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[Apath]

Regardless it's not up to Amazon/EA to do a refund on your behalf without your permission is it? That's the real issue here.

Of course, but you said this has nothing to do with DRM. I argue that the DRM is the source of the issue; had it never existed, people wouldn't have been burned by the product and asked Amazon for so many refunds, eventually leading to this.

1) Many people ask for refunds.
2) Give refunds to random people who did not ask for them.
3) Do not refund everyone.

How does that make sense? Either refund everyone, or refund people who ask for it. Why refund people at random?

Even if it did make sense, it's not good practice.

I think this is a mistake brought about by so many people requesting refunds.

 

[Septimius]

SLV has not been refunded. There's no random refunding going on by Amazon. It's EA that's targeted his key as being a copy that was charged back. Seems EA has fucked up taking back keys.

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

Yeah Amazon is basically the best customer service in the world and EA is the worst.


Basically Amazon doesn't want to be connected to EA's shitty service.

I remember my Xbox circle scratched ME3 a day after I bought it. Contacted Amazon, and they sent me a replacement copy, as well as crediting my account with a £5 voucher. Wut?!

 

[legacyzero]

The train has derailed, flew off the mountain, crash landed on other broken tracks, and crashed again.

You really fucked this up, didn't you EA.

 

[SLV]

1) Many people ask for refunds.
2) Give refunds to random people who did not ask for them.
3) Do not refund everyone.

How does that make sense? Either refund everyone, or refund people who ask for it. Why refund people at random?

Even if it did make sense, it's not good practice.

Exactly, i am sure i would have gotten a e-mail from amazon about it anyway, if that was the case. This all has happened without me doing anything to make it so.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

Let's all be clear. SLV never requested a charge-back, and never got his money back. His copy has not been charged back.

should be added to the OP

If it was Amazon handling the refund, wouldn't the OP receive his money at the same time?

 

[ephemeral garbage]

I don't see how this is at all related with DRM.

EA are taking away copies of games that consumers legitimately bought. That is what DRM lets them do.

 

[Team Filler]

What's happening here is Amazon supposedly doing charge backs, or EA claiming as such but not actually being true, on people that never asked for a refund. It has nothing to do with DRM.

You're right, it probably has less to do with DRM and more to do with SimCity being a broken piece of shit that the series fanbase has been rejecting with vigor.

Septimus's breakdown sounds to be a very likely scenario.

 

[Visualante2]

Shame on everyone involved.

 

[SLV]

should be added to the OP

If it was Amazon handling the refund, wouldn't the OP receive his money at the same time?

I thought that if you read the OP it should be obvious, but ill update just in case.

 

[syllogism]

I thought that if you read the OP it should be obvious, but ill update just in case.

Were in you in any contact at all with amazon before the game was disabled?

 

[Neuromancer]

SimCity is the most entertaining game I have never played.

I've played it and the drama surrounding it is more fun than the actual game.

 

[SLV]

Were in you in any contact at all with amazon before the game was disabled?

No

 

[spindoctor]

The good news here is that Amazon is involved. Their customer service is godlike and they will have your back until this nonsense gets resolved.

 

[GAMERG0D]

Can Amazon legally do that? Either way this ordeal is quite shocking.

 

[archnemesis]

If it was Amazon handling the refund, wouldn't the OP receive his money at the same time?

Yes, they are usually good with these things.

 

[Wario64]

When my copy of Skate 3 PS3 I bought from Target didnt have the online pass included or whatever, EA told me to go back to Target so they can give me an online pass code. I think they always blame the retailer no matter what the situation is

 

[Rebel Leader]

should be added to the OP

If it was Amazon handling the refund, wouldn't the OP receive his money at the same time?

but SLV said that there's nothing showing it was in the bank account

 

[S0N0S]

Everyday I wake up to see that, somehow, this situation has manage to get even worse than the previous day. I may own SimCity, but I'm enjoying every bit of this catastrophic fuck up.

 

[syllogism]

Can Amazon legally do that? Either way this ordeal is quite shocking.

It depends on their deal with EA, but obviously they can't issue a chargeback without the customer requesting it

 

[SLV]

The good news here is that Amazon is involved. Their customer service is godlike and they will have your back until this nonsense gets resolved.

Can Amazon legally do that? Either way this ordeal is quite shocking.

As far as i can tell, Amazon is not at fault it seams, it was in the OP

There were a few posts about it over on Reddit a couple days ago, from what I remember Amazon chat reps told customers that they did not issue the charge backs and that they are working with EA to solve the issue, not sure that's confirmed anywhere tho.

