WonderGamer.net

BBB Complaint

Blacklists Boycotts Downloads Games Reviews

On 10/28/2020, an update to the Epic Games caused it to be unable to connect to login/update servers on some systems.  All attempts to get this resolved through Epic Games were dead ends (even the support ticket that receiving 14 responses over a period of 3 days yielded no fix, outside of them acknowledging the issue in the ticket themselves).  After the support ticket that was filled with Epic Games was closed, the issue continued, with comments being left on every new post they made on their Facebook page while continuing to wait for a fix, none of which ever received an actual response from Epic Games staff (mostly just trolling responses, which resulted in somewhere around 50 people being blocked as a result of their responses & reactions to comments about this problem)...

It was stated multiple times on their Facebook page that if this issue continued past a month, there would be a BBB complaint being filed against them, which happened on 11/29/2020 (the complaint being started on the 28th, but not actually being filed until roughly 1 AM on the 29th due to taking so long to write & proof-read before filing).  These are the detail of the initial complaint:

On 10/28/2020, I updated the Epic Games launcher with a patch that was necessary to continue using it. After restarting the launcher, I found that the launcher could no longer connect to their login servers, always throwing the "CONNECTION ERROR" error when attempting to log in & never being able to get past that point.

A number of things have been done in an attempt to troubleshoot this issue, including uninstalling & reinstalling the launcher fresh (finding that installer version 10.19.2 isn't even able to connect to their update servers to complete the initial installation of the launcher), uninstalling & clearing all folders, files & registry keys before attempting a new installation, disabling both hardware & software firewalls, installing on other computers, even attempting to connect from ISPs (among a number of other steps that were suggested when I had a support ticket open with their support team). The end result before the support ticket was ultimately closed was that the launcher & installer had the same problem on all 3 of my Windows 7 PC (including my laptop that I took to my father's to attempt to connect to with a fresh install using the latest installer), only my father's Windows 10 computer was able to connect to servers to even complete the initial installation of the launcher (I did not attempt to log in afterwards, I wasn't intending on leaving this on my father's computer, he only allowed me to attempt to install it for testing purposes to see if it could connect).

Since the closure of that support ticket (after receiving 14 emails over a period of 3 days, not getting any closer to a fix, other than being able to determine that it wouldn't work on Windows 7, but would on Windows 10), I have checked for a new installer every day (seeing as a new installer is the only way this issue is going to be resolved for those already experiencing the issue, the launcher as it is now won't be able to patch beyond this issue if it can't even connect to servers to look for updates), have seen no progress on a fix for this issue & have not received a single response to any of the posts made on their Facebook page regarding this matter. As I stated many times that I would be filing a BBB complaint if not resolved within a full month after that patch, we are at this point now, so it's time to file this complaint & attempt to get some help in making what we have already purchased accessible again.

What I want is simple, either to be able to access my library again (meaning being able to log into the launcher to be able to download & run the games that are already on my account) or a refund for the single purchase of Fortnite (Save the World) at full price back on 7/25/2017 for $42.81 (including taxes, I still have the invoice in my email, including order ID).

Currently I am running a NO PURCHASE boycott on anything that would have resulted in Epic Games gaining money, including anything over their own platform (obviously, who's going to purchase over a platform where they can't even access what's already on their accounts), anything that was developed or published by Epic Games (regardless of the platform it may be getting sold on), any games that may have been developed using the Unreal Engine (seeing as companies have to pay them a fee to use this engine), any products in stores that is labeled with Epic Games franchises (such as music, movies, nerf guns, etc.) or any other product that may be promoting an Epic Games franchise. This has also affected who I am willing to support on Twitch based on what they are streaming (anybody streaming a game on the Epic Games platform, developed/published by Epic Games or developed using the Unreal Engine will not get views, hosts, cheers or subscriptions from myself until this matter is resolved). Additionally, this has affected my own streams to show the issue with the Epic Games installer not being able to connect to their servers (replacing the webcam areas in my streams, this shows it not connecting to their servers during the stream I did last night, lasting almost 5.25 hours).

