Banned / Suspended for Companion App?

Qslant said:

I was permanently banned from all maddens . I didn't even fight it but I was pissed. The next day I was unbanned. I just think this new bot police is kinda dumb. Kinda like real cops.  If you are innocent you will be unbanned my friend.

If only life were fair -- how did you manage to even get a response from EA within ~24 hours?  I'm going on at least day 3, no reply.  I've sent multiple attempts to contact them, i've reviewed my "Ban History" not sure what else to do?  I guess I could try Live Chat support again, they weren't available this weekend.  The Community Managers all say they are unable to do anything, but to fill out the webform if we fill this was a mistake.

And of course the bullshit documentation, How to get more information about my ban or suspension.  Zero help.  I'm not here to play games or blow smoke up anyone's ass, i'm far too cheap to buy coins online, I haven't had much difficulty making my own coins, through what i thought were officially supported means.  Stupid, stupid.  Appreciate your input, Qslant!  Glad you got your ban reversed.  How long ago did this happen?  Similar situation, automated bots accusing you of coin distribution?

EA will not even consider manually reviewing my account, oof.  Disappointing, but not all that unexpected.  Seems my options are extremely limited.  Has anyone ever attempted the Binding Arbitration process described in the ToS?
http://tos.ea.com/legalapp/WEBTERMS/US/en/PC/#section15

And what on earth is a "Sanction" from September 4th??  First i'm hearing about it, but seems this was not my first run-in with EA's bullshit.

peatrick said:

EA will not even consider manually reviewing my account, oof.  Disappointing, but not all that unexpected.  Seems my options are extremely limited.  Has anyone ever attempted the Binding Arbitration process described in the ToS?
http://tos.ea.com/legalapp/WEBTERMS/US/en/PC/#section15

And what on earth is a "Sanction" from September 4th??  First i'm hearing about it, but seems this was not my first run-in with EA's bullshit.

I'm also going through this at the moment. Although it is partially my fault, I bought an Isaiah Simmons on Frdiay for 2.mil on accident on the companion app because I thought it was 210,000 XD. There's no damn commas on the app. Not 24 hours later got hit with an automated ban and my first appeal came back declined. Might try filing a complaint with the BBB and threatening CC chargebacks. Best of luck.

Willis15223 said:

I'm also going through this at the moment. Although it is partially my fault, I bought an Isaiah Simmons on Frdiay for 2.mil on accident on the companion app because I thought it was 210,000 XD. There's no damn commas on the app. Not 24 hours later got hit with an automated ban and my first appeal came back declined. Might try filing a complaint with the BBB and threatening CC chargebacks. Best of luck.

You are not alone, my friend.  Sorry to hear about this -- I've heard of others (just this past weekend) trying to buy things on the Companion app for 1.4M (when they thought it was 140k) OOF.  I think using the Companion App to buy multiples of the same Gold player, then immediately reselling back perhaps triggered the automated ban, but I cannot get EA Help to respond to anything, they simply DENIED my dispute resolution attempts and said the ban was correct and will be enforced.  Terrible.

I don't know if any of this might be useful for you, but i considered attempting to use the Binding Arbitration based on a brief bit of research and EA's own Terms of Service.  Here is an initial draft of a Binding Arbitration Letter template if you want to take any inspiration from it.  Please be advised that i am NOT an attorney, but there's basically nothing we can do here.  Ultimately, this is all just a huge waste of time (for us), nobody seems to care.  This game isn't for us, it's for the small percentage of whales and content creators that have no problems pumping out $100/week on virtual playing cards.

I should quit, but tempted to start a brand new account, uggh.  I'm a glutton for punishment.

peatrick said:

You are not alone, my friend.  Sorry to hear about this -- I've heard of others (just this past weekend) trying to buy things on the Companion app for 1.4M (when they thought it was 140k) OOF.  I think using the Companion App to buy multiples of the same Gold player, then immediately reselling back perhaps triggered the automated ban, but I cannot get EA Help to respond to anything, they simply DENIED my dispute resolution attempts and said the ban was correct and will be enforced.  Terrible.

