Rants

WM29 Refund

By Scott Keith on April 12, 2013

Hey Scott…I was one of the people who bought WM29 online, and then couldn't watch the PPV broadcast because of the problems they had. When it started and it became clear that it was their problem and nothing on my end, I sent an email asking what they intended to do about it. The next day I received the following email:
Hello,
Thank you for your inquiry.
We experienced intermittent system issues during portions of the live WrestleMania XXIX PPV that affected some customers. These issues have been resolved, and we have extended the viewing window for the WrestleMania XXIX stream for an additional 48 hours to allow you to watch the event in its entirety. Please log out of the site and any application you were using when you experienced the error, and log back in to access your purchased content.
We apologize for this inconvenience. We are continuing to review each request and to respond with additional details as requested.
Thank you for your continued support.
Best regards,
WWE Premium Support
That was true enough, which I discovered on my own two hours into the broadcast. The truth is I found a way to watch it free online, which I did, until I was able to watch the PPV broadcast, which was of a better quality. Even then, I watched most of it for free, up through the last match, and then watched up to Punk/Taker on the WWE's broadcast. I had no desire to rewatch HHH/Lesnar or the mediocrity (at best) that was Cena/Rock.
I did not send the WWE another email and considered the matter closed. However, today I received this:
Dear Todd,

Thank you for your purchase of the WrestleMania XXIX event.

We apologize for the technical difficulties that you experienced during the event, and we are in the process of providing you a full refund. The refund should be reflected on your credit card very shortly.

Thanks again for your support.

Sincerely,
WWE Customer Support Team

Notice the personalization in the 2nd email. I gotta say, it may have taken them a few days, but to me, they went above and beyond what I expected. I had no problem paying for the PPV; after all, I got to watch it, and could have watched it again, had I chosen to do so. In terms of who I am within the WWE universe, I became a fan shortly after WM2 because of highlights of that PPV that were being run on Showtime. I was flipping channels, stumbled across the Jake Roberts match a couple of minutes before the DDT, and was hooked thereafter. I've since come and gone. I stopped watching after Jake left, was horrifed by WM9, started watching again when Jake did his "born again" schtick, stuck around because I wound up really loving Mick Foley (whom I've met, and he was a class act), stopped watching after Mick's first retirement, and slowly started watching again a couple of years or so ago. I've gone back and watched a number of PPVs via Netflix rentals, and I watch now largely because of CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. Loved the "pipe bomb" promo, and I dug Daniel Bryan in the ring from the first moment I saw him…which I believe was a Survivor Series DVD….the one where he joins Cena's team against Nexus, or NXT, or whatever the hell they were called. I've since bought the last two Rumble PPVs, bought the Over the Limit PPV with Punk and Bryan (duh), and paid for the last few Manias. I've taken to watching the condensed version (90 minutes) of Raw and the full Smackdown on Hulu. I probably would not go to a live event unless I could get really good seats, and may actually prefer a house show. Oh, and I dig Ziggler.
I say all that to point out that I am probably what WWE would call a casual fan or less, because I don't really buy any merch. While I thought WM29 was weak overall, I can't help but be pleased with how they eventually handled their tetchnical problems. It makes me far more likely to do it again, which of course, is the point.
Oh, and LOVING STNG on blu-ray. You?
I only ended up with the first season thus far, but it looks tremendous yeah. And kudos for WWE's handling of the situation.

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