My girfirend's EA Origin account vanished

[bejamartins]

She hasn't played in a while, but trying to login, Origin said it couldn't find the account. She also disappeared from my friends list.

She never bought a game, but she had a big library because of the On The House program.

We contacted support and they said they couldn't do anything about it. She still had the welcome email but they said it didn't help.

[emosun]

did you have a question related to this story

[bejamartins]

14 minutes ago, emosun said:

did you have a question related to this story

Just a vent / warning tale and a discussion point.

[Quackers101]

email but nothing?

how long between each? could it have been deleted or hacked?

if you used some email with them, they could or should be able to do something with it, or if you use the same email again would show if its still used or not, in create new account.

[LogicalDrm]

9 hours ago, bejamartins said:

She never bought a game, but she had a big library because of the On The House program.

This is the key point. If you don't spend any money, there's no reason for account to exist. It was most likely cleaned as part of cleaning out spam bots, scammer etc. which are created, but don't actually do anything.

 

Same thing is why Valve requires you to spend money on Steam to access some features. So to counter that in future, pay $5 for anything and they won't do anything. Even if you don't log-in in years or spend more money. Just how my Origin account works. I have spent like €100 on it, but not used it or bought anything in 3 years. But since I have paid at some point and not violated any ToC, they have no reason or right to kick me out.

[bejamartins]

13 hours ago, LogicalDrm said:

This is the key point. If you don't spend any money, there's no reason for account to exist. It was most likely cleaned as part of cleaning out spam bots, scammer etc. which are created, but don't actually do anything.

 

Same thing is why Valve requires you to spend money on Steam to access some features. So to counter that in future, pay $5 for anything and they won't do anything. Even if you don't log-in in years or spend more money. Just how my Origin account works. I have spent like €100 on it, but not used it or bought anything in 3 years. But since I have paid at some point and not violated any ToC, they have no reason or right to kick me out.

Thank you for unlocking the thread. That makes sense, though they deny it ofc. She did have play time on the account though.

 

I gave her a code from Amazon Prime Gaming, but I guess it won't hurt much just to buy something from the store as well in prevention.

21 hours ago, Quackers101 said:

email but nothing?

how long between each? could it have been deleted or hacked?

if you used some email with them, they could or should be able to do something with it, or if you use the same email again would show if its still used or not, in create new account.

I'll just copy here what I sent you in PM earlier for discussion sake.

 

I asked for help directly in the live chat. Been maybe a year or so since she logged in. 

They say the account could have be moved to another email and if so, they lose all registry of the previous one, so yes, may have been hacked.

She created a new account with the same mail and it went through as a new one.

[Biohazard777]

On 10/9/2021 at 4:25 AM, bejamartins said:

We contacted support and they said they couldn't do anything about it

I would contact EA support again.
I had this situation a few years ago where I bought a key (Dead Space 3) for a friend from a grey-market site (at that time I really didn't feel like rewarding EA for shutting down Visceral Games) and the key was already activated (who would have thought heh, avoid gameflip.com btw).
Anyhow I needed a little bit of evidence to start my dispute and get my money back, 1st support person wasn't helpful at all and even closed the live chat on me... I waited 15 minutes and tried again, got a different support agent and got exactly what I needed:

Spoiler

Be polite, be truthful and try a few more times with different support agents, you might get lucky as I did (they didn't have to tell me anything). If it works out - great, if it doesn't - it won't waste too much of your time.

[bejamartins]

9 minutes ago, Biohazard777 said:

I would contact EA support again.
I had this situation a few years ago where I bought a key (Dead Space 3) for a friend from a grey-market site (at that time I really didn't feel like rewarding EA for shutting down Visceral Games) and the key was already activated (who would have thought heh, avoid gameflip.com btw).
Anyhow I needed a little bit of evidence to start my dispute and get my money back, 1st support person wasn't helpful at all and even closed the live chat on me... I waited 15 minutes and tried again, got a different support agent and got exactly what I needed:

  Reveal hidden contents

Be polite, be truthful and try a few more times with different support agents, you might get lucky as I did (they didn't have to tell me anything). If it works out - great, if it doesn't - it won't waste too much of your time.

I'll try to talk to them again but doubt it'll change much. They probably wiped her out of the database as a cleanup as @LogicalDrmsaid. Maybe if we're lucky they can add the On The House games again but I'd be surprised, considering there's no way to prove what games were added to the old account.

 

I had two similar cases to your with Kinguin but with Steam codes. Steam on both times gave the exact date when they were redeemed. I avoid Kinguin these days because of that. On both times happened with reputable sellers. And between the hassle of waiting an answer from Steam and the refund process I end up prefer paying a little more somewhere else.

[Quackers101]

5 hours ago, Biohazard777 said:

I would contact EA support again.
I had this situation a few years ago where I bought a key (Dead Space 3) for a friend from a grey-market site (at that time I really didn't feel like rewarding EA for shutting down Visceral Games) and the key was already activated (who would have thought heh, avoid game****.com btw).
Anyhow I needed a little bit of evidence to start my dispute and get my money back, 1st support person wasn't helpful at all and even closed the live chat on me... I waited 15 minutes and tried again, got a different support agent and got exactly what I needed:

wasted money, not for the developers even if they don't exist anymore. Where piracy would be a better option than shady "key re-sellers".

[Biohazard777]

8 minutes ago, Quackers101 said:

wasted money, not for the developers even if they don't exist anymore. Where piracy would be a better option than shady "key re-sellers".

You need EA servers to play co-op Dead Space 3 in case you didn't know.
As for wasted money, not really, got my money back, bought a key for a friend from a different place and we played through the campaign together.
Any more witty comments?

EDIT: Forgot to tell you: off-topic. You got something to contribute, some info for the OP?

