Angry User

Another really detailed and predictably ignored rant has been posted, with yet another user exclaiming their dissatisfaction with Home's terrible customer service:

I have had it up to here with SCEA's lousy service. I purchased a number of items on Playstation Home and SEVERAL of them were NOT as show in the description. I've contacted SCEA via their support line three times and each time I was put on hold for well over twenty minutes before being transferred to person after person who all said the same basic thing. Contact SCEA about SCEA purchases doesn't work. There is nothing they can do, even though I KNOW this to be incorrect as the Terms of Service Clearly state " All content is provided by SCEA, including content created or published by third parties." as well as each purchasing being "Solely between you and SCEA" with lovely words like "Although SCEA will try to ENSURE that all product descriptions and it's associates terms and conditions are accurate, errors may occur." as well as "You will have the option of either reconfirming your order at the correct price or canceling it." SO if they get the PRICE wrong they can cancel it but if they get the DESCRIPTION or the preview image is different than the PURCHASED ITEM they can't cancel it? Unacceptable.

I've spoken to three different people, Katrina, James and Mike the Senior Supervisor at the SCEA support line and ALL of them have given me incorrect information. I was told I would need to contact "HOME moderators" for purchase problems and issues and that "There was no phone number to reach them." I was also told there was a complaint form under contact information. So I go to check contact information and low and behold there is a number to contact them and NO COMPLAINT FORM. So where do I turn to now? How do I get my money's worth? How do I make sure I am not unfairly treated? I've half a mind to simply turn this over to the better business Bureau, maybe THEN SCEA would stop abusing my financial situation and sending me in circles I am extremely dissatisfied with the services I've gotten and trying to find resolution for this problem has only cost me MORE money.

WHERE is the complaint form? WHO do I contact? I'm at my wit's end and SONY is about to loose one of it's most loyal customers and all of his friends and families business. I'm about to tear my hair out here over a FEW virtual items simply because I can't get ANYONE to actually listen to me without telling me FALSE information. Please help me!

 Well said. However, per usual no answer has been given, and no refunds in sight. The user posts later on:

Well finally a response with information. Thank you. And I did indeed send an email to the Consumer Services department, they sent an automated email a day later saying they would response within 24 to 48 hours. So, this is the third day, and I'm still waiting. I'll post the exact e-mail I sent them. Though how else I'm suppose to contact anybody else or when or where or why is becoming rather tiresome since it always seems to be somebody else problem which no one I'm ACTUALLY talking to can do anything about, whereas those who supposedly CAN do something about it- Haven't talked back to me yet-. I still have yet to see anything regarding a complaint form as was told to me by the official SCEA tech support people. ...

I purchased a number of items on Playstation Home and several of them were not as show in the description. I've contacted SCEA via their support line three times and I was put on hold for well over twenty minutes before being transferred to person after person who all said the same basic thing. Contacting SCEA about SCEA purchases doesn't work, there is nothing they can do; even though I know this to be incorrect as the Terms of Service Clearly state “All content is provided by SCEA, including content created or published by third parties.” as well as each purchasing being “Solely between you and SCEA”. I've spoken to three different people, Katrina, James and Mike the Senior Supervisor at the SCEA support line and all of them have given me incorrect information. I was told I would need to contact “HOME moderators” for purchase problems and issues and that “There was no phone number to reach them.”

Yet the ToS also says “Although SCEA will try to ENSURE that all product descriptions and its associates terms and conditions are accurate, errors may occur.” And not two lines later states, “You will have the option of either reconfirming your order at the correct price or canceling it.” So if the price is incorrect it is possible to cancel it but if the description or the preview image is incorrect it can not be canceled? Unacceptable.

I was also directed to the forums and contact information for a complaint form; arriving there online I not only did not find the complaint form, but a second number to contact for support. This has lead me to believe I was directly misled simply to get off the line and or/given false information to frustrate me into no longer following the issue. But I will not. As stated below are the purchased items and a short reason for my extreme dissatisfaction with these purchases. I would like these orders to be canceled, the virtual items removed from my account, and the purchase amount of Five Dollars and Forty Five cents ($5.45) at the very least re-accredited to my Playstation Network Wallet.
If this is not possible, though I have been told “it is not impossible”, I would like to cancel all previous purchases, have them removed and the cash amount of twenty dollars ($20.00) returned to me via mail for this unacceptable and inexcusable breach of service etiquette.

