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My PSN account was permanently banned for no apparent reason (100+ Games/DLC lost)
- Thread starter Tevious
- Start date
A Black Falcon
Member
But they have solved the problem of ownership! Haven't you heard, you don't own anything anymore. It's just a long-term lease, which the company can revoke at any time for any reason. Don't worry and just give up on the concept of ownership forever! That's the digital future.
test_account
XP-39C²
I dont think they can revoke it for no reason, unless they want to break the law. You're right about the lease thing though, but that applies to physical copies as well. You dont really own the content, otherwise you would also have owned the copyright etc., so technically you're just leasing that content as well. The difference here is that the physical media (for the most part) doesnt have any online check on it, so it will work anywhere and no one can cancel that lease.
It is completely unacceptable to me that you can't cancel a digital pre-order here in the US. The fact that they have an option for it in the EU (because they legally have to) shows that they don't allow for pre-order cancellations here because they choose not to, not because they can't. It is extremely anti-consumer and another reason I am going back to physical media. Consumers have absolutely zero rights when it comes to digital goods in the US, and it's disgusting.
Tevious
Member
I'm certainly fortunate to have a GAF account. I wonder if I had posted this in the PlayStation community forums if anyone at Sony would have even noticed.
Also, I hope harrypmgaga can get his purchases back from Steam.
ethomaz
Banned
Thanks everything ended well to the OP.
I will never use PayPal again on PSN.
I will never use PayPal again on PSN.
To be fair every time I posted in the PlayStation community I got a fast response from some Sony guy but if course I never had your issues.
They did what should have been done, nothing more. This shouldnt have even happened in the first place, remember that.
TrafalgarLaw
Banned
Fixed that for you. These stories always happen with PayPal. While with charging back on credit cards will net you the same result, you can get unbanned much easier. Paypal does not communicate about undoing charges very well.
MomoPufflet
Member
This is good news, but I hope steps are being taken to ensure that this can't happen to other people.
BananasWithGuns
Member
Glad everything worked out for you Tevious. Also seems like Sony will end up making some changes in how they deal with these situations so hopefully this kind of stuff won't happen again in the future.
TrafalgarLaw
Banned
It happens on pretty much any platform, Valve's, Sony's, Microsoft's...never charge back on account with valuable games on it. You just don't hear it a lot since it's on the fringe of attention.
Tevious
Member
I don't post there, so that's what I mean by "I wonder if". I'm not implying that they wouldn't have; just speculating. I'm curious what other avenues people could take if this happens to them and they don't have a GAF account. As someone mentioned before, I got the "secret handshake" solution by posting here because there are people who frequent here with connections.
BumblebeeCody
Member
Glad to see it worked out for you, dude. 
I doubt it my friend. The most you would have got would have been a moderator telling you to call support...(again).
I've had £80 stolen from my PSN wallet 3 weeks ago now, with Sony refusing to refund despite saying the purchase didn't come from my console and taking action against that console. Nowhere near as horrendous as your story, but still sucks. Trying to get ANY kind of response from them other than reading the T&S is proving near impossible.
Posted it on the official forums, but nothing done about it. GAF definitely more useful that the official forums, glad I have an account here now. Should have joined a long time ago.
Pegasus Actual
Member
Well in that case you must be preparing to retire from core gaming in a few years when it's all digital licenses over 5 dollars. Call me crazy but I'd rather push for common sense consumer protections that don't allow such licenses to be terminated at any time for any reason.
Commanche Raisin Toast
Member
Thanks Bamelin for getting on the bat phone for us.
Hopefully Sony takes all of this very seriously and understand that they are severely lacking in the CS aspect.
Hopefully Sony takes all of this very seriously and understand that they are severely lacking in the CS aspect.
CraigerGamer
Member
You get paid to cruise GAF? Sign me up!
In all seriousness, its great knowing gaming at its best is still a community. Not only glad to see this issue resolved for the OP but it will help Sony continue to improve its customer relations. Next step, if only we could get a PayPal MVP on here....maybe they are hiring...
RedAssedApe
Banned
::starts MVP chant::
darkjedi187
Member
Excellent news. So glad it all worked out.
BlackLagoon
Member
Would you even have been able to log in and post in the PS forums if your PSN account was banned?
