Kung Fu Tea Promotion [Merged]

[Mewcifer.5198]

@SatdeNecro.2395 said:I still haven't gotten a DLC code at all. I am in the US downloaded the app and connected it to my Facebook account. Check the social rewards messages and still empty inbox. Am I missing something here??

The promotion is currently paused while things get sorted out

[Vash.2386]

@SatdeNecro.2395 said:I still haven't gotten a DLC code at all. I am in the US downloaded the app and connected it to my Facebook account. Check the social rewards messages and still empty inbox. Am I missing something here??

Unfortunately, the promotion has been disabled for the time being!

[OutOfOrder.3719]

By all means, you can choose to use the kungfu app. But to avoid giving away my confidential information, I would rather just pay with gems from ANET directly, instead of hoping to redeem a free digital code that may allow other accounts of mine to be hacked.

[Mewcifer.5198]

@OutOfOrder.3719 said:By all means, you can choose to use the kungfu app. But to avoid giving away my confidential information, I would rather just pay with gems from ANET directly, instead of hoping to redeem a free digital code that may allow other accounts of mine to be hacked.

I feel making it available with gems would mess up the purpose of the outfit. It has been and always should be an item only gained from special promotions.

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

@"Zoltar MacRoth.7146" said:On a serious note, despite the issues with this promotion, I enjoy the game very much and would like to thank the designers, artists and coders for their efforts. They don't deserve any blame for this mess or the decisions of the PR department or whoever is running this promotion, and I hope they know how appreciated they are.

Indeed.Just shows how easy it is for "public relations" gimmick to backfire, for reasons outside the control of most of the organizations involved.

[Irbis.4932]

@Mewcifer.5198 said:

@"OutOfOrder.3719" said:By all means, you can choose to use the kungfu app. But to avoid giving away my confidential information, I would rather just pay with gems from ANET directly, instead of hoping to redeem a free digital code that may allow other accounts of mine to be hacked.

I feel making it available with gems would mess up the purpose of the outfit. It has been and always should be an item only gained from special promotions.

This promotion is "special" indeed... :#

[Plautze.6290]

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:

@"Zoltar MacRoth.7146" said:On a serious note, despite the issues with this promotion, I enjoy the game very much and would like to thank the designers, artists and coders for their efforts. They don't deserve any blame for this mess or the decisions of the PR department or whoever is running this promotion, and I hope they know how appreciated they are.

Indeed.Just shows how easy it is for "public relations" gimmick to backfire, for reasons outside the control of most of the organizations involved.

Backfire. Backfire?! BACKFIRE??!! This is le understatement of the year.This is more like trying to make a bowl of cereals and accidentally setting of a nuke right next to your face. :p

In the meantime, I'm really tired of this mess refusing to be solved. Let's just hope ANet never ever tries a cross promotion with KFT again.If they do, my Norn Rev will be dancing in LA in a pink tutu all day.The very moment my eyes fall upon the 'Another great, awesome, mind-blowing GW2xKFT promotion coming soon' in the launcher, I'll delete my account, uninstall GW2, destroy my gaming machine, burn my house and do the afroninja flip to end my misery.

[Danikat.8537]

Still no word from KFT? We're nearly half way through the promotion and even their chosen few (Americans) cannot claim the codes. I don't think anyone would argue that they need to fix their app before carrying on but it's surprising that it's taking them so long to get it done. I really hope they extend the promotion period to allow time for people to claim the codes, otherwise it will be even more rushed than when it first started and the app will probably end up overwhelmed and broken all over again.

@Mewcifer.5198 said:

@OutOfOrder.3719 said:By all means, you can choose to use the kungfu app. But to avoid giving away my confidential information, I would rather just pay with gems from ANET directly, instead of hoping to redeem a free digital code that may allow other accounts of mine to be hacked.

I feel making it available with gems would mess up the purpose of the outfit. It has been and always should be an item only gained from special promotions.

That's true for the outfit but if anyone really wanted the heroic edition gems are absolutely an option. Buy the Primeval, Krytan or Profane armour (when it's available) 10 Heroic Boosters and an 18 slot bag and you've effectively upgraded your account to the Heroic edition.

[schokelmei.8271]

Still no news? Come on, that's ridiculous.My support ticket with a hint for KFT that there is something called "General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)" in Europe wasn't answered yet. Wonder if it ever will. Not that I really care much. This is a huge trainwreck.

[Bloodstealer.5978]

@Danikat.8537 said:Still no word from KFT? We're nearly half way through the promotion and even their chosen few (Americans) cannot claim the codes. I don't think anyone would argue that they need to fix their app before carrying on but it's surprising that it's taking them so long to get it done. I really hope they extend the promotion period to allow time for people to claim the codes, otherwise it will be even more rushed than when it first started and the app will probably end up overwhelmed and broken all over again.

