Curse

MirageMaster · Jul 20, 2007, 02:05 PM // 14:05

I still dont like that americans pay less for ingame shop stuff.Its enough problem that i loose money when converting to euros from huf even though we are in the damn EU,no need to make it so easy for americans who get payed in a week what we get payed in 1 or 2 moths! GRRRRR!!!!!

pamelf · Jul 20, 2007, 02:06 PM // 14:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gaile Gray

What you are requesting is different than what CC was requesting in the initial post. You live in Australia. Australia is a distribution point for NCsoft Europe. NCsoft Europe determines prices for all areas to which they distribute, be that physically or digitally. Any purchase from the areas that the publishing office serves is translated from your currency into the local currency, which is this case is British Pounds Sterling.

Unfortunately, your territory will not be switched simply to lower your price; you cannot "shop around" between territories to get the most advantageous pricing. This would prove harmful, as the money that you pay helps defray costs in the area that serves you.

So if it's NCSoft Europe, do they charge EVERYONE on the Euro servers in Pounds? I'm sure the rest of Europe gets to pay in Euros, right? There'd be a fit if they charged the entire European continent in Pounds, so why the hell should be be lumped in with Britain when all of Europe gets to pay in Euro? Australian's are not British, they are also not European, but given that we are neither of these it seems it would simply make sense to let us be charged in a currency that overcharges us less...

We don't want to shop around. We don't mind if it's Euro or USD. It's the fact that it's POUNDS that has us all agitated. Just set us permanently to one of the other two and we'll be happy. No need to 'shop around'.

Besides, my personal opinion is that it should go on play territory. I play on The American servers, so charge me USD through the store. If I play on Euro servers, charge me euros...

The fact is, Britain is the only nation that uses Pounds, whereas an entire continent uses Euros, and USD is an internationally recognized form of payment. Pounds isn't. It's unfair to charge anyone but a British citizen in pounds.

Loviatar · Jul 20, 2007, 05:09 PM // 17:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by MirageMaster

I still dont like that americans pay less for ingame shop stuff.Its enough problem that i loose money when converting to euros from huf even though we are in the damn EU,no need to make it so easy for americans who get payed in a week what we get payed in 1 or 2 moths! GRRRRR!!!!!

B S

i wish

i would also like your 6-7 week paid vacation time

i would also like your 35 hour work week

lakatz · Jul 20, 2007, 05:48 PM // 17:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyberjanet

The cost of manufacturing and packaging is not measured so much in cost of materials as much as it is in cost of labour.
Draw your own conclusions from that.

I don't have enough information to draw any conclusions.

Before I (or anyone) can draw any conculsions, I (or anyone) need(s) to know in what country the DVDs are manufactured (dubbed), in what country the packaging and printed material is printed, where it is all packaged, is it manufactured and packaged in the US and then shipped to Europe and Australia, does it all happen in Brighton, is it outsourced from Brighton to other countries? Etc. etc. etc.

I don't know, and I can't find it on the internet.

Do you know? If you do, please do share that information so that I CAN draw some kind of conclusion.

Thank you!

leechazoid · Jul 21, 2007, 12:30 AM // 00:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gaile Gray

You live in Canada but for some reason are being offered non-North American prices. Knowing that you are served by the NA offices, you can ask a switch to your local (NA) currency and it's done.

Having relocated to Californa recently I have been watching this thread with interest. Encouraged by it I have politely attempted to get my billing changed to USD (my local currency).

I am sorry but it simply no as simple as Gailes implies. I am on to my third support contact and they still insist that I am permanently going to be charged Pounds.

I have directed them to Gailes post, quoted Gailes post and directed them to this thread. It is still wait and see but I assure everyone that much like others here it is not easy to accomplish. This is most frustrating and everyone here has my sympathy.

lakatz · Jul 21, 2007, 03:31 AM // 03:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by leechazoid

Having relocated to Californa recently I have been watching this thread with interest. Encouraged by it I have politely attempted to get my billing changed to USD (my local currency).

