Hey Howdy Hey Tappers!
With only a few hours left till Gil leaves town I know many of you are having issues with the game crashing and/or not getting your donuts. There’s now a workaround for it if you want to take advantage of his offer before he leaves Springfield.
Thanks to reader Steve for finding this work around. He writes:
“I tried the Gil deal multiple times by clicking on his icon to get to them. It crashed each time. I went another route by clicking on the donut icon in the lower left corner of the app and purchased them that way. Worked like a charm the first time. Maybe give that a try if Gil is still crashing for you.”
So basically instead of going through the store to purchase them try using the Get More Button located on the bottom left of your screen:
I can tell you…I tried it this way and it works (after a lot of crashing for me the other way). So if you’re worried about missing the deal but are more worried about missing out on the donuts try it this way. Everything should go through smoothly with the purchase.
Now for those of you who’s game crashed and your donuts weren’t delivered….
First of all…know that donuts should be delivered right away. As soon as you purchase them your game will restart (not crash, but return to the splash screen) & once Springfield loads back up you’ll see a popup saying they were successful. So if they don’t appear right away…or your game crashes know that you’ve got a problem with them.
Here’s a few things you can do….
1. Contact EA. I always suggest trying to contact them after 9am EST to trigger the call me option.
2. Contact your App Store (iTunes/Google Play/Amazon) directly and request a refund for your purchase.
In either event you’ll need your receipt. For whatever reason…iTunes takes 24hrs to send it to you.
Now, I too experienced the crashing and not getting my purchase. I first tried the contact EA option. BUT their call wait time is ridiculous right now…especially with all the issues going on with xbox and Play Station right now. So I got impatient waiting so I went the route of Contacting Google Play for a refund and just repurchased donuts using the method described above. It worked perfectly! No crashing & I got my donuts. And I got refunded from Google for my first purchase.
So if you’re having issues…try giving one of those methods a try and see if that helps. Of course if you can’t afford to spend more on donuts while waiting for the refund I do recommend the contact EA option. Since they’re the only ones who can put donuts back into your game.
Are YOU having issues with Gil’s deal? Did you get a refund? What did EA tell you? Have you tried this method? Did it work? Sound off in the comments below, you know we LOVE hearing from you!
Got a callback from EA. He gave me my missing donuts plus 55 donuts for my inconvenience. Now if I could get the Elf Bottler to work. I have tried all day. Does it like the bunny zapper did??? Help 🙁
EXACTLY like the Bunny Zapper. Tap icon to trigger…clear the message…finger tap to get the sparks.
http://tstoaddicts.com/2014/04/18/to-tap-or-to-zap-bunny-stunner/
I got mine back and no extra donuts… Only took 72 hours. 🙁
I don’t want my Money back. I want the donut deal. Can’t reach EA and have no response from iTunes yet.
I’m frustrated….
EVERYONE is trying to reach EA…think of rush hour traffic. Not to mention weekend so lighter staff. My best suggestion (though annoying) is to wait til Monday when normal business hours resume and staff is back to full capacity. Make note of the items you wanted and “KINDLY” ask for them as well if they are no longer available.
Be kind as possible to the rep, as kindness goes a LONG way when everyone has just been yelling and screaming all weekend. You will get more accomplished that way. Trust me. 😉
They really should extend the donut deal given that these problems are THEIRS! The conspiracy part of me thinks they did this purposely just so people couldn’t get cheap donuts. The fact that they haven’t extended the deal is just another classless act from a classless organization. Oh, and as Bunny says, always be kind to the organization that is robbing you…
Oh you, It is NOT the employee on the phone controlling the game. They are just a hired worker bee. So why be mean to them?
When you work for evil, you are an extension of evil… If you don’t get upset with the status quo, you are de facto condoning it.