If the issue is resolved & I am able to access what's on my account again, I will end all terms under the boycott, but will still not be purchasing over their platform until I can gain what I missed in Fortnite while this technical issue prevented me from being able to connect (which would mean that Save the World would need another birthday event, a similar situation happened in 2018 where I was also unable to connect for 3 weeks, only allowing me to gain the Rat King assault rifle that was in the store during that time during the birthday event); I was attempting to acquire Clip (a new Outlander) when I no longer was able to connect after that launcher patch. There are likely other items that may have been released in the game since this issue started, those will also need to be acquired before I will be willing to purchase over their platform again (of course, this is considering the issue even gets fixed, it's been a full month already & no comment about it on their Facebook yet, despite people commenting about having this issue on every new post Epic Games makes). Only once I have managed gain what I can see that I've missed (using the Collection Book as a guide to determine what my have been released that is new), will I once again even consider purchasing from their platform again. An option is Epic Games could add those new items to my Fortnite accounts, not something I'm going to expect, but I won't be purchasing from their platform again until I have acquired any new items released that I have not gained since this issue started.

In the case that they decided to simply refund the money I have spent on the one game that I have purchased, I will end the boycott & they can close the account, but I will not attempt to make another account on their platform, that platform will be dead to me & I will make it clear that I will not touch that platform again in my streams & videos on Twitch & YouTube.

After filing the complaint, I realized while waiting for a response from Epic Games that the complaint, that the PDFs previously provided (one being printouts of the support ticket previously mentioned, the other being the invoice from back in 2017), I made a couple attempts to make this information readable (eventually I had to resort to screenshots on the invoice, the emails on the support ticket going back & forth ended up being a copy & paste into a DOC file).

Epic Games responded just after midnight on the last day before the complaint was set to auto-close (meaning the status would have changed to not responded to by the company & their score would have been negatively affected as a result).  I was awake when I got the status update from the BBB, then checked my email to see that a new support ticket had been started, again trying to troubleshoot an issue on my end where the issue was with their launcher.  The support ticket disclosed the following details:

Hey [censored],

Thanks for contacting Epic Games Player Support!

To diagnose and best assist you with your issue, we need information about your computer. Please provide each of the requested files listed below, depending on your computer type.

After you generate the requested files, please zip and attach the files in your reply to this email. We’ll review your issue and get back to you with the next steps.

NOTE: Only attach a zip file with the requested files.

For Windows PC
Please provide the following four files listed below. See the linked FAQs for detailed steps on how to get each file.

--A screenshot or video of the issue you're experiencing
--DxDiag - https://www.epicgames.com/help/en-US/fortnite-c75/pc-support-c80/generating-a-directx-diagnostic-dxdiag-a3514
--Launcher Logs - https://www.epicgames.com/help/en-US/epic-games-store-c73/launcher-troubleshooting-c82/epic-games-launcher-debug-logs-a3513
--Client/Game logs - https://www.epicgames.com/help/en-US/fortnite-c75/pc-support-c80/generating-fortnite-game-logs-a3209
--MSInfo file - https://www.epicgames.com/help/en-US/technical-support-c90/general-support-c91/what-is-a-system-information-msinfo32-file-and-how-to-generate-one-a3654

Needless to say I was a bit perturbed that we were going to go through troubleshooting an issue on my PC again, but figured this would be the only way I was going to see any improvement in the situation, so I decided to play along, even through I didn't expect anything positive to come out of it.  As I was getting the information together however, I found that I was able to connect to their servers again if I installed using an older installer & patched up to the latest version (the downloadable version of the installer from the Epic Games website still being v10.19.2, which can't connect to their update servers to finish initial installation of the launcher if a PC is having this connection problem).  When I realized this, I stopped gathering information & pointed out that I could connect at this point, but had to use an older installer to finish installation because the current installer can't connect to servers on systems that are experiencing this situation.  My response to them was as follows:

It seems that at this point, I may actually be able to log into the launcher, however this only became possible by installing with an installer backed up from 2 years ago (v7.16.0 downloaded on 10/17/2018) & patched up to launcher version 10.19.8-14878797.

