To Whom It May Concern,
I am writing in regards to the cancellation of my ECA membership. I joined the ECA as part of the Game Informer recruitment promotion. The free one-year membership was a fantastic opportunity to get involved with a group whose alleged mission statement was something I considered important and worth supporting. While the loss of the advertised discount from Amazon was a disappointment, I would like to make clear that I held every intention of maintaining my membership. I still feel that the purpose of the ECA is one that deserves the support of the gamer community at large. However, the recent actions and behavior of the organization have shown the ECA to be both unprofessional and unethical, and I am left convinced that even though the goals themselves may be worth supporting, the ECA is not.
I understand the outrage caused by the loss of the Amazon discounts, and the wave of cancellation requests that surely followed would be stressful; even at the best of times, civility is often lacking on the internet. However, the collected response from the ECA to the complainants have shown a cavalier disregard for its membersthe very same consumers whose interests, as an advocacy group, it professes to represent. More troubling is the utter lack of transparency in the cancellation process: the non-functional auto-renewal option, the stark refusal to accept cancellation requests via email or telephone in order to ensure the member is not finicky or lazy, and the reported refusal of your group to respond with confirmation even after a certified letter, as requested, has been sent. For a group that defines itself as primarily web-driven, and as one that was more than happy to allow enrollment online without regard to a potential members finicky or lazy behavior, the above actions are extremely disconcerting. Whats more, the ECAs stated procedure for dealing with expired credit cards, to increment the expiration date until the charge goes through, is simply abhorrent; this practice is indefensible.
I do not believe the intent of these actions is malicious, but I do view them as unscrupulous. I will not be associated with such behavior, and I wish my membership to the ECA to be cancelled immediately. The difficulty with which you have surrounded cancellation does not speak well of your willingness to cooperate; as a result, I ask that you provide confirmation of cancellation to the above return address. Failure to comply, or any further charges made to my credit card by the ECA will result in the charge being disputed, as well as complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau and watchdog groups such as the Consumerist.
