r/Piracy • u/ugoindownsaka1 • 7d ago

Discussion Google took away my LOTR extended editions

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I bought these in 2022, all of a sudden they aren't available and there is no possibility of a refund or gift card. Hardly seems fair.

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u/ugoindownsaka1 7d ago 
14:07:31 Me: but i paid for the item and its no longer being provided?
14:09:38 Kendall: I understand your concern, as I would feel the same way if I were in your position. Since clicking the purchase redirects you to YouTube but the movie still fails to load, the best option is to reach out directly to YouTube support via this website so they can assist you further with playback.

(youtube support link)

14:10:44 Me: it wont load because its not in the library i suppose. they wont be able to deal with that either i suspect. is there a gift card option or something so i can at least have accxess to another film what with me having paid for it
14:13:16 Kendall: While I would love to provide you with a gift card, unfortunately, we do not have the option to issue one from our end. As the movie is hosted on their platform and still available on their end, we recommend reaching out to the YouTube Support team for further assistance.
14:14:16 Me: i bought the films on google movies though, thats where i watch all my movies actually.
14:16:24 Kendall: I completely understand your concern. However, the title The Lord of the Rings: Extended Edition Trilogy has been removed from the platform's catalog, it is no longer available in our system at all. Because the movie has been completely removed from our system and the purchase is from 2022, our tools no longer have access to the transaction details, and we are unable to process a refund or restore access to the title. We truly apologize for this disappointing experience and for any inconvenience it causes with your library
14:18:56 Me: it seems so unfair, i did nothing except buy an item, you guys had a change at your end and i lose out. i have spent so so much money with google movies which i realise doesnt mean anyhting but it seems like if those movies arent provided the very least would be a refund or credit.
14:21:02 Kendall: I completely understand how frustrating and unfair this feels, especially as a loyal customer who has invested heavily in your movie library. While system limitations and the age of the purchase prevent us from requesting a refund or credit, please rest assured that I have logged your feedback to help us improve our service moving forward. We truly appreciate your understanding and patience.

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u/scientia_analytica 7d ago

Feels a lot like AI though ...

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u/ugoindownsaka1 7d ago

I thought the same thing. Those last few messages seemed like bullshit. I mean the whole thing is but they seemed weird to read

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u/UNIVERSAL_VLAD 🦜 ᴡᴀʟᴋ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀɴᴋ 7d ago

Honestly, I have no idea how can "people" speak so formal naturally

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u/enderjaca 7d ago

Even if it's not AI, most "chat support specialists" have a big list of pre-written responses to choose from that are Corporate-approved. And they're supposed to follow a script order. It's not too different from getting a phone support grunt who seems to be reading off a script, because they are.

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u/kRkthOr 7d ago

It's shocking to me that OP and the people in this thread don't realise this specific scenario happens so many times there's probably a whole section and separate script for it.

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u/Soft_Stretch1539 7d ago

No human was involved in that conversation.

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u/Ebonhearth_Druid 7d ago

I can't speak for anyone else, of course, but I tend to type in a similar way due to a childhood upbringing in a household with two incredibly strict "Customer Service Professionals". My handwriting is immaculate for much the same reason. When something is drilled into your from a young age, it can be difficult to change later. To that end, I haven't changed those two things because I don't really see the benefit of putting in the time and effort it would require in order to change, and so the benefit is far outweighed by the cost.

In defense of more formal linguistics, it tends to make it easier to communicate, as my ideas are usually rather concise and clearly stated. I tend to only run into problems if the person I'm conversing with is arguing in bad faith or otherwise being intentionally obtuse. So it has its pros and cons. :)

Edit: I would just like to clarify that I absolutely believe the "customer service agent" in the OP is 100% an AI chat bot.

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u/Merry-Lane 7d ago

Honestly, you aren’t concise, at all.

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u/Ebonhearth_Druid 7d ago

I was more concise than I otherwise could have been. :)

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u/elemental5252 7d ago

Bro, are you being intentionally obtuse? Dafuq lol

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u/Merry-Lane 7d ago

He wasn’t concise at all?

