Married couple, one PC, two accounts: a permanent smurf ban, a 3-month ban, and nobody at FACEIT will read our case
We created this Reddit account today only to ask for help with our case, because we have run out of other options.
We are a married couple from Brazil. We have one gaming PC at home and we take turns on it. We are both beginners. We came to FACEIT because we were tired of cheaters in Premier and wanted a fair place to play.
On September 24, both of our accounts were banned for smurfing:
- "Primitivvo" (husband): permanent ban
- "primitivao" (wife): banned until December
We are two different people. Each of us had exactly one FACEIT account, linked to our own Steam account.
About the similar nicknames: we both love camping and campfires, which is where "primitivo" comes from. We each picked a version of it. To an automated system that probably looks like one person with two accounts. It is two people who share a hobby.
The facts:
- We never played at the same time. On September 23, one of us played at 15:59, the other at 21:51 and 22:31. Two people sharing one computer.
- "primitivao" is verified with her own ID. "Primitivvo" is not verified yet, and we have offered again and again to verify it with his documents.
- "Primitivvo" has 8 matches in almost 6 months, 2 wins, most ratings below 1.0, level 3-4. That is not a smurf. That is someone who is still learning the game.
- The Banning Policy says one person cannot have multiple accounts. It does not say two people cannot share a computer.
What we have tried:
- Several appeals. Every one got the same template reply: the ban stands, no details.
- A support agent told us to use the category "I Am Banned - Smurfing". We did. Two of those tickets were closed with nothing but a satisfaction survey. No answer at all.
- A data protection request is open (ticket 14863936).
We understand why smurfing is punished hard. We are not asking for special treatment. We are asking for one person to actually look at our case. We can provide ID verification, our marriage certificate, or a video call with both of us.
It is hard to explain how frustrating this is. We did nothing wrong, we have proof, and after two weeks we still cannot get a single human answer. A permanent ban for sharing a computer with your spouse cannot be the intended result of this system.
If any FACEIT admin reads this, please take a look. Thank you.