 I'd also like the hundreds I spent on Home back. Hell, that's the entire reason this blog exists!

More Child Harassment

Another kid attacked on home:

Someone was just dancing so my bro thought hed say hello and then we had a conversation with them, in the mid of the talk. Another user started insulting my bro. ex( ur stupid) (ur a baby) more but to explicit so i cant say and so on so i reported them and we went on our way but my bro got really hurt so im just trying to help my bro out please mercuryvalintine read my pm and maybe help me n this matter

Dirty Hippies!

According to this post:

I know this is not going to be a very popular post, but I really feel compelled to express my thoughts about this issue.

Two days after the most recent update and the SOCOM space, I looked out over a landscape of scores of white t-shirts with an AK slung over their shoulders. I have to be honest, the sight gave me a cold chill. I asked myself, "Is this the type of values we what to promote in our society?"

Many of you will respond with, "Its just a game", and you may be right, Home might be a game (the jury is still out on that one), but I am unclear how that justifies the glorification and public display of assault weapons.

We are not talking about a "display item" for your personal space; I didn't see any "gun safes" or "trigger locks" available as add-ons; You don't need to be part of the military or receive any special training about gun safety; You are just some guy in a t-shirt with an assault weapon.

I suppose I am feeling like this promotion was a little irresponsible. I'll take it a step further and ask, "Sony, what were you thinking?" I guess I can answer that one myself with a sound, "Ka-Ching!"

As much as I'd love to slap this whiny effeminate douchebag in the mouth, he-she brings up a good point. If home is going to cater to children, then why are they smearing their Call of duty knockoffs in childrens' faces? I have no problem with the guns for sure. But the fact that they promote violent war games in an open area exposed to impressionable kids, then we have a different issue.

F_UCK_ME_IM_WET? LUV_2_POUND_VAG!

Another fun name found on Home

PS Home MODs like wet pussies, who doesn't?

Written by: Kapow

So it seems moderators don't care what people's PSN IDs are.

"F_UCK_ME_IM_WET" (for you slower people out there it's, Fuck me, I'm wet) is still probably running around Home (and games), unpunished. Yes, having an offensive (generally offensive , not just what You consider offensive) PSN ID is indeed a reportable offense. You can report people with offensive PSN IDs by filling out this compliant form.

I was playing the Skate 3 demo yesterday with 2 people that went by the names "jizzbusters" (exact spelling) and "jigglytits" (not exact spelling). Now, are those two names offensive? Generally, yes. Did I personally report them? No. If you're wondering why, it's because A.) I, personally, wasn't offended and B.) I though the names were kind of funny and they fun to Skate with.

So, it's up to you guys whether or not to report these, or any other offensive names you come across (if You are offended), or it'll be harder for the MODs to take action against offenders. But again, it's reeeaaalllyyy hard to offend me so I rarely find myself reporting people.

So go by your own judgment. Even if it is generally offensive, I'd say if it doesn't offend you personally, let someone who is offended, do the reporting.

That's just my opinion though.

And thanks to the Home-Watch Fan for supplying the picture.

Hai uve bin banned kthnxbai. --Update

Some of you will be pleased to know that I have been banned from the Lithium forums, again. And some of you will be crying yourselves to sleep (Anonoman).

Don't get me wrong, I've been spending Way to much time over there anyways, getting Jack Buser to post, criticizing retards, and being number one in Kudos' for a day straight. So this will be a much needed break. For those of you keeping track, the first time I was banned it was for having a link to the youtube video of Ralph "harassing" the Lochwoods. This time it's for saying f*ck (yes, f*uck, not fuck). If anyone can think of any other reason, like me making 2/3 of the HCMs butt hurt, let me know.

Don't worry folks, I'll be back over there in 28 days to continue bringing Home-Watch flavored justice.

Good luck average joes, keep sending in e-mails when Lithium and Home staff do you wrong, we've got your backs.

[UPDATE] Sorry guys, make that 56 days. I tried a little shenanigans last night.

Keep fighting the good fight. And @Anonymous #1: We do have more info and news on Cydonia and Locust, but we can't just lay all of our cards down on the table right now.

http://bit.ly/9QLZX8

STFU Black Spammer!

