say I need to contact Blizzard.
Blizzard's says Target is responsible for its inventories and as the retailer that sold me the product, they are responsible. On one level I can sympathize, I am sure thousands of kids scheme every day to get CD keys and battle.net accounts, and after all, there is absolutely no way I can prove that the game CDs were not in the box I bought. The Blizzard folks, while courteous, probably think I am trying to con them into giving me a CD key.
But both policies fail to take into account a key failing in the services offered -- the failure to include in the box what the consumer is paying for. What do you do in this case?
I guess the moral of the story is -- don't buy from Target. Or buy the games online in a way where you can download and you don't need the game CDs.
I am sure this is not some new subversive new policy hatched by Target or Blizzard to cheat us out of our hard-earned cash but rather an accident (or perhaps petty theft) somewhere along the production line. Still, it's very frustrating as the consumer to have been cheated and have absolutely no recourse. And points to pretty shoddy quality control on Blizzard's part.
Anyway, thanks to anyone who reads this rant and is sympathetic. I am pretty angry at having lost $40 on this.|||I once opened a DVD that was still sealed in the wrapper, and it was empty. It was a Christmas present, so I thought it was a joke at first, but it was for real. They said they'd take it back to the store and try to get another one for me, but I never heard back from them about it, so I guess they got the same treatment that you did.
I think the only solution to this kind of situation is to get in the habit of video recording yourself every time you open the package to an expensive item. That way you have proof of what happened.
That may sound like a pain in the ass, but it's also a good habit to consider if you ever buy things from eBay and want some evidence to prove what was or wasn't shipped to you from the seller.
Another possible course of action would be to open the item right after you pay for it while you're in the store. That way the clerk will be a direct witness to the act.|||Thanks for the tips. Yeah, maybe recording myself opening the box would have helped -- never thought of that.
I have a billing phone # for Blizzard I can still call ... but I think it's a lost cause at this point.|||You're the victum of store theft ... those tamper seals are easy to subvert even out on the floor...alot of times it's simply an employee in the back.
Sadly blizzard doesn't record the keys on the box - so as you said it - tough out of luck.
I had a friend who's mother complained enough in a nice way while speaking with supervisors - that blizzard eventually recanted & sent a copy of game. That was from their online store. I think she said that she had a buying history of registers games so they knew she was a good money investment.
Pretty much the same can be said of Target - their managers have the power to do it - the question is do you have the good buying history or someone old enough to garner respect at the counter. I hate to say it, but being a 12-30 year old male gamer makes you suspect immediately :(|||I sympathise, it hasnt happened to me before *touch wood* but it sounds really awful. Have you tried to take it further? I assume you called blizz/target, what about rocking up at a factory or contacting the overall game authority (im not really sure who they are), just a suggestion.|||There's almost no reason to reduce yourself to purchasing any blizzard game from a retail store. Simply use the online service they provide:
http://www.blizzard.com/store
While the game library doesn't contain all the back titles yet, I'm sure it will in time. However, most recent titles are available for purchase and digital download. This way you are guaranteed to get a legitimate cdkey that has never been used. There is also no disc to lose or scratch, simply download and install.
Sorry about your mishap at target. There's really nothing more you can do except as soon as you buy something at the register, before you leave, have the employee open the box for you and prove to you that everything is inside. If there's anything missing say you're not paying for it and ask for a refund. Hopefully you pay with a debit or credit card so you can ultimately issue a chargeback through your card issuer, should they refuse to give you a refund. Also at that point feel free to call the police if a store is selling you products that it's not giving you. However, once you leave the store, there's no way anybody can guarantee that you didn't just take the disc out and are trying to get a cdkey for free.
No comments:
Post a Comment