I am sorry but it simply no as simple as Gailes implies. I am on to my third support contact and they still insist that I am permanently going to be charged Pounds.

I have directed them to Gailes post, quoted Gailes post and directed them to this thread. It is still wait and see but I assure everyone that much like others here it is not easy to accomplish. This is most frustrating and everyone here has my sympathy.

Would you mind terribly pointing to Gaile's post you're quoting. Because if she said the billing policy has changed so that you can change the currency you are charged in if you move to a different territory, I did not see it. All I've seen is that she said if you're being charged in an incorrect currency for the territory you were in when you opened your master account, then billing support will get that corrected for you.

Meanwhile, as far as I know the billing policy has not changed, and it is as follows:

The billing currency is determined by the address on your PlayNC master account at the time of original account activation. That currency is permanently set. Changing that address after the game account is activated will not change the currency you are billed in.

http://www.plaync.com/us/support/doc_1183.html?prod=49

Thank you!

EDIT:

PS... Welcome to beautiful California!

MirageMaster · Jul 21, 2007, 03:41 AM // 03:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loviatar

B S

i wish

i would also like your 6-7 week paid vacation time

i would also like your 35 hour work week

lol riiight!6-7 week payed vacation? i get hardly get a day off,some weekends are spent at work on 12 hour shifts.35hour work week, id be so happy if that was the case.

Mcassidy · Jul 21, 2007, 05:58 AM // 05:58

I think you’re all missing the point here…

The reason why people are getting pissed off about what currency they are paying is because it’s costing them more… and not just a little more.

Take the price of GW:EN pre-order

Posted as 4.99 USD
4.99 EUR
3.49 GBP (Great British Pound)

Now at the current rate of exchange (as of 21st July ’07)… the USD price for the above is

US = $ 4.99
Europe = $ 6.90 (38% higher than the US price)
UK = $ 7.18 (43% higher than the US price)

In this age of global banking, where anyone with a Bank card or Credit card with the VISA or MasterCard logo on it can pay in any Major international currency….Ask yourself this question, why should a US company charge 143% the amount for the same product for non US nationals?

You want to know the answer? ... Simple, to make more money!. Someone in NCsoft has decided to set the price of items sold to NON US nationals higher that for US residents.

Their justification for this, I’m sure, will be that shipping and distribution cost for each Country vary. [I don’t see how this affects a product that is delivered electronically but never mind!]
The real reason is that the Publisher will try and charge as much as they can ‘get away with’ in each country. It’s called ‘Market Forces’ and until someone else is allowed to sell Anet’s games, the Customer is going to lose out every time! ;(

Ps. And yes Visa and MasterCard do charge a higher exchange rate fee… (a hit taken by the Customer.. not the vendor).

countesscorpula · Jul 21, 2007, 06:32 AM // 06:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by leechazoid

Having relocated to Californa recently I have been watching this thread with interest. Encouraged by it I have politely attempted to get my billing changed to USD (my local currency).

I am sorry but it simply no as simple as Gailes implies. I am on to my third support contact and they still insist that I am permanently going to be charged Pounds.

I have directed them to Gailes post, quoted Gailes post and directed them to this thread. It is still wait and see but I assure everyone that much like others here it is not easy to accomplish. This is most frustrating and everyone here has my sympathy.

I had to request that my ticket was escalated to a supervisor. In the end, it was the supervisor, Beth, who changed the currency in my ingame store to US$. If you are living in California (i'm assuming the state on the west coast of the US, and not some other lesser known California somewhere else in the world) your situation is a mirror of mine.

It is possible that the front line agents aren't familiar with the policy of reseting currency. I used to work in support (not for NCSoft), both as a front liner and as a member of the supervising team. From my experience, policy change often, and not all front liners keep up with them.