Tevious
Member
Good point, lol. I guess not with that account anyway. I would have had to use another account.
I very well might. Hobbies for me are very elastic.
Plus I already have a coffee table full of $20 last gen backlog sitting right here. By the time next gen gets here I'll probably be even further behind and can wait for those cheap sales.
That said I don't see Sony going digital only anytime soon unless their customer base and target changes drastically in the next 5-10 years. Their EU and East Asian focus means they're still looking toward places with very spotty internet access, and only physical would work.
Dash Kappei
Not actually that important
my situation is a little different from yours. i wasn't sure to make a new thread or not but after the hassle of getting in touch with the Senior Supervisor, named Matthew employee id 785665, he gave me this address to write to:
scea
attn: consumer affair
po box 5888
san mateo, ca 94402-0888
i wasn't given the phone number to consumer services like you and now i am left nowhere. Any help would greatly appreciated because as of now i basically lost all my purchases too plus my psn plus membership still active.
scea
attn: consumer affair
po box 5888
san mateo, ca 94402-0888
i wasn't given the phone number to consumer services like you and now i am left nowhere. Any help would greatly appreciated because as of now i basically lost all my purchases too plus my psn plus membership still active.
Yeah don't use paypal for anything. That service is garbage. Its too easy to get scammed.
Also don't share your password with a family member(like a nephew or something) because they always share with others. I would recommend going in and resetting the ps3s/ps4s/vitas on your account and changing your pw.
Also don't share your password with a family member(like a nephew or something) because they always share with others. I would recommend going in and resetting the ps3s/ps4s/vitas on your account and changing your pw.
yes this is what i believe has definitely happened here. Even though i asked many people i know but i think one of friends or relatives shared my account. The customer representative, named "Giovanni," i first chatted online with told me that my account was only suspended and to recover it i need to just call. Once i make call and wait patiently, they send me to a website np.us.playstation.com to file the report there and it never worked. So i called again and then i was told to try later since i am EST. After numerous amount of retries, it never worked. So i called again to report, and then after that i was told they would look into forwarding this notice for me so i was put on hold for longer than 10 minutes but my cell phone unfortunately died so i had to call back and wait another half hour or so. Luckily the woman, "Christine," was so kind to forward me to the same representative i was speaking with but then i suddenly get the news that my account is banned. So i am just like..."what?" and all they kept repeating to me was that i can't get it back. I went through all the trouble they put me through and telling me that i am able to get my account back, but now not anymore? So then i spoke to a supervisor that didn't help at all, was also rude to say the least,and then the senior supervisor i mentioned earlier seemed rather elderly but very nice and he was also surprised at how the customer representatives would even pass this, knowing that my account was breached. He asked me if i ever received notice of my suspension by email, which i never did but i mentioned to him that i still receive my psn plus offers and the last representatives phone survey to fill out. So this was the only information i was able to gather that basically "due to customer request, the account was banned" How logical can that be of me banning myself? This infuriates me in how easy psn accounts can be compromised by anyone still to this day, even through their own team of customer representatives "by phone." This is extremely disappointing.
Neuromancer
Member
ShinoBboy, do me a favor and send me a PM with your PSN ID and also a brief summary of what happened. I'll forward it to my contacts at the MVP Program and maybe they can sort it out for you.
extremepabs
Member
Sorry to post in an old thread but i think the same thing has happened to me
Tevious
Member
If you haven't yet, call PSN Customer Service. They're going to want you to pay off your negative balance with a PSN store code before they unban your account. If they won't cooperate with you, you can try calling their Consumer Service number at 866-286-5123 (US). And at that point, it's probably better to start a new thread detailing your situation. Some things may have changed in the last 4 years.Sorry to post in an old thread but i think the same thing has happened to me
Anyway, the safest way to avoid these kinds of problems is to just use store cards/codes to add funds to your wallet. Reversing charges can only happen with a 3rd party involved, like PayPal or a credit/debit card. Sometimes their anti-fraud algorithms can mistake actual purchases for fraudulent ones. If for whatever reason you can't inform them in time that the purchase was actually yours, they will act on your behalf and reverse the charge, which nets you a banned account.
Edit: I updated the OP so people are aware of the date this thread was posted and that it was recently bumped.