As for when this got fixed, I can't be certain; the current installer (v10.19.2) is unable to connect to servers on all 3 of my Windows 7 PCs (it was able to connect to update servers on my father's Windows 10 PC when I tested this at his house, my laptop still displaying the same issue even over his ISP) & I was checking your site every day for a new installer to be released (beyond v10.19.2), as this is the only way people experiencing this issue are going to be able to connect to update servers to actually finish a new installation (if they don't have an older installer backed up before the 10/28/2020 launcher patch). Versions of the launcher that were unable to connect to login servers after the 10/28/2020 launcher patch (meaning they patched up from an older version before 10/28/2020 that still could connect) were unable to connect to update servers as well, so the only way I would have been able to tell WHEN this was fixed would have been if I was uninstalling & reinstalling the launcher every day with the old installer (the initial update from that old version every day would have ate up my monthly bandwidth pretty quickly).

A video of the connection problem with a patched up version of the launcher from an older version (patched up from a version before the 10/28/2020 launcher patch), as well as what is currently happening with the v10.19.2 installer (for those that are experiencing this problem, I've confirmed well over 30 others, if not closer to 50, that have stated they were having this same problem) can be found at https://youtu.be/qja5r9dkTuc . Others are suspected to still be having this same problem, as the only way this can be fixed for people having this problem is to reinstall with a new installer (which hasn't been provided yet), unless they reinstall with an old installer (before the 10/28/2020 launcher patch) & patch up to the new version. The installer connection issue isn't a temporary issue either, I did a Twitch stream on 11/27/2020 of a game from another platform & replaced my webcam with the broken installer, that video can be found at https://www.twitch.tv/videos/818419807 (showing it's inability to connect to finish an initial installation for well over 5 hours).

At this point I am having to redownload what I had installed prior to uninstalling the launcher in an attempt to fix it (currently I'm only focusing on Fortnite & Dauntless), this will take several hours to complete as I no longer have the internet I had back when I was doing normal Fortnite streams (one of the reasons I had to stop streaming online multiplayer games after making cuts to expenses, my ISP being one of those cuts).

I won't know if the games are even able to run until they are re-downloaded (with as long as the launcher remained broken, I have my doubts the games are going to work without issues), I'll be able to tell at that point how much damage has been caused by the launcher not being able to connect to servers once I'm able to look at the Collection Book in Save the World (I was working on acquiring Clip when the launcher became dysfunctional after that patch, I don't know what else has been released new in Save the World since that date).

Provided the games I was playing on my Epic Games account are not having problems running once I get them re-downloaded, I will at least end other sections of the boycott mentioned in the BBB complaint. The section regarding purchases over the Epic Games launcher will remain in effect until after I've managed to acquire what I was negated even the opportunity to work towards getting while this issue kept me from even accessing what was on my account; only after I have been able to acquire anything new in Save the World (starting with Clip from the Halloween event) will I even consider another purchase over the Epic Games platform again (if I don't acquire them, I will not make another purchase over your platform).

Considering I am still downloading these games & probably won't be able to even see if these games will run until morning, I am still not ready to say this issue is resolved (at this point, the only thing I can confirm as resolved in the launcher issue, but that's only if there's an older installer that can be used), I will only be able to say this issue is fully resolved once I've determined the games that I played most (Fortnite & Dauntless) are running & what I still need to acquire in Save the World (based on the Collection Book) before I will consider another purchase through your platform again. I also removed a couple of emotes from my Twitch channel due to the inability to connect through the launcher for over a month (Raven from Fortnite & Fleshpound from Killing Floor), these may be re-added once I've been able to gain what I missed in Save the World while this issue kept me from being able to access what was on my account (provided I don't replace them with something else if it takes too long to acquire what I'm missing as a result of this connection issue).

I am also intending on recording a new video to provide this workaround to others (providing a download of the old installer that I have backed up, seeing as there is still no new installer on your site to get around it) that may still be having this issue, this video will be added to the connection issue playlist located at https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs1Xai058fWBsqYP6ufZ5mzQZkZPsyozR . All videos regarding this issue are expected to be deleted or set to private once I've managed to acquire what I wasn't able to get while the launcher didn't allow logins or updates.

Once I am able to get back into these games, I will send another response, but this response is going to be delayed until I can get these games running again...

