Just got the following message back tonight from Blizzard support regarding a ticket I opened on 2/2/2013 3:25 AM...doesn't really sound very encouraging at all or make me want to use the AH very much... :-0

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Aratere
Customer Service Representative
Greetings,

This is Game Master Aratere again. I wanted to thank you for your patience, I know this issue has been open for awhile.

I took another look at your account's history, and from what I can tell, it does look like that gold seems to have disappeared. I see your account had about 3.2 Million gold, and over the day spent about 3.7 M, and earned 2.5 M through sales, ending with 0.3 M instead of the expected 2.0 M.

Unfortuantely though, you're not going to like the answer. :( It does appear that the gold is lost, but customer support is not able to alter gold totals or interact with items. In this case, we're unable to offer a reimbursement either way. I am very sorry for this loss, I realize this is a large amount of gold.

That said, we certainly do not want people to encounter this situation. What I'll be doing is letting our quality assurance team know to check out what happened. If they are able to find the bug and root it out, this will atleast prevent other players from potentially losing gold in the future. I know this isn't what you were asking for originally, but this is atleast some action we can take.

Feel free to contact us if there was anything else we could address for you. Have a good day.

Regards,

Game Master Aratere
Customer Services
Blizzard Entertainment
http://battle.net/support
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For anyone interested in seeing my original bug report to Blizzard, this is what I wrote on Feb 2:


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I had just finished purchasing a new Natalya's Reflection (Order ID#1344437467) for 1,400,000 gold, so I posted my original Natalya's Reflection ring on the AH to sell. A short while later, that sold (Order ID#1344445040) for 1,865,750 (after the 15% fee). I then decided to see if there was an even better Natalya's Reflection ring that I could buy, and saw one that might have been slightly better than mine with about 2 min left before expiring. I placed a bid for 1,700,000 gold on the item with <1 min remaining, and got the usual message about "heavy transactions in the AH"...and shortly thereafter, the gold disappeared, the item did not appear in my stash, no transaction ID appeared (neither "Outbid" or "Purchased"), and when I went to the Auctions tab, it simply said "Authorizing". When I closed the AH window & re-opened it, that transaction for the Natalya's Reflection was no longer listed there in the Auctions tab--nothing about it "Expired", nothing. & it still wasn't showing up in my stash, or in my transactions history under the Completed tab. However, my 1,700,000 gold was gone too.

I tried logging off & logging back on. Still no item, & still no gold.

Unsure what to do, so am opening this ticket. Hopefully my ring or gold can be returned to me.

Thanks,

Attachment: MSinfo.txt
Attachment: DxDiag.txt

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So I guess the lesson learned is be extra careful when the AH is being slow & laggy, & definitely be very wary about trying to snipe bids for large sums of gold in such instances. Cause your gold might end up in Limbo, & Blizzard will not be doing anything to reimburse you for your loss... :-(

At this point not even sure how to respond to the Blizzard representative....

Sorry for your lost.

It is not fair that the AH lag cause you to lose your gold. Did they even give a system warning that "Careful, apart from item values may change over time, your gold balance might reduce unexpectedly if the AH is laggy?".

Who knows if you are not the only one who lost gold?

To me, they have acknowledged that your gold is in fact lost. They says customer service cannot do blah blah blah, but I think regardless of the gold amount, this is a big issue for blizzard to handle and they should flow through to upper layers if customer service cannot handle it.

What if a player lose thousand of USD on the RMAH? And make it 1,000 players who experience the same thing? Even GAH, players could have paid USD to buy gold. It is equivalent to a financial loss. If Blizzard did not mention this or give warnings somewhere, I think they are in big trouble.

This is pretty disturbing. Like @douvinsky said, the gold amount is irrelevant; they pretty much just blew you off. Yeah, I'm sure 1.7M gold isn't a lot to some people (myself included), but what if it was 170M? I'd feel sick to my stomach. What if you spent $500 USD buying 2B gold, "lost" it, and Blizzard's response was, "tough shit!"? What would you do? What would a thousand people do?

I still like the game, but this really turns me off. It just makes me want to liquidate everything and turn it into USD.

