Return of the Stupid: FFXI Class-Action Lawsuit

[Tagrineth]

http://kotaku.com/5302333/square-enix-sued-for-5-million

Square Enix of America is being sued for allegedly deceiving 100,000 customers for "unfair business practices, false advertising and unjust enrichment" regarding online title Final Fantasy XI.

The plaintiff, San Francisco resident Esther Leong, claims that Square Enix "lied about or concealed its monthly fees, penalties for late payments, interest, restrictions and other things that should have been fully disclosed at points of purchase" — basically, Square Enix has been "deceptive".

The court filing reads:

The deceptive advertising, unfair and undisclosed business practices, and concealment concern, among others:

• i. Licensing of the online games software disguised as a sale;
• ii. Monthly fees ("fees") to play the online games;
• iii. Penalties for late payment of the fees;
• iv. Interest charges for late payment of the fees;
• v. Charges while the online game account is suspended;
• vi. Termination of the right to use the online games for late payment of the fees;
• vii. User restrictions and conditions related to the online games;
• viii. Termination of game data for payment of the fees.

The class action lawsuit is seeking in excess of US$5 million in damages.

HOLY SHIT THIS GAME HAS A MONTHLY FEE?! AND IF I STOP PAYING IT MY ACCOUNT WILL GET CANCELED?!?!?!

 

[Acutie]

Man some lawyers will take any case won't they.

 

[Stevedizzle]

class action lawsuit is seeking in excess of US$5 million in damages.

That is even more disturbing. $5million for a $12 a month game..epic.

 

[Acutie]

FFXI totally ruined this person's life. I wonder if their last name is a coincidence.

 

[Bluewind]

vi. Termination of the right to use the online games for late payment of the fees;

Ya think?

 

[motley]

5 mil divided by 100K ppl in the suit = 50 bucks or 4 months of ffxi per person

wtf.

 

[Raesvelg]

5 mil divided by 100K ppl in the suit = 50 bucks or 4 months of ffxi per person

wtf.

Except that the lawyer's cut is probably moderately substantial, hence why he's willing to take the case I guess.

Zero chance of victory, but maybe they'll get a small settlement if SE just decides it's cheaper that way.

 

[Kajimaru]

FFXI totally ruined this person's life. I wonder if their last name is a coincidence.

I had many comments here, I'll let you all choose what I say next;

1.) He probably was 0/537 in Valkrum Emp drops.
2.) Probably spent the last 5 years working on a relic staff upgrade, then realized that the NQ elemental staves are still better.
3.) I bet he coulden't get passed CoP 6-4.

So on, and so forth. Guess I should read artical. >.>

 

[Skaw]

That is even more disturbing. $5million for a $12 a month game..epic.

$50 x 100,000 doesn't = $5,000,000? It's a class action lawsuit, not just one guy, brosef.

5 mil divided by 100K ppl in the suit = 50 bucks or 4 months of ffxi per person

wtf.

They're looking to get reimburstment from buying the game. It's easy to get your money back(or rather, the charge voided) on a monthly subscription - just call your credit card company and tell them you didn't sign up for it. It's a lot harder(read: impossible) to get your money back on an opened box MMO purchase, much less any software that requires serial key codes to use.

Guess I should read artical. >.>

Gee, you think?

 

[Excim]

Aren't all the grievances listed pretty damn clear? I mean, you do get a million prompts while signing up about the EULA, all the charges that incur, and they have the right to suspend you... pretty much if they feel like it.

I mean, it's not like it's written in the American Bill of Rights that "Everyone has the right to play an MMO, and that right cannot be taken away". :facepalm:

 

[Cletus]

Maybe I'm giving these people too much credit, but I'm under the assumption that they're just doing this to bring some publicity to SE's really bad customer service. They probably feel like this is their only recourse to get SE to change some severely flawed policies.

