Square sued over hidden online fees

[wraggster]

Square Enix is being sued by a Final Fantasy XI player for not being open about fees and late payment penalties for the online title.

According to the Courthouse News Service, Esther Leong from San Francisco has brought a class lawsuit against the US division of the RPG publisher for allegedly deceiving as many as 100,000 customers.

The suit alleges fraudulent concealment and unfair practices relating to monthly fees, penalties for late payment, interest charges on late payment, charges for a suspended account and licensing the game disguised as a sale.

The suit is seeking USD 5 million on behalf of players for "unfair business practices, false advertising, and unjust enrichment".

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/square-sued-over-hidden-online-fees

[Xcliber]

I hope Square Enix pays up that 5 million dollars. I am among those that were deceived by them.

I signed up for the 30-day trial and stopped playing after only a week and was left under the impression that I would be notified when the trial had ended and "asked" if i wanted to keep playing, only to be automatically charged $15 per month for several months to come.

Having not touched the game in several months, I had forgotten all of my PlayOnline login credentials and could not access my account to cancel it. I tried for several weeks to contact them via phone, only to be greeted by a busy signal followed by being hung up on. They didn't even bother to put me on hold.

After 3 months, I FINALLY got a human on the phone and told them to cancel the account immediately.