@Mewcifer.5198 said:

@OutOfOrder.3719 said:By all means, you can choose to use the kungfu app. But to avoid giving away my confidential information, I would rather just pay with gems from ANET directly, instead of hoping to redeem a free digital code that may allow other accounts of mine to be hacked.

I feel making it available with gems would mess up the purpose of the outfit. It has been and always should be an item only gained from special promotions.

That's true for the outfit but if anyone really wanted the heroic edition gems are absolutely an option. Buy the Primeval, Krytan or Profane armour (when it's available) 10 Heroic Boosters and an 18 slot bag and you've effectively upgraded your account to the Heroic edition.

That completely defeats the object of the promotion and is a large smack in the face to anyone that originally took ANET and KFT up on the offer and those wanting to still take on the offer.. only for the rules to be changed .That is in no way a solution to what looks more and more like a scam on the surface.It also does not make clear why one minute ANET is all about standing for its customers when members of their team insult and berate us, but then wash their hands of us when a cross promo they entered into turns out to be a dupe for a large proportion of its player base, to the point where some are now allegedly being hacked for the pleasure.Don't get me wrong, I am not blaming ANET for the fiasco KFT has caused with their shoddy handling of the promotion from their end, but ANET's lack of support in all this stinks bad form imo.

[voegelchen.1642]

So I got the app like on the first day of promotion (living in the EU) and in the social rewards section i could see the promotion and i "just" needed to link a social media account. Which I couldn't because the app always crashed when I tried. Really tried many many times in the first days and like many other players I got frustrated (and some got lucky and managed to get codes). For non-US people the promotion shouldn't even be visible in this app, but I get that this is on KFT (even now, the sweepstakes promotion is shown, so I guess the DLC one is only gone because of the "pause" in the promotion). Nevertheless, I really hope, that Anet is trying to compensate to all non-US players somehow, even though they are not responsible for all the trouble. But I am not demanding it, just hoping. US players are also getting frustrated because almost half of the promotion time is over they are having nothing but trouble, so I guess at least the promotion time should be extended to 1 month after it will finally work properly.

I also have a question: I will visit the US by the end of this month. Will I be able to get the codes, when I am there? And if so, will I be able to redeem the codes back home (it says you have to redeem the codes by Oct. 31st)?

[Bloodstealer.5978]

@"voegelchen.1642" said:So I got the app like on the first day of promotion (living in the EU) and in the social rewards section i could see the promotion and i "just" needed to link a social media account. Which I couldn't because the app always crashed when I tried. Really tried many many times in the first days and like many other players I got frustrated (and some got lucky and managed to get codes). For non-US people the promotion shouldn't even be visible in this app, but I get that this is on KFT (even now, the sweepstakes promotion is shown, so I guess the DLC one is only gone because of the "pause" in the promotion). Nevertheless, I really hope, that Anet is trying to compensate to all non-US players somehow, even though they are not responsible for all the trouble. But I am not demanding it, just hoping. US players are also getting frustrated because almost half of the promotion time is over they are having nothing but trouble, so I guess at least the promotion time should be extended to 1 month after it will finally work properly.

I also have a question: I will visit the US by the end of this month. Will I be able to get the codes, when I am there? And if so, will I be able to redeem the codes back home (it says you have to redeem the codes by Oct. 31st)?

What's more to the point.. if its not a promo for non-us, why then were a large chunk of ANET's player base directed to go download the app that was both useless from the promo perspective and useless from a " I want a cup of KFT".. nah the heroic promo was clearly meant to be worldwide imo and what happened after came as a result of KFT's shoddy handling of this promo.Apps get region locked when they are not supposed to be downloaded outside of the permitted regions, for many reasons... so why was this app freely available to download for anyone and everyone at the time... because there was not meant to be any such restrictions imo.Shoddy app geared to a shoddy promo, backed up by shoddy rule changes after the promo was live and topped off by some shoddy support from both parties.

[Discoteka.2758]

At the beginning of this promotion, I considered going to the local KFT here to try the tea. Now? Nah... Glad I didn't in the beginning. KFT won't get a dime from me.

[Manasa Devi.7958]

It's obvious that mistakes have been made. Whether the mistake was to have an app+back-end that couldn't deal with the traffic, or the mistake was not to exclude non-US people from the promotion from the start, or both, there's definitely been a mistake somewhere along the way. A mistake that had a lot of people waste time and effort. A mistake that left a lot of people disappointed.

Now people make mistakes, sure, it happens all the time. What's really important, when it comes to mistakes, is how you deal with them. How you treat the people affected by them. That, in the end is what will define your reputation. So far, the handling of this mistake has been disastrous. I hope these companies come to their senses.