Via email:

hi love the blog wanted to say i have a problem! i am a black guy about 16. there is a lot of racism on home. i talked to this girl for a bit and a guy friend of hers came up and called me a nigger. he used seperated bubbles to do it but i was like wtf. she asked him to stop but then he called her a nigger lover. she was like wtf and took him off her list and he got real mad and started ranting that i was a jiggaboo porch monkey nigger darkie anything he could think of. we both blocked him and then he started messaging us on the xmb so we left to another part of home. later i was on the forums and i got like 30 messages from him all racist stuff. i asked her to check hers and she had more then me. so we reported him. this was like two months ago and he still bugs both of us. we report him on home for stalking cause we have him muted. im sure hes saying bad stuff but you cant report what you cant see. we report him on the forums. we posted a topic on the home forums about it asking why no one is listening to us. it got deleted and got a pm saying you cant use ppls names. so i reposted it without his name asking why no action has been done. i got a four day ban for spamming. those were the only posts i posted since may how is that spam?? why cant we get this racist stalker to leave us alone and why wont staff do ANYTHING??? please post this to show ppl home is lazy and would rather cover a problem then fixing it!!

We apologize that you had to go through that. Racism on home is rarely addressed. It's a sad and unfortunate thing. Be sure that if this type of stuff happens, we will be here to allow you to have a voice.

GET LOUD!

This blog gets a lot of mixed reactions. Especially since we single out and pick on people. It's usually for the greater good, and hell, it's funny. But the main point is this: We believe in the possibility of Home, we are Home users, and we are upset.

The issues with Home are many. The constant sexual harassment, the massive amount of bugs that remain unresolved, the complete disregard of it's users by the staff, and many other issues. We would like to address the Home community, and see if we can rally you to make a change.

Now, there are a LOT of folks who are upset with the direction Home has taken. If you read the forums, no one has any confidence in the staff's abilities, and are disappointed. Recently groups have sprung up to help work on Home's problems. Now, we're all for people voicing their opinions. God knows the good folks of Lithium and the HCM combined have worked hard to silence any naysayers. However, there's one issue that these groups aren't addressing.

The Home Community Management Team, and the forum staff at Lithium do not listen to anything that you say or do.

Now you can create all these themed clubs, give them cute nicknames, and hold debates all you like. The combined efforts of Lithium/HCM have worked very hard to silence anything that would give Home any bad press. You can complain, but if it's on their turf and they are the ones that determine what you can and cannot say. So let me explain the roles of those who are the biggest roadblocks.

1. Lithium. Lithium is a company of web development hacks. Fifteen minutes on their forums can give you a very good idea of how awful the forum setup is. However, as bad as it is, that's only an introduction to the main problem, which is the Lithium staff. Lithium is paid by Sony to operate the functions of the forums. They keep users from spamming, help users find the information they seek, and general functions of supporting an online community based around Sony's Playstation products. However, you need to understand the people who are operating the forums are low paid high school graduates, and maybe a handful of those going to community college. They are young, inexperienced, and full of anger & rage at their parents for forcing them to pay rent. These folks work hard to CENSOR, SILENCE, MODIFY, OR BLOCK any criticism of Sony and it's platforms. This including Home. (This also includes banning, warning, and editing the signatures of ANYONE CAUGHT LINKING TO OR SUPPORTING THIS BLOG)
   
2. Home Community Management. (HCM) These are another crew of inexperienced hacks. To clarify direct information, I have been informed by insider sources that two of the main HCM (CydoniaX & Locust_Star) have -zero- clue what they are doing. I was also informed GlassWalls is mediocre at his position, but better then the others. What the Home staff will do in order to maintain a level of order is deliberately harass "trouble users" and provoke them into some type of interaction that will cause them to get banned. They ignore any and all tech support related questions, chiming in rarely when people make too much noise. (Or sometimes to cover the problem they'll lock or delete tech support posts) They also create user groups and situations to obtain free ideas and services. One being their failed HVC (Home Community Volunteer) program. Somehow they didn't see how giving a bunch of teenage kids free range to act like authority figures would backfire.
3. Home Development Staff. Seriously, how long does it take to patch up the collision detection in Red Bull Beach? How hard is it to make the Bride Hair Wig stay on the avatar's head? How difficult is it to modify the way the wardrobe is handled? The answer: Not that hard. As a developer myself, I could have had all the issues that plague most of Home finished in a few Hours. Bigger ones a week or less. These aren't complex issues.
   

