Legal action against Pogo??

[TRACII]

A friend of mine just purchased Club Pogo for her young daughter 3 weeks ago.
Her daughter and an older friend (preteen) were fighting and called each other BRATS.
The other child thought it would be funny to report the daughter.
The daughter's account was permanently blocked for "Harassment Violation"
My friend tried to get an answer out of Pogo as to WHY specifically.
She wasn't told anything but that it was justified, so she asked when she would be refunded her money.

She was then informed by EA that her account is now linked to the banned account.
They threatened that if she continued to call or contact them, that her Club account would be terminated as well.
She tried to put a stop payment on her credit card company says she has no legal grounds though.

Her husband had his Club name banned because they find his name offensive.
He has been a member for over 4 years and a Club member for a year, just renewing 3 weeks ago also.
To all of us,  it sounds like Pogo/EA have a vendetta against her IP addy.

Is it possible that they can cancel all accounts for no reason and there's nothing that can be done???
Is there something she can do outside of the Pogo/EA channels?
Some kind of way for her to get her money back??

[patandmegan]

Guess i would (1) contact the Better Business Bureau and (2) contact your State representative and Senator - companies HATE to hear from government officials.

Pat

[DoubleOscotty]

Given the small claims status, it's not likely to go anywhere. Read the rules of conduct very carefully before you do anything. Pogo doesn't know that the reporting of your daughter was a joke and who knows if others in the room reported anything (not likely but...) Pogo tries to be very "all ages" oriented (look how cheesy the interviews and games in general are. Just look into everything before jumping into anything

[foxx]

Guess i would (1) contact the Better Business Bureau and (2) contact your State representative and Senator - companies HATE to hear from government officials.

Pat

i agree...although the rep and senator probably wont do anything about it...but the BBB will....
Good luck!

[Cody]

Given the small claims status, it's not likely to go anywhere. Read the rules of conduct very carefully before you do anything. Pogo doesn't know that the reporting of your daughter was a joke and who knows if others in the room reported anything (not likely but...) Pogo tries to be very "all ages" oriented (look how cheesy the interviews and games in general are. Just look into everything before jumping into anything

pogo games are cheesy to you? why do you play then?

but yeah, read the ToS but it I think ive read or heard somewhere that if you do break a rule they can terminate your account without refunding any money.

[Torn2pieces]

the BBB will....

Not always.

I'm sorry this has happened.

I don't know how old your daughter is, but sometimes they need to be supervised when on the internet, anyway.

Good Luck!!! I hope you can at least get your accounts reinstated. Pogo can basically do whatever they want.

[Jewel]

I am curious,  what was in her husbands name that they all of a sudden found offensive?

[pogohatesme]

I am curious,  what was in her husbands name that they all of a sudden found offensive?

Was curious about that to...but didn't think you could post names on here......I've seen some pretty crude ones that pogo have seemed to let hang around for some reason.

[Homer]

Please don't post pogo sn's in the forum.

[Rekindled Chaos]

my advice TRACI is to get a life, the kid preteen or not got what they deserved, and as for legal action.... why??? this isnt ally mcbeal ffs grow up its just a website not a secret government organisation that steals your pogo accounts

[chunkster]

Pogo has the right to cancel your account at any time with no notice or refund if any TOS is violated.

As far as contacting your state rep, please don't. They are busy (supposedly) with agendas that don't involve lobbying in DC for better Pogo rules.

If you feel it was unfair, contact the BBB. People seem to get results when they get involved. Please note that if the daughter and husband did break the rules, then I'd have to agree that they got what they "deserved."

[bobbysbackup]

Did you see the transcpripts of the argument?  Don't want to question your child's honesty, but they may *not* have been 100% honest with you.  From reading Pogo's terms, they inspect the logs and transcripts on any chat complaint.  They know exactly what was said, where you may not.  And, true... that may have made them inspect every account coming from your IP or credit card, or home address, etc... whatever they can use to link those accounts together.

Sorry to say, but, it IS their playground, and I'm sure they have their rules written in a way to allow or deny anyone from their site that they see fit.

That being said, you could still send a complaint to the BBB.  It might get your money back, but you might put at risk all accounts coming from your household.

[Jewel]

I am curious,  what was in her husbands name that they all of a sudden found offensive?

Was curious about that to...but didn't think you could post names on here......I've seen some pretty crude ones that pogo have seemed to let hang around for some reason.