OR…just working a job to pay the bills and put money on the table and they were the best option in town at the time. 😉
Its been 4 days and I’m still out of my money and no donuts. Contacted EA and just got an email that its a known issue and nothing else.. Guess they don’t care as long as they getting paid. Contacted Google with my receipt and haven’t heard anything from them either. Contacting Better Business Bureau. I feel robbed. And that’s exactly what this is. They got my money and I don’t have a product.
I bought a storeful of donuts 10 PM Christmas evening with Amazon coins on my kindle and never received them. I had enough donuts already for any timed deals I wanted so I was willing to be patient, but the support from EA was HORRENDOUS. I opened a case Friday morning and the wait time were so long I wasn’t able to get anyone until 6 PM or so. I was told by that tech to wait 24 hours from purchase for my “account to sync”. So I waited. At 10 PM, I reopened the case and waited 1.5 hrs for another tech who told me there were server issues and all should be fixed “soon”. He would not elaborate on what soon might be so when I still didn’t receive them by noon the following day, I contacted Amazon for a refund. The coins came back to my account within the hour and I was able to make a new purchase without issues. I started playing this game only a few months ago- I can’t say I’ll be too eager to send any more $$ to EA after this experience. I can understand bugs and software glitches, even the long waits are forgivable given the holidays, but their complete failure to address a PURCHASE issue after TWO services calls and 36 hours is deplorable. Especially considering this problem was so widespread, you’d think they’d have some clearer information and instructions for people.
I had this problem. After an hour and a half of waiting for chat, a very kind member of staff fixed this and gave me 50 donuts free for my troubles. I wish I had known about this workaround first!
Also, there is no call back option unless you live in USA or Canada. I’m from the UK so I had to wait for chat.
A big thank you to whoever suggested contacting Amazon directly instead of going through EA…I got a refund for my donut purchase, got the Amazon coins back immediately, and about an hour later I tried again and the purchase went through.
Currently live chatting with EA. I was advised “I would like inform that the missing donuts is a known issue on which our specialist team is working. So don’t worry! you will get your donuts back soon.”
My game crashed while trying to buy the holiday donuts, I ended up getting charged for them but they didnt show up in my game.
I opened a case with EA about it yesterday and got an email with a case number but never heard anything else. I tried use their website but ended up waiting for a chat (only gave me the chat or phone call option) for over 3hrs before having to go to wok. I never had a person join the chat to help.
Any advice on what to do next?
Hang in there. A patch is coming to supposedly fix the issue.
EA sent me a response and told me to contact the game. I have since sent message to google play. Now we wait….
So I have a major issue here and I hope you wonderful 3 can help me out. I got a 25 iTunes card as a gift loaded it to my iTunes account and bought a boatload of donuts it charged all of it to my bank account and didn’t touch my 25 cedit. I didn’t notice last night but I did today when I checked my bank account. Now I dont know what to do. I have no other use for it other than tapped out and I feel scammed. The funny thing is it did the same thing to my girlfriend except she has android but she bought a truckload and then bought a golden scratcher afterwards. It charged her bank the 50 but it took the 1.99 from her google play credit. She is devastated because she can’t afford the extra 25 and needed that money for something else. If you guys have any suggestions on what to do I’d really appreciate it. She contacted the google play feedback but has not heard anything yet. Do we need to contact EA or is this out of their hands? Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for any help.
It is actually the settings in your app market you have to make. As you select ANY purchase using the markets…no matter where from…it will go right away to what YOU set up as the main point of purchase. In iTunes, I went in and set mine as “NONE” on the payment options. That way it allows ME to choose what I want to use.
In Google Play, it also dings the Credit Card first, but there is a pull down option as you progress through the payment area and can select an alternate option…here is the difference… iTunes will allow multiple items, so you can use a gift card for most then a credit card for balance. Google play ONLY allows one payment…so if not enough on a gift card it will reject the purchase.