The efforts of Home users to promote progress have been quieted at every possible angle. You can create as many clubs as you like, post on the forums until they ban you as well. Nothing is going to happen because the combined efforts of the HCM/Lithium will quiet you. They will censor you. If need be, they will remove you in order to protect their interests. Their interests are simple: To look good, and to maintain job security.

Let us ask you this. If you walked into a McDonald's and ordered a meal, wouldn't you be disappointed if your french fry box was empty? Wouldn't you be disappointed? Wouldn't you voice an opinion? What if when you complained about your missing food they banned you from ever entering again? Chances are you'd call up the people above them and complain. So why is Home any different? It's a free service sure, but how many of you have invested money into it? Created friends and social circles? And it could all be taken away for something as simple as irritating the staff, or in some cases their friends. So let's continue the McDonald's analogy. Say the Manager of your local McDonald's was friends with someone you didn't get along with. When you both are in the restaurant, this other person gets much better treatment. They get free food items, they get their requests filled before you, and they can break the rules and go walk around in the kitchen with the staff, while the staff ignores you. Pretty upsetting. But this is exactly what is happening in Home. You are paying money that you work to earn, and in return you are being treated like garbage, ignored, and plain blown off. And if you have the GALL to speak up, you are placed on someone's shitlist where you have to walk on broken glass in hopes that you're not banned.

THE MOMENT YOU SPEND ONE DIME ON HOME YOU ARE A CUSTOMER. AS A CUSTOMER YOU DESERVE THE RIGHT TO BE HEARD AND TREATED WITH RESPECT.

So we urge everyone, if you are upset, make some noise. Get loud. They might be able to censor & silence you on their turf, but their turf is just a grain of sand in the sea of the internet. Start a blog, make some calls. Remain anonymous if you have to, but understand, none of these "improvement clubs," debates, or forum posts are going to get the job done. You need to get out there. I'd encourage people to use the following tools to make a little noise:

Lithium:
6121 Hollis Street
Suite 4
Emeryville, CA 94608
Call (510) 653-6800
Fax (510) 653-6801

Sony Tech Support:
Phone: (800) 345-7669
Hours of Operation Monday through Saturday 6:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m
Sunday 7:00 a.m. - 6:30 p.m Pacific Standard Time.

Start a Blog:
http://www.blogger.com/

Upload videos of Home issues:
http://www.youtube.com/

http://vimeo.com/

Contact Various Game Journalism Sites:
http://www.ign.com/
http://www.1up.com/
http://kotaku.com/
http://g4tv.com/

And last but not least, don't be afraid to band together as a group and bombard someone's contact that has influence. Don't sit back quietly as Home sponges your money and then screws you for it. If you don't stand up for yourself, they will continue to walk all over you.

Sexual Harassment? locked.

A few days ago a fairly average post came up:

Dear Forum Admins,

I've been noticing an increase of male avatars who seem to chase after female avatars who may or may not be really female but I have seen more 'men' chasing after women on this game. The reporting feature in the same by pressing select does not seem to work at all so I ask this. Could you setup any alternative means to report sexual harassment through PS home or through a reporting feature that could be implemented to the PS3 itself?

Luckily Locust_Star stopped by to drop a gem of wisdom:

Our moderation team receives all reports, regardless of the pesky Error message that some users receive when using the Submit a Report feature. Please continue to use this feature to report any violations of the Home EULA or PSN ToSUA.

Then locked the topic. We can't have folks thinking there's no way to take care of the HUNDREDS of sexual harassers that women deal with daily. I love the "pesky Error message that some users receive when using the Submit a Report feature." Oh, that pesky error where you can't submit sexual harassment! Crazy!

Wait...What? -- UPDATE

Written by: Kapow

Am I missing something? You're telling me this guy can have a big signature with giant letters that say "THE STONERS LOUNGE" with weed leaves bordering it, but a certain someone gets banned for having a youtube link to the Ralph vs. Home Talk Show video in their signature? Oh Sony Forums, I wag my finger at you.

[Update] It seems as though that persons signature has been removed. I guess a MOD or Admin was lurking around here and saw this post. You're welcome, Sony forum staff. No need to thank us.