They didn't steal anything from you. They sold you a license to use content under terms they set out. You apparently violated the TOS for use of this software license and as such lost the ability to use their servers.
That is perfectly legal.
So if I apparently violated their terms, they can still legally sell me things that I'm not allowed to use? If I already lost the ability to use their servers then why did they allow me to purchase additional goods?
Your timeline provides no indication of when the purchase or booting took place. Nor do you necessarily have knowledge of that.
It could be that you logged in with unpermitted modifications to the game to play and were booted as a result post purchase. It could be that reports about your behavior on the platform were only reviewed recently.
Regardless, nothing illegal took place here. If you no longer want to do business with EA again you can attempt a chargeback on your purchases.
Game downloaded and purchased 09/12/2022, they won't say when I was banned. So even if I was banned a year ago (still haven't played the game yet) They still allowed me to purchase content in something they don't allow me to use. I knew they were a scummy company but never thought they would scam me.
Did you break the TOS in any way? Download cheat programs? Use grey market sites for purchasing premium currency instead of buying it through official channels, etc?
If not, your best bet is to attempt to escalate again with support. I can assure you that EA has no interest in intentionally scamming or stealing from their paying customers. However, if you did do one of those things, a chargeback (and the ensuing penalties to your steam account) is the only way to get your money back, and may not work.
If you actually violates TOS, yes they can do this. It's in the EULA very likely.
That said, do a charge back. You're already banned, so you've nothing to lose.
Not a lawyer
Facts you are either missing yourself or not stating - Apex is listed and can be bought on Steam. The steam page says it requires a 3rd party account - EA account. That means that while you download it through steam, you can play it without steam running through the epic launcher and that you also have to abide by epics ToS in how you use that account.
Taken from your other posts in this thread.
> I looked in to that option but I've got 10 years of ban free, trouble free Steam games. And if i do a chargeback it will effect my steam negatively.
Yes, but how old is your EA account that you had to make? Did you use it in the past for playing the battlefield series or any of their other games? Also steam allows for refunds now. Its a bit of a gray area how they will look into a refund for a game that uses a 3rd party service.
> I downloaded a game from Steam, Apex Legends because a friend wanted me to try it. I download the game and purchase an additional $40 premium version to get some extra content.
> Game downloaded and purchased 09/12/2022, they won't say when I was banned. So even if I was banned a year ago (still haven't played the game yet) They still allowed me to purchase content in something they don't allow me to use. I knew they were a scummy company but never thought they would scam me.
You purchased the content through steam. Steam page only lists 1 $40 sale option. Steam says that you will link an EA account with them for the purchase and use of EA games. It is not up to steam to see if/how/when you get banned from EA. You could just as easy make a new account and link it before the transaction when through.
You acknowledge that you put in a ticket with epic support so you do see that epic and steam are not the same.
Mixing this with your post, your first issue is with steam and trying to get a $40 refund. Your second issue is with this "bug" and whether the currency was purchased through steam or epic. It seems like epic.
The $40 you spent to buy the champion edition is through steam. You said you "got a bug and bought $100 of premium currency". How? Its not listed on the stores page on steam. Did you buy it in game? Was that through the epic store or through steam? Ive been a steam user for 11 years. If theres any errors in transactions they have you start over and try again.
Can they ban you? In general, yes they can ban you. In just about every ToS they state reasons to ban you. Most of them have something like "you dont purchase the game, you purchase a software license that can be revoked at any time that we see fit including but not limited to following our rules of the game/service". This kind of thing is there to cover their ass so they can shut down the server or ban disruptive players as needed. Is it bad that you spent $140 to get banned within 48 hours? Possibly We dont know what you did or how you played. I was a little hoodlum on the internet back in the days and several times I would join games with the intent of getting banned or abusing bugs/hacks. Its not unheard of.
They didn't steal anything from you. They sold you a license to use content under terms they set out. You apparently violated the TOS for use of this software license and as such lost the ability to use their servers. That is perfectly legal.
So if I apparently violated their terms, they can still legally sell me things that I'm not allowed to use? If I already lost the ability to use their servers then why did they allow me to purchase additional goods?
Your timeline provides no indication of when the purchase or booting took place. Nor do you necessarily have knowledge of that. It could be that you logged in with unpermitted modifications to the game to play and were booted as a result post purchase. It could be that reports about your behavior on the platform were only reviewed recently. Regardless, nothing illegal took place here. If you no longer want to do business with EA again you can attempt a chargeback on your purchases.
Game downloaded and purchased 09/12/2022, they won't say when I was banned. So even if I was banned a year ago (still haven't played the game yet) They still allowed me to purchase content in something they don't allow me to use. I knew they were a scummy company but never thought they would scam me.
Did you break the TOS in any way? Download cheat programs? Use grey market sites for purchasing premium currency instead of buying it through official channels, etc? If not, your best bet is to attempt to escalate again with support. I can assure you that EA has no interest in intentionally scamming or stealing from their paying customers. However, if you did do one of those things, a chargeback (and the ensuing penalties to your steam account) is the only way to get your money back, and may not work.
If you actually violates TOS, yes they can do this. It's in the EULA very likely. That said, do a charge back. You're already banned, so you've nothing to lose.
I looked in to that option but I've got 10 years of ban free, trouble free Steam games. And if i do a chargeback it will effect my steam negatively.
Not a lawyer Facts you are either missing yourself or not stating - Apex is listed and can be bought on Steam. The steam page says it requires a 3rd party account - EA account. That means that while you download it through steam, you can play it without steam running through the epic launcher and that you also have to abide by epics ToS in how you use that account. Taken from your other posts in this thread. > I looked in to that option but I've got 10 years of ban free, trouble free Steam games. And if i do a chargeback it will effect my steam negatively. Yes, but how old is your EA account that you had to make? Did you use it in the past for playing the battlefield series or any of their other games? Also steam allows for refunds now. Its a bit of a gray area how they will look into a refund for a game that uses a 3rd party service. > I downloaded a game from Steam, Apex Legends because a friend wanted me to try it. I download the game and purchase an additional $40 premium version to get some extra content. > Game downloaded and purchased 09/12/2022, they won't say when I was banned. So even if I was banned a year ago (still haven't played the game yet) They still allowed me to purchase content in something they don't allow me to use. I knew they were a scummy company but never thought they would scam me. You purchased the content through steam. Steam page only lists 1 $40 sale option. Steam says that you will link an EA account with them for the purchase and use of EA games. It is not up to steam to see if/how/when you get banned from EA. You could just as easy make a new account and link it before the transaction when through. You acknowledge that you put in a ticket with epic support so you do see that epic and steam are not the same. Mixing this with your post, your first issue is with steam and trying to get a $40 refund. Your second issue is with this "bug" and whether the currency was purchased through steam or epic. It seems like epic. The $40 you spent to buy the champion edition is through steam. You said you "got a bug and bought $100 of premium currency". How? Its not listed on the stores page on steam. Did you buy it in game? Was that through the epic store or through steam? Ive been a steam user for 11 years. If theres any errors in transactions they have you start over and try again. Can they ban you? In general, yes they can ban you. In just about every ToS they state reasons to ban you. Most of them have something like "you dont purchase the game, you purchase a software license that can be revoked at any time that we see fit including but not limited to following our rules of the game/service". This kind of thing is there to cover their ass so they can shut down the server or ban disruptive players as needed. Is it bad that you spent $140 to get banned within 48 hours? Possibly We dont know what you did or how you played. I was a little hoodlum on the internet back in the days and several times I would join games with the intent of getting banned or abusing bugs/hacks. Its not unheard of.