Not exactly what I wanted to hear lol I didn’t know about that option in the iTunes Store but I’ve also never used a gift card and I’ve only ever spent money on tapped out. Nice to know that about Google play for future purchases as well. Thank you sooo much Bunny for the response and answering my questions you guys are awesome! Although Im still disappointed I’m relived to know that it was our mistake. But I’ve got plenty of donuts to ease my pain now haha : p
You’re welcome. It is something that many people do not even pay attention to. Just tap tap tap…like the game. Lol.
Gotta watch it close to make sure the payment charges to the right place. At first…my google was set to charge to my phone bill for items. I shut that option down fast. Lol.
I purchased 300+45 donuts 15 minutes before the sale ended. I got a message that Tapped Out wasn’t responding. My money was taken but…NO DONUTS!!! I thought the glitch was fixed. By the time I got an Amazon rep on the phone the sale was over. If I contact EA, will they give me my 345 or will I have to get a refund, repurchase and forfeit the extra ones??? By the way I am getting the BART screen.
Just wait and see what EA says. Be kind, kindness goes a long way. 😉
It worked for me earlier on doing it this way. It kept crashing if I went via the icon.
Good advice thanks
I bought doughnuts on Xmas eve didn’t get into the game until boxing day……no doughnuts tried EA but waiting times are lengthy and not got through so I’ve emailed google play. I will try again but not happy spending more money before a refund…..that’s the northern lad trait.
Well gil has gone so I may still contact ea and ask for the discounted deal.
You used to be able to email EA is this no longer available?
It is odd. It all depends on the day, time of day, and option selected it seems.
Finally got through to eat,……We have already informed our concerned team about the issue and good news is this that they are working diligently to fix this as soon as possible. I understand that this may not be the answer you are looking for but please be assured that this will be fixed soon.
Was the responseiam going to google for my money back.
Nice going EA you just made me free to play. Pain in the rear to contact anyone about my order and a waste of 50 dollars. I take little solace in the fact that I am not the only one who had this problem.
I chatted with them yesterday. They said it would be fixed within 48hrs since it’s a known issue. I’m miffed bc I wanted to buy Costington’s. =(
Make a note of anything you want that goes away….then when you chat with them again…ask nicely for the item you missed due to the error.
I have contacted EA 3 times. The last time I asked to be called and I’m waiting for that call. The contact (chat) I made before resulted in the tech telling me theirs an issue and I’m to be patient because he can’t help me although he wishes he could. I have requested a refund and since used the method listed above to purchase and receive a donut special.
I purchased a boatload with Amazon coins last night that did not show up. Waited for 2 hours with EA only to be told that it would resolve itself and they closed the case. This morning I still have not received the doughnuts and EA does not even have anyone available to chat. If I cancel with Amazon will I lose the Gil bonus? Very frustrated.
EA is aware of the issue. It was widespread. So it is up to you if you want to wait for the resolution or continue getting money from the app market
It took a total of 5 hours but I got the doughnuts on my account. Everyone that I dealt with at EA were extremely helpful for their part. I do feel bad for them as they are slammed I am sure. Try to have the EA team call you, much easier than online chat and they added the doughnuts while we were talking.
I bought the donuts two days ago… and I am still waiting for them? I contact EA… but nothing and Went to PlayStore and asked for refund… Do you think I will get the refund for that?
It is the weekend, so I do not know turn around time. If anything…reach back out to EA on monday during normal business hours.
I, like many others, made the Gil donut purchase and never got the goods. I tried to go through EA for a couple of reasons. First, it’s the suggestion from the Google Play store to try going through the seller first. Second, the greedy side of me sees people posting about how EA gave them xxx more donuts for their hassle. Heck, I want free goodies. That being said, EA was less than helpful. I requested phone calls both last night and this morning and got nothing. I tried a chat session last night where, after an hour of waiting for “less than 5 minutes” wait time, some guy named Najeer told me it was a known issue, wait 24 hours, and if they still haven’t shown to get back with them. Yeah. I’ll get right on waiting past the bonus deal for you to “fix” it. Anyway, long story short, contacted Google. 5 minutes and I had my refund. Repurchased with no problems via the method listed above.
