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My PSN account was permanently banned for no apparent reason (100+ Games/DLC lost)
- Thread starter Tevious
- Start date
Pretty sure Kotaku actively helped OP resolve his issue.
Riedinizzo
Banned
Eek. So if I get banned from PSN all the digital content I've paid for is no longer usable...thats...off-putting...
djplaeskool
Member
Definitely Go with prepaid cards moving forward.
ACH via Paypal is too shaky.
ACH via Paypal is too shaky.
BronsonLee
Member
Yay for Playstation MVP help~!
everyday math
Banned
Good to see the account was unbanned. 
A happy ending =)
Don't think twice, just don't do it. Ever, ever, again. Use prepaid cards. Buy them from Amazon, they give you the code right then and there.
Liberty4all
Banned
I wasn't told what the issue was although Tevious has a PM from management.
I'm glad Neuromancer and I were able to help the OP out getting this sorted.
There are a number of PlayStation MVP's on GAF, we will always do what we can to help fellow GAF'ers out in situations that we can. In this case in pretty certain it went
MVP's - Community Management - Customer Service.
Happy it all worked out. BELIEVE
I'm glad Neuromancer and I were able to help the OP out getting this sorted.
There are a number of PlayStation MVP's on GAF, we will always do what we can to help fellow GAF'ers out in situations that we can. In this case in pretty certain it went
MVP's - Community Management - Customer Service.
Happy it all worked out. BELIEVE
bigboss370
Member
i swear to god it seems sony hasn't missed a beat this gen....
handicap people can't access part of playstaion booth at show...give them free ps4s
driveclub ps+ upgrade is full price...discounted
user account banned and lost access to games...unbanned
and so on.
handicap people can't access part of playstaion booth at show...give them free ps4s
driveclub ps+ upgrade is full price...discounted
user account banned and lost access to games...unbanned
and so on.
DidntKnowJack
Member
I'm glad they saw common sense and did the right thing and unbanned his account, but I'm not ready to start singing their praises for this mess just because it got resolved.
Result RescueGAF!
DangerMouse
Member
Nice. Good to hear.
bigboss370
Member
its not about singing praises its the fact that they seem to resolve these things relatively quick and in the right way.
no doubt the mvps on this forum helped out this time, which is a benefit for the op.
Top bloke. Nice to see some proactive customer outreach at Sony. Glad this all got sorted out - it was really turning into a warning into any all-digital future.
Agent Gibbs
Member
Well i finished reading the thread and god damn GAF this was a rollercoaster that ended in a great ending!
Well done Sony MVP's helping out and all the others!
I'd hate for my PSN to be banned, but if i ever do i know where to come
Well done Sony MVP's helping out and all the others!
I'd hate for my PSN to be banned, but if i ever do i know where to come
GoofsterStud
Member
Wow. PSN Gaf is amazing! Wish I could get my games back from Nintendo. *Grumbles*
So one customer gets their issue resolved after hours of fruitless time on the phone and then only after Community Managers that happen to be on GAF are able to work the issue for this lucky poster.
What about customers that don't come on this forum or the majority of the PlayStation audience that may bit be on videogame forums period?
I see nothing here to indicate that Sony corporate is looking into changes to the ridiculous policies that cause these issues in the first place.
What about customers that don't come on this forum or the majority of the PlayStation audience that may bit be on videogame forums period?
I see nothing here to indicate that Sony corporate is looking into changes to the ridiculous policies that cause these issues in the first place.
sechsterangriff
Member
It would be nice if this case results in a more pro-active policy to avoid these kinds of situations in the first place.
Also, this should launch an internal discussion regarding banned accounts access to previous purchases.
Liberty4all
Banned
Banning an account that appeared to be committing fraud is fairly standard albeit wrong in this case.
With that said one of the things I do on GAF is rather extensive reporting on issues that will be examined with a microscope. Issues that might otherwise go unnoticed.
IMHO PlayStation is making a huge effort to examine what they do both right and wrong by listening to their most loyal customers praise and complaints ...
Believe me when I say that in this instance it was not just a simple unbanning ... There was a huge report to go with that examining how this happened in the first place. Individual forumers quoted, experiences looked at, all of which eventually create best practices.
Sony isn't perfect but they are trying to do right by their audience starting with listening at the source.
Tevious
Member
I'm up now and got the great news! I got a PM from someone at Sony telling me they connected with CS and my account was unbanned. Apparently it was related to PayPal after all and they are working now to ensure this doesn't happen to others. I'd still recommend avoiding PayPal, though. I've checked my account to make sure and everything is working. So glad I didn't have to call and fight with Consumer Services to get this resolved, or worse.
Big thank you to Neuromancer, Bamelin, and Mr. S. at Sony (I don't know if he wants me to name his GAF account or not). Also to Jason Schreier and Arthur for the Consumer Services number that I didn't need to call and to everyone else who gave advice in this thread.
Big thank you to Neuromancer, Bamelin, and Mr. S. at Sony (I don't know if he wants me to name his GAF account or not). Also to Jason Schreier and Arthur for the Consumer Services number that I didn't need to call and to everyone else who gave advice in this thread.
I'm glad this worked out for OP, but I agree. This needs to change, it's absolutely ridiculous you can lose your own paid for property because you get banned. Would a company come into my house and steal my physical games over a ban? No, so neither should digital.