Me: You destroyed that drug shipment?
Blizzard: Yes, indeedy!
Me: That was my insulin!
Blizzard: Uh, oh, Spaghetti-O's!

yikes... that does really suck

They basically can't do that and that's the only reason every game doesn't have it's own real money auction house. As soon as you put an official price tag on in-game items, you're responsible to your player base to ensure the integrity of the auction system, because it has a true monetary value. That's terrible eastdragon42. I agree with douvinsky that this should have been kicked up higher, because it's a huge deal.

If it were on the RMAH, they'd be legally liable for the loss and would have to find a way to reimburse you. since it's "only" Gold they feel they can blow you off. I think it's worth responding at least once more mentioning the integrity of the game, public posting on reddit and whether it can be escalated. If they stonewall you again, it needs to get on reddit so they get the PR black eye they richly deserve (just ignore the trolls that "LOL @ 2 million").

@douvinsky, @metta, @shniggies, @ecocd,

Thanks for the support guys. Yes, it is indeed quite disturbing that something like this has happened and that Blizzard's response really is one of "tough luck". I totally agree that it's not the amount, it's the principle. 1.7 million gold = 42.5 cents, which isn't much, but could potentially have been much more. I have written a response to Blizzard demanding that my ticket either be escalated to someone who can properly handle it or some sort of reimbursement made to my account. Will definitely keep the D3RMT community updated with what their response is.

I've never used reddit before, but will definitely be checking it out if Blizzard blows me off again.

Thanks guys.

Just fyi, Blizzard's response:

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Kurasuyari
Customer Service Representative

The auction house service is provided as is, and while we work to prevent and repair any bugs that might occur, we do not take responsibility for any losses incurred through use of the auction house. Our developers might concievably make an exception in extraordinary cases involving large amounts of real world currncy, but to date no such situation has arisen.

I do have to contradict your statement that you have lost real money. You have, apparently, lost gold which could potentially have been exchanged for money.

The Customer Service department is entirely unable to give you what you're asking for; it is literally not possible for us to do so. If you believe that we should be abloe to do so, we encourage you to present that opinion to our developers directly by posting it on the Diablo III forums. Nevertheless, as it stands now, the gold will not and cannot be restored.

Account & Technical Services Rep Kurasuyari
Customer Services
Blizzard Entertainment
www.blizzard.com/support

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I'm actually beginning to dislike Blizzard. Which kind of sucks considering how much I've loved playing most of their games... :-(

Wow there are a lot of typos in his reply.

I guess you may take his advice to post it directly on the D3 forums, bear in mind to make the post polite & try to win as many votes for you. I am sure a lot of people will back you up.

Our developers might concievably make an exception in extraordinary cases involving large amounts of real world currncy, but to date no such situation has arisen.

- How do they draw the line between large and small? Given the same situation, unequal treatments between the categories would get them into trouble.

Just posted my entire conversation with Blizzard Customer Service in the Blizzard Forums' tech support section:

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/7924372460

Posted by douvinsky at 02/13/2013 09:25 PM

Our developers might concievably make an exception in extraordinary cases involving large amounts of real world currncy, but to date no such situation has arisen.

- How do they draw the line between large and small? Given the same situation, unequal treatments between the categories would get them into trouble.

I totally agree with you--where exactly is the line drawn...? :-(

Posted by eastdragon42 at 02/13/2013 09:31 PM

Just posted my entire conversation with Blizzard Customer Service in the Blizzard Forums' tech support section:

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/7924372460

My suggestion, if you would like to draw more attention/ publicity:

Create a separate post in the <General Discussion>, give a short summary of what happens, what you think and ask what others think. Long story short is that you placed a 1.7m bid and this 1.7m has gone missing due to AH lag. Customer Service confirmed that it is lost but unable to do anything at their side so you need to appeal again. Your post in Tech section seems to be a "TLDR" type, and most of the people just read general section.

And the title could be:

"Ask the Devs" - Gold lost to AH lag, fair not to reimburse?

