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EA online Origin shop and customer services doesn’t give a f**k!

Total Posts: 1

Joined 2012-07-26

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I recently wanted to get a new adventure game called Hoodwink. It seems the only way to buy it is through the EA online shop which has recently become Origin.
I happen to live in Thailand at the moment. I’m not Thai, I’m English and although I’ve made some efforts to learn some of the language it’s really not that easy and therefore there is no way I could use a Thai website.
So, imagine my difficulties when trying to use the new EA Origin store when, because I’m in Thailand, it will only display in Thai!!
Despite these difficulties I was still determined to download Hoodwink, so I persevered and managed to download the Origin Beta program which apparently I needed on my PC to be able to download games. Unfortunately, this also only displays in Thai, even though it has a change language option, it makes no difference and I’m still stuck with everything in Thai.
After several frustrating attempts to get the website and the Origin Beta Program to display in English, I decided to contact Origin customer services. This is also a complete nightmare! Do a Google search for Origin Customer Services and see how many other frustrated Origin users there are out there!!
Anyway, after lots of going around in circles on the Origin website followed by lots of Google searches I finally stumbled upon a way to contact Origin via live chat (you need to set your language to English US and then you get the live chat option under help).
Below is the transcript of my conversation with their customer service representative. Nothing against him personally but you can decide for yourself if you think that this is a customer service team that cares about their customers!??...

This live chat occured on 14th July 2012. As yet, I have had no contact from Origin or EA. You guys suck!

Vinod:
Thanks for contacting EA Help! My name is Vinod how may I help you?
you:
I am new customer with Origin. I live in Thailand but am English. I don’t speak or read Thai. The Origin website always displays in Thai and even though I have set the language to English GB and tried English US the site is still displayed in Thai. How can I fix this?
Vinod:
Please do not worry, I’m here to help you out.
Vinod:
Please try and change the Origin language setting to English then set English in origin store as well.
you:
where do I do that? I’ve set the language to english in the Origin Beta store that I downloaded but that still displays in Thai? How do I change the language on the website? I can’t see an option for that because it’s all in Thai!
Vinod:
At to top-left there should be Thai flag with drop down arrow, just check it.
you:
I’ve tried that a few times. If I click on the flag it chucks me to this url http://www.ea.com/asia?websso=1 Which seems to be EA but doesn’t display the website properly. All the writing is in blue Times New Roman font down the left side of the page.
Vinod:
Please try and change it from origin Beta sore instead of browser.
you:
Uh… What? I don’t understand?
you:
Change what? And how?
Vinod:
You can visit origin store in Origin beta as well?
you:
I don’t really understand what you mean? I only joined today. I wanted to download a game, so I had to download the Origin beta store thingy for my PC. I don’t know why it’s beta or if there is an alternative? What do you mean by “visit origin store in origin beta?
Vinod:
Please visit the store at: store.origin.com
you:
Um.. That’s where I was anyway? It’s still all in Thai and if I click the Thai flag it directs me to the stuffed up EA site…
you:
Just checked quickly and it seems that any EA page I try to view is not working properly…
Vinod:
You can try and access it in different browser.
you:
I was originally trying from Google Chrome. I just tried in Internet Explorer, it’s still exactly the same.
Vinod:
I
Vinod:
**I’m sorry but in this case you would require to use the page as it displays as there is no option from our end to make any change as Origin store’s language is according to your region/country
you:
Vinod. That is rediculous! Any other website allows you to display in the language of your choice. And why does the Origin beta download allow you to choose a language but then not display in it? Why are all of the EA sites and pages I’m trying to access not displaying properly now, when they were fine before i downloaded this beta thing?
Vinod:
I can understand your anxiousness with this. Had I been in your place, I would have felt the same.
you:
So your answer is, too bad, you have to use the site in Thai?! Tell me, if you were in my place, would you bother to continue trying to use this service? Cos it sucks!
you:
The reason I wanted to download the game in the first place is because I’m setting up an adventure game review site. I’ll be sure to tell all my readers not to bother with Origin if they live in a country where they don’t speak the local language. Because I’m sure there aren’t that many English speaking people in non-English speaking countries!!
Vinod:
I would forward your issue to the expert team so they can investigate your issue and reply you via e-mail regarding this.