How can they honestly expect us to embrace a digital future when a flip of a switch, either from the company or a hacker, can steal things we own? This needs to be FIXED. By everyone, not just Sony.
yarrmateys
Member
This pleases me greatly. Getting the account unbanned is only half the battle won - the bigger win in this case is exactly as you described, which is improving the whole process altogether.
SolidSnakeUS
Member
Great to hear that you got it fixed. Fuck Paypal. I refuse to use them for anything.
bigboss370
Member
The Red Wizard
Member
I'm glad to hear that the OP managed to get his/her account back and that Sony is working to prevent any future mishaps from occurring. Will this be communicated to Sony entities around the world? It would be a shame for this information to be confined to Sony America and not shared with Sony Europe etc.
ElectricKaibutsu
Member
Congrats, OP! That was a bit of a roller coaster ride.
Agreed. It's such a scary policy.
Tevious
Member
They're usable to an extent. I could play any of the games I had installed, even online with another PSN account on the same PS3. You just lose access to downloading anything you've ever purchased. PS+ games worked on PS3, but not on Vita (I don't know about PS4).
This still needs to happen.
djplaeskool
Member
Paypal Shenanigans
But it shouldn't - and it's on Sony for messing it up.
Pay Pal actively reverses charges on suspicion of fraud. Meaning the reversal happens first, then they investigate (contact the account owner to confirm, etc). It's not like a credit card that only reverses charges after confirmation of fraud.
Hell even with a credit card, unless they can get confirmation of why a charge was reversed (which I don't think they can), that would be like banning your account because for whatever reason a credit card company reversed the charges on your autopay.
They should simply put a hold on your PSN+ privileges until there's confirmation one way or the other ... or another method of payment is used. They shouldn't be proactively banning users under a guilty until proven innocent methodology.
demosthenes
Member
Thread needs a new title.
Friend of Sonic
Member
I'm glad the OP was helped, but Christ, that is the one scary, dangerous thing about our digital futures. Bannings due to mysterious ToS violations. I know that this one in particular was a Paypal related error, but it is proof that bannings can happen based on seemingly nothing
I had something similar to this happen with Amazon several years back. Of course despite the warm regard that people tend to have with their customer service, they weren't at all interested in helping to resolve it.
Fortunately it only clipped the very beginning of Kindle and all that, so not a whole lot was lost. It was definitely a good warning shot to me, regarding the future of digital purchases.
The bottom line is that companies are going to employ a wide net to keep on top of fraud, but they also must be willing to get out the microscope when someone is telling them that they've gotten it wrong.
Fortunately it only clipped the very beginning of Kindle and all that, so not a whole lot was lost. It was definitely a good warning shot to me, regarding the future of digital purchases.
The bottom line is that companies are going to employ a wide net to keep on top of fraud, but they also must be willing to get out the microscope when someone is telling them that they've gotten it wrong.
Tevious
Member
That's a bit surprising. Amazon usually just takes one look at my purchase history and does anything they can to make me happy when I contact their CS. Even at their worst, I once contacted them to report an error on an item's page and the guy didn't read anything I wrote. He assumed I was complaining and gave me $20 credit, lol.
Infinite Justice
Member
cool to hear it was revolved but some methods needs to be introduced so scenarios like this doesn't happen again (maybe implement Valve's recent strategy of banning the store/further purchases but you can still have your existing shit until its cleared up).
Also the fact that a MVP had to shine a light on it is kinda sad tbh but hopefully Bamelin you have placed good word and suggestions.
Also the fact that a MVP had to shine a light on it is kinda sad tbh but hopefully Bamelin you have placed good word and suggestions.
bodyboarder
Member
Glad it got sorted. However it never should have gotten this far.
Tevious
Member
After giving it some thought, Sony's current ban system just prevents you from logging in. In order to access your previous download history, you need to be logged in. To fix this, Sony is going to have to change the way bans work. Instead of simply blocking the account from signing in, it needs to allow the account to log in, but then restrict it's access. Sony could then do bans for multiple things.
If there is a fraudulent purchase or charge back, then a ban/suspension could be put in place preventing new purchases being made on the PS Store (until resolved with customer service).
If someone cheats in an online game, then a ban/suspension could be put in place restricting access to some or all online games.
If someone behaves inappropriately online, a ban/suspension could be put in place that restricts or prevents any form of communication; voice speaking, messaging, ect. (This might be hard to implement. I don't know if they could just disable the mic or not and some games have their own messaging system like GTA Online.)
Something like that.
If there is a fraudulent purchase or charge back, then a ban/suspension could be put in place preventing new purchases being made on the PS Store (until resolved with customer service).
If someone cheats in an online game, then a ban/suspension could be put in place restricting access to some or all online games.
If someone behaves inappropriately online, a ban/suspension could be put in place that restricts or prevents any form of communication; voice speaking, messaging, ect. (This might be hard to implement. I don't know if they could just disable the mic or not and some games have their own messaging system like GTA Online.)
Something like that.
If they aren't going to let us sort the download list, you think they will do this?
lol
Tevious
Member
The current ban system in place is a much higher priority to fix and a bigger PR nightmare (given this thread) if Sony doesn't work something out.
It still baffles me how they haven't found a way to fix that
Glad the OP for getting his account unbanned, awesome from the Sony people for helping him, but this thing really shouldn't happen in the first place
sixteen-bit
Member
Glad everything got sorted out.