If the results aren't coming through, ask that the issue be escalated to a supervisor*, and recap the important info: mainly that you live in the US, and would like to pay in US funds. It took me 9 days and 6 replies from support before I got the desired outcome (and an intervening voice from Gaile).

The worst thing about all this, as far as support is concerned, is that a policy has been stated on a public forum, and support isn't keeping up with it. And when support isn't keeping up it begins training customers to bypass the front line and immediately request an escalation... which means unhappy customers (because they have to wait longer for the sup), and a flood of escalations. Given the coming release of GWEN, I would have thought this pricing/region policy would have rated a "High Priority" memo to all support agents in order to avoid situations exactly like the one Leechazoid is facing.

*These are magic words in support speak. Kind of kin to saying, "I want my name and phone number removed from your calling list" to telemarketers. It generally means that the agent must stop dealing with the issue and send it up the chain; though not neccessarily to a "supervisor", it will go to someone who is empowered to do more things.

leechazoid · Jul 21, 2007, 09:59 AM // 09:59

To Lakatz,

Hi,
I took this section to mean it "could" be fixed:

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...5&postcount=66

"# If you are being charged in the wrong currency -- if you're paying in Pounds but you live in Ohio or Dollars but you like in Tokyo -- please contact support. It's really that simple, and I confirmed that today. Support can reset your region. OP -- Have you asked?"

To Countessa:

Yes our situations are very similar indeed. Which is why I was encouraged by your sucess.

I will politely request an escalation as you suggest.

My thanks.

nickthemenace · Jul 21, 2007, 10:38 AM // 10:38

I've had this problem since the store came online, but only recently decided to fix it.. after a few emails to support I finally got this reply:

Quote:

Dear Nick,

Thank you for your update.

We have now changed your account, so that you will use British Pounds in the Guild Wars in game store.

If you have other questions, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Kind regards

So all is good

Loviatar · Jul 21, 2007, 04:05 PM // 16:05

[QUOTE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mcassidy

I think you’re all missing the point here…

Ask yourself this question, why should a US company charge 143% the amount for the same product for non US nationals?

because it is not a US company setting the charges

fo the continuous information challenged here from the GW site once again

Quote:

Who is ArenaNet?

ArenaNet is a wholly owned subsidiary of NCsoft Corporation, and was founded in March 2000

ANET does not set pricing policy

Quote:

You want to know the answer? ... Simple, to make more money!. Someone in NCsoft has decided to set the price of items sold to NON US nationals higher that for US residents.

so stop blameing the US company

lakatz · Jul 21, 2007, 08:13 PM // 20:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by leechazoid

To Lakatz,

Hi,
I took this section to mean it "could" be fixed:

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...5&postcount=66

"# If you are being charged in the wrong currency -- if you're paying in Pounds but you live in Ohio or Dollars but you like in Tokyo -- please contact support. It's really that simple, and I confirmed that today. Support can reset your region. OP -- Have you asked?"

To Countessa:

Yes our situations are very similar indeed. Which is why I was encouraged by your sucess.

I will politely request an escalation as you suggest.

My thanks.

Hi Leechazoid...

Thanks for posting that for me. I did read that, and I thought she was addressing the people who posted that they were being charged in the wrong currency from the very beginning in the in-game store due to an early glitch. I hope you keep us posted on your progress, so that we can know what the policy really is now.

CC...

Now I'm more confused than ever.

I don't see how this mirrors your situation at all. In post #39 you said "...my master account shows Canada as my first location,..." According to the policy they quoted you, that would be why you were able to change the currency in the in-game store... not because of a change in policy. If I'm reading correctly, Leechazoid is saying his/her 'first' address on the master account is the UK.

To the best of my knowledge, the thing that PlayNC is now fixing is the incorrect currency in the in-game store, meaning currency that does not match the 'first' address on the master account, which is in accordance with the policy they state on their site and quoted to you.