Of course the response looked like a very lengthy rant (even I can admit this) & it seems the important details got lost in the rant, which resulted in a delayed response only days before the BBB complaint was set to auto-close again.  Before I get into their response over email again, I will point out that I also retorted to the response on the BBB to point out that while there was indeed an improvement, the final outcome was still unfavorable & still seeking compensation for that Hero which I was negated being able to acquire due to this technical issue that lasted for around 1.5 months (longer for others that may not yet have realized they can get around this issue by using an older installer):

The situation has improved, but still not fully acceptable.

In order for me to be able to log in, I had to use an old backed up installer from 2 years ago; the current installer provided on their site is still unable to connect to update servers to be able to complete initial installation, which means others are going to continue having this problem if they don't have an older installer to get around it. I will be doing my part to help others that are still having this problem my supplying them with my backed up installer until Epic Games supplies a new one that can connect on systems experiencing this problem.

As far as I can tell, the fix came sometime between the video I recorded at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qja5r9dkTuc & until I got a response to the BBB complaint. I was checking for a new installer on their site every day, but one was never provided, so if I didn't have the older installer, I still would be unable to connect to even complete an installation of the launcher.

At this point I have lifted all aforementioned parts of the boycott with the exception of purchases over the Epic Games launcher, this one remains as my opportunity to acquire Clip (a new Outlander during the Halloween event that I was 1 task away from getting when this issue hit) was taken from me. The situation may have improved, but I'm still cross that I was unable to get this Hero in Fortnite as a result of that technical issue that remained unresolved (and receiving no response from them on their Facebook page about) for well over a month (as far as I know).

After going through the Collection Book, I was able to determine that this Hero is the only thing that is new in Save the World that I did not get as a result of the technical issue that resulted in a BBB complaint being filed, so giving me a Hero Voucher (this will enable me to recruit her) to make up for the loss would be enough for me to drop the final step of the boycott, otherwise I'll still be unwilling to purchase from their platform until I have managed to acquire her for use.

There are plenty of other losses that happened during this time that I wasn't able to connect over both Fortnite & Dauntless, I don't care too much about these, being a collector in both of these games (at least of items not behind paywalls), the only thing that really matters to me is event obtainables in Fortnite & the Clip Outlander Hero is currently the only thing that is preventing me from being willing to purchase over their platform again.

The best outcome without being able to get her before the BBB complaint is closed that I could agree to would be that "Epic Games made an effort, but consumer did not agree to resolution".

While I did not record another video to be uploaded to YouTube, I did make a new post about this particular issue & how to get around it (including a download link to my old version of the installer) on my Twitch blog.  Of course the likelihood that people are going to find this blog entry is expected to be rare (unless I see comments regarding it & reply to them with a link about it, which I have done once already on their Facebook page when somebody replied to my reminders to Epic Games that a fix for this issue was still needed; those continuous comments stopped when I found I was able to log into the launcher again).

On Dec. 14th (4 days after the new support ticket was opened, I got the following in my email, showing that the important details in that previous email did in fact get lost in what can really only be referred to as a rant: 

Hi there [censored],

My name is Kara Williams and your case was escalated for my review.

Thank you so much for your detailed explanation of the issue. Please try the following troubleshooting and let us know if the issue remains:

1. Right click on the Epic Games Launcher and select Properties
2. On the Shortcut tab, locate the Target section
3. At the end of the text right next to EpicGamesLauncher.exe" please leave a space and then type -opengl
4. Apply the changes and then start the Launcher again

I look forward to your reply.

Regards,
Kara W.

As you can see from this email, it was clear the statement saying I could already connect & what I was still waiting for for me to agree on a favorable closure of the BBB complaint was lost in the lengthy details of the last email sent to them...  I replied once again to try & make the issue clear, making the reply a lot shorter this time around:

I'm already able to get into the launcher & the games I have reinstalled (both Fortnite & Dauntless); seems it was fixed through the launcher itself, but this doesn't allow people still experiencing it to get past it when what they have installed can't connect to servers (I've verified somewhere between 30 to 50 others are having this same problem when discussing this issue over my own Discord & your Facebook page). The installer currently on your site (v10.19.2) has the same issue with being unable to connect to servers; PCs affected by this issue can not install new (or uninstall & reinstall) using that installer, they have to use an older installer to be able to update to the latest versoin (a version that appears to get around this issue) & I've started providing my 2 year old installer (v7.16.0) over my Twitch blog so people affected by it can get around it. Without providing a new installer on your site, PCs that are affected by this issue can't get past it without an older installer so it can connect to update servers to update past the affected versions of the launcher (luckily these updates aren't sequential, meaning each version has to be downloaded individually, otherwise this workaround wouldn't work either).

