Activision: the hack – the ban – the theft

I enjoy gaming, my passion and all I play has been the Call of Duty franchise. I set up may Activision account back in 2012, so it’s been a while!

About three weeks ago my user name was changed from NRSilversurfer to Flawless, not by me. Yes, someone had logged into my account, and so my problems begun.

The first issue was, the email address I used to set the account up some twenty years ago was talktalk.net. This domain no longer exists and having spent hours on the phone to TalkTalk it became apparent there was absolutely no chance of receiving any emails sent to that address. It had been erased from existence. This compounded my issue with Activision because any changes like password, email or associations had to been verified via an email sent to the TalkTalk address, yes you guessed it, I can’t access it. The only upside is that the person who had logged into my Activision account was also unable to make changes.

MW2 has been my outlet, my place for wellness and chilling. I logged in to play and saw the name change. Panic set in. How did this happen? Could I change it back? (found out I have to wait six months), My gaming persona has been by NRSilversurfer on TikTok where I have been building a steady following, how do I explain the change. The name is a bit pompous.

Then I started the journey with Activision support. I say journey it has been all one sided so far. I submitted several tickets, some wordier than others.

The other player continued to log in and play MW2 with my account. Why? Was it because of the level I had obtained, at the time of writing, 658. I can only guess. I attempted to communicate with myself through friends accounts. No response. I was able to boot them out of matches by logging in as me, though not consistently. Still waiting for support to get back to me. No doubt, if they did respond it would be to an email I can’t get.

A day or so ago , I logged in to find a notice telling me I have been permanently banned. WHAT?!

I, of course, submitted an appeal. This allowed more text so I summarised the above. This is now in review. I hope the respond to my new email I provided. The thought comes to mind how can the validate me. I can do this through the connected associations like Twitter, XBox, and personal ID. Let’s hope they are sensible. This appeal is still being reviewed. I’ll update you.

I have spend hundreds in COD on coins, skins, mods so if they don’t remove this ban, I will be sueing them for theft.

I will add, Activision is a consumer driven company, that provides absolute zero support structure. You really need to have something better in place. A start could be as little as an acknowledge of cases.

Have you had bad experiences with Activision support. Let me know about it in the comments below.

Category: Customer Service | No Comments »

Twitter ROI is 965% higher than Adwords. Guest post by Ehsan K

All businesses around the world operate in different ways and have different objective but, they all have one very important goal in common;  ROI.

ROI is a question you hear everywhere and almost by everyone; but in different shape and form of course.

Businesses adopted almost every new technology and platform to ensure they are seen by their customers and prospects at all times. This is particularly true when it comes to social media. However one thing has remained vague since adoption of social media, in 2009, by businesses; and that is ROI!

According to Javier Burón, Founder and CEO of SocialBro, 88% of marketers want to know how to measure ROI of their social media activities. Javier presented an interesting slide in which he broke down different channels (most used by marketers for advertising); and Twitter clearly stands out!

SocialBro

As it is evident above, every channel is pushing ROI; and of course deployment of a specific channel would depend on type of business and target audience. Thus, it is critical for businesses and marketers to know their audience well before spending money on any channel; in particular on social media where everything is all about conversation and content.

Good social media content has to be a combination of relevancy, reach and quality. Needless to say, no-one can guarantee and even achieve ROI in social media unless they are relevant and meaningful to their audience; which begins with listening. This is possibly why Twitter is constantly improving its usability and accessibility; to be easier for people to use the channel.

According to some anecdotal research, well over 65% of Twitter users are more likely to buy from brands they follow. So you can guess what would be the case if brands don’t interact with their followers on Twitter and mobile has a major role in converting Twitter followers to actual business customers. Therefore having an attribution model in place is very important; something can substantially help measuring ROI.

Search Engine Watch

So, unlike many brands competing for more followers on Twitter or more likes on Facebook; numbers, including number of posts by brands, are to some large extent irrelevant to success in social media, proactive engagement and meaningful conversations are the way forward. So, don’t worry about ROI, just try to make sense; and remain transparent and authentic at all times. this way people trust you and happily spend their money with you; then ROI in social media will no longer be vague.

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Category: Customer Service, Social Media, Twitter | No Comments »

Best Practices for Customer Service on Twitter

Ben MartinTwitter has become the go-to medium for customers looking to provide feedback or solve problems, brands must adapt their Twitter strategy to better serve their customers. Below you will find a check list that best-in-class brands have adopted to better handle customer service requests and maintain positive sentiment about their brand.

 

1.Dedicated handle
Brands who have adopted dedicated customer service handles have an easier time managing customer service requests for both the dedicated handle and for the brand’s main handle. With a dedicated handle, brands can ensure that customer service requests are being taken care of in a manner consistent with the brand’s overall customer retention strategy. A dedicated customer service handle can help your brand separate a wide range of customer service requests from other types of mentions so you can effectively monitor your social customer service process. In addition, it can be a great way to naturally gain followers. Through proactive monitoring and engagement, you have the ability to build positive sentiment around your brand, which will help increase your audience size and encourage engagement.

2.Dedicate team and the right tools
When a customer service handle isn’t staffed the response time increases dramatically while the response rates decrease. Knowing when most of your customer service requests come in via twitter can help you determine the best time to staff your customer service accounts. There are several great tools that can monitor your most active Tweet times.

3. Canned answers + resources
Having responses on-hand can help reduce your response time and help increase response rate, as your customer service representatives have more sophisticated resources available to resolve issues. In addition, outline where you’ll direct different types of customer service requests, whether you ask for more information from your customers, direct them to email, direct them to a webpage, or solve the issue in a direct message.

4. Rules of engagement and primary handle guidelines
If you’re debating on whether or not to set up a dedicated customer service handle, you’ll want to determine how to handle customer service requests that are directed to the primary handle. You’ll also want to monitor mentions of your brand name in the event that Twitter users aren’t following, or aren’t aware of your brand handles. Effective monitoring can help resolve customer issues before they start – helping to keep sentiments positive around your brand handle. Not only that, let your followers know (daily) when your customer service handle is staffed. This will help to reduce posts when that handle is not staffed and or set expectations of response time

5. Promoting your handle
When you’re setting up a dedicated customer service handle, consider where you’ll promote the handle – for example, you may want to link your handle via your customer support page, so that users have a range of options to contact your customer service representatives. You may want to also find a way to link your main handle to your customer service handle (for example, in your brand bio) so that users who visit your profile are aware that you’ve got a dedicated customer service handle.

6. Reducing your response time
This is one way of letting your followers know that they are important to your business. In addition, it’s a proactive way to address negative word of mouth that may affect the sentiment generated around your brand.

7. Responding to as many mentions as possible
Responding to a majority of requests is a great way to keep your followers happy, and engaged. If your brand responds to as many mentions as possible, your users are more likely to mention your brand handle more often, which means your handle has the potential to reach followers who may be outside your reach.

CONCLUSION:
Understanding the rules of engagement for customer service on Twitter is a crucial step to managing your overall customer service strategy. As more and more users turn to Twitter to ask questions, give feedback, praise or complain about a brand, brands need to be proactive in managing their brand image – by showing customers that they’re listening, and that they care. Since Twitter is a word-of-mouth platform, these steps are essential for any company looking to increase their business in the digital world.

Category: Customer Service, Relationships, Smarter Business, Twitter | No Comments »