Summary
- Started playing: March 2025. I’ve supported the game every month and genuinely enjoyed it.
- First issue: A payment was deducted from my bank but not acknowledged by the payment system Saturday August 9.
- Reached out: E-mailed the listed provider customerSupport@payermax.com, no reply for days.
- Escalation: I had to buy a LinkedIn Premium account and message multiple PayerMax employees to find someone willing to forward the issue. Still no reply from official support to date.
- Game support: Sword of Convallaria support responded always quickly, but the response after they were made aware of their provider shortcomings was not helpful. I’m still waiting on a resolution.
- August 13, 2025: I was told that I would get an update by Wednesday. PayerMax kept the schedule. Another employeed reached out on LinkedIn and followed up on the issue internally.
- Resolution: Issue resolved on August 14, 2025. PayerMax support contacted me within 24 hours of the last communication, explaining what happened, and swiftly solved the incident. So far the Sword of Convallaria support silently resolved the issue on their end but never provided an update (A PayerMax employee stated that SoC should have initiated the handling of the issue)
- Conclusion: I'm still keeping my promise and won't return to the game, otherwise there would be no point for this story to exist. I had already made up my mind and my final decision does not have to do with the game quality or any of the providers involved, which in the end took responsibility and resolved the matter with tact and professionalism. More details below with exchanges from support for full transparency. Fair is fair.
What it feels like
PayerMax claims to have a "7×24 service team", apparently for merchants only, not for us players. When there’s a problem, everyone goes silent.
For me, this was never about the money; it’s about how the situation has been handled. It’s easy to take players’ payments and sponsor creators, but when it’s time to fix a problem, no one is willing to take action.
What gamers can do
1) Share your experience
Had a similar problem? Know someone who has? Share it publicly so providers are accountable for poor support and weak vendor choices.
2) Escalate smartly
If you know decision-makers at these companies, point them here. Front-line support often can’t or won’t help. Escalation gets attention.
3) Vote with your wallet
Keep playing if you like, but stop spending if you’ve felt scammed or ignored. Reward companies that invest in players.
4) Highlight good actors
Know a gacha competitor with excellent responsiveness? Name them and share this page. Good service deserves visibility.
5) Are you a whale?
You probably have more sway than most of us average players. Spend as you like, but understand my choice: I love the game, yet I’m quitting to take a stand.
6) Are you F2P?
You can share the story in gacha communities. The goal is for companies to be aware of how they can improve.
Full story
I picked up Sword of Convallaria in March 2025 and immediately fell in love with it. I liked it enough to put real money behind the team and the project, not just once, but repeatedly.
Before anything went wrong
For months I made dozens of purchases from the official shop. Everything worked flawlessly.
Then, a payment failed
One day a charge left my bank account, but nothing showed up in‑game. No rewards. No confirmation.
I started with the address listed from the payment provider: customerSupport@payermax.com, submitting all the evidence of the payment and successfull transaction. Days passed with no reply.
Escalation
When the mailbox stayed silent, I paid for LinkedIn Premium and messaged several PayerMax employees directly, asking to route the issue. Someone eventually forwarded it internally. Still, no official response from support to date.
Game support replied… but didn’t resolve it
The Sword of Convallaria support team answered quickly, which I appreciated. Helpful? Not really.
I admit I've could have handled the tone better in the last reply, but this was the straw for me. I was already frustrated with PayerMax, and I feel that the in-game support could have done much more to avoid the escalation (See the Constructive Feedback section)
Holidays aside, remember that at this point I was informed of an additional intermediate in Thailand because I actively chased PayerMax (Not based in Thailand) employees to get a reply which support never provided. By what I have been told you have to assume that this system works on the assupmtion of zero issues occuring or the whole chain crash down due to a holiday. Believable? Excuses. Definitely room for improvement on multiple fronts.
“7×24 service team”: but for whom?
PayerMax advertises round‑the‑clock service. That might be for merchants, not players. When something goes wrong on the player side, silence is all you get. Shouldn't they strive to provide the same support to the clients of their clients? A PayerMax employee corrected me saying that it should have been SoC responsibility to follow up on this case first (More info below)
Why this stings
It’s not about the money. I’ve spent over $7,000 since March 2025 to August 2025 because I believed in the game. What hurts is the way the problem was handled and how quickly everyone on the support side (Starting by the first point of contact PayerMax) dismissed the problem.
What I expected
- Acknowledgment that my ticket was received.
- Ownership of the case by either the provider or the game.
- Clear timelines for investigation and resolution.
Constructive feedback
Here’s how this could have been prevented or at least contained
- PayerMax: Monitor the listed support inbox and automate acknowledgments. Players should immediately get a case ID, current status, expected response and resolution windows, and support hours. If I didn't proactively chase PayerMax employees I would probably still be waiting for an answer.
- Sword of Convallaria: Once the issue was fully reported and it was clear the payment provider was at fault offer alternatives to avoid escalation (temporary credit, alternate provider, or manual fulfillment). This doesn’t mean doing it blindly; base decisions on account history and prior successful transactions to deter abuse. Train support on clear escalation paths.
- Hold providers accountable: If a vendor touches players or their money, service levels must be enforced. The provider is there to solve issues on your behalf, not create more of them.
- Management visibility: Put dashboards and alerts in place for stalled payment tickets and unanswered support threads. If a case sits untouched, managers should be pinged automatically so they can reassign or escalate.
Incident Resolution
On August 14, a kind employee from the IT department at PayerMax reached out to follow up on the incident and confirm whether it was solved. When I've told him that I still had no update he made sure to loop in all the interested parties
As promised, I was contacted by support shortly after. Within 24 hours the issue was completely solved. PayerMax took responsibility for what happened even if there was an additional intermediary in the middle, showing a proactive approach on finally providing a resolution. Even if the exchange didn't start on the best of terms they handled it with tact and professionalism, so I can't really say anything about the final resolution other than sharing here the latest communication from them for full transparency.
After the incident was resolved by PayerMax, an employee provided additional information (They confirmed I can share this). Apparently the standard operating procedure should have been for Sword of Convallaria support to initiate the procedure to investigate the matter rather than keep insisting me to contact PayerMax. If this the case, then another major problem in the loop would be proper training of SoC staff (To be clear, the blame should not fall to a single support staff that handled the problem, but management of the unit).
Note that at this point in time the Sword of Convallaria support silently resolved the issue on their end without providing any additional direction or even an apology. You can see that from the start in all their messages, while they replied quickly, they have never actively shown interest in proactively tracking the issue on their end. Now, I can't verify wether what PayerMax is saying is 100% valid without SoC reaching out to me, so please take this information with a grain of salt while I keep investigating.
I am fully aware that I may have blown the issue out of proportion for a single transaction, but think about how many similar cases occur without gaining visibility or resolution because players don't want to publicly voice their discontent. I chose to invest the time to do so on my own. Hopefully it won’t fall on deaf ears. Happy gaming!
Should you Play Sword of Convallaria?
My original goal was not to sabotage the game, but to encourage anyone involved in the process to improve it. This is not a review of the game, which I very much liked and will miss. But I'm taking a stance, a very silly and overboard one, but I stand by it.
I don't regret the time I've spent in Sword of Convallaria, but it's time to seek greener pastures for me
Are you wondering what I'm leaving behind? In the end, nothing of true worth, really