[DEAN.6290]

@NicholaLord.2630 said:

@Danikat.8537 said:

@NicholaLord.2630 said:

@Haleydawn.3764 said:

@Danikat.8537 said:By the way if any EU players are curious I double checked this morning and there is no special process or wording to get your data deleted under GDPR. You just have to request it verbally or in writing. Since it seems we're no longer eligible to participate and allegedly never were I didn't see any reason to let KFT keep whatever information they might have on me, so I sent them this email earlier today:

_Dear Kung Fu Tea,

On Monday 3rd September 2018 I registered for and participated in your online cross-promotion with Arenanet to obtain Guild Wars 2 items. As part of this I linked my Facebook account to your app and granted permission for you to access information on Facebook.

I now understand that this was done under false pretences as it was not made clear to me at any point in the process that as a non-US resident I am not eligible to participate in this promotion and that I should not have expected to receive any items from it.

However as an EU citizen my data is covered by the new General Data Protection Regulations, which includes the 'right to erasure' - for consent to be removed at any time and data obtained under consent to be deleted. I wish to evoke this right now and therefore ask that you delete all data you hold related to this email address or my (Real Name) Facebook account.

Please confirm to me that this has been done.

Yours Sincerely,

Real Name_

I'll update if/when I get a reply.

(I'd already unlinked my Facebook account and the KFT app, via both Facebook and the app, deleted my social profile on the app and then deleted the app.)

Yes, I’ve already done that.I got some bull reply basically saying they’ve deactivated the account on their end and removed me from mailing lists. No mention of my data being expunged from them.

What email address did you write too?

I sent my email to info@kfteausa.com which is the email listed under 'contact us' on their website.

I also emailed that address, but so far have not received a reply.

I sent my email to "LevelUp" kungfutea@thelevelup.com and here is the reply I got

We're sorry to see you go, but it's no trouble to deactivate your account – your account has been successfully closed on our end and we have removed you from our mailing list.

If you have subscribed to any marketing or promotional mailing lists with Kung Fu Tea outside of LevelUp, please reach out to them regarding removing your email from their records as well. You can reach out to them here via web, by email at info@kfteausa.com, or by phone at 1-855-538-9888.

I will also be forwarding the rest of your concerns about Guild Wars over to the appropriate team (info@popdeem). Have a great day and let me know if I can help you with anything else!

All the best,JeremyLevelUp Support

I also recieved this but I believe this is a standard response

Hi there,

Thanks so much for reaching out to LevelUp; we have escalated your inquiry to our friends at the Social Rewards team directly so that they can better assist you. A representative will reach out to you shortly to help!

Have an excellent rest of your day,LevelUp Support

[Menadena.7482]

@Discoteka.2758 said:At the beginning of this promotion, I considered going to the local KFT here to try the tea. Now? Nah... Glad I didn't in the beginning. KFT won't get a dime from me.

I am still trying to figure out their business strategy. The sense I get from targeting a game and their menu is they are after college students and office peeps. Yet that does not match up well with their local locations. It only seems to work for random dropins while people are going from A to B. It could be promotions like this were some attempt to get more regular business.

[Tyger.1637]

@Plautze.6290 said:

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:

@"Zoltar MacRoth.7146" said:On a serious note, despite the issues with this promotion, I enjoy the game very much and would like to thank the designers, artists and coders for their efforts. They don't deserve any blame for this mess or the decisions of the PR department or whoever is running this promotion, and I hope they know how appreciated they are.

Indeed.Just shows how easy it is for "public relations" gimmick to backfire, for reasons outside the control of most of the organizations involved.

Backfire. Backfire?! BACKFIRE??!! This is

le

understatement of the year.This is more like trying to make a bowl of cereals and accidentally setting of a nuke right next to your face. :p

More like:

[Jevati.4328]

@Menadena.7482 said:

@Discoteka.2758 said:At the beginning of this promotion, I considered going to the local KFT here to try the tea. Now? Nah... Glad I didn't in the beginning. KFT won't get a dime from me.

I am still trying to figure out their business strategy. The sense I get from targeting a game and their menu is they are after college students and office peeps. Yet that does not match up well with their local locations. It only seems to work for random dropins while people are going from A to B. It could be promotions like this were some attempt to get more regular business.

From what I can tell, they have several locations on college campuses. There are two locations in my city: one actually on the campus inside a university common area, and one about 15 minutes away from the first one, but not on campus.

I did actually go to KFT that first night, before everything blew up. I went to the non-college location, but it was still swarming with traditional college students (I make the distinction because I work at a college where most of our students are non-trad, so the student population is very different). I'd say about 90% of the people I saw walking around outside and going inside the store were between 18-24 years old, and many wore clothes with school logos from the nearby university.