Posted by douvinsky at 02/13/2013 09:58 PM

And the title could be:

"Ask the Devs" - Gold lost to AH lag, fair not to reimburse?

i think this is a fair and reasonable idea

it def is the principal and its terrible that they're blowing you off

however, to ease your pain and suffering, i will dedicate my next 5 legendaries to you


edit, here they are... most of them crap, BUT i found my very first witching hour...
i hope it rolls in the billions for you



sorry i couldn't get that pesky 5th one to drop... i can supplement it with some plans
i think you mostly play DH, and i have the glove plan for dex if you want
or wait until later this week for the 5th one

Posted by douvinsky at 02/13/2013 09:50 PM

My suggestion, if you would like to draw more attention/ publicity:

Create a separate post in the <General Discussion>, give a short summary of what happens, what you think and ask what others think. Long story short is that you placed a 1.7m bid and this 1.7m has gone missing due to AH lag. Customer Service confirmed that it is lost but unable to do anything at their side so you need to appeal again. Your post in Tech section seems to be a "TLDR" type, and most of the people just read general section.

Thanks for the advice. I've opened a shorter, very abridged version in the General Discussion section like you recommended, here. Let's see if it gets any responses, or whether I get blacklisted from posting on the Blizzard forums... :-0

Posted by shniggies at 02/14/2013 12:42 AM

however, to ease your pain and suffering, i will dedicate my next 5 legendaries to you

edit, here they are... most of them crap, BUT i found my very first witching hour...
i hope it rolls in the billions for you

sorry i couldn't get that pesky 5th one to drop... i can supplement it with some plans
i think you mostly play DH, and i have the glove plan for dex if you want
or wait until later this week for the 5th one

That's incredibly generous of you--thanks a million, @shniggies! Especially since I've never had a Witching Hour in my life too. I do indeed only play DH, but it's totally up to you whether you want to give me a 5th legendary or a dex glove plan; I won't be looking any gift horses in the mouth...! :)

Despite the bad taste Blizzard Customer support has left in my mouth, the support I get from D3RMT really helps make up for it. I love this community. Thanks guys.

I love that the first response is a troll on the General Discussion. It's the cesspool of the Diablo player community. I have no idea why rational people bother having a conversation there. I commend you for going through with following up and posting the story. Both of those take some courage.

The customer service rep was ridiculous in his response that Gold was not real currency. I wouldn't expect more from someone that hates their job and doesn't care, though. Probably doesn't exactly have a 4-year degree in economics or finance. Legally speaking, though, Gold and USD are two different things since Blizzard owns every character, piece of Gold and piece of equipment in the entire game. Legally, they're just allowing us to use them. In fact, Blizzard Dollar Balance probably isn't real dollars either and they could just get rid of that whenever they pleased, too.

When you sell anything in the RMAH, you're really selling something like a license to use those bits to another player. It's pretty weird, but it's the only way a game company can operate these days legally speaking. Of course, if it was Paypal Balance issues, then all of that flies out the window and Blizzard is liable.

That said, someone should give you the Gold and send you on your merry way. It's ridiculous that they don't.

I guess this is all people can expect from a support team for anything these days. Sad. I have no Legendaries to give. @shniggies is pretty cool. I love my Witching Hour on my DH even if everyone seems to favor Inna's Belt. I also wish you the best on the rolls!

Posted by eastdragon42 at 02/14/2013 10:37 AM

Posted by douvinsky at 02/13/2013 09:50 PM

My suggestion, if you would like to draw more attention/ publicity:

Create a separate post in the <General Discussion>, give a short summary of what happens, what you think and ask what others think. Long story short is that you placed a 1.7m bid and this 1.7m has gone missing due to AH lag. Customer Service confirmed that it is lost but unable to do anything at their side so you need to appeal again. Your post in Tech section seems to be a "TLDR" type, and most of the people just read general section.