I don't know if any of this might be useful for you, but i considered attempting to use the Binding Arbitration based on a brief bit of research and EA's own Terms of Service.  Here is an initial draft of a Binding Arbitration Letter template if you want to take any inspiration from it.  Please be advised that i am NOT an attorney, but there's basically nothing we can do here.  Ultimately, this is all just a huge waste of time (for us), nobody seems to care.  This game isn't for us, it's for the small percentage of whales and content creators that have no problems pumping out $100/week on virtual playing cards.

I should quit, but tempted to start a brand new account, uggh.  I'm a glutton for punishment.

I would definitely quit myself but I am one of those who does spent a decent little chunk of change at the beginning of the game to set myself up for the rest of the year. And to have the AH ripped from me feels terrible but I'm in too deep at this point lol. Hoping for some resolution soon.

Willis15223 said:

I would definitely quit myself but I am one of those who does spent a decent little chunk of change at the beginning of the game to set myself up for the rest of the year. And to have the AH ripped from me feels terrible but I'm in too deep at this point lol. Hoping for some resolution soon.

There just aren't any other NFL games to choose from, so we're basically stuck -- i keep trying to get into NBA2K, but hoops just doesn't hit the same as fatball.  I'd love to go check out Jedi: Survivor (the sequel to Fallen Order), but i refuse to donate anymore funds to EA, so i'm just going to wait for it to land on our Playstation Plus subscription, hopefully by January.

I'm trying to figure out how to approach this game and be more casual, but i have a tendency to obsess about anything and everything I do.  The 49ers remain one of my very few passions, despite the somewhat strained relationship i have with the NFL.  I just love it so much.  Not trying to make light of serious situations, especially ones involving violence, but i'm starting to feel liek a battered housewife.  EA just keeps slapping the shit out of me and here i am, begging for the privilege to give them even more money.  Fuck these chumps.  Trying to just turn it off, but not quite there yet.

Please do keep us posted on yer progress.  So so sorry, man.  This bites.

It's been an absolute nightmare trying to connect with anyone from EA Help, holy hell.  Someone please come punch me in my stupid face for continuing to pursue this.  Direct link for EA Live Chat, since it was notoriously difficult to locate: https://help.ea.com/en/help-case-success/?product=madden-nfl-24&intent=real-life-threat

Apparently we have to suggest that our life is in danger to get connected with an overseas call center?  The fuck.

Hey my man. Sorry to hear about that. I went through the same process last year. I was banned for heavily using the companion app, trying to “snipe“ cards for low prices. It took me a bit more than 2 months and 6 cases opened to reverse the ban (4 of the cases through email and 2 through the chat). Therefore I decided to be a strictly NMS and casual player this year. I hope you can reverse it and there’s not so much you can do besides the actions you’ve already taken.

salicagg said:

Hey my man. Sorry to hear about that. I went through the same process last year. I was banned for heavily using the companion app, trying to “snipe“ cards for low prices. It took me a bit more than 2 months and 6 cases opened to reverse the ban (4 of the cases through email and 2 through the chat). Therefore I decided to be a strictly NMS and casual player this year. I hope you can reverse it and there’s not so much you can do besides the actions you’ve already taken.

THANK YOU for chiming in -- this is the most hope i've had, i knew it wouldn't be easy to even get a response, let alone have the error overturned, but knowing it was at least possible in the past is extremely valuable to my ongoing efforts.  First attempt working EA Help failed.  I used the "real life threat" option to engage a person on Live Chat, who allegedly is escalating my issue.

