PlayerAuctions review: scam, fraud, false advertising, no 100% guarantee 57

This is my last purchase with PlayerAuctions.

2 WoW Accounts purchased, both taken back. The site is good for one thing, taking your money.

Do not touch these guys. They wasted 2 days first telling me there was a problem at my end, and to check Paypal/bank. Then admitting it was their problem, and asking me to cancel and resubmit.

Then finally I get a call from 1am from a barely audible Indian callcentre asking me for my passport ! Would you send a goldseller your passport - seriously ! When I refused the muppets then deleted my account for policy violation. Too late to sort everything out, I lost the deal there

Did I mention the waste of time in getting 3 other ID validations (phonex2, plus validated Paypal) and the fact they insist on passport ID, don’t accept credit cards (I assume someone else doesn’t trust them!), and call you at stupid times with ridiculous requests.

Two days of hell. Dont even think of going there, ever.

Today I registered on PA to purchase some currency. After my payment was fully processed (verified on my Bank's site) the seller told me he had no record of my order.

I waited nearly two hours for the order to be sent to the seller with no luck.

I promptly canceled my order (No fault of the seller) and as soon as PA puts the money back in my account I'm done with that site.

Interesting read by Carl.

Three things you missed though Carl

1). PlayerAuctions doesn't tell if the seller is from China or not. I know people buy from China, but there is a huge risk buying from them as they have unsecure connections and proxies, and they also are quite possibly selling stolen accounts. I have never had a positive experience when buying an account from China.

2). PlayerAuctions is from China. I know they are registered in the US, but 100% of the operations are based in China. If you don't like what you hear from them, you pretty much can't do anything legally against them.

3). I was told by a seller (RPGRESELLER) I know that any age can sell on PlayerAuctions. If you are 9 years old, you can sell an account on PlayerAuctions. How is a 9 year old going to know right from wrong? Of course, you need to be 18 to have a PayPal Account, but they can just use anyones PayPal Account they know to receive funds and then withdraw them. Very risky, and considering you can't even charge someone under the age of 13 criminally, I am pretty shocked PlayerAuctions allows underage kids to sell their accounts.

I have to agree with Carl. PlayerAuctions is probably the most unsecure place to buy an account. Just go to the forums, call the person you are buying before you pay, and go through a middleman service. It only takes 15 minutes to do that process, and seems the easiest way to buy outside of the more expensive account instant selling sites.

My two cents is that PlayerAuctions is very risky for everything but power leveling (won't include currency because the sites that sell currency are always cheaper than PlayerAuctions).

The problem with PlayerAuctions is that they don't offer much more than what a forum or instant buying/selling site can do but instead have many flaws that make it riskier.

For Sellers, I wouldn't recommend PlayerAuctions. Why?

If you are selling an account;
- You pay 10% to 15% for what they could really do on a forum.
- It's easier to sell it to instant buy/sell website if they offer you a good price. These are always the best companies to go with as they are quick and easy to sell to.
- A forum is more secure as you get to choose who buys it, you can have them pay to go through a more secure and less strict middleman service, can actually ask them to pay my payment methods that are more secure (PayPal is not secure for virtual products), and it's much easier, and you don't need to be verified.
- You don't need to wait 3 to 7 days to get paid after the buyer buys it.
- There is so much competition selling accounts there that sellers may not be able to sell their products for months.

The only real benefit of selling with PlayerAuctions is that you can promote your product, and it's more organized than a forum is. Other than that, there isn't many other benefits worth your while.

For Buyers, I'd say PlayerAuctions is the worst place for selling accounts. Why?
- No protection (unless you pay for it which is extremely expensive). Even then, they can only give you an "exchange" not your money back.
- You can only complain to PlayerAuctions when done but not the seller which is very difficult to do and usually the seller doesn't care after he is paid.
- The seller can argue the account worked and you got it banned, or changed the password.
- Imagine buying a car from a car dealership which is an overseas company and shady. You buy the car, and the next day it's gone because the original owner took it back. You dispute it with the company overseas, but they don't care. You lose out on everything. That is no different from this situation as PlayerAuctions can't help you once the original owner takes it back. This can be prevented if you disputed it on a forum or account buying website as you sent it directly to them.
- PlayerAuctions is a Korean company with customer service in China. How risky is that? Very.

