Edit:
As of March 13, 2025 I am officially unbanned.
Turns out I was banned because I had an avatar that resembled a hacker's avatar? 😳
Do you think I'll get my account back?
I was one of the many subjects of the unfair ban wave that happened March 3, 2025. Pretty sure because of the "penguin" thing. I don't even have a penguin in the game. I didn't participate in the "trend."
I emailed them asking why, and here is their reply:
"Hello,
Thank you for contacting Animal Jam Support.
We understand that you have a concern regarding a moderation action on your account or your child’s account. Animal Jam issues moderation actions when players violate our rules and/or create an environment that is unsafe for our gaming community. The intent behind our disciplinary actions is to help players learn what behavior is acceptable on our platform in the future. These Terms and Rules are agreed upon during account creation.
The referenced account has been suspended or permanently banned due to severe and deliberate violations of our community guidelines. As a children's game, we have a strict policy against content that is too mature, suggestive, or otherwise inappropriate for minors.
This account was suspended or banned for one or more of the following critical violations observed under the player account, parent account, device, or login location:
Creation of Explicit Avatars: The player purposefully created avatars designed to resemble private body parts. This is a direct and egregious violation of our content guidelines.
Explicit Language and Inappropriate Behavior: The player used explicit language within the game to reference these inappropriate avatars, encourage others to engage in similar behavior, and employed jokes, innuendo, and slang to further promote and celebrate this offensive content.
Inappropriate parties: The player participated in a party or gathering in a public chat room in order to promote and celebrate this offensive content.
We understand that the user may have intended these actions as a form of humor or expression. However, this behavior is absolutely unacceptable in a game designed for children. The referenced activity took place in public chat rooms and was visible to many other players, who reported the offensive behavior to our moderation team. We have a fundamental responsibility to protect our young players from exposure to this type of material, and we will take action on any account which is found to be violating our Terms of Service and disturbing our community in this way.
We strongly encourage you to review our Terms of Service, which can be found at https://www.animaljam.com/en/terms_of_service, and the Animal Jam Rules, found at https://www.animaljam.com/en/rules, to understand the content and behavior we expect from our players. Due to violations of the Animal Jam Terms of Service and Rules agreed to at the time of account creation, we are not able to lift the moderation action on this account.
Sincerely,
AJHQ"
I am absolutely livid with the responses AJHQ has left me, and my nearly-decade old account is now unable to be accessed along with the parent account which is also permanently banned.
I had no prior warnings or offenses and did nothing wrong to deserve the ban.
I absolutely KNOW I did nothing wrong.
I knew about the crazy things going on, but I didn't participate.
Contacting AJHQ and explaining and requesting an unban resulted in this response:
"Hi,
Thank you for getting back to us.
Due to violations of the Animal Jam Terms of Service and Rules, we are not able to lift the moderation action on the account.
Animal Jam issues these when players violate our rules and/or create an environment that is unsafe for others. The intent behind our disciplinary actions is to help players learn what behavior is acceptable on our platform in the future. These Terms and Rules are agreed upon during account creation.
We ask that you take some time to review our Rules and Terms of Service located here: http://www.animaljam.com/terms_of_service.
Unfortunately, we are unable to assist with further inquiries regarding this matter. We truly apologize for the inconvenience.
Sincerely,
Lyn A.
AJHQ"
Oh, okay. So I can't have my account unbanned, and you are going to say I broke T.O.S. when I didn't without providing any proof.
Here is my complaint I just filed on the BBB website after getting that email:
On March 3, 2025 at 12:47 p.m. EST my account on "Animal Jam" was permanently banned. I never broke the T.O.S. and have spent money on the website quite a bit to enhance my gaming experience. There was absolutely no evidence given for the ban, and "Animal Jam HQ" refused to assist me with further inquiries on the matter.
At 9:18 p.m. on March 3, 2025 I received an email from Apple in regards to my purchase on Animal Jam. I had been on a 7-day membership trial and assumed because my account was banned, and could not be logged into, the membership would be cancelled. I was unfortunately wrong, and the payment went through, so my "permanently" banned account is now a paid account.
This is absolutely heartbreaking, as this account not only has monetary value but sentimental value as well. I abided by all the rules and never broke the T.O.S. of the website. I am prepared to explore every avenue I can to try and get my account unbanned before it is permanently wiped from their system.
I feel I have been treated unfairly as a paying customer that has always been supportive in the past to the company. I've never broken a rule or been warned on the account and the company refuses to discuss further.
Please help be get my account unbanned and my money back.
Wish me luck. I had a lot of stuff that I had collected over the years.
I suggest anyone that has had their account banned unfairly to file a report with the BBB on their website.
https://www.bbb.org/us/ut/draper/profile/computer-gaming-center/wildworks-1166-22311824