Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/21/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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.

  I play at Dynasty Owner which is an online gaming fantasy sports site. One of my league mates is also an employee and he has taken things I've said personally and has used his position to disadvantage me. This year in Jan. the day I won a championship in a league with the owner *** ****** who also plays in the league and this person **** ******* my chat feature was disabled without notice, cause or explanation. I had been chatting via the app with the owner at the ***e this happened. The owner did not reply as to why this happened. A few days later my account was hacked and my team name changed to "Coward." The Head of Compliance sent me a trade offer so I'm sure it was him. I sent a screen shot of this trade offer with my team name change to the owner and he didn't reply but it was changed back but I still don't have access to the chat feature. The chat feature allows me to interact with other league members to play the game and so I'm being severely handicapped in the game but not having access to the account - not only unfairly by employees, but also by 2 opponents because **** and *** both play in this league with me for real money.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/03/2023

  [BBB transcription via email, see attachments]

   

  From: ****** **** ******************
  Date: Fri, Feb 3, 2023 at 3:42 PM
  Subject: Re: Subject: Update regarding Complaint ********
  To: ****** ****** **********************
  

  
  
  

  Hi ******;

  
  

  There are a few attachments so please let me know if you received this.
  

  
  

  My chat feature was disabled at Dynasty Owner, the online gaming company located in ****, without valid cause or any previous warning on the day I won a championship in a league with my opponent, who is also the Head of Compliance, **** *******. A few days later my team name was changed to "******* ***** ******* ********" when I was online and I kept changing it back to my team name and it kept flipping back to "******* ***** ******* ********" so it was obvious someone was actively hacking my account which frightened me because I have a significant investment of 24 teams that I've built up and improved upon for years which I value at over $20,000. During this ***e my account was being hacked my team name was changed again - this ***e to "coward" - when **** offered me a trade from his team account. This was another example in a pattern of immature and unprofessional behavior where **** had crossed the line and abused his position of power.

  
  

  The chat feature is an essential feature to play the game and, as one my lawyers stated, removing it is "tantamount to theft and fraud" especially considering the owner *** ****** and the Head of Compliance **** ******* are also my opponents in a league where we compete for real money.

  
  

  In November of this year I had a conversation with **** which was so unusual and distressing I took a screenshot of it. In a reply to a business opinion of mine he stated "To be frank, I do take your criticism personally on behalf of myself and the team here. I apologize, but if I were to be completely honest, it's a little more than that, and if I had to pick 1 word, it would be insulted.

  
  

  To be fair, I've gone out of my way to share with you things in the past to always try and prove to you how we operate. Against better judgment, I've shared with you more than I would a regular customer on multiple occasions in private chats."

   

  
  

  I think Dynasty Owner is worried I will talk about these issues if my chat feature is restored but my only goal is to have full access to my account so I can play the game like everyone else. I'm willing to wipe the slate clean and I don't take **** or ***'s lack of professionalism personally. They are a relatively new fantasy gaming site and this should be an opportunity for growth as they work through some issues and teach their employees how to be competent professionals. 

  
  

  I contacted a well respected person in the industry who manages a Dynasty Football forum about this and he replied:

  
  

  "That is most certainly unfortunate and, if it was the head of compliance that did this and he, in fact, changed your profile name, then he should most certainly lose his job because of it. Especially given his title. I'm normally very forgiving and always try to provide the benefit of the doubt but in some cases, a persons behaviors go over the line and something needs to be done."
  

  
  

  I've played at Dynasty Owner for 3 years and I have 24 teams each with 11 other league members so I'm not suggesting every conversation I've ever had has been positive and uplifting. I'm not perfect. But in 3 years I've never been contacted by Dynasty with any kind of warning suggesting my chat feature was in any danger of being removed. For context I once had my entire family threatened by a league member who claimed to work for Homeland Security and the consequence for this was that he apologized to the league in the group chat.

  
  

  I will certainly apologize in any league where I may have offended anyone if this was the actual cause of my chat feature being removed. I'm on the autistic spectrum so some***es I will argue a point and not realize the emotions other people attach to these issues. Going forward if and when my chat feature is restored I will concentrate primarily on using it to play the game and not argue with anyone about anything. 