On a slightly related subject, I had 2 accounts with the LM-17 ban due to the chargeback issue last month. I reactivated the one I use, and left banned my buddy's account that I'm holding(they're on the same CC). I specifically asked the POL rep on the phone if I could come back ata later date and un-ban it if needed, he said that shouldn't be a problem. Now, I'm wondering if this billing cycle will charge me for both accounts. I don't see my buddy ever coming back from WOW, so the best thing for me to do would be to un-ban and cancel, but I'm curious to see how SE is going to handle this.

 

[Myrid]

Maybe I'm giving these people too much credit, but I'm under the assumption that they're just doing this to bring some publicity to SE's really bad customer service. They probably feel like this is their only recourse to get SE to change some severely flawed policies.

Yeah. Like how they don't pro-rate charges if you activate near the end of the month, you're still charged 12.95 for the whole month (even if you weren't playing for most of it). Imagine that's what they're getting at by being charged for banned time - Banned on June 2, charged for the whole month of June, something like that. That and buying a box, opening the box, seeing an EULA, and either accepting the EULA or being stuck with a very expensive drink coaster. I don't think this is "return of the stupid" at all.

 

[Pascal]

Here is the complaint http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/06/24/SquareEnix.pdf,
which is severally lacking on any details.

 

[buckeyespud]

Well I agree SE is atroicious in their customer service, and I wouldn't mind sueing them myself. Here is my story:

I stopped playing this game years ago. I only recently tried to start playing again. At some point in the 2 years I left the game, my account was hacked. I know this information because I saw "Buckeyespud" making sales on ffxiah.com. When I called to reactivate my account, it was extremely difficult because I didn't remember any of my old information ie phone number, email address because I had moved a few times in those 2 years.

Eventually Square Enix agreed that if I faxed in a couple of my driver's license with the 3 pieces of information I was able to verify, they would reactivate my account. I did so, and access to Playonline was restored. At that point I thought I was done.

When I went in to reactivate my content ID, it showed that I had 3 past due months owed from Nov through Jan of 2009. That obviously was not me. SE told me there was nothing I could do and that I had to pay the fees in order to use the account. I decided to just do it, because I didn't want to start over. So basically I paid $60 bucks to even get access to Buckeyespud.

I started playing again and everything was okay for the 1st month. Then out of the blue, last monthy I got a ban. When I called they said it was because there was a chargeback on the account history and that they would restore my account for me. I didn't make it a big deal about it because it wasn't my chargeback and they offered to fix the situation right away.

Now for the problems. 3 days ago I tried logging in and I got a message my account was permanent banned. I called SE again and in the recording they say that if you have a LM message to hit option 3. I did. The person I talked to said tha the ban could not be lifted this time. He said that SE had just recently installed some new security software to get rid of all the hackers and cheaters. I told him I didn't do anything wrong and that I had already verified I was the original registrant of the account. He then transferred me to 2nd level account manager. Some of you know these people as "Cory" or "Josh"

Cory couldn't tell me why my account was banned. All he could do it file a research form and told me that if they were able to fix my account, someone would contact me in 48 hours. If not, there was nothing they could do and my account would stay banned.

I waited the 48 hours. Finally I grew so frustrated I called back, and asked to speak with a manager. (after over 40 minutes on hold). I basically told them they needed to reactivate my account because A) I've done nothing wrong and B) I've verified my identify with photo ID and security information. They told me the account was still under investigation and that only the game masters could act on my account. These GM's were in Japan and not in San Diego so there wasn't anyone they could talk to. I asked them why I had to pay $60 bucks to reactivate my account if SE was just going to ban it again without a refund. The manager told me there was nothing I could do and I would just have to wait. They won't even credit me for this month of service even though it was a involuntary ban.

What type of company runs this way? If this was a cable company or internet company, I would be long gone and gone to a competitor, but SE knows that by quitting, the only person the player is hurting in themselves for losing out on a hobby or something they enjoy doing. SE DOES have lousy customer service, and I believe they ARE unfair. I know it's easy to make light of this person bringing on litigation, but SE deserves it!!! I hope they win.