 

[ephemeral garbage]

Given all that's been going on, assuming that this is Amazon's mistake rather than EA's is quite a stretch.

 

[Queen of Hunting]

Always online bf4 will be amazing lol

 

[Deaf Spacker]

This is beyond a cluster fuck now.

 

[Metalmurphy]

Always online bf4 will be amazing lol

Battlefield always was an online game, no one will care. Don't let the shitty tackled in SP campaign in BF3 fool you.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

I thought that if you read the OP it should be obvious, but ill update just in case.

thank you for adding it.

It needs to be 100% clear this isn't a case of Amazon sticking up for the consumer!

 

[Deadbeat]

Always online bf4 will be amazing lol

Multiplayer games tend to be always online otherwise you cant play. Unless you are somehow waiting for bf4 singleplayer to QTE for rats.

 

[SLV]

Just to be sure, i checked my bank account, no refunds whatsoever.

 

[Septimius]

Let's try to update what's going on.
SLV has not asked anyone for a refund. He was happily enjoying his game. Game gone. EA says Amazon charged it back. SLV has not gotten any money, or any word from anyone about this.


Theories:
1) It is highly unlikely that Amazon decided that this game should be charged back. Why would they just say "lol, we're taking away the game now, even though you might like it" - why wouldn't they do it with everyone?
2) Amazon might have reused a key someone returned. This seems unlikely, as Amazon likely know they shouldn't do that.
3) EA takes away wrong keys for some reason (shortest-path finding at work?) and it hits unknowing customers.
4) EA dislikes Amazon and just removes keys at random? Because fuck Amazon apparently? <- meant to point out how unlikely this is.

EDIT: to sum it up, 3 seems somewhat more likely.

 

[LuchaShaq]

Always online bf4 will be amazing lol

To be fair at least that makes sense. I doubt they will bother having one of the worst shooter campaigns this gen tacked onto BF4 like they did BF4.

 

[SLV]

Let's try to update what's going on.
SLV has not asked anyone for a refund. He was happily enjoying his game. Game gone. EA says Amazon charged it back. SLV has not gotten any money, or any word from anyone about this.


Theories:
1) It is highly unlikely that Amazon decided that this game should be charged back. Why would they just say "lol, we're taking away the game now, even though you might like it" - why wouldn't they do it with everyone?
2) Amazon might have reused a key someone returned. This seems unlikely, as Amazon likely know they shouldn't do that.
3) EA takes away wrong keys for some reason (shortest-path finding at work?) and it hits unknowing customers.
4) EA dislikes Amazon and just removes keys at random. Because fuck Amazon, apparently.

Yeah, until i hear from Amazon, which i still have not, we can just speculate.

 

[massoluk]

Wow, can it possibly be any worse?

 

[Queen of Hunting]

Always online bf4 will be a problem cos even if ur on single player ur connecting to the online servers. Launch day will be hell with those millions players connecting they couldn't handle it for sim city

 

[flyinpiranha]

This just keeps getting better. I am waiting for a modder to find the equivalent of Hot Coffee in the game anyday now.

 

[Gen X]

SimCity is the most entertaining game I have never played.

This.

I almost feel obliged to pay for all the entertainment the threads and news have given me.

But then I'd do a charge back just for lols.

 

[ElRenoRaven]

Damn. Sim City is the gift that keeps on giving. At this point I fully expect a story on how the game is causing people's HDDs to get wiped clean in a few days. lol

 

[Metalmurphy]

Let's try to update what's going on.
SLV has not asked anyone for a refund. He was happily enjoying his game. Game gone. EA says Amazon charged it back. SLV has not gotten any money, or any word from anyone about this.


Theories:
1) It is highly unlikely that Amazon decided that this game should be charged back. Why would they just say "lol, we're taking away the game now, even though you might like it" - why wouldn't they do it with everyone?
2) Amazon might have reused a key someone returned. This seems unlikely, as Amazon likely know they shouldn't do that.
3) EA takes away wrong keys for some reason (shortest-path finding at work?) and it hits unknowing customers.
4) EA dislikes Amazon and just removes keys at random. Because fuck Amazon, apparently.

I like how you take all the blame away from Amazon and place it on EA without any evidence.

Because Amazon couldn't be the ones doing chargebacks "at random" or that "takes away wrong keys for some reason", and EA certainly couldn't "know they shouldn't do that." and it's not at all "unlikely that" EA "decided that this game should be charged back".