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techblogger911
Neo Member
I just read the entire thread and it was such really messed up, I did not know that Paypal would cause a lot of damage. Be careful guys!
EDIT:Glad that OP got his account back. Thanks for the followups.
EDIT:Glad that OP got his account back. Thanks for the followups.
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Well, really sad that we still need threads like these. The companies must really get much more consumer friendly. If they detected an anomaly they should just prevent someone from buying new stuff, but not bann the whole account before they haven't evaluated the whole thing. This is what they should do:
1. disable the mechanism to buy something and maybe some social features
2. get in contact with the customer and inform him that they disabled something and must first check the data they have
3. Check if there was really an anomaly
4. Get in contact with the customer again to discuss further steps or to apologize for the incident.
But what they do now is:
1. ban the customer
2. if someone is "crying" keep him occupied with phone-calls
that is not how customer service should work. Customer should be king after all.
1. disable the mechanism to buy something and maybe some social features
2. get in contact with the customer and inform him that they disabled something and must first check the data they have
3. Check if there was really an anomaly
4. Get in contact with the customer again to discuss further steps or to apologize for the incident.
But what they do now is:
1. ban the customer
2. if someone is "crying" keep him occupied with phone-calls
that is not how customer service should work. Customer should be king after all.
extremepabs
Member
Yes totally agree and it takes ages getting passed from one department to another
Neo_GAF
Banned
It is great, that OP got his account back, and i also hope that you get your account back.
thanks to the MODS to leave this thread open.
SONY/MS/NINTENDO need to become more consumer-friendly, it is unbelievable how shitty they treat their customers.
why is itunes/steam working better in such regards?
Hendrick's
If only my penis was as big as my GamerScore!
Well MS is allowing returns now of digital purchases, so good on them.
Shifty
Member
I never lost my account, I've just tended to lean toward PayPal for my PSN purchases because I figured it was safer than giving Sony direct access to my bank card. Now no payment method is safe!
Memorabilia
Member
Absolutely inexcusably bad "customer service". Sony's Dogshit customer service is the primary reason (along with equally bad net security) I shifted all of my digital purchases to Steam/XBL and only purchase Sony games physically since about mid-2014. I was full on board the PS4 train at launch (and borderline anti-Xbox after their disastrous Xbone launch), but Sonys "we don't give a single fuck about customer service/account security" attitude became apparent right away and it has only marginally improved since. Hopefully you get your account straightened out as per the OP. But, on a side note, this is exactly the kind of bullshit that makes many people - myself included - wary of the supposed "all digital future. We have no control over games we own and companies like Sony are mainly interested in making the initial sale but MIA when it comes to post-sale support.
Snoopycat
Banned
Come on now Sony added 2 step years after everyone else. Their customer service is fuckin terrible and they deserve all the criticism they get. I remember the time I bought some nonsense called 7 Days To Die. It was totally broken and when I call up Sony they act like they doing me some big favour by giving me a 1 time refund. The way they treat their customers is a total joke man.
Spukc
always chasing the next thrill
Word
Tevious
Member
Maybe a mod should lock this thread and extremepabs can start his/her own thread. Some people still seem to have not caught on that this thread was bumped. My issue was resolved about 4 years ago. extremepabs hasn't given details as to his/her problem, so there's nothing new to actually discuss.
I'm the OP of this thread and I still don't have the reason why my account was banned the second time. It initially was banned because of Paypal reversing charges and locking me out of my Paypal account, but I paid Sony back with PSN store cards when I called customer service and they unbanned my account. Then about a week after that they banned me again and refused to say why when I called. I did nothing wrong and my negative balance was already paid off. I'd say that was for no reason. I only got it back with the help of some GAF members that had connections to a Sony guy. My situation was getting a lot of attention and it was pretty bad PR for Sony at the time.
I'm the OP of this thread and I still don't have the reason why my account was banned the second time. It initially was banned because of Paypal reversing charges and locking me out of my Paypal account, but I paid Sony back with PSN store cards when I called customer service and they unbanned my account. Then about a week after that they banned me again and refused to say why when I called. I did nothing wrong and my negative balance was already paid off. I'd say that was for no reason. I only got it back with the help of some GAF members that had connections to a Sony guy. My situation was getting a lot of attention and it was pretty bad PR for Sony at the time.
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