Subject: Blizzard Entertainment - World of Warcraft
Greetings,
Thank you for contacting the World of Warcraft Game Master Department.
If you don't have the credit information for the gift or the account name then we ask that the player that does have that information please contact us. As was stated in the forum thread you sent us, "Aestu, I do not see these codes as being attached to your account in any way, nor do I see you previously having ordered them yourself. Were they a gift? If so, the person who gifted them to you may need to contact Billing & Account Services to see what account the codes were redeemed on."
This still continues to be the case. Note that if you bought these items in game with gold, it is likely they have been removed. Generally these codes are sold by the same players who sell gold in game and purchases of these kind are stricktly against the Terms of Service. When we find this to be the case the items are generally removed and no refund provided of in game currency.
Please note that forum access is something we allow our places but is not guaranteeed simply by having a WoW account. This is generally looked on as a priveledge. If you would like to dispute an action taken on the forums you will need to contact the forum moderators at
[email protected].
Should you require further assistance, please submit another help request the next time you are online. We hope you continue to enjoy your experience in World of Warcraft!
Regards,
Game Master Traeslin
Customer Services
Blizzard Entertainment
___________________
Dear Blizzard Entertainment,
First off, I am not in touch with the individual whom I bought the codes from, nor is it reasonable to ask that I be.
Second, the codes were legitimately purchased from Blizzard and gifted to me. They are marketed on the site as a gift which by definition means a transfer of value. Those codes were merchandise and Blizzard has absolutely no right to arbitrarily renege on services paid for with cash, without compensation. If Blizzard feels some element of the transaction was unsatisfactory then they are free to refund the cash value to the recipient of the codes and access to service they represent - me.
Quoted directly from the Blizzard Store FAQ:
"Can I designate an item as a gift?
You can only designate digital downloads as gifts. Doing so will send a transferable authentication key to the email address of your choice. For other products that you wish to gift to someone, simply add their address to your Address Book and send the order there."
Third, Blizzard is putting burden of proof of fair dealing on the recipient of a gift. This is a completely unreasonable stance at odds with typical practice and common sense. If Blizzard feels fraud took place that is for them to prove. A business has no right to renege on paid services on a totally arbitrary basis after the product has been paid for. By this logic, retailers would be within their rights to invade homes without warrant or lien and seize property they claim to be "stolen" then demand the victim provide proof they paid for the things.
Fourth, the claim that "sales of codes in-game" is against the Terms of Service is a lie. The ToS (
http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/legal/wow_tou.html) says absolutely nothing about transfer of property WITHIN the game. In fact there is a thread here on the official forums which has been a going concern dedicated to such transactions (
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/1670095935). Blizzard sells the codes packaged such that they are transferrable. How can Blizzard sell a product contrary to their own ToS?
Fifth, the fact that access to the forums is not a guaranteed part of service is irrelevant.
“This [forum access] is generally looked on as a priveledge”.
Taking retaliation against a legitimate creditor is illegal.
If businesses were permitted to arbitrarily renege on providing services for payment it would not be possible to honor contracts. Blizzard's stance in this regard is a clear violation of good faith as well as intellectual property law.
Sixth, Blizzard claims that “the codes may have been removed”. Yet the claim was (and ostensibly still is) being made that the codes were never on the account in the first place although that is clearly not true either. So which is it? Were they removed or were they never present in the first place?
Again, I expect the paid service will be restored, or the value of the property made good, and my forum access which was removed as retaliation will be restored.
Sincerely,
Ethan