The remaining factor of the BBB complaint (and as to whether I continue purchasing over your platform or not) is whether I get Clip (the new Outlander released during the 2020 Halloween event) or not. I was one-fifth of the final task away from acquiring her before the technical issue in the 10/28/2020 launcher update busted the launcher and kept me from logging into the launcher for roughly a month & a half. Other than the Art Deco set (nobody could have more than 5 from this set as it was only in the llama store once, the buying limit was 5 & ther was no actual event to acquire them), I have every single StW item in the game with the exception of her as a result of this technical issue, 1159 days logged into the game (negated about a month & a half this year because of this issue, plus 3 weeks in 2020 due to another technical issue), Fortnite (Save the World, not Battle Royale) being the primary game I have played for over 3 years (except when technical issues prevented me from getting into it) & where I started gaining any success as a Twitch streamer when it started getting raided by the larger StW streamers (unfortunately STILL not having a creator code as I don't meet the requirements for it, not to mention I had to stop streaming any online multiplayer game due to lack of income to continue paying for an ISP with a high enough upload rate); I don't care about any other losses over Fortnite or Dauntless during the month & a half I was unable to log in, I only care that I get her, otherwise I'm not willing to make any additional purchases over your platform until I get another chance to get her & the BBB complaint will be closed as the customer (myself) not accepting the response from the company (Epic Games).

It's been stated in the BBB complaint I would either like to receive the Clip Hero or a Hero Voucher (so I can acquire her, provided that recruit option isn't restricted on her) before I am willing to accept the terms of closure on that complaint as acceptable (as well as to whether I will be making any more purchases over your platform until I do get her). The BBB complaint is currently set to close on December 18th if not responded to by your company by that time (this will affect your company score on the BBB if they don't get a response).

Limiting the length of the email, as well as using links & highlights & pointing out how much time I had already put into Fortnite, as well as commitment to gaining everything possible in Save the World (when technical issues such as this aren't preventing me from doing so) seems to have clicked this time around & apparently I got a response that showed I might be getting closer to a favorable ending.  In their reply to that email on Dec. 17th, I received the following response:

Hi [censored],

Thanks for the detailed reply on what happened with the reinstall and how you managed to get it fixed. I'm super glad to hear that you were able to patch everything on your end.

I understand that this technical issue prevented you from completing the event and obtaining the said hero, Clip. I'd love to see what we can do for this side of the issue but to do that, I need some more information to locate your Epic Games account.

1. Email address associated with your Epic Games account
2. Current Epic Games account display name
3. First and last names of Epic Games account holder
4. External account currently connected to your Epic Games account, if applicable.
--This includes Google, Facebook, Twitch, PSN, Xbox, Steam and Switch accounts.
--Include the platform AND display name of any external accounts.

Please note that we are in a slight backlog so we might not be able to respond before your deadline of December 18th, but I promise we will get back to you as soon as we can.

I hope to hear back soon.

Best regards,
Number Five

Honestly, I found it ironic they were requesting my email address (the last time I tried to use an email address not registered to that account when filing a BBB complaint was when filing it again Google over a YouTube strike, they used the fact that I was using an email other than the one that was registered to the YouTube account as a loophole to close the complaint without having to deal with it, seeing as the BBB does not allow you to open another complaint after the previous one is closed, which Google stated I would need to file another complaint using the email address that my YouTube account was registered under), but I supplied them with the information they were requesting (at least as much information as I could remember on accounts that should still be linked to my account:

1. [censored]
2. [censored]
3. [censored]
4. Additional linked accounts: (listed by display name in order of most used, with links to each profile when possible)

NOTE:  All text that is aqua above had hyperlinks on them for easy verification.  While personal information is censored in this republication of this matter, anything that is aqua did have a link on it when it was sent to Epic Games.