  
  

  I emailed the owner and CEO *** ****** to explain my need for structure and clear communication and ****'s lack of adherence to professional standards that was so distressing to me on Nov. 17th:

  
  

  "Hi ***;

  
  

  One of your support staff, **** *********, has treated me very unfairly and has been repeatedly very unprofessional in our interactions.

  
  

  While I don't expect any special treatment because I'm on the autistic spectrum I do expect to be treated fairly, and with respect...."

  
  

  To his credit a few days before Thanksgiving *** set up a **** call with **** and myself and I was able to express my need for clear consistency and communication about the rules. I gave many examples of ****'s lack of professionalism and complete disregard for the Constitution which is the foundation for how online games are governed on fantasy gaming sites. **** as Head of Compliance had contacted me dozens of ***es with personal and insulting messages, hadn't answered direct questions about the rules and hadn't communicated any infractions or given me any clear expectations. For example, when I asked what rule I broke, if any, and what he expected of me specifically going forward he ignored my question and stated, "I just want you to play with integrity but I don't have all day to explain to you what integrity is." When the Head of Compliance ignores the rules and bases his decisions on his personal biases this creates a chaotic and arbitrary environment which runs counter to online gaming laws which require games to be conducted honestly and fairly.

  
  

  At the end of the meeting I asked if there were any issues that were concerning either of them. Nothing was mentioned. I specifically asked **** and he said no. 

  
  

  I would like to wipe the slate clean and my sole reason for wanting access to the chat feature is to play the game which requires being able to see what other league members are offering in trades and being able to negotiate trades myself.

  
  

  Yesterday I contacted Dynasty Owner support and asked them to restore my chat feature and assured them any interactions on their site would be positive and respectful.  My reason for contacting them was to clarify this was not a software issue affecting my account since there had been no explanation provided for this feature being disabled.

  
  

  **** replied "It will not be restored, thanks for reaching out"

  
  

  To have my chat feature removed without warning or explanation after I had a **** call with the owner and CEO 

  
  

  I've included the letter one of my lawyers wrote, a screenshot of the conversation with **** in which he said he took things personal and admitted he was unprofessional and a screen shot of when my team name was changed to "Coward"

  
  

  When a customer's account is handicapped that decision should not be made by one or more of his opponents in a league and both **** and *** have a conflict of interest because they are my opponents which runs counter to online gaming laws which require customers to be treated fairly. Dynasty Owner should be cognizant of this issue. In addition **** ******* has a long history of personal attacks and has demonstrated astoundingly unprofessional behavior which should also disqualify him from making these types of decisions.

  
  

  Thank you for your attention to this matter,

  
  

  ****** ****

  
  

   

  Business Response

  Date: 02/15/2023

  [BBB transcription via email]

   

  We received your letter yesterday (2/15/23) regarding complaint # ******* from ****** ****. We received a letter from ****** ****'s attorney on February 6, 2023, and have been in progress with our response. 

   

  I can confirm that ****** **** did lose access to our chat feature. We have received complaints from other customers on our platform regarding ****** ****'s behavior. ****** **** did lose access for violating our conduct and chat feature policy on multiple occasions due to spamming, vulgar and sexually obscene language, and consistently negative conversations. (see attached) 

   

  However, We will be regranting ****** ****'s access to our chat feature on a probationary period. I emailed ****** **** today to discuss the policy and the violations, and once ****** **** has agreed to the probationary period, I will restore access to the chat feature. 

   

  I also want to clear up multiple inaccuracies in ****** ****'s complaint. 

  • **** ******* is our "Customer Service Director" and not "Head of Compliance."
  • I am the "CEO" and "Project Manager," and I am not the "Owner" of Dynasty Owner. 
  • We are not worried about him using chat to talk about his inaccuracies and opinion of the platform but ****** ****'s vulgar and sexually obscene language and spamming users on the forum.

   

  Thanks for your consideration; please let me know if you have any questions. 

   

  Kind regards,

  *** ******

  Dynasty Owner