[Rmiller]

Sorry to bother you all with this (And to be honest, I'm not even sure this is the right area to be posting this in, but since it's not a tech issue... here goes~)~

A little Backstory:

I was living in England and paying for my account in $(USD), then 2 years ago I moved from the UK and now live in the states. Since I was now living in the states, I had to get an American bank account and then transfer payment details over...
Easy enough right?
So I update my payment info and then the following month I get a bank statement saying I'd been charged $30 for one month (this is for one account, no mules.).
I re-checked my bank statement and it says I was charged in Euros instead of dollars which after conversion and some bad math brings the total up to around $30.
(SE tried to force all EU players into paying with euros a while ago, even if it's not native currency to the player. Switching payment information would automatically start the fees to be payed in euros.)
After calling them and also going on live chat, I have been told by representatives that I cannot change my payment into dollars, so if I want to continue using FFXI, I must pay nearly twice as much :/
Supposedly SE is 'aware' of this issue, but does nothing to change it? I find the whole thing very odd

Out of curiosity, has anyone else had this kind of problem?

Thanks for your time~~

-Rin

[rambus]

Rmiller, on 11 November 2009 - 07:52 PM, said:

Sorry to bother you all with this (And to be honest, I'm not even sure this is the right area to be posting this in, but since it's not a tech issue... here goes~)~

A little Backstory:

I was living in England and paying for my account in $(USD), then 2 years ago I moved from the UK and now live in the states. Since I was now living in the states, I had to get an American bank account and then transfer payment details over...
Easy enough right?
So I update my payment info and then the following month I get a bank statement saying I'd been charged $30 for one month (this is for one account, no mules.).
I re-checked my bank statement and it says I was charged in Euros instead of dollars which after conversion and some bad math brings the total up to around $30.
(SE tried to force all EU players into paying with euros a while ago, even if it's not native currency to the player. Switching payment information would automatically start the fees to be payed in euros.)
After calling them and also going on live chat, I have been told by representatives that I cannot change my payment into dollars, so if I want to continue using FFXI, I must pay nearly twice as much :/
Supposedly SE is 'aware' of this issue, but does nothing to change it? I find the whole thing very odd

Out of curiosity, has anyone else had this kind of problem?

Thanks for your time~~

-Rin

Yes I bought it up before, however i find it strange that you paid in USD before.

from what i seen if you have an EU PoL you have to pay in euros unless you had some sort of bank/ credit card ( i do not think you actually have to live in England) that was based in the UK to pay in pounds.

the reason why it is so much in euros is because the SE's conversion to euros sucks, it would be cheaper to pay in pounds and convert it to USD * ill find my thread whn i bought it up*

[Rmiller]

That's the problem Rambus: I can only pay in Euro, I don't even have my old UK bank account, it was costing me too much on a withdrawal over here so I just stopped using it.

Eons ago, you could pay in dollars and that's what I chose, since the conversion rate was great at the time, I was saving money per month... I'm just really pissed off that SE made it mandatory later on that EU people should pay in Euros.
I'm not sure if people in England can still pay in pounds or if they are charged in euros now too, since I never looked into it when I was living in the UK. Though when I changed to a USA bank acct, instead of keeping my payments in Dollars, I'm now charged in euros.. how backwards lol


*Edited* My terrible terrible spelling~

[rambus]

Rmiller, on 11 November 2009 - 08:58 PM, said:

That's the problem Rambus: I can only pay in Euro, I don't even have my old UK bank account, it was costing me too much on a withdrawal over here so I just stopped using it.

Eons ago, you could pay in dollars and that's what I chose, since the conversion rate was great at the time, I was saving money per month... I'm just really pissed off that SE made it mandatory later on that EU people should pay in Euros.
I'm not sure if people in England can still pay in pounds or if they are charged in euros now too, since I never looked into it when I was living in the UK. Though when I changed to a USA bank acct, instead of keeping my payments in Dollars, I'm now charged in euros.. how backwards lol


*Edited* My terrible terrible spelling~

its pounds, and its not so much the issue with the conversions that make the prices different, it is how SE prices them

I can not find the thread but I did adress the cost of world transfer , the new expand, and the tokens and how yen, USD, pounds, and eruos compared.

cheap > most for world transfer:
USD
Yen
Pounds
Euros

SE here actally had a real convern here since all prices where "different"
the currencies had smaller gaps for this then other things.

for the other stuff SE makes USD= eros so with expands and monthy fees it goes something like:

Yen
USD
Pounds
Euros

at the time when i did the conversion you had to pay like 30% more yen then you would in yen if you compared yen to euros.

example

Quote

Content ID Monthly Service Fees

A Content ID is required to play FINAL FANTASY XI.
You can purchase a Content ID through either of the following methods.

- Select “Purchase/Acquire Content ID” from “Membership” under “Service & Support” on the
PlayOnline Viewer.
- Select “Purchase ID” under “Content ID” on the PlayOnline Viewer’s FINAL FANTASY XI top page.