[Quackers101]

41 minutes ago, Biohazard777 said:

You need EA servers to play co-op Dead Space 3 in case you didn't know.
As for wasted money, not really, got my money back, bought a key for a friend from a different place and we played through the campaign together.
Any more witty comments?

sometimes piracy got options without the need for it, at least for a very small amount of titles. Got your money back from the site? And yes it could have been wasted money over piracy, as buying such products can be added costs ON the developers of the game, if you buyed other keys for other titles. So as to any "witty" comments, those key re-selling sites can often be a toxic waste hole that doesn't help the gaming scene in any way and can be or foster illegal activity at times too.

One of the sites for key re-selling known as G2A.

Think Linus might have talked a bit about it on a much older WAN show or similar.

Spoiler

TotalBiscuit, G2A, Gearbox, TinyBuild etc.

Jimsterling

G2A that used to or still does try to subscribe you into a system that "protects" you from their own scams and illegal content.

 

 

 

From Far Cry 4 revoking keys due to bad keys.

Sniper elite revoking keys due to some major issues over key selling.

Edited October 10, 2021 by Quackers101

[Biohazard777]

1 hour ago, Quackers101 said:

Got your money back from the site?

Yes.
 

1 hour ago, Quackers101 said:

sometimes piracy got options without the need for it, at least for a very small amount of titles.

But for Dead Space 3 coop it ain't an option, which is the only game I mentioned here.
Besides, game/software piracy is an excellent way to stuff your PC with malware if you aren't extra careful.

 

1 hour ago, Quackers101 said:

And yes it could have been wasted money over piracy, as buying such products can be added costs ON the developers of the game

My money my problem if it is wasted or not.
Did you read why I did it? EA games shut down Visceral Games. Buying directly from EA at that point in time would only benefit EA, not the developers behind the game. I don't want to reward EA with my money when they do crap like that.

Since then EA has made some good moves, like the release of C&C Remastered where they partnered with Petroglyph to make the game. Petroglyph was started by Westwood Studios employees after EA killed Westwood (long time ago). EA even hired Frank Klepacki (game composer that made the soundtracks for original games) to make the soundtrack for the remaster. They also had a very open approach to the community where they actually listened to feedback as the Remaster was moving through testing phases. Now that is something I support, bought that game pretty much as soon as it came out at full price.
 

1 hour ago, Quackers101 said:

those key re-selling sites can often be a toxic waste hole that doesn't help the gaming scene in any way and can be or foster illegal activity at times too.

And stuffing old EA with money would do wonders for the gaming community? 

Again we are 100% off-topic with this conversation here. The grey market key is not the point of my original post, the point was tell the OP to try contacting support again so that he might get his GFs Origin account back - that is what this thread is about.
Have you @Quackers101posted anything that the OP can use to solve his problem or at least relate to the situation he is in now? No you haven't, now please start a new thread and discuss grey market keys there if that is something you'd like to talk about.

[Quackers101]

Spoiler

43 minutes ago, Biohazard777 said:

Besides, game/software piracy is an excellent way to stuff your PC with malware if you aren't extra careful.

 

My money my problem if it is wasted or not.
... not the developers behind the game. I don't want to reward EA with my money when they do crap like that.

 

(talks something good about EA)

 

And stuffing old EA with money would do wonders for the gaming community? 

true, which I guess made me sound like piracy is a good thing, which its ofc isnt (or rather mostly not but sometimes it can).

 

"my money my problem", true and untrue. as said in the various content posted. but then as you state "i knew that the developers are not going to see this money and not wanting to reward EA for it". As in they could and could be impacted by it, which IS why I wanted to talk back about a site you posted in your original post.

while one could go further down into the rabbit hole, either way would take EA over something that can screw over indie developers.

 

Could see the end of that discussion, here.

Also as stated no ID or purchase found for the account, can't even search for her account?

something that was a thing before and like with platforms like YouTube, that it could be falsly flagged/deleted.

 

this a case of someone with buyed games on origin and why origin/EA might not be the best platform. and if the same or similar happened here.

if this helps at all or to know what happened. and not sure if it can be similar to a clean up by EA/origin on low/bot accounts, and making mistakes.

like was stated above

Quote

LogicalDrm

This is the key point. If you don't spend any money, there's no reason for account to exist. It was most likely cleaned as part of cleaning out spam bots, scammer etc. which are created, but don't actually do anything.

 

Edited October 10, 2021 by Quackers101

[bejamartins]

9 hours ago, Quackers101 said:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

true, which I guess made me sound like piracy is a good thing, which its ofc isnt (or rather mostly not but sometimes it can).

 

"my money my problem", true and untrue. as said in the various content posted. but then as you state "i knew that the developers are not going to see this money and not wanting to reward EA for it". As in they could and could be impacted by it, which IS why I wanted to talk back about a site you posted in your original post.

while one could go further down into the rabbit hole, either way would take EA over something that can screw over indie developers.

 

Could see the end of that discussion, here.

Also as stated no ID or purchase found for the account, can't even search for her account?

something that was a thing before and like with platforms like YouTube, that it could be falsly flagged/deleted.

 

this a case of someone with buyed games on origin and why origin/EA might not be the best platform. and if the same or similar happened here.

if this helps at all or to know what happened. and not sure if it can be similar to a clean up by EA/origin on low/bot accounts, and making mistakes.

like was stated above

 

This is scary. Unlike my girlfriend, I do have money spent on Origin. I buy everything on Steam when I can but for a while there you could only buy EA stuff on Origin. That is just poor user management.

 

My Steam account is very old and in the begining I had many years where I didn't login even. Once a friend of mine sent me a screenshot saying that I hadn't been online for 666 days. Only after I came out of university and got I job I started spending money on it. That is a big contrast.