Prophet Steve
Member
Heyo, people that get their items broken in DOTA 2 because of updates can ask for refunds now. Time for Valve to fix those arcanas.
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British Law; Right to 30-day refund becomes law today 1st Oct (includes games)
- Thread starter Tak3n
- Start date
Heyo, people that get their items broken in DOTA 2 because of updates can ask for refunds now. Time for Valve to fix those arcanas.
jimmyjimmyo
Member
This is why retailers don't trust consumers.
I worked at Electronics Boutique in the U.K when they still had the 10 day no quibble return policy and towards the end the policy was so abused they took it away.
If you finish the game then it is not broken so if you return it you may as well just pirate it as the net result is the same, no cash for the retailer, publisher or Devs if their contract is based on period sales
Chaos2Frozen
Member
True but a broken game can be more complicated than say a vacuum cleaner not turning on.
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
What if it's a digital sale from a US digital sale company.
Prophet Steve
Member
jimmyjimmyo
Member
It is about time companies got taken to task on digital stuff but it will get messy on the frontlines as stores will not issue refunds for digital until a system is put in place to remove codes.
If game sell me a prepaid psn product but it is busted then who do I go to as the retailer cannot remove the game from my account and Sony don't have my money.
I can guarantee that these aspects have had zero thought applied to them during this law making progress
If game sell me a prepaid psn product but it is busted then who do I go to as the retailer cannot remove the game from my account and Sony don't have my money.
I can guarantee that these aspects have had zero thought applied to them during this law making progress
There's your ambiguity - define broken.
Half the posters on GAF bitch and throw around the word 'broken' when technically either the game mechanics are off or its glitchy. The term itself is very open for definition and most companies will wriggle out of this easily, I'm afraid to say
Militaratus
Member
Technically the sale would count in the region where the server is located, hopefully on UK soil.
Technically the sale would count in the region where the server is located, hopefully on US soil.
Why "hopefully"?
I would say US laws apply. Buying from Amazon's US store front is not that different from shopping in America on holiday.
Any Questions
Member
A good thing. Any broken clusterfunked games which need months of patches and fixes can be refunded.
Hopefully developers will release games which work.
Hopefully developers will release games which work.
DriveClub imo
Problem with that is that there are tons of consumers out there who will try to abuse the hell out of a system. It's something encountered almost every other day for those who are working in retail (based on past experience).
I ran a retail games store for three years, a convenience store for two and also was a supervisor of customer service for a large online retailer - and I'm still one to put the customers interests above those of corporations and retail companies.
Just because it causes a bit of inconvenience for the retailer is absolutely no excuse to restrict consumer rights.
Yes, they said this on the radio this morning.
Militaratus
Member
Silly auto correct, I meant UK, in order to take advantage of this new law.
Well to call it faulty requires at least one of not fit for purpose, of insufficient quality or not as described.
A buggy game can easily be classed as of insufficient quality which makes it faulty. A game with a large online component that does not work can be considered not fit for purpose and therefor faulty. A game advertising amazing graphics but actually looks like minecraft can be considered not as described.
I suppose mechanics can play a part, if you buy a fighting game for full price and the mechanics suck so much that it does not play correctly then satisfactory quality would probably come into it.
Wonder how this will affect Sony's no refunds policy and what will happen if they ban an account for doing a charge back on a legitimately faulty game.
Triggerhappytel
Member
Perfect timing too. Anyone from the UK buy Tony Hawk 5 digitally?
This is great news as a consumer. Of course we'll still have to piss around and jump through hoops to get refunds and ideally there would be a process on the system (Sony/MS equivalent of Steam Refunds), but it's a start.
This is great news as a consumer. Of course we'll still have to piss around and jump through hoops to get refunds and ideally there would be a process on the system (Sony/MS equivalent of Steam Refunds), but it's a start.
on your say so 'no',consequential loss is a tough one, you almost always need a expert to back up your argument, said expert would almost always cost far more than the loss you incurred in the first place, also if said part was under warranty you would then approach them, if said part was out of warranty you would then need said expert to prove part was not inherently faulty anyway.
in other words....nope!
I Stalk Alone
Member
So you can finish a shitty game and return it? See you later Ubisoft.