 

[Euphacent]

I think the only valid thing on there is how SE doesn't reimburse you for the days you're suspended. The only issue I've ever had with the way SE bills is how you pay for an entire month of playtime when you reactivate, even if you reactivate on like the 27th of the month and there are only 30 days.. you still pay the $12.95 for 3 days.

 

[Romper]

They wont win. Basically every MMO that you buy at a store has a EULA to prevent people from using the codes then taking the game back to get their money. Hell a lot of PC games have that if they feature online content. I think even on the bottom of the boxes that it says that you can't return the game if you already opened the box from shrink wrap right by the system requirements.

What? They didn't expect that unpaid bills wouldn't occur interest? Well they don't occur interest figure 3 months of unpaid service at 15 dollars a month is 45 dollars. You pay 15 dollars for the month to play (reactivate your account at the start of the month for FFXI this system is changing come FFXIV to be like WoW where the account expires on time activation rather than the start of the month bill cycles). So they really aren't getting interest on the bills anyway. I used this method to prevent me from going back and reactivating my account.

Yes their customer service isn't that great. You have to jump through hoops to get what you want. That's pretty much anywhere though.

Now what happened to you Spud isn't quite fair as your account was hacked while you quit. Now that to me sounds suspicious how did your account get hacked when it was canceled? They would have had to have the information before hand to activate the account which make me think you probably sold the account. I don't see how anyone could get your information unless you kept FFXI on your PC over the time you quit, and you picked up a keylogger. However, you weren't entering your password for FFXI, which would have been needed to go in and reopen the account anyway, so the latter is a bit far fetched.

 

[Kajimaru]

Gee, you think?

After reading the artical, I found it didnt' give anymore info. Guess it woulden't of matterd, right?

Edit: Interesting. A C.A.L., with a jury. God Bless America, where you can sue for just about anything!

 

[Tagrineth]

Imagine that's what they're getting at by being charged for banned time - Banned on June 2, charged for the whole month of June, something like that.

I think the only valid thing on there is how SE doesn't reimburse you for the days you're suspended.

You broke the rules to get banned/suspended. Why the heck should they give you a refund? "Oh, OK, you cheated. Here's your money back! Sorry for the hassle!"

That and buying a box, opening the box, seeing an EULA, and either accepting the EULA or being stuck with a very expensive drink coaster. I don't think this is "return of the stupid" at all.

Welcome to all PC software, ever. ALL SOFTWARE WORKS THIS WAY. There's ALWAYS a license agreement you have to accept, even with fully offline software.

Now what happened to you Spud isn't quite fair as your account was hacked while you quit. Now that to me sounds suspicious how did your account get hacked when it was canceled? They would have had to have the information before hand to activate the account which make me think you probably sold the account. I don't see how anyone could get your information unless you kept FFXI on your PC over the time you quit, and you picked up a keylogger. However, you weren't entering your password for FFXI, which would have been needed to go in and reopen the account anyway, so the latter is a bit far fetched.

To be fair, there was that one incident where FFXI's hash was cracked and a few peoples' accounts were lifted straight from their files where the game stores your "saved" password... but your analysis seems much more likely.

 

[buckeyespud]

Now what happened to you Spud isn't quite fair as your account was hacked while you quit. Now that to me sounds suspicious how did your account get hacked when it was canceled? They would have had to have the information before hand to activate the account which make me think you probably sold the account. I don't see how anyone could get your information unless you kept FFXI on your PC over the time you quit, and you picked up a keylogger. However, you weren't entering your password for FFXI, which would have been needed to go in and reopen the account anyway, so the latter is a bit far fetched.

hmmm good point. when I played before I did play not only at my house, but also 2 RL friends. They say they deleted FFXI from their system, but this makes me suspicious. At any rate, SE customer service really does suck. And James, the customer service manager, and his "you can't touch us" attitude doesn't help either.

 

[Xalioniaf]

Guys, I spilled McDonalds coffee on my laptop. Think I'm gonna sue both McDonalds for the coffee and Toshiba for not making a coffee-proof laptop.