How about we just wait for the full story?

 

[spindoctor]

As far as i can tell, Amazon is not at fault it seams, it was in the OP

Agreed, it's not their fault but they will not leave a customer unsatisfied. They will likely resolve the issue with EA or else I wouldn't be surprised if they take the hit themselves and give affected customers new keys.

 

[SLV]

Just got a reply back from Amazon, i guess that's that. Thanks Amazon ! Not sure if i will rebuy lol. Atleast Amazon came through !

Too late for the game dissapearing from Origin part lol !

 

[Visualante2]

Battlefield always was an online game, no one will care. Don't let the shitty tackled in SP campaign in BF3 fool you.

Except this time you probably won't be able to join a game when EA's social network is down because it's handling matchmaking features on their servers and enabling direct connection to servers would just enable pirates and ruin the Battlefield experience.

 

[LuchaShaq]

Yeah, until i hear from Amazon, which i still have not, we can just speculate.

Why haven't you opened Amazon's live chat? They are there 24/7 and fast as fuck.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

Damn. Sim City is the gift that keeps on giving. At this point I fully expect a story on how the game is causing people's HDDs to get wiped clean in a few days. lol

How about the next story being about people who never even knew about this game waking up to find it installed on their PCs?

 

[Deku Tree]

We need this kind of AAA service on the NeXtBoxes bulletproof DRM system.

 

[lethial]

I like how you take all the blame away from Amazon and place it on EA without any evidence.

Because Amazon couldn't be the ones doing chargebacks "at random" or that "takes away wrong keys for some reason", and EA certainly couldn't "know they shouldn't do that." and it's not at all "unlikely that" EA "decided that this game should be charged back".

How about we just wait for the full story?

How about we just blame whatever is easiest and call it a day?

 

[Got the Shakes]

Yeah, until i hear from Amazon, which i still have not, we can just speculate.

Obviously the game was removed from the "my games" tab on Origin, but was it also removed from you purchases and games library on your Amazon account page?

 

[Septimius]

I like how you take all the blame away from Amazon and place it on EA without any evidence.

Because Amazon couldn't be the ones doing chargebacks "at random" or that "takes away wrong keys for some reason", and EA certainly couldn't "know they shouldn't do that." and it's not at all "unlikely that" EA "decided that this game should be charged back".

How about we just wait for the full story?

Theories 1) Amazon takes away keys for no reason. Unlikely 2) Amazon reuses keys. Plausable, but you'd hope not. 3) EA mistarges keys, and when they've come up with worse excuses for banning people on their forums (banning a journalist that talked the game down from the forums because he opted out of notification emails) 4) EA just hating on Amazon. Unlikely.

Based on the way this game has gone, these are my assessments. I stand by them, and see no reason not to keep them while we wait for the full story.

EDIT: Now Amazon says that EA knows that this is a problem. The way the letter is worded is that Amazon has decided, in conjunction with EA most likely, to refund SLV for the error that happened, so that he can buy the game again in while EA tries to not make this happen to others. Sounds like EA blocks wrong keys.

 

[IISANDERII]

Of course, lol at anyone who buys a digital EA product in this day and age.

So basically, my Amazon bought copy of Simcity dissapeared today, i did some googling around and this is what i found:

Overclockers

EA Forums

A GAF poster also chimed in:




So i had a small talk with a EA rep:

After all this i have contacted Amazon, still waiting on a Reply.

Simcity has been a big clusterfuck all around.

TL.DR. I have not asked for a refund from either Amazone or EA, and i have not received any money from Amazon as a refund, my game just vanished and EA says it is Amazones fault !

You should try again and ask the rep if the information on the key matches your account. Could be tied to somebody else's account.

 

[ElRenoRaven]

Just got a reply back from Amazon, i guess that's that. Thanks Amazon ! Not sure if i will rebuy lol. Atleast Amazon came through !

Yea. Amazon has always been very consumer friendly for the most part. Usually when they screw up or even the vendor fucks up they will make it right for you. That's one reason they've continued to keep me as a customer.

 

[SLV]

Obviously the game was removed from the "my games" tab on Origin, but was it also removed from you purchases and games library on your Amazon account page?

Nope, it will only happen now that i have inquired about it, as i was contacting Amazon, my game was there with serial and all !

 

[Wario64]

Even though you got your money back, I feel like nothing has really been resolved. I mean you never requested the refund. I still want to know why this happened