Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/01/2024

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On Monday, September 30 at 03:59 EST I was forcibly removed from the online game Star Trek Online (STO) for which I am a paid Lifetime Subscriber. I have been playing this particular game for 14 years. When I attempted to log back into the game a popup message said my Account was Banned. I couldn't reach Cryptic Support because my account was Banned. Shortly after I received an email from '********* Customer Support' stating I was suspected of Botting. How on earth did they come to this conclusion? I have been playing this game the same way for 14 years and even a cursory review of my Characters/Accounts would show no botting activity of any kind. I am a 60 yo man with a health issue who enjoys playing STO. As instructed in the email, I replied to that email that the suspension/banning was made in error and to reinstate my Account immediately. My response was ignored. I soon discover my other STO Accounts had also been Banned. I am demanding my Accounts be Un-Banned immediately, that Cryptic Studios apologize to me and any other victims of over zealous GMs and that the Game Masters (**) involved be held responsible. Seems the GMs take Banning Accounts without evidence too lightly and just don't care a whit about the people they are hurting. I have insisted that Cryptic perform a thorough, detailed forensic analysis of my Characters/Accounts. When it results come back clean, Terminate the *** involved. They took action against me and my Accounts based on fraudulent information, maybe even done on purpose to cause me drama.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/02/2024

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  There customer support refused to take their job seriously. They get presented with a very valid concern. Concerns about their own team violating the rules of the game. They expect us to adhere to the rules. Yet they continue to demonstrate a inability to follow the rules themselves. Several attempts have been made to get their support to correct the issue. I am even willing to record a video demonstrating their team not following the rules and conduct inappropriate behavior toward me as a player. All I get now is my ticket being listed as "solved" which is a complete lie. I wouldn't be filing support tickets if the issue was in fact solved. This is beyond poor handling of the situation. And is conduct unbecoming of a company in their field.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/01/2023

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  They expect the player to play by the rules. Yet Cryptic Studios continues to prove incapable of following the rules themselves. Their own rules mind you! How can they realistically expect the players to conform to these rules. When developer can't even do it. They need to lead by example. They have proven incapable time after time. Example: No where in the rules does it state leaving a TF is violating the rules in any way. But them doing things that are in direct violation of the rules and gameplay is fine right? Their own rules state that cheating will cause you to be banned. But that rule gets broken by them all the time. Yet they get awarded zero punishment. But you better bet they will give a leaver penalty to the player. (me) Because leaving a TF is more serious a crime than cheating! Even though their own rules state otherwise. Practice what you preach Cryptic. They have stolen $$ from me and refuse to credit it back. An item I sold on the Exchange (Star Trek Online) was sold at a much cheaper price than I authorized it for. (my selling history proves it) I spent real $$ to buy this item to sell for in game currency. I was totally willing to accept this as a bug at first. Cryptic. Not so much. Because they refuse to do anything. If it effects a player. It's a "bug". But if it effects Cryptic and they need to do something. Suddenly it's the player fault. So at this point, it isn't a bug. It's out right theft. Their own actions prove they treat select players as "black sheep" while showing favoritism to others. They deny it as usual. Despite their actions proving otherwise. They clearly are not familiar with the phrase "Actions speak louder than words." I have been told by them time after time that they have no reason to negatively effect me as a player. They have nothing as a company to gain. But the amount of times I experience otherwise. They must have a motive. So their words are nothing but lies to me. Until their actions start backing their statements up.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/01/2023

  Hello,
  
  Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your issue. Unfortunately, we were not able to identify the account you are referring to. Additionally, we could not find any support ticket about this issue based on the contact email address provided in this case. Please submit a ticket by visiting ***************************** and include as many details as possible.
  
