I love when Blizz hand out bans.

So I just received a permanent ban today for "involvement in online trading activities". Apparently, this includes: "Online trading refers to the exchange of in-game content for real world money, and includes, but is not limited to, the sale or purchase of gold, the sale or purchase of experience in the form of powerlevelling, and the sale or purchase of honor points, reputation or items." There's completely no proof on Blizzard's end that I've done anything of the sort (unless a trojan/keylogger has allowed someone else access to my password and account). So without any warning, a GM spekaing to me in-game or any e-mail from Blizzard - I received my ban in the middle of boosting a friend in MC, just as we'd spawned Rag.



This isn't really twink related, but I lost my pala with PoD and an unbound Shadowfang, which I was going to transfer to my rogue twink. It's quite a kick in the face, being a WoW customer for 4 years and never doing anything that is described above. I've already sent off an e-mail to appeal. I spent 20 minutes on the phone (at a rate of 25p per minute - and 12 of those minutes were spent in a queue I was told would be 6 minutes) but was told that they could be of no assistance and I had to e-mail. Though, that was 8 hours ago and I've still received no response. Though, I don't expect one for several days. I was also told the investigation could take a further three days and then, they _might_ conclude I am innocent. But, then again, they probably won't. I guess it's fitting to be forced away from WoW just as they've messed up twinks.
 
Ouch. Blizz is getting rather cocky these days, I hate to say it but losing one customer to a ban (guilty or not guilty of the ban) will not have Blizz up in arms. I have known people who have called Blizz in protest over these issues and it usually results in the player buying a new account. (hmmm ... more money for Blizz ...)



But thats the way the world is, I really do hope that someone with a heart over at Blizz HQ gets on your account case and clears it giving you your stuff back. Best of luck.



~Zuty
 
Retownsyou said:
So I just received a permanent ban today for "involvement in online trading activities". Apparently, this includes: "Online trading refers to the exchange of in-game content for real world money, and includes, but is not limited to, the sale or purchase of gold, the sale or purchase of experience in the form of powerlevelling, and the sale or purchase of honor points, reputation or items." There's completely no proof on Blizzard's end that I've done anything of the sort (unless a trojan/keylogger has allowed someone else access to my password and account). So without any warning, a GM spekaing to me in-game or any e-mail from Blizzard - I received my ban in the middle of boosting a friend in MC, just as we'd spawned Rag.



This isn't really twink related, but I lost my pala with PoD and an unbound Shadowfang, which I was going to transfer to my rogue twink. It's quite a kick in the face, being a WoW customer for 4 years and never doing anything that is described above. I've already sent off an e-mail to appeal. I spent 20 minutes on the phone (at a rate of 25p per minute - and 12 of those minutes were spent in a queue I was told would be 6 minutes) but was told that they could be of no assistance and I had to e-mail. Though, that was 8 hours ago and I've still received no response. Though, I don't expect one for several days. I was also told the investigation could take a further three days and then, they _might_ conclude I am innocent. But, then again, they probably won't. I guess it's fitting to be forced away from WoW just as they've messed up twinks.

I feel you. My account also got banned for the same reason, and I did no such thing. Apparently I got hacked though. It takes about two weeks for them to reply btw. If you want to speed up the process then include a scan of your ID card in the mail, else you might have to wait another week if they ask for it. Best of luck.
 
Been there too. I got hacked twice (no authenticator back then), and after I got my account back, I got banned for account sharing (WTF? Hack = account sharing?). It took a month to get it all worked out, but the good news is, it DID get resolved, and yours should too (I’ll go out on a limb and say you’re not a gold farmer ;P).



It sucks, mostly because, even though we invest time and money into these characters and account, we still don't "own" them, according to the Terms of Service. And we really don’t have ANY rights- they don’t have to prove anything. If they wanted to, they could (and sometimes I think they do) pick 1000 account at random and blanket ban them.





Here's some tips I picked up during my ordeal:

The only way this could have happened (other than actually committing the crime) is if:

a) someone you pissed-off is consistently reporting you for suspicious activity

b) you’re posting high-priced grays & whites on the AH in hopes of “catching” a gold farmer unawares

c) you’re moving lots of characters across realms/accounts

d) you transfer a large amount of gold across accounts with different owners (say like yours and your brothers)

e) or you have differently- named accounts going to the same billing CC or e-mail address (that turned out to be my issue- my GF was paying both our subscriptions at the time, while I was paying rent- long story).



*keep in mind- these are only the ones I know about- there could be more.



If you can figure out how they “came” to that conclusion, then you can be better prepared to get your account back.



I hope it all works out for you, and I hope this helps!
 
With the e-mail I sent, I included a scan of my passport and I guess it helps that I haven't changed the e-mail linked to the account in 4 years (which is my last name), so hopefully things should go smoothly when authenticating that I am the original owner. Actually, I'm hoping they just straight out investigate the recent IPs to use the account and the IP that was used to violate the TOS in the way they've stated.



I forgot to add that the real kick in the teeth is that I have bought the Collector's Edition of both expansions (aswell as going to both events in London) and this how they treat a customer like me. Heh.



I'm well aware of how slack they are with replying and how bad their technical support/GMs can actually be.



A story about how bad Blizzard employees actually are (ignore if you want):

We had a security leak on my university network in my first year, which somehow resulted with someone in the university getting my account details. The funny thing was it took 27 GMs to get it sorted. I went through 12 tickets with GMs saying they don't believe I was hacked, to stop bothering GMs (why would I be so persistent if I'd done it myself?) and stuff like that. Actually, one GM told me to stop making me tickets or I would get a warning, possibly a ban, on my account. The 13th GM I spoke to believed me and investigated when my items/gold had been taken and realised it was from the same IP address (none of the previous GMs had told me this). He escalated my ticket. I waited over 8 hours, through the night waiting to speak to a GM. (I was a guild leader working through the original Naxx with 15,000g + items stolen, give me a break. =p) So I spoke to someone when they finally woke up around 7am and this higher up GM instantly dismissed my ticket. He told me my case was my fault and that they could do nothing about it. Then he just went and I got the auto-message spammed in my face each time I tried to message him. What a great guy. This time, I had to work through another 13 tickets in order to get someone else who would listen to me. He said they had to investigate (which obviously, I was fine with) and that took 3 days. 80% of the gold was restored, along with all my items. The whole process took around 12 days. I don't understand how they can get away with hiring such shit employees. =/
 
WOW! Man- I'm sorry. That's just hideous. And I thought mine was bad- it took me a month to get it back the second time, but at least I didn’t have GM’s ignore/not believe me.



Here’s to you getting your account back.

/Salute!
 
Rayekk said:
WOW! Man- I'm sorry. That's just hideous. And I thought mine was bad- it took me a month to get it back the second time, but at least I didn’t have GM’s ignore/not believe me.



Here’s to you getting your account back.

/Salute!
<3 and thanks. :p
 
No I didn't...



My theory is that he tried to buy WoW gold with his acc name on it because he told me how he "made a fake paypal account to piss people off".



Keep in mind he's 12.
 
heh- yeah- sounds like something a 12 yr old would do. He may need a hug. QUICK! go hug him, then roll him up in a carpet and strap in shut with belts. He can be a Luka Burrito!
 

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