So in my city, anyway, targeting the game to go after college students would actually be a fairly sound strategy.

Either way, I wasn't that impressed with their bubble tea. We drove 25-30 minutes for it. There's a bubble tea place 2 minutes from my home that has much better bubble tea (and non-dairy options, I might add...).

[Gemnaid.4219]

@Mewcifer.5198 said:

@OutOfOrder.3719 said:By all means, you can choose to use the kungfu app. But to avoid giving away my confidential information, I would rather just pay with gems from ANET directly, instead of hoping to redeem a free digital code that may allow other accounts of mine to be hacked.

I feel making it available with gems would mess up the purpose of the outfit. It has been and always should be an item only gained from special promotions.

“Special” promotion. Sure. We can call it that.

[Danikat.8537]

@Menadena.7482 said:

@Discoteka.2758 said:At the beginning of this promotion, I considered going to the local KFT here to try the tea. Now? Nah... Glad I didn't in the beginning. KFT won't get a dime from me.

I am still trying to figure out their business strategy. The sense I get from targeting a game and their menu is they are after college students and office peeps. Yet that does not match up well with their local locations. It only seems to work for random dropins while people are going from A to B. It could be promotions like this were some attempt to get more regular business.

I think that's exactly what they're doing. In marketing terms gamers are 16-25 or 29, predominantly male (although that's slowly changing), heavy tech users who are likely to be early adopters of new tech, and with significant disposable income and a tendency to be extremely loyal to certain brands once they're engaged. All of which, especially the age range, the disposable income and the brand loyalty, makes us a desirable market for any company but especially one trying to portray itself as cool, modern, tech-savvy and appealing to a younger audience which seems to be exactly what KFT is doing. But we're also less susceptible to traditional marketing because we don't spend as much time watching TV or reading newspapers and magazines and we're more inclined to consider the pros and cons of everything (including what we're not being told) when making a decision because gaming requires that kind of thinking all the time. Do you get this upgrade or save the currency for a later one? Do you take the route with more cover or the shorter, riskier one? Is this NPC really telling you the whole story?

If it wasn't such a mess this promotion would be fantastic. The cost was minimal for both Anet (who used automatically generated codes for existing assets) and KFT (who just added a button to an existing app), it drew a lot of attention and if you look at the posts from before all the problems started the reaction was largely positive. If everything had gone to plan it would end up with non-GW2 players who visited a KFT store being vaguely aware of GW2 as a game which doesn't take itself too seriously and gives free stuff away (a good image for an MMO, which can be seen as elitist and expensive) and GW2 players remembering KFT as a brand who used modern tech (mobile phone apps, OMG!) and social media (the thing with trendy young tech users) to give them free stuff for a game they like.

Which doesn't translate directly into more sales for either company, but neither does most advertising. No one buys a car because they see one of those stupid adverts of them swooshing along mountain roads to dramatic music. But it leaves an almost subconscious impression of what kind of car it is, as does what they were doing at the time they saw the advert (which is why different cars are advertised before kids films or action movies) which will influence people's decision when they are buying a car. Same idea here. Apparently it takes approximately 3 'encounters' with a brand before you buy from them, that can be as simple as seeing the logo to create familiarity but ideally it goes a bit further than that to make it seem like a brand they want to engage with.

[Ulyssean.1709]

Still no reply from KFT. What does Anet have to say about this promotion that they are partners on and are responsible for?

[Bloodstealer.5978]

@Ulyssean.1709 said:Still no reply from KFT. What does Anet have to say about this promotion that they are partners on and are responsible for?

They already said it.. nothing to do with us, speak to KFT..Strangely though the latest trailer is uncommonly early and notably short and lacking imo by comparison, almost like it was pushed out in a hurry for some crowd calming maybe - well there's my conspiracy theory for today..... rolls eyes :)

[NicholaLord.2630]

So I assume Anet are doing nothing for us, not willing to fight our cause.. its all gone quiet again.. they just want us to forget ?

[Zoltar MacRoth.7146]

@Manasa Devi.7958 said:It's obvious that mistakes have been made. Whether the mistake was to have an app+back-end that couldn't deal with the traffic, or the mistake was not to exclude non-US people from the promotion from the start, or both, there's definitely been a mistake somewhere along the way. A mistake that had a lot of people waste time and effort. A mistake that left a lot of people disappointed.

Now people make mistakes, sure, it happens all the time. What's really important, when it comes to mistakes, is how you deal with them. How you treat the people affected by them. That, in the end is what will define your reputation. So far, the handling of this mistake has been disastrous. I hope these companies come to their senses.

Very good point.

[Blackhawk.4053]

Closest Kung Fu Tea location is 883km from my house. (548 miles) How is this supposed to benefit anyone?? There are THREE store locations is all of Canada?! Really?!