I’ve looked at that customer service template many times over the past chunk of days. That form is apparently a portal to nowhere.

Allow me to explain.

A while back, I wanted to pre-order the Destiny grimoire anthology (if you’re interested, here is the link on Amazon). At the time, the only place I found online to order it was directly from the Bungie Store. I’d ordered a few small things from them in the past, but nothing that required any amount of additional customer service.

I mistakenly assumed they would charge for the item as it shipped (as Amazon does), and immediately realized I was incorrect. Oh, well. I mean, I wanted the book anyway. I was, however, a little uncomfortable with the $10+ shipping charge for one book, but I didn’t have any other options, considering. I adore the lore of Destiny and, in my opinion, it’s the best writing of the game. Whether serious or humorous, I find it exceedingly well written.

Last week Amazon let me know they had the grimoire for pre-order. Not only was shipping faster and $0, but the book itself was less expensive. I placed my pre-order, fully knowing I would cancel the Bungie Store order.

If only.

In the time since, I’ve tried contacting Bungie Store’s “customer service” five times via email and once (I cringe at this, but had no other recourse) via Twitter.

I’ve yet to receive a single response. Even an automated one.

I followed their directions. I responded to the order confirmation email. I went directly to their website (as seen above) and sent more emails via their preferred interaction. I finally sent them a tweet asking for help. All efforts have yielded absolutely nothing. Not a peep.

So I did a little research. Apparently, this has been an issue for the Bungie Store for at least four years. I found scores of people online desperate to find even so much as a phone number for customer support; none exist as far as I’ve found. There is no phone number, no chat option, and no one responding to email or their Twitter account. And I’m far from the only person to encounter this.

How can a company operate this way? I went back into my Bungie Store account to see if I could cancel the order myself and there was no option for it. So not only can I not cancel this order, I can’t reach anyone via any means to cancel it for me.

Yuck.

I loathe being one of those people, but I can’t see patronizing the store after this, especially after seeing this has been an issue for at least four years running. That’s awful customer service. I’ve seen some cases online where people have said they’ve sent a dozen emails, then, months later, finally received a response.

I understand when a company is busy, or when natural disasters affect shipping or systems (I recently had a refund from Amazon go horribly awry, but at least a kind support person explained why); just let me know that. An automated email does wonders here. Even if that email says something to the effect of: “We are experiencing a high volume of orders; please expect delays in all areas.” But to say and do nothing is ridiculous. To have no other way to contact them is ridiculous. This isn’t a good way to do business, as it’s barely doing business at all.

I will try them once more via email (why, I’m not sure), but then I will take it up with my credit card company; at least I know they will help me deal with it. It just shouldn’t take these steps to simply cancel an order.

Have you ever experienced non-existent customer service online? If so, did you ever find success? How? I could use any suggestions right now!

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This weekend I’m hoping to finally, FINALLY get to Spider-Man or Tomb Raider. Of the two, I’m more eager to play Tomb Raider, but I’d honestly go for either. I will, of course, be playing more Destiny 2, but lately I’ve been having some conflicting feelings on the amended structure of the game (more on that next week) which is making me want to play a little less. I’m aching to start playing something new. Also! I want to dip my toes in Strange Brigade to see how it plays.

With that I ask: what will you be playing this weekend?

Please be safe out there, friends. Cheers.