PS... I don't believe I've said so yet, but I'm very happy for you! Congratulations on a very difficult feat... lol

Mcassidy...

Have you read this thread yet?

countesscorpula · Jul 21, 2007, 08:40 PM // 20:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by lakatz

CC...

Now I'm more confused than ever.

I don't see how this mirrors your situation at all. In post #39 you said "...my master account shows Canada as my first location,..." According to the policy they quoted you, that would be why you were able to change the currency in the in-game store... not because of a change in policy. If I'm reading correctly, Leechazoid is saying his/her 'first' address on the master account is the UK.

Maybe you'll have to back track the thread a bit. My first location on my PlayNC master account was indeed Canada. I then moved to New Zealand for about 8 months. While I was there, I updated my address (I figured more than half a year warrented an address update). I also made a purchase in the online store. I returned home to Canada in Oct. '06. I once again updated my address on the PlayNC site. More than half a year later GWEN was readying for release. I looked into the online store. Saw my prices were still in Euros. Requested a change. Was told it wasn't possible. Argued that that made no sense. Eventually convinced them that it was the right thing to do to charge me in local currency. That about sums it up.

lakatz · Jul 21, 2007, 11:13 PM // 23:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by countesscorpula

Maybe you'll have to back track the thread a bit. ... I looked into the online store. Saw my prices were still in Euros. Requested a change. Was told it wasn't possible. Argued that that made no sense. Eventually convinced them that it was the right thing to do to charge me in local currency. That about sums it up.

Have you back tracked the thread at all? Do you happen to remember other people including Gaile encouraging you to continue to communicate with support because you were "distraught" and all over the place? Do you happen to remember that Gaile stepped in on your behalf? More than once?!?

But, hey... if you want to believe that the reason they changed your currency in the in-game store was all about YOU "convincing" them to do the right thing... then by all means, do believe that. Personally I call that ungrateful... and delusional.

countesscorpula · Jul 22, 2007, 12:05 AM // 00:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by lakatz

Have you back tracked the thread at all? Do you happen to remember other people including Gaile encouraging you to continue to communicate with support because you were "distraught" and all over the place? Do you happen to remember that Gaile stepped in on your behalf? More than once?!?

But, hey... if you want to believe that the reason they changed your currency in the in-game store was all about YOU "convincing" them to do the right thing... then by all means, do believe that. Personally I call that ungrateful... and delusional.

OMFG, how many times have I thanked Gaile in this thread alone? Are you freaking illiterate? Do you suffer from amnesia?

Quote:

Originally Posted by me throughtout this thread

Thanks Gaile, for taking the time to weigh in on this issue... [P69]
Gaile, thanks for stepping forward to advocate for me, [P74]
First, Thanks again Gaile, for speaking on my behalf. [P91]
Gaile gets an A+ for her efforts [P91]
Again, thanks for the extra effort you put in on my behalf. [P98]

Quote:

Originally Posted by me defending gaile when someone claimed she/A-Net didn't care

When speaking specifically of Gaile, she personally went to bat for me on this issue, and saw to it that it was corrected (after I had already attempted to deal with support and failed in a solution). She also offered to help the other poster "Tempy". She made these offers at 10pm-11:30pm on a friday night, long after her workday had ended. So I have to say that when you say Gaile and A-Net don't care, you're a bit off target. She also took this thread and forwarded it to one of the Co-founders, so that they would be aware of unrest in the community, and the adverse effects that could have on their company.[P112]

Quote:

Originally Posted by me again

It took me 9 days and 6 replies from support before I got the desired outcome (and an intervening voice from Gaile).

So I guess saying thank you seven times wasn't enough (in this thread alone - I thanked her elsewhere too). Plus the private thank yous I sent to her guru mailbox. Yeah, I'm the most ungrateful son of a bitch out there. So delusional the paintings on my wall give periodic lectures.

