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The BBB has been contacted

SpleenballProSpleenballPro
edited January 2013 in The Walking Dead - PC/Mac Support
I have contacted the Better Business Bureau demanding a refund for this game. This game being TWD.
http://www.bbb.org/greater-san-francisco/business-reviews/computer-software-publishers-and-developers/telltale-games-in-san-rafael-ca-277990/complaints

I would suggest everyone who has been having issues with this game do the same.

Comments

  • coolsomecoolsome
    edited December 2012
    BBB is a stupid name.
  • JordyLichtJordyLicht
    edited January 2013
    You aren't the first one who has contacted the "BBB". It won't matter.
    No one is getting their money back, as long as there are still a lot of users who can run The Walking Dead without problems.
    The amount of money and time it will cost consumer protection agencies to check this issue is way more than they are willing to spent on online software, I'm sure.
  • SpleenballProSpleenballPro
    edited January 2013
    If everyone who had an issue contacted them and actually did something about this would give us the power to force developers to correct mistakes.
  • JordyLichtJordyLicht
    edited January 2013
    Maybe... maybe not.
    I'm too skeptical to think that anything would be done. It's cute and all that people complain about Telltale games, but it's just not that black & white.
    Even if there are a couple of hundred people complaining to this BBB, Telltale will probably still have a sales or legal department who will make sure that the BBB calms down again.
    Like I said, as long as there are people who can run the game just fine and Telltale can prove to the BBB that they are working on patches, I'm pretty sure they can't do anything.
    But.... maybe / hopefully you're right and Telltale will be handing out refunds here and there.

    That doesn't fix the non-US players' problems though. We still need another source to file our complaints to. I've tried googling and sending mails to all kinds of consumer protection companies here in my country and they all give me the same response: "Contact the supplier of the game and ask for support". Now I live in a small country which has no real big impact on USA, let alone the world. If I would have problems with a local product, no problem. But as soon as it's an imported product, I'm fucked. I'll have to contact the supplier from whence this product came and come to some sort of agreement, usually a refund or fix.
  • blink182blink182
    edited January 2013
    JordyLicht wrote: »
    Maybe... maybe not.
    I'm too skeptical to think that anything would be done. It's cute and all that people complain about Telltale games, but it's just not that black & white.
    Even if there are a couple of hundred people complaining to this BBB, Telltale will probably still have a sales or legal department who will make sure that the BBB calms down again.
    Like I said, as long as there are people who can run the game just fine and Telltale can prove to the BBB that they are working on patches, I'm pretty sure they can't do anything.
    But.... maybe / hopefully you're right and Telltale will be handing out refunds here and there.

    That doesn't fix the non-US players' problems though. We still need another source to file our complaints to. I've tried googling and sending mails to all kinds of consumer protection companies here in my country and they all give me the same response: "Contact the supplier of the game and ask for support". Now I live in a small country which has no real big impact on USA, let alone the world. If I would have problems with a local product, no problem. But as soon as it's an imported product, I'm fucked. I'll have to contact the supplier from whence this product came and come to some sort of agreement, usually a refund or fix.

    Contacting the BBB does work. Everybody needs to do it. Most businesses will respond to a single complaint from the BBB, because they don't want that on their record. If TTG gets 100 complaints?? They will stand up and listen.
  • phozeephozee
    edited January 2013
    It took like 5 minutes to file a complaint. If you have an issue, do it. No reason not to.
  • JordyLichtJordyLicht
    edited January 2013
    I try to visit the BBB site regularly, just to see how the complaints are being handled, but in the last two weeks there has been only 1 new complaint, even though I hear everyone saying they have filed a complaint. So either people are full of shit, or BBB doesn't even know what to do with these complaints. As of now (january 7th) there are 22 complaints about Telltale Games on the BBB site. You'd think it'd be more by now.
    I had some major problems as well and also asked for a refund, but finally my problems got fixed and now everything runs smoothly. Should I still file a complaint? I'm not sure. I don't agree with the complete radio silence from the Telltale developers, but it seems like they are working on fixes / patches, even if it takes forever.
    You are sure that Telltale will listen if they get a 100 complaints, but more than half of the complaints that BBB contacted Telltale with are ignored. I have no idea what BBB will do if they continue being ignore by Telltale, but other than a lawsuit, I can't think of anything. And a lawsuit will never ever happen. Those things cost a shitload of money and I'm pretty sure no one is going to invest in such a case.
  • blink182blink182
    edited January 2013
    JordyLicht wrote: »
    I try to visit the BBB site regularly, just to see how the complaints are being handled, but in the last two weeks there has been only 1 new complaint, even though I hear everyone saying they have filed a complaint. So either people are full of shit, or BBB doesn't even know what to do with these complaints.

    I believe the BBB waits 10 days (to allow the company time to respond) before posting a complaint on their website. I posted my complaint less than 10 days ago. (Have not gotten any response, yet.)
    As of now (january 7th) there are 22 complaints about Telltale Games on the BBB site. You'd think it'd be more by now.
    I had some major problems as well and also asked for a refund, but finally my problems got fixed and now everything runs smoothly. Should I still file a complaint? I'm not sure.