On the accounts side, the riskiest item to buy from them is accounts. I am surprised PlayerAuctions even supports accounts escrow because I only expect over time that the fraud rate is going to get much worse for PlayerAuctions and they will need to raise the fees on sellers to cover it. This happens a lot on PlayerAuctions

- Seller lists item
- Buyer buys it.
- Seller delivers it.
- Buyer confirmed payment.
- Done
- Buyer files chargeback.

- PlayerAuctions is out money. They can ban the buyers account, but that is all they can do. Very nice way to earn $ if you ask me which is why the middleman services in this industry will never work for accounts.

It gets worse for people who are sellers and take the account back after 60 days. PlayerAuctions can't do anything to the payment, the seller gets $ and the account, and the buyer is out all of his money.

For Currency, it's a good system in place to guarantee you get your gold, but honestly, if you want fast gold, just buy from a reputable website. There are about 3 dozen decent gold sites out there at the same cost but deliver within 1 to 4 hours, not 24 to 96 hours.

For Power Leveling, I would say that this is the best system for power leveling. With so many screw ups, minimal reputable companies out there, if a problem happens you could lose your account and the money. PlayerAuctions will at least protect one of those two things, and with a feedback system in place, buying from a reputable Leveler will help the reputation part.

I had a similiar experience with playerauctions but on the opposite side of the spectrum. What happened was I sold an account about a year ago. The guy decided to resell the account again then try to get it back through playerauctions. Sounds silly huh? Playerauctions believes the guy with no proof or evidence whatsoever, then proceeded to freeze a payout to me over which they already gave the merchandise too. So to recap they gambled with the account I just sold because of a complaint 1 year old. They basically kept money that wasn't theirs.

If this isn't scam like behavior I don't know what is. This arrogance of theirs left me little choice, I now gave an account over that wasn't going to be paid for... So I was forced to call blizzard and freeze the account the poor guy already paid for but whose money was refused to be released by playerauctions(as if they have any right to do this). Now they are punishing their customers and me due to incompetence and arrogance. Sure they may have 96% with crappy 2 dollar game guide sales(which is most likely 96% of what is actually sold there) but once you sell something expensive they will do all that they can so that you won't claim the money. The live chat stone walled me, the 1800 number went straight to the fax machine noise. They took a week to answer important emails with more garbled nonsense.

http://terranova.blogs.com/terra_nova/2010/04/zynga-sues-playerauctions.html

Apparently PlayerAuctions is now being sued by Farmville and Mafia Wars.

The Complaint alleges copyright and trademark infringement, state unfair competition claims and intentional interference with contractual relations. Lots of interesting statements about "virtual property" and "virtual currency, " but at this point, the majority of this Complaint is made out to allege standard copyright & trademark infringement.

I'd stay away from this company until after the lawsuit as your personal and account information could be disclosed to a third party in the future.

@ TJ

why are you being an [censor]?

Iron Z: Hello! How may I help you?

TJ: How's it going. I am supposed to be recieving payment on a sale I made several days ago, and have not yet.

TJ: The disbursement amount was to be deposited into my Paypal account at 11:00PM PST yesterday, and is still pending.

Iron Z: May I have your order ID please?

TJ: 175224

TJ: Same order ID I gave when I started this chat.

Iron Z: I am sorry for the delay and any inconveniences.

TJ: It's not your fault I am just hoping to get this money today as the site suggested.

Iron Z: We will send the disbursement to you within 1 business day.

TJ: So by tomorrow at this time?

TJ: Nevermind save yourself from having to put my comment through your english translator. I'll be sure to never use this site again. Thanks.

