Warhammer Online Overcharging Players
EA's billing department for WHO is hitting credit cards and banks with multiple charges.
Eurogamer has learned that the billing department behind EA's subscription-based MMORPG Warhammer Online (WHO) is over-charging players to the point of hundreds of dollars, hitting up credit cards and bank accounts with multiple charges. Electronic Arts has already acknowledged the problem, claiming that the vendor responsible for charging user accounts is working on reversing the damage within 24 to 36 hours.
Still, many gamers are feeling the pain, especially when banks kick in their vicious overdraft fees. "My account I pay my sub from was billed today for over 500 dollars in 16 dollar increments," said one subscriber on the official WHO forum. "The account was overdrawn and with fees and over-billing it was 562.73 total."
Another gamer said that his account was hit with 22 charges at $14.99 a piece, totaling a whopping $329.78 before overdraft fees. "Maybe legal action should be taken to show the seriousness of this problem, the gamer said.
There could be a case against EA if banks refuse to reverse their overdraft charges. EA said that once the WHO charges have been reversed, fees that were incurred should be refunded. If not, EA wants players to make calls to their banks and credit card companies immediately.
"Please begin by contacting your financial institution and explain to them that you were incorrectly charged multiple times and, as a result, over drafted," the company said here. "Most financial institutions will reverse these charges." Note the word most.
EA added that gamers should give its billing department a call if banking institutions refuse to cave in and reverse their overdraft charges. "Please have the phone and fax number of your financial institution ready when you call," EA said.
Two words: game card.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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sliem Ouch. Bad EA. Giving players trouble, even more so than they already have, by just playing the game.Reply -
RipperjackAU Well I guess this is one way EA can lift profits, in light of a rapidly shrinking player base.Reply
That's a CAPITAL idea... lets not try to improve the game, lets just steal from our customers instead. It's work well so far. -
kingnoobe It's not stealing when you admit to it, and yes I'm one of those people. I was charged 304$ over. Yes it sucks, and If this would've happened a couple days later I'd probably be sueing due to certain circumstances. But calling them theives is overboard.Reply -
sliem It's a way to earn extra from rich kids with parents who don't watch/care about their monetary outcome.Reply -
deividast It's a good thing i didn't go for paid account in warhammer :) wow is forever.... :) 500 dollars is like 2 months pay for me :DReply -
michaelssw reminds me of the "office space" movie when the program was only suppose to take pennies at a time so no one would noticeReply -
jon bon wonton ReplyThere could be a case against EA if banks refuse to reverse their overdraft charges. EA said that once the WHO charges have been reversed, fees that were incurred should be refunded. If not, EA wants players to make calls to their banks and credit card companies immediately.
The problem is how quickly overdrafts can snowball. Imagine this- EA cleans out your account with subscription fees. After that, a different, legitimate transaction tries to clear your account (anything from a grocery store purchase to your car loan payment). The funds used to be there, but now they aren't, so the transaction is declined. At best, you'll be hit with just your financial institution's overdraft fee. At worst, you could be hit with late fees and NSF fees from whoever you were trying to pay.
"Most financial institutions will reverse these charges." Note the word most.
Exactly. However, if your financial institution will refuse to reverse fees stemming from obviously erroneous charges, you need to switch financial institutions. -
jsm6746 michaelsswreminds me of the "office space" movie when the program was only suppose to take pennies at a time so no one would noticeReply
so does that mean someone is going to burn down ea!!! -
falchard Just another mark in the hat of EA to solidify itself as the worst mmo publisher ever.Reply
EA: Didn't NPCube charge some of its users 2 or 3 times for 1 month of service accidently? We can outdo that!