    If you are satisfied with the outcome, then you should not file a complaint. If you are unsatisfied and feel like TTG should do something to improve the outcome, then you should file a complaint explaining the situation and what you think a reasonable outcome would be.
    I don't agree with the complete radio silence from the Telltale developers, but it seems like they are working on fixes / patches, even if it takes forever. You are sure that Telltale will listen if they get a 100 complaints, but more than half of the complaints that BBB contacted Telltale with are ignored.

    They might not listen. You are correct that TTG does almost nothing to address complaints based on historical evidence. I did not check that before I wrote my complaint. My experience in the past is that a BBB complaint will at least elicit a phone call or a letter from the company.

    If nothing else, the BBB complaint is at least an end-run around the tech support group. The BBB complaint will probably reach some different part of the TTG organization.
    I have no idea what BBB will do if they continue being ignore by Telltale, but other than a lawsuit, I can't think of anything. And a lawsuit will never ever happen. Those things cost a shitload of money and I'm pretty sure no one is going to invest in such a case.

    The BBB has no teeth. If TTG ignores them, nothing bad will happen except continuing to garner a bad reputation with the BBB. If the situation gets bad enough, maybe some intrepid reporter will write an article about the situation on IGN or something. TWD is for a lot of "game-of-the-year" type awards, and journalists always love to find dirt on successful companies, especially when that success comes at the cost of swindling their customers.

    The only direct result of bad BBB ratings is that TTG will never become BBB accredited, but I doubt they would ever try anyway. Only customer-service oriented businesses pursue BBB accreditation.

    A lawsuit is unlikely, but it's not impossible. Many firms file class action law suits without a retainer. If they think that the case is winnable, then they will front the legal costs and recoup them as part of the judgment. I'm not a lawyer, though, and I have no idea if there is a winnable case here.
  • blink182blink182
    edited January 2013
    Maybe they won't listen, but having a paper trail is better than not having one, and it only takes a few minutes.
  • T_DocT_Doc
    edited January 2013
    I don't think TTG cares about their BBB rating. BBB acreditation is a voluntary process. TellTale has been around since 2004, and hasn't bothered to seek accreditation. They currently have an 'F' rating with open complaints dating back to Feb 2011 that they have yet to respond to. Leaving a complaint there is not a bad idea, but how effective? May discourage future/current investors, but I don't know how often the average consumer researches video game companies before making a purchase. For that reason, I don't think they really care about the BBB rating.

    At the end of the day, this is a business concerned about their bottom line. Applying pressure by sending letters to their investors (look at their corp info link for webpage links) or through Microsoft who granted them "offical developer" status may stimulate some momentum or at least a more meaningful response..or not. Mentioning their current BBB rating couldn't hurt.
  • stinkyPinkystinkyPinky
    edited January 2013
    T_Doc wrote: »
    At the end of the day, this is a business concerned about their bottom line. Applying pressure by sending letters to their investors (look at their corp info link for webpage links) or through Microsoft who granted them "offical developer" status may stimulate some momentum or at least a more meaningful response..or not. Mentioning their current BBB rating couldn't hurt.

    I'm sure there's a journalist out there who would relish the opportunity to write a story about a company that wins GOTY but doesn't even have a customer support department.
  • phozeephozee
    edited January 2013
    These issues certainly aren't a big enough deal to warrant any kind of legal action - if my BBB complaint gets ignored then I'll suck it up and either go with random decisions if I ever decide to finish, or just not play it again and not purchase another TTG game.

    I'm just amazed that it had to even go as far as BBB complaints.
  • SpleenballProSpleenballPro
    edited January 2013
    I appreciate that others are in the same boat, but when will it come to game developers having to stand by their product and if it is broken or just plain bad that our rights as consumers will be noticed? We all roll over for shitty games and when good ones come out that have bugs galore, we all just say "deal with it". Fuck dealing with it. As a consumer my product will work or I will get my money back from the developer.
  • TWD_savegameTWD_savegame
    edited January 2013
    It would be nice if someone could type a costum text for non native english speakers like myself. Also, what exactly did you choose as regard (costumer service, product flawed and so on - from these dropdown menues).
    In this way we could also amount the complaints filing the very same issue.

    If nobody's up for this, I'd file a complain on my own though...
  • JordyLichtJordyLicht
    edited January 2013
    I'm probably doing something wrong, but the Telltale Games site on BBB still only shows 22 complaints... It's been this for quite some time now.
  • ThewalkingEdThewalkingEd

    I will be contacting them today and everyone else I have too. Absolutely dissgusting that this company can care less about their supporters in their products after they get their money. My case has been going on for a month without any real response from their so called support. I ain't a quiter thou, so I will keep pursuing my refund or a fixed and playable product

This discussion has been closed.