To the people who think this will get abused.
We've already had something like this under EU law of return under 14 days for a good while now, and that covered digital purchases too. People didn't abuse it so they won't abuse this either.
No.
Because the store is based in US so the laws pertaining to the state that the store belongs to will apply.
We've already had something like this under EU law of return under 14 days for a good while now, and that covered digital purchases too. People didn't abuse it so they won't abuse this either.
No.
Because the store is based in US so the laws pertaining to the state that the store belongs to will apply.
Where have you read this? I still see the option to get a replacement here:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga...ts-under-a-goods-contract-are-not-met/enacted
jediyoshi
Member
I'm telling you a game is broken because I beat it in under 30 days. Now give me my money back.
WhiteRabbitEXE
Member
But what, and more importantly who, defines what "broken" is?
If I recall correctly, the DMCA* bars retailers from offering full cash refunds on opened copies of digital media.
*(at least I think it was the DMCA, might have been something else)
milanbaros
Member?
If they ship an unbroken product they can recognise on sale.
Yes not as advertised or not fit for purpose, you could get a refund for that before and you can now under this.
-shadow-
Member
While this is true, here in The Netherlands if you buy a game that's not sealed (and very few stores actually leave the original shrinkwrap on the games, I can only think of the Media Markt) you're shit out of luck when trying to return a game. They point you towards the door and simply don't care. Broken product or not. I've had to fight with customer service of the Bart Smit (they were the only ones who still had a copy in stock) for about three weeks before I managed to return Spore because the game simply wouldn't start due to its broken DRM.
Darth Karja
Member
My friend bought a cake at Walmart, ate half of it and then returned it because it was the wrong flavor. He also bought an inflatable raft, used it and returned it because he was done with it. This kind of thing has been abused forever, and will continue to happen. Difference being this is a Law.
Really wish the US was more consumer friendly like this.
Lol, this is also wrong. Not sure where you're getting your information from. It seems you can't demand a refund on IAPs right off.
In the example CAB give (no. 4), the provider is liable to provide a remedy first, ie. fix the problem.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/Migrated_Documents/corporate/cra2015-practicalexamples.pdf
It says in the law.
Faulty is one or more of a) insufficient quality, b) not fit for purpose, c) not as described.
Driveclub at launch with its broken servers was not fit for purpose.
Unity was of insufficient quality due to the bugs.
Gaz Pwnage
Member
This is wonderful news
KennyLinder
Member
Linkstrikesback
Member
Pretty much.
In the UK eShop you have to click a button that says something like you waive your right to a refund. They'll probably pull the same crap here.
I'm sparing a thought for the people I still know in games retail. They're going to have to put up with customers intentionally damaging games to get refunds en masse. "It was like this when I opened it" works when management don't have the guts to stand up to a customer pulling an obvious con.
This has always been the case under the Sale of Goods Act.
KennyLinder
Member
Well GAME (and whoever else) should probably stop opening games when they get them in store.
-shadow-
Member
This is the same for the whole of Europe, it's a really terrible practice and I don't understand why this is allowed by the EU.
Doctor_Thomas
Member
Ah, so this is why Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 came out yesterday.
Hardly. Its just physical engineering and design is far and away better done than the throw together act of most publishers. Let's be clear some pubs and devs would be totally unaffected.
Let's be clear. Buggy games are not suddenly all going to get returned. People who don't care will continue not to care. Just means when something is not working as expected can be returned.
I was an assistant manager of a GAME for 4 years, and I'd take shitty customers all day long of it means better consumer rights.
That's for the 14 day distance selling cool down period. Usually applies when you buy goods online and you have a time period you can send it back in. If you open and use the product though it is classed as accepted and you can no longer claim the refund under the DSR. As with a digital purchase you can use it right away you are clicking that box to waive you no quibble 14 day refund right
If its faulty though then the consumer rights act come into play.
KennyLinder
Member
Friday for the UK
Just in time.I do wonder how shops like GAME will handle this. Based on this law, they should give full refunds for games like Tony Hawks 5 based on hard crashes on boot, glitches and so on. Interested to know what happens if someone attempts to return it.