Jecca Mehlota (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jecca_mehlota) wrote2011-07-08 02:54 pm
jecca_mehlota) wrote2011-07-08 02:54 pm
July is cancelled, everyone go home.
Alternately: SE's Beautiful Billing System. sadjfhkdjgh
So. They do their account billing for FFXI at the beginning of the month, everyone all at the same time. Sometimes they have problems, but neither I nor my brother (our accounts are paid with the same card) have ever been directly affected. But at the end of this month, they're completely revamping the whole system (mostly they're dropping the PlayOnline portal, which means nothing to any of you, so I'll spare the details), which is probably related to this... Anyway, there they are, doing their July billing back on Saturday (the 2nd), and there they are also doing maintenance work on the billing system, aaaand... well, who knows what the hug happened (I've seen some propose maint went too long?). The end result it that bunches and bunches of people were billed but then had their content IDs (ie, the things that allow you to create characters, ie, the things they charge you for. First one is $12.99, any others are only $1) deactivated.
I'm sure you can imagine my surprise that night when I went to log in to see if my LS still had their event on and - oh hey! YOU HAVE NO CONTENT IDS! Hm. Maybe something happened to the card? But, no, my brother's account worked, and checking the history showed both accounts being charged...
Cue minor burst of panic. But, uh, whatever, whatever, it's nothing, right? It's not my fault, right?! I crawled over to the forums and clicked the thread linked above. Long story short, if I had a PS2 + hard drive + played XI that way, I could have reactivated with no real troubles (it works a bit differently for th PS2 players), but because I do not, I had to wait until freaking Tuesday, at which point a bit more than 3 and a half hours were wasted, first trying to contact SE's customer service ("waits are longer than usual" GOSH POSSIBLY BECAUSE EVERYONE IN NORTH AMERICA IS CALLING YOU? Damn it, SE, you're in Japan. You had all of Monday to figure out the problem and at least inform your employees, why the hell didn't you?) and then jumping through a thousand hoops. The third time (yes, really. Had to call three times) finally yielded a helpful individual who made things work, and then I only had to poke around in the POL Viewer for twenty minutes until I actually successfully reactivated my IDs (I've never deactivated them! How am I supposed to know how to reactivate them?!). (Tuesday sucked. And then I locked myself out of my apartment! Fortunately, my roommate was able to let me back in, but damn did I feel like an idiot. I went 25 years without locking myself out of places! bah! I'm blaming it on being so distracted.) And now I just need to worry about being double-billed in August, though SE has acknowledged the problem now and is hoping to head that off.
Honestly, much as it pisses me off, if I get double-billed (once for the continued service and then once for reactivating 'CAUSE YOU DUMBFUCKS DEACTIVATED IT FOR ME, THANKS EVER SO MUCH), I may just let it slide, because getting double charges reversed is kind of scary with SE, since half the time (disclaimer: the prior statement is an exaggeration) their useless customer service folk fuck it up and next thing you know your account and card have been perma-banned for fraud (though this has happened, it is usually not when people contact SE directly, but rather when they have their card provider deny the charge). uugh. Hopefully the new system is less troublesome. (But then, like I said above, this is literally the first time in almost 8 years that we've had any troubles. Really, that's not such a bad track record. It was just very, very stressful, and I was really worried I was going to lose my account for a few days.)
Other things: I apparently magically developed an allergy to sunlight (OF ALL THINGS) sometime during the winter. Yes, we have finally worked out why I have been so damned itchy lately. It is sunlight. Why. I had thought for a while that it was a reaction to different laundry soap but then that was disproved, and then I thought it was my bedding and that was disproved, and then I thought oh shit it is my pills except then I remembered I was scratching at my arms the day I got the prescription so okay no it's not that, either... I had noticed it got worse after I'd been outside, but didn't become an issue if I wore long sleeves or if it was raining or whatever. And then one day I wore sunscreen and - huh. No itch. And then one day after that, I forgot it, and next thing I know, I'm doing my whole AAAAAUGH MUST REMOVE THE FLESH IT ITCHES IT ITCHES clawing-at-arms routine. Not happy about this, but at least I finally know the cause.
Also, half my coworkers are being massive jerks and possibly trying to kill me or something, and corporate continues to make bad, employee-stressing decisions. Had a minor meltdown after work on the 3rd (no doubt the whole XI-account business related to that some, to be fair). I have really got to get out of here. C'mon, self. Start job hunting, already. Please?