Forgive me for trying to make a brief summary about the history of my account locations in order to assist you with the confussion you claimed to be experiencing. I also didn't include what I baught from playNC and the in-game store and at what times either. I also didn't include what I had for breakfast this morning. Should I include that too? I suppose i should make a sig thanking gaile, so that every post i make from this day forward Trumpets to the heavens a thunderous thanks to Gaile. Not enough? I'll get a big tattoo of a heart with Gaile scrolled across it. For the love of..... you just can't please some people!

I've said thank you to Gaile. She knows that I am grateful. She also probably appreciates that it would be a bad idea if everyone thought they had to get Gaile to fix something when they weren't happy with support. No longer would she be able to keep up with the dev team, as all her waking hours would be spent dealing with the flood of requests to advocate players to support. She stepped in to help with was above and beyond her job. She also forwarded the issue to her boss so she wouldn't NEED to advocate in the future. Now, if you're going to take a BRIEF SUMMARY intended to highlight my LOCATION HISTORY as an ungrateful slight towards Gaile, then you are just trolling for a fight. By the looks of it, I took a bite this time. In the future, consider your ignorant ass ignored.

Tempy · Jul 22, 2007, 02:42 AM // 02:42

People obviously don't understand economics and currency exchange!!! And a Big Mac is 3.20 here and 3.98 in the UK...OMFG, Blame ANET, or McDonalds!

Antithesis · Jul 22, 2007, 04:27 AM // 04:27

Here's the problem for Aussies in a nutshell -

$1 AUD = $0.87 USD
$1 AUD = $0.42 GBP

For Aussies to buy the pre-release in USD = $5.67 AUD
For Aussies to buy the pre-release in GBP = $8.15 AUD

Add currency transaction rates the bank charge on top of that and it's about $5.75 and $8.35. It is 43% dearer for us to buy using Pounds vs US Dollars!!!

The AUD is pretty steady vs Pounds but has increased in value vs USD. Regardless, using the Big Mac index as a measure of relative value of a dollar in each country, ( a Big Mac should cost about the same in AUD to buy in Australia as it costs in USD to buy in the USA...don't go to Norway BTW a Big Mac costs about $17 AUD!) we should only be paying approx $5.50 AUD not $8 AUD.

This has nothing to do with the USD to GBP to Euro exchange rate. This has to do with AUD to USD vs AUD to GBP and the pricing points NCSoft have set. Why is it 43% dearer to buy ArenaNet products in their online store for Aussies vs Yanks or Poms?

Give us (everyone) the option to pay in the currency of our choice, be it Euro, Pounds or USD and the problem is solved. If need be, force Aussies to pay in USD or Euro but FFS drop the GBP - we're tied to the value of the USD not England's over-inflated currency.

psycore · Jul 22, 2007, 09:14 AM // 09:14

The problem as I see it is that NC Europe the distro for AU have set a price of $49 for the expansion in EB Games the sole distro for GW in Australia. Yet the exchange rate from GBP or EURO blows this way over in the in game store than what we can pay for the boxed version.

This results in us getting gouged for using the online store.

They need to match the prices up properly and fairly to coincide with their planned box price structure for this area.

It makes it even worse when ANet have this "free" bonus for using the online store - the free bonus becomes a paid one now and we get no concession on this matter.

Lonesamurai · Jul 22, 2007, 09:20 AM // 09:20

Yes its a pain in the ass for Aussies and Kiwis (*ducks and covers*), but instead fo screamign about it, anyone got any good ideas that could be passed onto NCSoft Europe? They do like feedback from their customers

Quote:

Originally Posted by MirageMaster

I still dont like that americans pay less for ingame shop stuff.Its enough problem that i loose money when converting to euros from huf even though we are in the damn EU,no need to make it so easy for americans who get payed in a week what we get payed in 1 or 2 moths! GRRRRR!!!!!

you are kidding right?

even with all the bills for my flat and my business, my PART TIME job pays more and i have more disposable income than most americans i know