Wednesday 14 November 2012

SWTOR: Mobile Security

So this may become a rant as opposed too advice, or who knows? It could become both.

Here is the situation:

I quit playing SWTOR around the time Guild Wars 2 come out, maybe a week before.

After this time I rooted my Android phone which removed the Security Key application from my phone.

So SWTOR announces that It will become free too play, this is great! I reinstall the game, go to download updates ready for the day it goes F2P.

I enter my details then read.. "Security Key" yea... Can't log in. So I contact customer support explaining my situation hoping someone would be able to help me out.

Instead I get this lovely email back.

Greetings, 
Thank you for contacting us regarding your Star Wars: The Old Republic Account.
In order to better protect your account, all Billing, Subscription and Account Security issues are dealt with via our Customer Service telephone support.
You can contact our Customer Service team using a mobile phone, landline or VoIP (such as Skype, Viber, Google Voice etc.).
Please note that international call charges can be avoided by using a VoIP programme, as most major VoIP programmes offer free calls to US '1800 numbers'. If you have access to a VoIP with this option, our number is +11-855-467-9867.
You can contact us using a mobile phone or landline by clicking on the following link and finding our customer support telephone number for your specific country: http://www.swtor.com/support/helpcenter/5200
Customer support will be provided in English, French, and German only.
You can also avail of our self-help section on the website which contains many articles which can provide you with further information on our most frequently asked questions. For Account and Billing enquiries, you can visit our Help Center here: 
http://www.swtor.com/support/helpcenter/1863.
If you have any questions relating to our recently announced Free To Play option, you can view them in our Help Center here: 
http://www.swtor.com/support/helpcenter/6449.
Thank you for your patience and understanding, and we apologize for any inconvenience this issue has caused. Should you require further assistance with any other issues, please do not hesitate to contact us again. 

Regards, 
Protocol Droid M0-T0, Star Wars (tm): The Old Republic(tm) Customer Service

Ok, thanks Protocol Droid M0-T0 but I was hoping too get a response from an actual Human/Chiss/Twi'Lek what ever... But no, generic response.

"Fair enough" I think too myself as I start dialling their phone number. They must have a proper procedure on their phone network.

I listen too the menu, 2 for accounts, 2 for security... Nope nothing in here about authenticators. I listen to every option in every menu until I give up.

Contact them again explaining that the phone gave no option about authenticators, asking if I could once again please do this online?

Guess what they emailed back?

Yup that's right, the exact same email... Word for word, letter for letter, character for character...

Fine, Ill ring the damn number again and press any old option. "contact someone from billing" ok.

*orchestral music*

15 minutes later...

Some Professor and Doctor are telling me I'm a valued customer and my call will be answered soon...

15 minutes later... They are here again...

30 minutes later... Still no answer, I give up...

I have used the online robot support again and made very clear that their phone service sucks, their online service sucks, and if they wont help me online I wont bother playing their game ever again. Lets hope this triggers an actual living creature this time.

So I guess the advice I can give from this is... Always remove your Mobile Authenticator before doing anything which could loose your Authenticator, could be formatting, selling the phone, anything really... Because its an absolute pig to get back.

Stay Frosty
-Professor Clutch