I recently replied to a very similar thread on the Battlenet Forums.
I don’t think much more can be added unless a Blue can clarify any of the support procedures.
That is not what a reply would say. They don’t say “we did not investigate”. They DO check that the account was indeed flagged as having met criteria for third party software/hacks/cheating. They use a set of templates that are the same for everyone, depending on what the GM finds.
- That the penalty is upheld, often with a link to the Blizzard EULA/Policies
- That the issue has been escalated to a specialist
- That the penalty is overturned and they apologize
If the detection criteria is incorrect, it can result in false flags on accounts. That is rare, but does happen. When it does they usually unban those impacted as a group. That can take a few days after a ban wave for Hacks to realize and sort out.
Appeals via ticket are the ONLY way to contest an account action. You can appeal until they tell you that your Bnet account is at risk. Blizzard does not engage in live debates about someone’s account, and never has. They will not tell you specifically what they found, as sadly the bot and cheat makers would love to get a hold of that info. That means players are left guessing sometimes.
Keep in mind that botting/hacking/third party software is not “just” using a fully automated bot.
It is:
- Using a macro outside of a game to automate any portion of your keypresses or rotations. Only macros made with the in-game macro maker (WoW) can be used.
- Having prohibited programs running like Autohotkey or multiboxing software.
- It is exploiting a bug in game for gain
- It is any software or overlays that provide information from a game that is not provided by the game itself. WoW addons work in Blizzard’s sandbox using data Blizzard provides them through the API. Those are generally fine.
This recent post on WoW CS to another banned player covers some of it.
Is it possible to talk with a live person? - #11 by Vrakthris