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ECA President Blames Exploiters For Cancellation Concerns
The Science of Defrauding MMOs
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PuffyTail
12/02/09

In reply to ECA President Blames Exploiters For Cancellation Concerns
I thought about joining at one time for that 10% discount. Now I'm glad I didn't!
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Izod517
12/02/09

In reply to ECA President Blames Exploiters For Cancellation Concerns
Delete.
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Edited by Izod517 at 12/02/09 7:16 PM Izod517 was starred Izod517 was unstarred

Erode
12/02/09

In reply to ECA President Blames Exploiters For Cancellation Concerns
I've never really heard of this group until today, but based of their mess of a response to this whole kerfuffle, I wouldn't trust them for a second.

For one (and this is a point that shouldn't really be taken seriously) that guy in the picture looks like a jerk.

For another thing, you do not EVER blame the consumer for your own bullshit. If you do not have cold, hard, indisputable proof that the naysayers are the exploiters, then you assume that they are not, and make concessions to appease them. Otherwise, you run the risk of calling loyal, but pissed off, customers crooks, which doesn't win you points in the long run.

This organization sounds really, really sketchy.
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SaanZ
12/02/09

@Erode: They're on alot of college campuses and pretty massive.

The fact that they had a deal for 10% off all game purchases with Amazon should give them some legitamacy for the public.

They arent an actual business, they are a consumer advocacy group, calling them out on blaming the consumer is like calling out the AARP for blaming retired people.
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Erode
12/02/09

@SaanZ: But, don't they charge people for joining? If so, then that would make the consumers they are protecting.....consumers of their product, yes? Their product being whatever the hell it is this company does/offers. Their consumers have let them know they are unhappy with certain aspects of their product and, instead of trying to address the problems, they call their consumers "exploiters" and skirt the issue.

I don't really care how big they are, their response to this issue, and some of their policies highlighted in this article, the previous one and the comments, only serve to enhance their sketchiness, in my opinion.
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SaanZ
12/02/09

@Erode: They charge but so do many similar groups, subcriptions are how the get funding but its supposed to be a show of support. The discount is an incentive to join, and a good one, but you were never actually paying for it despite the reason you subscribed.
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Erode
12/02/09

@SaanZ: Ah, I see. I went to their website and understand a bit better now. I still don't think they are handling this situation very well, but they don't seem as nefarious now.

@Vonhert: While I do love the old standby of insulting someone when you have nothing relevant to offer, maybe next time you could just skip the discussion all together and save us all a bit of time.
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SaanZ
12/02/09

@Erode: They are handling fairly poorly, it was likely fear of litgation from Amazon, but Amazon seemed to have been fairly cool about it given the circustances.

They are being pretty jerky speaking as someone who signed on for free purely for the discount... though 10% of Hyatt Hotels still stands...

I am glad their is a backlash just because 10% off Amazon's already usually discounted prices AND no sales tax makes for much cheaper game purchases.
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Izod517
12/02/09

In reply to ECA President Blames Exploiters For Cancellation Concerns
They don't issue any refunds so I don't see how it's helping them to prevent people from joining just for the discounts, especially when said discounts were advertised so heavily. It's a horribly weak statement at best and doesn't address the issue in the least. He simply explains why there is no longer an Amazon discount and that's it (which was advertised until about one month ago, well after the discounts had ceased). There's no reason why people shouldn't be able to cancel an account via email let alone cancel auto-renewal. It's amazing that a consumer advocacy group would be so hellbent on making things hard for... consumers. Turning your consumer base against you because you are looking to make a few extra billings out of overly difficult to cancel auto-renewals Sadly I wish this [kotaku.com] applied here, but it's specific to online games. No reason any service that allows you to signup online should not allow you to cancel online - it is, in fact, a deceptive business practice.
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Edited by Izod517 at 12/02/09 5:28 PM Izod517 was starred Izod517 was unstarred

Tacticalspoon
12/02/09

@Izod517: I agree with you 100%. If these guys don't want to have people exploit their member benefits, then maybe they shouldn't have any. I thought they were an advocacy group, not a discount club. We know that it really comes down to the fact that these guys just aren't very relevant to anything, and they are trying to protect their paychecks.
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Shinta
12/02/09

@Izod517: I was just thinking about that story after reading this.
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RockyRan
12/02/09

In reply to ECA President Blames Exploiters For Cancellation Concerns
I have the feeling people aren't going to be all too pleased by his reasoning. Why? Because of Fahey's statement that he thinks that everyone who complains is automatically labeled an exploiter, and the fact that they originally tried to cover the whole thing up with "keeping up with cancellations is SO VERY DIFFICULT. Please make it easier on us by sending it through mail...if that made any sense".
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MrBounce
12/02/09

In reply to ECA President Blames Exploiters For Cancellation Concerns
The ECA isn't accredited with the BBB. I'm not sure why but I find that amusing considering what they're supposed to stand for.
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Foxstar is in love with Kotaku's two Brians.
12/02/09

In reply to ECA President Blames Exploiters For Cancellation Concerns
Fat Wallet strikes again. And CaGers aren't smelling like roses themselves.
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Izod517
12/02/09

@Foxstar is in love with Kotaku's two Brians.: Lumping the many in with the few is poor judgement and ignorant. If you knew anything at all about CAG you would know 95% of the members were vehemently against the stacking practices of some members. Stacking was also not widely discussed or supported. THAT, however, is neither here nor there seeing that the real issue at hand was not truly addressed and only spun, laying the blame of ECA's practices at the feet of a long resolved issue. It's poor 'business' practice for any consumer advocacy group to make things difficult for... consumers.
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