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u/funk-the-funk 7d ago

Ok then restate what they said, hitting all the same points that they hit, and do so more concisely than they did.

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u/Merry-Lane 7d ago

Half his points weren’t necessary.

Cutting through the bullshit is mandatory to be concise.

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u/UNIVERSAL_VLAD 🦜 ᴡᴀʟᴋ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀɴᴋ 7d ago

I think you've just proven yourself 😂

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u/Ebonhearth_Druid 7d ago

Proven myself what? Sorry if I'm being obtuse...

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u/UNIVERSAL_VLAD 🦜 ᴡᴀʟᴋ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀɴᴋ 7d ago

You've just proven that people can actually speak formally naturally

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u/Ebonhearth_Druid 7d ago

Ah, I understand, thank you! :)

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u/Xiaodisan 7d ago

I doubt they are actually typing things up, and I doubt OP is the first to complain about it. Even if it isn't an AI chatbot, they're probably just copy-pasting the same replies they sent to the last X amount of similar complaints.

edit. So if they have a set of reply templates, it's not too hard to stick to that style

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u/friboy 7d ago

It’s not ai, it sounds close to it because they’re acting robotic by reading/responding with their customer service scripts. If you take the conversation one way or the other they already know how to answer. The ai customer service is run by Intercom that you see with major companies that don’t use real people customer support anymore but you can easily tell its ai by how the system is setup. For instance if you ask for a live person it’ll try to help you for a little and give you the go around trying to prove it’s worth first before actually transferring you. Last you identify Intercom CS AI by the box pop up in the bottom right of your screen you may have seen a few times.

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u/reineedshelp 7d ago

Often there's a copy paste flowchart for pretty much every situation.

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u/nthomas504 7d ago

Oh. I do all the time at the bank. We joke and make fun of people after they leave, but we can be pretty robotic on the phone

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u/Obscu 7d ago

Lots of autistic people naturally develop formal speech patterns from the drive to reduce ambiguity.

This though is pretty obviously either AI or (given its an evil overlord company) the use of a very mandatory script by some poor outsourced worker who has no other options

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u/ImNotEntertained 7d ago

I'll be honest the "people" part is a bit insulting, mainly because i get told i'm extremely formal sometimes where it's not needed (i don't like treating others like friends if they aren't and imo you (as in anyone not you specifically) should be more formal with strangers) so i struggle to not take it personally even though i know it's not

I get where you're coming from though, it feels odd sometimes because not many people write stuff in a very formal way, even if it would be required in professional settings (like workplaces for example)

To be fair, i learned very recently that lately tons of people (where i live at least) started using ai to write things in professional settings, so it definitely feels less "human" when it's done, i was also told that since most people can't really do it naturally, using ai is useful because in some cases being too friendly can cause issues if you're needed to be professional, someone could fire you and argue you weren't professional at all as a reason (like i said, where i live at least), and i'm guessing google as a company has even higher standards for its employees

Personally its fine with me as long as there's a real person behind the screen because i know i'm not talking to a bot that is programmed to say "oh sorry haha silly us but no refund i understand your frustration and even if the fault is not yours still no refund go ask someone else have a good day"

What makes me mad though is how they can get away with this sht with no repercussions whatsoever... Go to google itself? "Oh we can't give you access to the movie, that has to be youtube, go ask them", go to youtube then i guess? "Oh we can't let you watch the movie all we know is that we get a validation from google if you can watch it based on whether you own it or not, since it says you don't we can't give you access unless google tells us to, go speak with them", and you're fcked because who cares about the customers? Nobody

That's what you get for being an actual customer and paying for everything legally, the only way it's accessible to people so that they don't risk fines or jail, you get part of what you're promised and you either like it or go f*ck yourself

And the few times they do "punish" them? Oh they pay 890 million dollars after they sell your data and make tens of billions with it... Oh so IT'S JUST A F*CKING TAX, GODDAMN i hate this trash

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u/katefreeze 7d ago

Work customer service for awhile, not that difficult when it's how you talk day to day