Of course after I sent that email to Epic Games, the next day I get an email from the BBB stating that the company again responded to the complaint & it was auto-closed.  This is where things get messy...

I looked at the public closed replies on the Epic Games BBB page & found that many of them were closed with the same final statement from Epic Games, that being:

We have already addressed this issue with the player and will not be able to provide a different outcome. If the player has any further questions or concerns, they are welcome to contact us via our help site https://www.epicgames.com/help

The bigger issue here is not that the final statement was more or less a rehash of what they stated before, but because the BBB closed the ticket under a favorable status, when I clearly stated that it would not be favorable if I did not have Clip in my Armory by the time the ticket was closed:

I clearly stated that if I didn't have Clip in my Armory, the closest thing I could agree to on a favorable closure was that "the company made an effort, but the customer did not agree with the results", this statement was apparently completely ignored & the BBB gave the benefit of the doubt to Epic Games.

When you look at the rest of the publicly closed complaints on their BBB page, you'll see they all have the second reply from Epic Games.  When you compare that repeated statement with the result of my own complaint against them, you'll see that many of those were likely unfavorable endings despite what the BBB claimed to be favorable, showing that the rating for Epic Games probably shouldn't be at an A-rating (especially when you look at what currently is being counted towards the rating & unfavorable endings is not even listed on it):

 

As I wasn't at all amused by closing the ticket for this complaint under a falsified statement, I first retorted to that statement, but taking a screenshot of the last reply that Epic Games sent me over that support ticket, added it as an attachment & finally pointing out what my actions as a result of the falsified statement of being a satisfactory closure would be:

The final step to be considered as satisfied has not yet been made, so this complaint is still in the unsatisfactory state. The last response I got from Epic Games (see attachment) stated that they would be "happy" to give me that character to make it right, but after checking my status in the game, I still do not have her, so the status of not having her at closure of the complaint means it was closed in an unsatisfactory state.

Because the statement is that it's going to be closed as satisfactory, this falsification of the actual status is resulting in my writing an article regarding the details of this complaint (as well as what lead up to the complaint being filed) to be published to my personal site & pointing out that despite the status that the BBB has determined to give on closure of the complaint, that statement is in fact false & if it actually does get closed in a "satisfied" state, this will show manipulation of protocol by Epic Games to keep their BBB rating high; I knew there was no way they could have raised their F-rating to an A over 2 years with the lack of support I got back in 2017, Fortnite crashing on startup for 3 weeks straight in 2018, not response to complaints about this issue on their Facebook page & the responses I have seen listed on other complaints that are public since then (ending in the same final response I got), the details in my article once published will give the facts that the A-rating they now have on the BBB is only a result of manipulation of protocol (dragging out responses to the last day & dragging it on until ultimately the BBB chooses to close the complaint as resolved even when that might not be the case).

If Epic Games does actually follow through with giving the Hero that is still necessary for me to claim a satisfactory state (which is unlikely after the complaint has already been closed, they no longer have any incentive to do so with a closed complaint in a "claimed" satisfactory state, outside of the fact I won't purchase from their platform again until I have her), then I will update the review on my site should that be the case, however should the complaint actually be closed as being satisfactory (when this clearly isn't the case), that review will go public & NOT be removed under any circumstances, only updated if it does get resolved at a later date.

The attached JPG is a screenshot of their last response stating that they would comply with giving me that Hero & I have supplied them with the requested information (every account I can think of that should/could still be linked to my Epic Games account or vice versa), I am still waiting to see if something positive (or negative) comes out of my supplying that information to them...

After making that statement on the complaint (which apparently only I would see, Epic Games would not, but I suspected at least the BBB might look at the response & intent to get the actual facts out due to their inability to do so with false statements of whether closures are satisfactory to the customer or not), I spent several hours writing this review to be published as I stated I would, which got published shortly after the midnight the next day.

This article is expected to be updated at a later date, we are still waiting to see where this issue goes.  Considering it has already been published, it will not be removed, however it will be updated with more information once we have further details as to the result of whether Epic Games actually does follow through with handing over Clip as they stated they would in their email reply on 12/17/2020.

Home Up