  
  GearBox Software

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/26/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  For the entire time I have been using the auction house (AH) on Neverwinter I have had to battle with the bots and cheat software. Over most of the last year I have ran into a massive cheater. Because of the incredibly poor way I was treated shortly after starting to play the game I was apprehensive about filing a complaint. Finally on 4Dec22 I sent in an email detailing what the cheater was doing. Over the course of the last three months I have sent many replies including videos proving @almazova is using cheat software. The cheater also has more than one account which he/she uses to stalk me. I know this because sometimes the cheater waits until I change characters to undercut my listings. Of course this pales in comparison to the instant action of the cheaters software that pulls down his/her listing if I undercut them and relists under me. I sent in one video showing it was done in nine seconds. No human can do that much less even know that their listing was undercut. I have over 100 videos showing the cheater in action, most of which are too large for me to email. I put up around 20 videos in the cloud and gave access. This is a preponderance of evidence. I get the same responses over and over claiming it will be investigated and action taken. Nothing has happened. This cheater should have been permanently banned long ago. I did all the work to prove the cheating.It is not a level playing field and this is not fair gameplay. I have stopped my routine playing and am considering liquidation of my in-game assets and leaving. Actually I think this might be the reason the cheater has not been banned. The game is no longer fun at all since I spend almost all my time fighting the bots and cheaters. They are not even hard to spot so they must be being allowed to continue. Ban the massive cheater and I will give you a list of more of them. There are also a bunch of glitches I have found that I doubt have been reported. I started with the worst example of a player.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/23/2023

  Hello,
  
  We appreciate *********** enthusiasm for our game. All information provided by the player, related to their claim of cheating, has been received and reviewed. In the interest of maintaining account privacy, we are unable to provide any details regarding our investigation. We encourage the player to continue to report any instances of cheating and we will be sure to review those as well.
  
  Regards,

  *******************,

  Director of Operations, Cryptic Studios

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/29/2023

   
  Complaint: 19500022
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  It's lip service. @******** has flagrantly violated the *** and NOTHING is being done. Have sent MANY emails detailing the cheating starting on 04DEC22. It has been close to four months and @******** is still there and actually expanding his presence. The MANY emails telling me "Based on your report of possible misconduct, we will conduct a full investigation and take all appropriate action(s)." have meant nothing. The egregious behavior of this player makes these responses laughable. Also the response "Rest assured that we take these types of reports very seriously, and we appreciate your dedication to making the game a fun and fair environment for everyone." has no meaning based on the inaction I have witnessed.

  When I first started playing this game I was banned for being a bot and separately banned for using cheat software, neither of which was true. This hair-trigger approach to administering justice to suspected violations has kept me from even reporting problems with the game or players, until now. This player is over-the-top cheating and nothing is being done. The amount of evidence I have provided in video form would put a murder suspect on death row but @almazova is being allowed to thrive.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/19/2022

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  The "Lock Box" system is ****** and not fairly done. The same players are getting the rewards every time for considerably less $$ than every one else. Cryptic also post items for sale in the built in game store. That after players buy them. ******* changes the stats because "they are not working as ********** despite the fact that said item seemed to be just fine for years ****** And BEFORE the sale. ****** and ********* Also there hasn't been a day gone by where I haven't logged in and seen certain players getting special treatment in game. Even though every player is doing the same.
  Their "player support" is not very knowledgeable or down right lazy. "Can not confirm" is their favorite excuse.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/21/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/12/19) */
  Hello,
  
  Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your issue. We fully understand that you have made an official complaint about the lockbox system. Any gameplay complaints will be forwarded to the developers as feedback. They will make the final decision on content updates, gameplay fixes and official commentary about the game. This includes your specific request on lockboxes.
  
  If you have any further feedback for us, please submit a ticket. Your support is greatly appreciated.
  
  We appreciate your understanding in this matter.
  
  
  ******************
  
  
  Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/12/20) */
  (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
  And what good will that do? (assuming you do send anything to them) They proven their ********** time after time. And the favoritism continues.....First step in fixing the problem. Is admitting their is one. Which you nor them have been willing to admit. The whole "Lock Box" system is a fraud. The winners are already predetermined.
  Plus you have failed to address the other part of my complaint.
  Sorry, your response simply isn't good enough.
  
  
  Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/12/20) */
  Hello,
  
  Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your issue. As we have said before, the developers will make the final decision on these matters. If you wish to submit a suggestion, your only option involves the ticket system. The CS Dept. does not have specific information regarding lockbox chances. But you can find gameplay information from the **************** Test Server, or community fan sites.
  
  Also, please be aware that the lockbox system is chance-based. You should have expectations of winning the same common item, multiple times. You should not have expectations of winning very rare items quickly or frequently.
  
  Thank you for your understanding.
  
  
  ******************
  
  
  Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2022/12/20) */
  (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
  Be aware I should not have expectations on very rare items? I clearly can't expect the lock box's to be fairly done either. Because as this "chance-based" shows. The same players are getting the best items over and over again. And going by your response. You and your development department are committing fraud. Because it's clear your "chance-base" favor's those players. And no one else.
  As for the first part of your statement. So you are admitting the fact the developers are choosing to be unfair. Because their action are quite clear in this game on multiple levels.