PlayOnline PlayOnline Free
FINAL FANTASY XI
(Windows, Xbox 360) FINAL FANTASY XI service fee €12.95/￡8.99/$12.95 per month
Additional Content ID €1.00/￡0.70/$1.00 per month
Tetra Master
(Windows) Tetra Master service fee €1.00/￡0.70/$1.00 per month
PlayOnline Plus
(Windows, Xbox 360) Character name address €3.00/￡2.00/$3.00 per month
Mail forwarding €1.00/￡0.70/$1.00 per month
Mail filter Free

I do not remember what it was in yen or remember how to find it but i think it is 1300

1 euro = 1.4986 usd
1 pound = 1.6581usd
1 dollar= 89.8311 yen
1 Euro= 134.6209 yen
1 pound=148.948 yen

12.95 usd cost 1163 yen (ok maybe the post was old when i did it, guess usd is cheapest now)
12.95 Euro = 1743
this is a 49.87% increased cost in Euros from USD

8.99 times 148.948 = 1339.04 yen
this is only a 15% increase, this is why i complained to SE before about having to pay in euros, The fees SE changes in Euros is way to high. i understand the currency market does change and it be off time to time but having a 50% hike one over the other is ridiculous. ( Euros also have a +30% hike over pounds)

because you pay in Euros and not USD you need to pay +50% more then you should + the CC gives for the convert fee. to put it simply why this happens:
SE makes USD = EURO and that is so fucking stupid. ( good for them i guess when people overpay in euros and don't know it)
SE did not do that for world transfer i think it was 25 USD, 21 pounds and 23 Euros ( something like this)

[Rmiller]

Thanks for the reply Rambus, it's really stupid that SE would do this >_<;

I'm wondering if there's anyone in the same boat that managed to get them to convert it back to USD payment? (It's a longshot, but hey)

The last rep I spoke to said that SE is aware that there is overpayment... This is pretty criminal on SE's part :/

I've never been very good at law, so does anyone know where I'd stand on disputing this? or is it something I'll have no choice but to let slide?

[rambus]

Rmiller, on 11 November 2009 - 09:57 PM, said:

Thanks for the reply Rambus, it's really stupid that SE would do this >_<;

I'm wondering if there's anyone in the same boat that managed to get them to convert it back to USD payment? (It's a longshot, but hey)

The last rep I spoke to said that SE is aware that there is overpayment... This is pretty criminal on SE's part :/

I've never been very good at law, so does anyone know where I'd stand on disputing this? or is it something I'll have no choice but to let slide?

I tried asking SE the EU one, and ti did not work. they told me what i told you need to have some sort of bank that allows you to pay in pounds. I told them I would pay in pounds or USD and they said had to be Euros.

well i did not try this, call the BBB or or something, remember how someone tried sueing SE for fee changes? this could of been added to it. like i said i understand currecny changes but there is NO REASON to make price in USD = euro to result paying 50% more.

this is the BBB site I sent other complaints about SE though them though:
https://odr.bbb.org/...plaintlink.aspx

something to note though my firefox prevents me from sending the information to them ( it looks like it has been sent but i get no confirm e-mail) IE works fine though

[Rmiller]

Awww that's a real shame @_@;

Oh well~ Thanks so much for your input Rambus~~

[rambus]

last thought :

Quote

Supposedly SE is 'aware' of this issue, but does nothing to change it? I find the whole thing very odd

that replay/ result is the norm. that or takes 1-4 years to address.

[rambus]

lets compare it to WoW:

Quote

What is the monthly fee to play the game?
After the end of the one-month subscription included with the game, you will need to subscribe in order to continue playing. There are three options in our flexible subscription structure: month-by-month subscription costs 12.99€/£8.99 per month, 3-month subscription costs 11.99€/£8.39 per month and six month subscription costs 10.99€/£7.69 per month.

Quote

Is there a monthly fee to play the game?
Yes. After the end of the free month included with the game, you need a subscription in order to continue playing the game. There are three subscription options: a month-to-month package at $14.99 per month, a three-month plan at $13.99 per month, and a six-month plan at $12.99 per month. The subscription fees for the three-month plan and the six-month plan must be paid in full.

1 euro = 1.4986 usd
1 pound = 1.6581usd

pounds to USD fees:
per month:14.90 (charge 14.99 USD less then 1% difference)
per month for 3: 13.90 (real USD charge 13.99)
per month for 6: 12.70 (real USD charge 12.99, you pay about 2% more in USD

Euros to USD:
19.46 per month for 1 month 29% hike
17.96 per month for 3 months 28% hike
16.46 per month for 6 months 26% hike

now pounds convert better then Euros is the only simmuar thing that WoW has with SE ( im guessing Euros are overvalued atm)
however with WoW and blizzard they give me no isses with paying in pounds and the fact that both conversions are way lower then SEs would shudest that Blizzard are defiantly better with their customers then SE reps are. GMs are the same way. the only issue i have with wow GMs is the long wait. past that they serve way better then SE does.