Thanks for the advice. I've opened a shorter, very abridged version in the General Discussion section like you recommended, here. Let's see if it gets any responses, or whether I get blacklisted from posting on the Blizzard forums... :-0

Posted by shniggies at 02/14/2013 12:42 AM

however, to ease your pain and suffering, i will dedicate my next 5 legendaries to you

edit, here they are... most of them crap, BUT i found my very first witching hour...
i hope it rolls in the billions for you

sorry i couldn't get that pesky 5th one to drop... i can supplement it with some plans
i think you mostly play DH, and i have the glove plan for dex if you want
or wait until later this week for the 5th one

That's incredibly generous of you--thanks a million, @shniggies! Especially since I've never had a Witching Hour in my life too. I do indeed only play DH, but it's totally up to you whether you want to give me a 5th legendary or a dex glove plan; I won't be looking any gift horses in the mouth...! :)

Despite the bad taste Blizzard Customer support has left in my mouth, the support I get from D3RMT really helps make up for it. I love this community. Thanks guys.

you're very welcome!
i may not be on tonight as its valentines day, but maybe tomorrow night... i guess it could work out since your in TW, right?

That's very kind of @shniggies.
I have never seen a Witching Hour drop for myself!

Wow. Blizzard deleted my original post in the Technical Support thread (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/7924372460)...! :-( I wasn't using any strong language or violating any of the forum rules as far as I know--simply "cut & pasting" my conversation with Blizzard's Customer Support. Guess they must *really* be afraid of my post stirring up dissent or something...! :-0

I wonder if they'll delete my account if I try to re-post it...

What you discovered could be a big thing - someone using the AH lag and making profits out of unaware players.

If I were you, I will lock the door and close all the windows.

@eastdragon42 Don't forget your tinfoil hat!!!

Posted by shniggies at 02/14/2013 11:52 AM

you're very welcome!
i may not be on tonight as its valentines day, but maybe tomorrow night... i guess it could work out since your in TW, right?

Sorry for the late reply; yes, that is correct, I'm in TW, though I haven't logged on too much recently. Aside from not feeling like playing very much since this incident, have also been busy with apartment renovations (have a baby coming at the end of Feb / early Mar!). :)

Posted by Baldy at 02/15/2013 08:29 AM

@eastdragon42 Don't forget your tinfoil hat!!!

hahaha, guess maybe I am overreacting a little bit & seeing conspiracies everywhere...? :-0 Dunno...since this incident, I've also had two Natalya's Reflections that I purchased (one via bid, one via buyout) not show up in my stash either. Opened another ticket w/ Blizzard... :0

Posted by eastdragon42 at 02/16/2013 12:49 AM

Posted by shniggies at 02/14/2013 11:52 AM

you're very welcome!
i may not be on tonight as its valentines day, but maybe tomorrow night... i guess it could work out since your in TW, right?

Sorry for the late reply; yes, that is correct, I'm in TW, though I haven't logged on too much recently. Aside from not feeling like playing very much since this incident, have also been busy with apartment renovations (have a baby coming at the end of Feb / early Mar!). :)

Posted by Baldy at 02/15/2013 08:29 AM

@eastdragon42 Don't forget your tinfoil hat!!!

hahaha, guess maybe I am overreacting a little bit & seeing conspiracies everywhere...? :-0 Dunno...since this incident, I've also had two Natalya's Reflections that I purchased (one via bid, one via buyout) not show up in my stash either. Opened another ticket w/ Blizzard... :0

dude congrats on the baby!

Posted by eastdragon42 at 02/16/2013 12:49 AM

hahaha, guess maybe I am overreacting a little bit & seeing conspiracies everywhere...? :-0 Dunno...since this incident, I've also had two Natalya's Reflections that I purchased (one via bid, one via buyout) not show up in my stash either. Opened another ticket w/ Blizzard... :0

Weird thing I noticed on my end...your US profile doesn't show up either. :-/

Posted by theoryzero at 02/16/2013 01:43 AM

Posted by eastdragon42 at 02/16/2013 12:49 AM

hahaha, guess maybe I am overreacting a little bit & seeing conspiracies everywhere...? :-0 Dunno...since this incident, I've also had two Natalya's Reflections that I purchased (one via bid, one via buyout) not show up in my stash either. Opened another ticket w/ Blizzard... :0

Weird thing I noticed on my end...your US profile doesn't show up either. :-/

I have things purchased not showing up in my stash or auction item (out of 50) last night, sort of freak me out.

When I browse my cursor over things purchased (over the gold amount), it will show the date claimed. For things purchased but not showing up, it doesn't show anything when you move your cursor over it. At the end, the item showed out this morning.