Yes, I did not ask for the name, I asked what was in the name that was offensive.  For instance, I know someone who was banned after having an account for a couple of years who had a variation of the itch word in their name and i know someone else who was banned whose name didn't seem offensive at all to me, had to do with PMS.

[Eagles Fan]

Did you see the transcpripts of the argument?  Don't want to question your child's honesty, but they may *not* have been 100% honest with you.  From reading Pogo's terms, they inspect the logs and transcripts on any chat complaint.  They know exactly what was said, where you may not.  And, true... that may have made them inspect every account coming from your IP or credit card, or home address, etc... whatever they can use to link those accounts together.

Sorry to say, but, it IS their playground, and I'm sure they have their rules written in a way to allow or deny anyone from their site that they see fit.

That being said, you could still send a complaint to the BBB.  It might get your money back, but you might put at risk all accounts coming from your household.

i have never known anyone kicked out of pogo for calling anyone a brat. I know of a few ppl that had there account flagged because of cursing.  But that is only like a probation.  My feeling is you are not getting the whole story.  And have you ever gone into some of those teen rooms, the language is horrible.  Just try one in poppit. I was in there by mistake last week and couldn't believe what I was reading.

[DONSTAR]

ok, so this isn't exactly about being banned for a TOS violation, but an example of good luck getting any money back from pogo.

I've been playing pogo for about 3 years, club for 2.  my mom bought me my last club subscription as a gift. and she signed up herself.

we both really enjoy the games and have a blast.

Well......she saw those premium badge albums and had to buy me one for a suprise Christmas present.  She clicked the link that said something along the lines of "click here to buy a gift premium badge album..."
it was automatically charged to the credit card she had on file for hers and my club subscription but it gave the premium badge album to her instead of me.
yeah, it's only $6.99 but my mom only plays a few games that she likes. She doesn't care about most of the badges, she just prefers some of the club games and likes to be able to pop in and chat with me.
she's been on the phone and emailing them about their mistake. (even told them by phone and email she will contact her BBB and attorney general-and she will) They still keep telling her she only bought herself one. 

She knows it's only 7 bucks, but it's the principle that pogo will keep taking our money if we give up and don't fight.

I think if everyone sticks to their guns, maybe Pogo won't take advantage of so many people.
Good luck to everyone trying to get support from pogo/EA

(and my mom's premium album will just sit empty.  If it ain't pop-fu or squelchies, she won't bother, and i'm working on my new obsession-Ride the Tide.  Neither of us use autos, we just like this site for all the great info and laughs!)

[*Angel*]

I had a friend get banned from Pogo because she had the word "dyke" in her screen name.  This didn't come out of anywhere though.  Someone reported her for a nasty conversation her and her friends were having in a room.  She is still upset that she is banned, but I don't know what to say.

[justahumping]

I was in turbo21 >singles>40's and had a few words with a uh, oh, well,  'lady' that lasted for a few days.  She threatened to send someone to my house. lol.  Well before I knew waht I was typing, I said something on the lines of send them on bit@h.....  I guess that pogo really does read all of the chat before they act.  The 'lady' reported me and all I received was an email from pog saying not to use that kind of words,  so on and so on.  BUT the 'lady' was supended for 3 days. So there might be more to what is being told to you.  I know how kids are. I use to be one and I raised 3 of my own.  Just telling you what has happened to me.  BUt if you want to see some cussing going on, go to that room around 9pm central time. lol  Have a Very Merry Christmas everyone!.

[TRACII]

A few hundred emails, phone calls and curse words later, the truth has come out!!  Lol.
Lemme remind you, this was a friend this happened to, so I do not know if she monitors her daughter (who is eight)
My kids are only allowed to play with chat OFF or when I am sitting with them.
Anyway, what appeared to happen is this
Her husband ticked off some people in a chat, they reported him for his screenname and behavior.
(name was something with the word in it "crank" and "yank")
What happened was that Pogo/EA looked at all names associated with his email address.
Since there were a few that had sexual innuendos, they decided all his accounts be cancelled.
Including the innocent one of his daughter.
Just serves as a reminder to keep your Club name COMPLETELY separate from any others (and email addresses too!)
Thanks for all your help and input guys!

[Julie]

The daughter is 8 and is on the net??  Well let's hope she's being supervised :o  Other lessons to be learned from this story I guess is too keep your pogo name clean and not "tick" people off in chat, because people will report for the slightest thing these days it seems :)

[Homer]

Another thing to be careful about is who you give your sn and password to. Their actions while playing under your account may get you banned, they can choose to cancel your account, reset game progress and have access to your name and address.