Confused

     

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Total Posts: 506

Joined 2003-09-10

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At least he admits he would be upset about it, too. Meh

Did you see this thread? http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/6436521.page

I really know nothing about how this stuff works, but since it’s based on IP address, is there some way you could spoof your IP address so Origin thinks you’re in an English-speaking country?

     
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Total Posts: 109

Joined 2009-03-01

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And that’s the reason I don’t buy EA games anymore.

     
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Total Posts: 347

Joined 2006-07-30

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I despise Origin. I recently bought Alice: madness returns from Amazon and was forced to go through Origin to get it to work because of an install issue. It took multiple attempts to get the game to install because of a DRM Issue. Later on, there was a section of the game that would cause a game-killing crash, again related to a DRM issue. I ended up having to skip this part of the game, otherwise I would have had to quit the game altogether and not finish it. Looking online, it was apparent this was a common problem many were having secondary to the DRM, to which EA’s answer was, (after persistent denial) nothing can be done. I would never, ever buy an Origin game unless there really was no other option. I would contrast this with Steam. Many people on the forums seem to have a theoretical problem with Steam and the use of their client. Well, I have never had ny trouble whatsoever with Steam. Quite the opposite,games always run and install correctly through the client, and this I what matters in my book.

Origin is terrible, and I doubt I would buy from them even if they started having crazy Steam-like sales (har har).

     
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Total Posts: 212

Joined 2005-10-07

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It always amuses me when people are actually trying to give these useless corporations their money, and yet they seem intent on making it as hard as possible. It’s as though they almost want to encourage piracy.

I think that you made a very valiant effort here to obtain the game by legal means, and right now you could probably get a working copy much more easily via a torrent site.

     
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Total Posts: 2648

Joined 2004-01-18

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fov - 26 July 2012 08:03 PM

At least he admits he would be upset about it, too. Meh

Did you see this thread? http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/6436521.page

I really know nothing about how this stuff works, but since it’s based on IP address, is there some way you could spoof your IP address so Origin thinks you’re in an English-speaking country?


Yes he could just use a proxy server. it’s the same way I can watch videos online that are US only.

     

An adventure game is nothing more than a good story set with engaging puzzles that fit seamlessly in with the story and the characters, and looks and sounds beautiful.
Roberta Williams

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Total Posts: 2648

Joined 2004-01-18

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I do have to roll my eyes at EA for naming their download service after one of the greatest game development companies of all time. A studio that EA bought and the destroyed.

Bring back Wing Commander and Ultima.

     

An adventure game is nothing more than a good story set with engaging puzzles that fit seamlessly in with the story and the characters, and looks and sounds beautiful.
Roberta Williams

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Total Posts: 12

Joined 2009-06-23

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Lucien21 - 28 July 2012 03:42 AM

I do have to roll my eyes at EA for naming their download service after one of the greatest game development companies of all time. A studio that EA bought and the destroyed.

Bring back Wing Commander and Ultima.

I’ve been feeling particularly nostalgic of Westwood Studios of late (I always am come to think of it). EA are the bringers of ruination.

     
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Total Posts: 347

Joined 2006-07-30

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Allow me to bump this thread to bitch about the Origin download speeds.  With the American McGee kickstarter going, I wanted to re-download and play Alice: Madness Returns.  I’ve been trying to download it for 2 days now.  The Origin download speed is around 100 kb/sec.  My internet runs 30-40 mb/sec on Speedtest.  I usually get real world speeds of 5-6 mb/sec when downloading from Steam. 

Why, oh why, God, is Origin so terrible in every way?  Sealed Lips

     

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