I can now say that my recent issue with PlayerAuctions has been resolved and explained. I started faithful and will remain so on the word of the employee I talked to. They seem open to suggestion and maybe we can all take a few minutes and offer our ideas to help PA move forward. They're really the best of the bunch, unless you want to pay a subscription or have a secret handshake. The quality Sellers aren't hard to pick out and the shady types aren't either. Any change is good change and it helps all of us.

I consider my case resolved and will keep you updated in the future.

PlayerAuctions has never ripped me off. But I have my issues that seem to mirror the initial commenter on this thread. So I'll take the time and below is my laundry list of issues with PlayerAuctions. I'm taking the time because I like their concept as a whole and it really has a lot of potential for the Users (and not just them collecting money). I am an active user of the site and I have pending gripes.

1. Customer Service: PlayerAuctions, whether you agree or not, promotes itself as a USA Company. I don't care where the business receives their mail, there is nothing USA about PlayerAuctions. The LiveHelp agents don't seem to be primarily English speaking, most responses are copy/pasted, and when going off-script the language barrier really shows. They seem to be friendly and will help you to a degree with information on your order. They claim to be separate from the Financial side of things, so they aren't highly effective in handling anything. These operators will 'escalate' your issue to the proper Dept., but those emails are rarely returned (even more rarely when dealing with money issues).

2. Disbursement Time: PlayerAuctions has a so-called system in place that pays you out based on your Seller Status and pre-defined timeframe. I'd say that 70% of the time, it's accurate...even a few hours early sometimes. With that said; recently I have noticed multiple sellers commenting on pay outs being late by days. Their recourse? Zero. I never feel like PA won't pay us, it's just unfair on we're treated. Who makes the money for PA? The Sellers. Emails aren't returned, there is no working phone #, and the information you get along the way is none. So most of us just sit around at the mercy of whoever sits and does the Paypal payouts. My issue is that PA makes such a big deal of their parameters and measures, but they don't adhere to them themselves.

3. I won't even get into #3 yet, I'm curious of the response I'll get to the above first...if any.

I like PA but I think they're screwing themselves, and the rest of us, by not holding up their end of the bargain. PA has conquered the hard part in gaining an audience and really should shape up and let ALL of us profit from it while we still can. They see $$ either way, but the growth would be exponential if it was done well.

