More buck-passing from another major entertainment company.

I wish I could put words to how sick and tired I am of EA and their B*******. From "you can't go prone because that will slow down the gameplay [even though it's not a problem for anyone else publishing decent games]" to what brings me to this post.

"First off, we should clarify that it is the carriers (e.g. AT&T, Verizon, Sprint/Nextel, T-Mobile, etc) who are solely responsible for all billing related issues (purchases, refunds, pricing terms and conditions, etc) regarding applications on your phone. We should also note that we do not bill you ourselves. EA simply develops the games and makes them available to your carrier."

This is what I found HERE when I was trying to get support because NFS Shift on my Android device refused to download and I was directed to their support page.

First off, the phrase "first off" in the English language (at least in the United States) carries with it a connotation of attitude that's not very professional. Secondly, the paragraph is downright wrong. My "carrier" is not billing me for their application. They are billing me through Google Checkout. In fact, my receipt specifically says:

Your order is complete. Have questions? Contact Electronic Arts, Inc..
	Jan 11	Electronic Arts, Inc. charged your VISA xxx-xxxx for $1.05. "GOOGLE *Electronic Art" will appear on your billing statement.

So they're giving me attitude, then lying to me because their application or the supporting systems are buggy? Wow. Sounds like a company I've dealt with before. OH! Electronics Arts!

Google's new 15-minute return policy doesn't help matters either. I can't even get the download going in that period of time, let alone see if the app will run in that period of time.

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So I opened a Google Checkout Ticket with the following:

When I open the application it tries to download 150MB of content to my phone, fails with an explanation, then leads me to the first step in a wild-goose chase that EA apparently calls "Customer Support". Can I get some real support please? Tell me how to get this application to download, or tell me it's broken and give me a refund instead of lying to me and trying to pass the buck (http://support.eamobile.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2345) ?

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Their response was indicative of the very problem I'm pointing out. They point me back to their wild goose-chase:

Hello,

Thank you for contacting EA Mobile.

For questions about EA Mobile games on your Blackberry, please visit http://support.eamobile.com/appworldsupport
For questions about EA Mobile games on your iPhone/iPod/iPad, please visit http://support.eamobile.com/applesupport
Otherwise, please visit us Online at www.eamobile.com, and click "Mobile Support" (make sure to have your appropriate Country selected), so that we may provide you with the best support services possible.
Once there, you should be able to find answers to many of your questions within our Knowledge Base or FAQ sections. If you are unable to find the answer you?re looking for, you will need to create a free EA Account in order to email us your question directly.
Thanks again for your interest in EA Mobile, and we hope you continue to enjoy playing our games on your mobile phone!

Sincerely,

EA Mobile Customer Service

As if there's anything sincere about that AUTO-REPLY.

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"First of all"... my phone is the SCH-i500 but that's not in the list I'm being given.

Secondly, this "support" is a joke. The hoops I've had to jump through are beyond comprehension for me in light of how large EA is and I've said as much on my blog (http://rainabba.blogspot.com though few subscribe there, I'm well heard on twitter with over 2,000 subscribers between my two accounts). You have ONE opportunity to change that perspective.

NFS Shift reports, "Unsupported Device", "an error has occured while downloading your game".... despite the fact that it IS supported (see http://ars.samsung.com/customer/usa/jsp/faqs/faqs_view_us.jsp?SITE_ID=22&PG_ID=2&PROD_SUB_ID=557&PROD_ID=561&AT_ID=337059) and the Android Market DID let me purchase it.

How do I download the content? If you are to tell me that it's not possible, then please proceed to a refund of my purchase (rainabba@gmail.com is my google user account).

It appears to me that this application is not designed per the Google Android API best practices otherwise it would recognize my phone and download, or give me the benefit of the doubt (since I WAS able to purchase it) and download.