Green Man Gaming (A cautionary tale)

[republic]

I tried to purchase X-Com Hidden Threat through Green Man Gaming and ended up unable to do so.  Both my Paypal account and Visa would not go through.  I called Visa and they said that no attempt was made to authorize payment, so the issue was not on their end.

I contacted Green Man Gaming and got this rather cryptic response:

At Greenman Gaming we take security very seriously. As such we need to verify certain information and check expected values for all known devices and browsers.  While we cannot discuss the details, we have detected a number of account and device anomalies, that has resulted in us declining this order.

They marked the issue "solved" and that was that.  However, I didn't like that response so after a few rounds back and forth they finally stated that they refused my account because my IP address and because I had Flash blocked.  I've never had this problem with Desura, Steam, Impulse, Gamefly, Gamersgate, Amazon, Stormpowered (though it has its own issues), etc.

I was disappointed in their customer service and thought I just thought I'd share this as a cautionary tale.  I'm afraid to buy anything form them now because I might somehow trigger something and lose access to whatever I buy.

It almost makes me want to fire up my Selectric and give them a piece of my mind...

[tgb]

I've never had a problem with them, other than their running out of codes for Dishonored this weekend, but that was my fault for waiting too long before pulling the trigger.

[LongBlade]

It almost makes me want to fire up my Selectric and give them a piece of my mind...

Chances are good they read this forum and are already well aware of the strongly worded letters your Selectric can produce. Thus their refusal of service. They just can't risk letting you down.

[Nefaro]

Wow.  Because of your IP address? 

Someone using your local internet host for repeated fraud or hacking attempts with them?  WTF??

I had a major problem with checking out via Gamersgate a couple weekends ago.  Lasted for like two or three days and all the card services pointed me back to GG as denying it (for some odd reason).   It eventually went through, though.  Is this what all the hacking has gifted us with?  Over-paranoid 'net companies?

[republic]

So anyhow in my last communication with them I explained that I use adblock and flashblock to try and save bits because of the download caps associated with my wireless connections and that my IP often shows up as from other states because of my 4G wireless provider (and also all satellite Internet users).  I told them I could enable flash, but I couldn't do anything about my IP.  They closed the ticket with no response.

I was completely shocked, but I guess my shock is more of a testament to Amazon/Newegg and other sites with stellar customer service that I have experienced.  In my experience digital customer service is often better than physical customer service because of the inherent difficulty and frustration associated with trying to deal with someone using only text.

There is a silver lining, because the game I was trying to buy went on sale at Amazon a day later for even cheaper.  :)

[Ubercat]

There are too many digital retailers out there to get hung up on any particular one. If somebody won't play ball, I vote with my wallet and move on.

[Huw the Poo]

Indeed, and this is a reason I won't put all my eggs in one basket, unlike those incomprehensible people who only buy games if they're on Steam.  It only takes one misunderstanding or messed-up payment, and bang, your collection is gone.

[Nefaro]

Indeed, and this is a reason I won't put all my eggs in one basket, unlike those incomprehensible people who only buy games if they're on Steam.  It only takes one misunderstanding or messed-up payment, and bang, your collection is gone.

Yeah.  Risky ideal to stick to.

Hell, I was alarmed to read that modding you Steam games can result in your account being banned and you being locked out from your library.  >:(  While this was meant to be used against cheaters modding their multiplayer games, it leaves interpretation wide open to Steam employees.  Buyer beware?