Days after talking about how much fun I was having with The Elder Scrolls Online I am now writing a post to tell you that I will no longer be playing the game, and the worst part is that it isn’t because the game isn’t fun, but because their customer support is terrible.
My tale of woe started a little over a week ago. I was excited to try out the new Tamriel Unlimited feature of The Elder Scrolls Online, so cracked open my box and started to install my game. While that was happening I clicked to redeem my DLC code so I could get access to the Thieves Guild, The Dark Brotherhood, and a couple of other expansions. Not to mention a horse, but the code said it was ‘deactivated’. I had never seen that before, so logged a support ticket with The Elder Scrolls Online support, and I went to work playing through the intro areas of the game and doing some of the quests. Not to mention my epic quest across the world of Temriel.
The next day (like a full 24 hours later) I got an email saying that there was nothing they could do about the bad code, and that it was up to Amazon to replace it. It was lame to have to stop playing the game so I could return it to Amazon, but I figured they knew what they were talking about. However the next game’s code had the same problem. Remembering what The Elder Scrolls Online support said this time I opened tickets with both Microsoft and Amazon. Microsoft did everything they could to contact Amazon and Bethesda to try and get the code activated, but in the end there was nothing they could do because companies are allowed to deactivate codes in case merchandise is stolen, so Microsoft couldn’t re-activate the code, and Amazon said they used the same process to activate their DLC codes that they always do, so they didn’t know what happened. They did next day rush me a third copy of the game.
Guess what. The third copy of The Elder Scrolls Online did not work either, so this time I went back to The Elder Scroll Online support and of course they said their was nothing they could do. I pointed out that I was the not the only person having this problem:
Returning ESO Gold Edition because the codes dont work. Amazon has pulled the game from their website. @Microsoft said its not their problem
— Gary W (@gtotheary) October 15, 2016
And that Bethesda is having other Elder Scroll Online Redemption Issues:
We’re aware of some Xbox redemption issues for @TESOnline items included w/ Skyrim SE physical copies. The issue is being investigated.
— Bethesda Support (@BethesdaSupport) October 28, 2016
So they said they would escalate my ticket. Then nothing for three days. I kept asking for updates or ETAs, but nothing. Just silence. Not even a hang in their cat .gif.
I have never felt more ignored by customer support in my life. Needless to say I contacted Amazon again to get a refund. To Amazon’s credit they did once again make sure the game was properly handled and activated before being sent to me, but it all looked good on their side, and since they sell a ‘few’ video games I am inclined to believe them. I contacted The Elder Scrolls Online support to let them know they could close my ticket, but they haven’t even responded to that. My ticket is sill open. I have never had customer support ruin a game for me before, but The Elder Scrolls Online figured out how.