Thanks.

~~~~~~~This is an Official PlayerAuctions Response~~~~~~~~~
@ OP.

Hi Tom R.,

I'd like to point out firstly, that the general member base at PlayerAuctions are legitmated players who trade as either buyers or sellers. And with over 96% of our transactions resulting in successfully completed orders (no exaggeration, I just got the most recently updated numbers this morning), the majority of members who participate in PA's marketplaces generally have positive experiences.

There are indeed those rare instances when something goes awry, or someone with Fraudulent intentions gets past our verification systems. However participating within the secondary market carries with it a certain element of risk. What with our knowledge and the hard work we've put into making a secure trading platform, we have established ourselves as a reputable trading port for those interested. We stick to our guarantees, and while you dispute them... I'd really appreciate it if you could either provide an order # so I could check up on the case mentioned, or you may contact me directly: communications@playerauctions.com. My name is Jake, and I would be more than happy to look into this issue further for you.

We have really tried to build up a transparent marketplace, with guarantees that set us apart from competitors industry wide, and we'd really like to uphold that image. Therefore, if you feel unsatisfied with the resulting order, please let us know and we'll work it out as best we can.

@GrandMaDeb
Hi Deb,

Glad to hear from a long time user! We are actively trying to be more involving in the buying and selling process, however at the same time we want to keep a certain distance so as not to bog down orders via bureaucracy. In the beginning near our relaunch in 2008, almost all order had to pass through a seeming "iron curtain" before payments were passed, both parties were verified, and a bunch of other processes. We found that this cause the order process to be dragged out far longer than most people were willing to bear with, so we worked to streamline the process. However if you have specific ideas or feedback with how we can be more effective at transacting, please let me know. As stated above, you can reach me at communications@playerauctions.com. My name is Jake!

Kindly,
Jacob A.
Communications Manager

I have used PlayerAuctions for the last 9 years as a buyer. I have not experienced a problem with PA itself...BUT after a purchase I do get ingame spam ALOT and also ingame emails. I know it is the gold Seller from using PA to purchase gold and I have to say it is very annoying to be called Dear, Sweetie, Dude. DO NOT ever use your main account to have gold or items delivered. Make an alt and then delete after the delivery.

PA is just like Ebay, but without the harsh recourses if a seller makes a mistake or has bad feedback. I think they should be more involved as an escrow service but they are not. It is just a sellers portal - thats it!

As far a "###sAtWork " comments, ignore that person. Spelling and whining have nothing to do with what happened to you, he sounded like a kid at work with nothing to do with that "head out of your ###" mentality.

Thanks -
GrandMa Deb

You know you can press 2 extra letters and turn your "U" into "You" and make it look at lot more professional. As of now you just look like an idiot.

As you said above the company is now owned by a different set of people in a different country, think maybe that might have a little something to do with why they don't always understand you completely? Maybe if you learned to type and punctuate correctly instead of looking like a 3rd grader they could find it easier to answer you. Tell me, does leaving multiple question-marks after a question get the question answered faster? ... I didn't think so..

I notice something in common with all 3 complaints on this site - you all cannot spell, you all whine, and you all blame the site.

It's called RESEARCH if you don't trust something, RESEARCH for better material. Not hard. I've used playerauctions many, many times and never have I ever run into an issue. I have sold hundreds of thousands of gold, I have bought hundreds of thousands of gold, I sell all of my old accounts and make thousands of dollars off it. You just have a complexity in your mind called "###" ...

When you finally manage to get your head out of your ###, take a second look at the site and try again, trust me it works just fine, you're just so stupid you can't see that.

The upstairs is ###ing totally insane.

glad that i met a horrible customer service support staff when i couldn't register myself.. and i found this sites to see what other complains are there.

here's my conversation with their support staff, horrible, horrible, customer service..

Please wait for a site operator to respond.
You are now chatting with 'Nick Z'
Your Issue ID for this chat is LTK151036995357X
Wyatt: hi
Nick Z: Hello! How may I help you?
Nick Z: hi
Wyatt: why can't i register ? when i click on "Register" button after filling up the form.. nothing happen?
Nick Z: Sorry for any inconveniences you may have experienced.
Nick Z: I would like to escalate this issue to our IT team
Nick Z: And will fix this asap
Wyatt: ? u mean everyone is facing this issue?
Nick Z: Some
Wyatt: ok.. why should i do next?
Nick Z: Wait for a few days.
Nick Z: And try again
Wyatt: my godness.. a few day.. will u even at least drop a mail when it's fixed?
Nick Z: We have no records of your email
Wyatt: i register before the chat even started.. why the system even bother to ask for email address to start the chat..?
Nick Z: I don't understand what you are saying
Wyatt: to start the live chat.. your live chat system ask me for my name and email address.. why are u saying you don't have record of my email? are you trained to take up this role?
Nick Z: You said you cannot register.
Nick Z: Do you have a username on our site?
Wyatt: i'm talking about this chat that we're chatting right NOW! it ask me for email address before I can even CHAT with YOU! you're getting ridiculous!
Nick Z: You said you cannot register which means you leave nothing on our website and which means we dob't have your information including your email
Wyatt: don't you even know your CHAT system ask for email address before customer can start the chat with the support team?
Wyatt: i'm not talking about the registration on the site now..! can u get me someone who know ?
Nick Z: The email requested before the chat will not be kept after the chat session is over.
Wyatt: so u have my email address now, don't u?
Nick Z: Yes
Nick Z: But we will not email someone who is not our members.
Wyatt: then why did u say you don't have record of my email?
Nick Z: Because after this chat the email will not be kept
Wyatt: what kind of customer service is this? why even bother to invest in a chat system if it's not to be tracked!
Wyatt: i'm going to post this conversation to your blog, twitter and write in to your CEO to tell him what a lousy service they are providing!
Chat session has been terminated by the site operator.