Ahhh, I was wondering when Rockstar would take a turn for the worse.
In what might be one of the most spectacularly shitty moves a company has made (remember, this is the industry with EA, Activision, and Ubisoft), Rockstar has essentially told its customer service personnel to hang up on callers or place them on indefinite hold- an issue, when people are getting their Rockstar accounts hacked, and their ability to play the game compromised.
Our most recent investigative consumer report set forth a goal to evaluate Rockstar Games' customer service phone and email support. The company has been under fire lately resultant of hacked GTA V social accounts, whereupon users have lost access to their GTA accounts (a $60 purchase) – and their ability to play the game – and have been placed on indefinite hold for a resolution. In the case of one reader who reached-out to us, we were informed that Rockstar customer support “hung up” on the reader, an action that we viewed as inexcusable if true.
After taking days to officially comment, Rockstar told Kotaku in a statement that its service had not been compromised. The company indicated that hacked accounts may have been exposed through lists previously obtained elsewhere; if some other site were hacked and the same account information had been used, that'd be the source of it, Rockstar said. Rockstar then urged its users to change passwords regardless.
Most instances of account theft begin with an email: “The email address for your account has been updated,” it reads, noting that emails will now be sent to the new address instead. Rockstar seeks no confirmation to initialize an email or account holder information update, allowing hackers to effortlessly obtain indefinite access to compromised accounts. Further, we've encountered what we believe to be session bugs; that is, it would appear that sessions remain active after account detail updates, making it difficult to truly evict a hacker. Some Rockstar user reports even indicate that hackers get involved in the support tickets, making claims of account sale or similar actions.
Speaking with a few of our readers, it was determined that some users have been waiting for account resolution for several days, with their Social logins hacked near the game's launch. Thousands of Google results are returned for “Rockstar account hacked” or “GTA V account hacked,” with dozens of first-page thread replies highlighting long wait times and uncertain courses of action. Following the immediate opening of support tickets, further correspondence proved limited to the rare email or, after begging on forums, a moderator's reply promising case escalation.
This leaves the phone line for support. Unfortunately, as we eventually learned, it is a path that unfailingly leads to the prompt and abrupt disconnection of the call. Most of us would call it “being hung up on.”
In calls made by GN staff to the Rockstar support team using real ticket identifiers for real hacked accounts, we ran the gamut through which any consumer would be forced. Listen to the above video for the full effect, but we'll recap it here.
On our first call, we provided the support ticket ID and only spoke when prompted with questions from Rockstar's somewhat incoherent staff member. After the account information was accessed, the representative stated what would become a familiar line:
“Your case has been logged for further review. Our understanding is that there is no further help that we can provide at this time and we will now end this call.”
I'd interrupted the representative, rapidly interjecting with a jumbled “wait, hang-on. Hang on. Don't hang up on me. Could you repeat --” and he was gone.
Call two: For parity and a sanity-check, because this may just have been one bad agent, I'd decided to emulate my approach. I read the ticket ID and only spoke when necessary, not taking my usual disarm-them-with-conversation approach employed elsewhere.
The same thing, though with less confidence: “Your case has been logged,” the agent stammered as I stifled a stressed laugh, “we will now end this call.” I interrupted him, attempting to ask something, and settled with “so you're going to hang up on me, too?”
Click. Gone.
Rockstar's customer service policy is to disconnect calls in any form that we explored, and as we eventually found out, it appears that this phone service exists purely as an “escalator:” Calls get pushed to email-only departments via “escalation,” then presumably resolved off the phone. Any request to speak with a supervisor is met with quick, unstoppable disconnects.
At one point, I called without the consumer guise and ticket IDs, explaining my editorial intentions. I asked to be connected with PR or a supervisor, to which the agent replied that she had to check. I was put on hold as she, quite obviously, checked with a supervisor. She told me that agents can't transfer calls to other agents and disconnected the call.
Ignoring Rockstar's unwillingness to act with haste on these urgent matters, the treatment of customers through direct communication channels – channels put in place by Rockstar – is inexcusable and insulting. Even EA Games, one of the most provocative names mentionable in the industry, is able to retrieve stolen accounts on a moment's notice using its Origin call center; I'd know, as I've had to retrieve stolen press and personal accounts using the phone systems. It took minutes and I was never once hung-up on.
The entire article may be read here on GamersNexus.
This is shockingly shitty and contemptuously insulting of the customer. I expected better from you, Rockstar.
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