UPDATE: I did FINALLY get a phone call after the Gil deal was gone and I’d cancelled my app store purchase and re-bought. They told me I should have tried to contact them first. Ummm……just ummm. Anyway, I did get some kind of “coupon” code emailed to me though it doesn’t work anywhere. Oh well. At least I got the GIl deal before it ran out.
I received a coupon code too that was attached to a survey I guess. When I clicked on the link it said it could be harmful to my device? ….all in all I’m happy with the results, but really don’t understand how this discount is even supposed to work…O_o
I purchased a boat load and did not receive my donuts. It’s been 38 hours since my purchase. After spending HOURS waiting to chat and having three different people help me, I got a supervisor who said that EA is having MAJOR issues with donuts being credited to accounts and they are VERY aware of it and that the ability to manually add donuts to people’s accounts has been removed till the development team can fix the problem. They encouraged patience and assured me that my missing donuts will at SOME point show up- including the bonus donuts that I was to get. I obviously am not going to try the workaround without getting the refund but feel much better after speaking with the supervisor when my “advisor” did not seem to have a clue what to tell me. So if people are having the same problem, let them KNOW but be patient because they are working hard to fix it.
On my Kindle – i tried the workaround – but still only had access to purchasing cash with donuts. Today – finally! i was able to purchase donuts on gil’s deal and got my reciept from amazon, but not showing my my town. Then the game crashed.
Boy i feel bad for Ea.
I had tried to use the store to buy a boatload of donuts then the screen went dark and the game quit. When I got back in no donuts. Then I tried clicking on Gil himself and it worked, I had the donuts. When I checked my email I noticed I had been charged by googlePlay twice so I requested a refund for the earlier purchase. In the comments section I made sure to mention EA was having problems and that I had paid twice. Now waiting for the results.
I went with contacting EA about it and got told that they are working on a fix and all those who paid for them will receive the donuts when the fix-patch hits (plus a few extra donuts).
Well, I don’t know what to say. I want to think they will keep their word on it and come with a fix as well.
Trying to get the deal before it ends, and I can’t get on…anyone else having a prob getting into the game?
It’s spotty. You’ve got a little more time though… 🙂
Finally got in and got my donuts…my mom is still having probs getting EA to contact her regarding Zutroy, though…
Yeah, I got kicked off the server early this morning (around 3 am) and haven’t been able to get back on at all.
You can also tap Gil himself (if you can find him) to buy donuts without crashing. I think it’s just the store that’s glitchy.
I did this and my account says I have paid for donuts, but I have not received them. I’m not paying twice.
Contact your app store for a refund.
I missed out on the deal too, don’t know why I thought it ended late this evening for some reason. Woke up after working nights and it’s too late. Welp guess I’ll have to wait til next year. Lol
Yes I too have had this problem with gil and my game crashing straight after. .. I contacted EA via live chat and the expert told me that they weren’t putting the donuts in any bodies game right now, so my advice would be to contact Google or whoever you purchase through and get a refund that way… Although iam still waiting on Google support to email me with a response. .. its very frustrating 🙁 .. but thanks for the tip about gil..
Great tip. Wish I had done this. Of course, I was having trouble even finding the contact es on tstoaddicts last night. I really should not do stuff so late 🙂
I had an old gift card credit on iTunes, so I had to open my game in Touch and put in a kagillion passwords/security answers to buy.
Contacted ea because I don’t want to put more $ on iTunes. To verify purchase in meantime, at least on a PC, try looking at iTunes account-recently purchased and click on details (or more?) and take a picture for records if needed. Thank you for explaining the 24 hr wait. I was so stressed about why I was not getting a receipt!
Thanks again tstoaddicts!!!!!
Glad it wasn’t just me that it worked for! Have a Happy New Year, TSTO!
Yes, it was great! Thanks for the great tip 🙂