So. They do their account billing for FFXI at the beginning of the month, everyone all at the same time. Sometimes they have problems, but neither I nor my brother (our accounts are paid with the same card) have ever been directly affected. But at the end of this month, they're completely revamping the whole system (mostly they're dropping the PlayOnline portal, which means nothing to any of you, so I'll spare the details), which is probably related to this... Anyway, there they are, doing their July billing back on Saturday (the 2nd), and there they are also doing maintenance work on the billing system, aaaand... well, who knows what the hug happened (I've seen some propose maint went too long?). The end result it that bunches and bunches of people were billed but then had their content IDs (ie, the things that allow you to create characters, ie, the things they charge you for. First one is $12.99, any others are only $1) deactivated.
I'm sure you can imagine my surprise that night when I went to log in to see if my LS still had their event on and - oh hey! YOU HAVE NO CONTENT IDS! Hm. Maybe something happened to the card? But, no, my brother's account worked, and checking the history showed both accounts being charged...
Cue minor burst of panic. But, uh, whatever, whatever, it's nothing, right? It's not my fault, right?! I crawled over to the forums and clicked the thread linked above. Long story short, if I had a PS2 + hard drive + played XI that way, I could have reactivated with no real troubles (it works a bit differently for th PS2 players), but because I do not, I had to wait until freaking Tuesday, at which point a bit more than 3 and a half hours were wasted, first trying to contact SE's customer service ("waits are longer than usual" GOSH POSSIBLY BECAUSE EVERYONE IN NORTH AMERICA IS CALLING YOU? Damn it, SE, you're in Japan. You had all of Monday to figure out the problem and at least inform your employees, why the hell didn't you?) and then jumping through a thousand hoops. The third time (yes, really. Had to call three times) finally yielded a helpful individual who made things work, and then I only had to poke around in the POL Viewer for twenty minutes until I actually successfully reactivated my IDs (I've never deactivated them! How am I supposed to know how to reactivate them?!). (Tuesday sucked. And then I locked myself out of my apartment! Fortunately, my roommate was able to let me back in, but damn did I feel like an idiot. I went 25 years without locking myself out of places! bah! I'm blaming it on being so distracted.) And now I just need to worry about being double-billed in August, though SE has acknowledged the problem now and is hoping to head that off.
Honestly, much as it pisses me off, if I get double-billed (once for the continued service and then once for reactivating 'CAUSE YOU DUMBFUCKS DEACTIVATED IT FOR ME, THANKS EVER SO MUCH), I may just let it slide, because getting double charges reversed is kind of scary with SE, since half the time (disclaimer: the prior statement is an exaggeration) their useless customer service folk fuck it up and next thing you know your account and card have been perma-banned for fraud (though this has happened, it is usually not when people contact SE directly, but rather when they have their card provider deny the charge). uugh. Hopefully the new system is less troublesome. (But then, like I said above, this is literally the first time in almost 8 years that we've had any troubles. Really, that's not such a bad track record. It was just very, very stressful, and I was really worried I was going to lose my account for a few days.)
Other things: I apparently magically developed an allergy to sunlight (OF ALL THINGS) sometime during the winter. Yes, we have finally worked out why I have been so damned itchy lately. It is sunlight. Why. I had thought for a while that it was a reaction to different laundry soap but then that was disproved, and then I thought it was my bedding and that was disproved, and then I thought oh shit it is my pills except then I remembered I was scratching at my arms the day I got the prescription so okay no it's not that, either... I had noticed it got worse after I'd been outside, but didn't become an issue if I wore long sleeves or if it was raining or whatever. And then one day I wore sunscreen and - huh. No itch. And then one day after that, I forgot it, and next thing I know, I'm doing my whole AAAAAUGH MUST REMOVE THE FLESH IT ITCHES IT ITCHES clawing-at-arms routine. Not happy about this, but at least I finally know the cause.
Also, half my coworkers are being massive jerks and possibly trying to kill me or something, and corporate continues to make bad, employee-stressing decisions. Had a minor meltdown after work on the 3rd (no doubt the whole XI-account business related to that some, to be fair). I have really got to get out of here. C'mon, self. Start job hunting, already. Please?
no subject
Augh, job hunting -- it is the worst, but it almost always takes you to a better place. Good luck!
no subject
Thanks! Though I probably still won't get to it for a bit. I have a few hang-ups I think I possibly need to have my therapist beat me over the head about, or that I need to at least talk through.
Oh! And! I was thinking about writing you a letter (though now I don't remember what about, /story of my life), but then realised I do not know your new address. If you want/don't mind, could you send it to me?
no subject
no subject