Pisses me off, at least i don't have hundreds of dollars into my squad.  I think buying a bunch (also on Companion App) and immediately reselling must have triggered some auto ban, because i've been doing the same things on the AH for months.  Even dating back to `23 after i first started tinkering with MUT.

peatrick said:

It's been an absolute nightmare trying to connect with anyone from EA Help, holy hell.  Someone please come punch me in my stupid face for continuing to pursue this.  Direct link for EA Live Chat, since it was notoriously difficult to locate: https://help.ea.com/en/help-case-success/?product=madden-nfl-24&intent=real-life-threat

Apparently we have to suggest that our life is in danger to get connected with an overseas call center?  The fuck.

Curious about the arbitration process. Seems like it may be worth pursuing!

KHart6969 said:

Curious about the arbitration process. Seems like it may be worth pursuing!

If i can find my way to an actual printer to output a hard copy, i'll almost certainly invest five bucks to send a certified letter -- although, i doubt it'll be effective, or even if they'll respond.  Feels liek a lot of bluster and smoke and mirrors to pretend they're not running a casino for kids.

However, if there's even remote interest from the community (i certainly am not the only person caught up in the automated ban nonsense), i'll possibly/probably create a dedicated forums post with the above document.  It has been brought to my attention that it would be important to mention that we do not have funds to cover fees associated with arbitration, thereby "forcing" EA to cover the costs.  Again, i'm not sure it's even a real process, but it's what is posted to their ToS on the website.

Fuck these fuckers stealing our literal money and then removing our ability to access the shit we paid for.  I absolutely and unequivocally have not been purchasing coins from those sketchy 3rd party markets... that's why i  invest so much effort working the auction house, so i don't need to pay to win.  Grrr.

peatrick said:

There just aren't any other NFL games to choose from, so we're basically stuck -- i keep trying to get into NBA2K, but hoops just doesn't hit the same as fatball.  I'd love to go check out Jedi: Survivor (the sequel to Fallen Order), but i refuse to donate anymore funds to EA, so i'm just going to wait for it to land on our Playstation Plus subscription, hopefully by January.

I'm trying to figure out how to approach this game and be more casual, but i have a tendency to obsess about anything and everything I do.  The 49ers remain one of my very few passions, despite the somewhat strained relationship i have with the NFL.  I just love it so much.  Not trying to make light of serious situations, especially ones involving violence, but i'm starting to feel liek a battered housewife.  EA just keeps slapping the shit out of me and here i am, begging for the privilege to give them even more money.  Fuck these chumps.  Trying to just turn it off, but not quite there yet.

Please do keep us posted on yer progress.  So so sorry, man.  This bites.

Well, I heard back from them again finally and they still found me in violation of the TOS. I honestly feel like it's just a bot looking at these things and not real people. Or they just hate their players so much they don't even do "full investigations" like the email claimed. Anyway, complaint with the BBB has been filed, let's see if that gets the attention of someone who can actually do something at EA.

This happened to me last year at Thanksgiving, and I was never able to get the ban overturned. So, I created a new account on Jan 1 and started over. The whole thing leaves you angry with EA, but if you restart now, you will quickly get back to somewhere close to the place you left off. When the game dropped, you felt good if you had an 83-84 team. By starting over now, you will get the Captains that upgrade to higher levels, free S2 players that range from 88+, free HHM players that are all 86s, etc. Plus, all of the gold cards that you may need for a TT are a lot cheaper now (until Diamonds are released).

D0KTRG said:

This happened to me last year at Thanksgiving, and I was never able to get the ban overturned. So, I created a new account on Jan 1 and started over. The whole thing leaves you angry with EA, but if you restart now, you will quickly get back to somewhere close to the place you left off. When the game dropped, you felt good if you had an 83-84 team. By starting over now, you will get the Captains that upgrade to higher levels, free S2 players that range from 88+, free HHM players that are all 86s, etc. Plus, all of the gold cards that you may need for a TT are a lot cheaper now (until Diamonds are released).

Sorry to hear that. And I guess that's a good point about starting over. I just can't let them get away with banning my main account which I have spent a decent amount of money on. That's just criminal. I'll give a new account a shot, definitely NMS this time. Fuck giving them more money.