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[TacosNSalsa]

This is kinda nuts honestly ..I hope(and am somewhat confidnet) that they have some safegaurds to protect themselves for those that will abuse the system .

GOG’s Updated Refund Policy has your back (even more)

GOG’s Updated Refund Policy has your back (even more)

www.gog.com

"Everyone at GOG believes in a 'gamers-first’ approach. It means that every part of our store is designed with gamers in mind and your purchase safety and satisfaction come first for us. The latest update to our voluntary Refund Policy adds another piece to this customer-friendly experience. And it all sums up in one sentence: starting now, you can get a full refund up to 30 days after purchasing a product, even if you downloaded, launched, and played it. That's it."

GOG Voluntary Refund Policy

How does your updated Voluntary Refund Policy work?The updated policy lets you refund a product up to 30 days after purchase, even if it was downloaded, launched, and played. Yes, you read that cor...

support.gog.com

FAQ

1. How does your updated voluntary Refund Policy work?
   The updated policy lets you refund a product up to 30 days after purchase, even if it was downloaded, launched, and played. Yes, you read that correctly.
   To apply for a refund, you should contact our Customer Support Team within 30 days of your purchase, and our team will sort it out as soon as possible.
   However, if the reason you are seeking a refund is that your game is not working (yet!), please consider contacting our friendly Tech Support folk first. They will do their best to help you get the game working on your machine.
   We're monitoring the effects of the current update to make sure no one is using this policy to hurt the developers that put their time and heart into making great games. We may refuse refunds in such individual cases. We'd also let you know about any future adjustments in the voluntary Refund Policy in advance.
2. How long does it take to process a refund?
   When you apply for a refund, we can give you two options - a conversion into GOG Wallet funds, or a cash refund back to your original payment method.
   GOG Wallet refunds will be applied as soon as a GOG.COM Support representative triggers the refund.
   Cash refunds can take a few business days, depending on the exact payment method used, your bank, etc. There are some exceptions, such as paysafecard, SOFORT, and GiroPay - for technical reasons, these transactions need to be fully processed before they can be refunded; this can take up to a few weeks.
3. I received a gift from a friend. Can I apply for a refund?
   We can only offer a cash or GOG Wallet refund to the person who purchased the gift. If the person who purchased the gift prefers to receive a full refund, this is possible, however, they should contact us about this separately.
4. What about pre-orders?
   Pre-orders can be refunded throughout their pre-order period (as in - until they get released), and for 30 days after their release date.
5. What about Games in Development?
   We're extending the refund time for Game in Development titles to 30 days after purchase, just like for any other game.
6. What about game packs and DLCs?
   For technical reasons, we cannot divide a game pack (for instance, a season pass, a pack containing the base game and its DLCs, or a pack containing a whole series of games). As a result, you would get a refund for the full pack and, as a consequence, the full pack will be removed from your account.
   If you apply for a refund for a DLC, and it was not purchased as a pack (bundled with the base game), we can issue a refund for the DLC itself.
   If you refund the base game, but also purchased DLCs separately, we would also refund the DLCs linked to that base game.
7. How often can I refund my games? Is there some sort of limit?
   We trust that you're making informed purchasing decisions and will use this updated voluntary Refund Policy only if something doesn't work as you expected.
   This is why there are no limits but instead, we reserve the right to refuse refunds in individual cases.
   Please respect all the time and hard work put into making the games you play and remember that refunds are not reviews. If you finished the game and didn't like it, please consider sharing your opinion instead. Also, please don't take advantage of our trust by asking for an unreasonable amount of games to be refunded. Don't be that person. No one likes that person.
8. What if my country provides additional rights?
   Just let us know. We respect regional laws, to learn more see sections 7.1. and 7.2. of the GOG.COM User Agreement.

 

[FranXico]

And that is why I'm even willing to re-buy games on GOG.

 

[Knch]

Now bring back the EU-tax refunds! And apply them retroactively! Plox...

 

[AlteredForms]

This might come back to bite them in the ass, but there's no refuting how pro-consumer those guys are.

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

Wow, that's a wild move by GOG. I mean, good for them. I have to imagine there are a lot of people out there who will abuse this, given how they deliver the games DRM free.

Fascinating.

I love GOG, I will try to support them as much as I am able

 

[TacosNSalsa]

This might come back to bite them in the ass, but there's no refuting how pro-consumer those guys are.

This is what I'm worried about a bit .. most retail stores have safeguards against problem customers . For instance Amazon , if you are a habitual returner they will warn you first and then straight up ban your account if you continue . I hope they can do the same

 

[GenericUser]

Good guy poland. I love this. Lets me even more gravitate towards becoming a PC gamer. All their games "just work", even if they are 30 years old and this is just another reason to use this awesome service.

 

[GHG]

I just hope people don't abuse this, because this is good.

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

3 weeks ago I bought Grim Dawn (and all the DLC) on a nice sale, and Shadows: Awakening (and DLC) on sale. I have played Grim Dawn for 70 hours already and probably will play for 700 hours by the time I am done with it

Shadows, on the other hand, I have played for 50 minutes and just isn't a good game for me, not my preference .

The Shadows order was only 15 bucks total, and I have played less than an hour (per Galaxy 2,0) and won't play again. Contemplating a refund request. Game seems to have good reviews,, maybe I should give it another chance.

 

[jshackles]

I love this policy, it's so much easier than other storefront's "well you launched the game and therefore you can't refund it" or "you played the game for over two hours (even though you spent more than an hour in the game's launcher as it downloaded it's own non-Steam patches)". I would worry about fraud as well but I'm sure they have a handle on it. Their games are DRM free, after all, so unlike other store fronts they're not able to actually "take the games away" from people - just remove their ability to re-download them easily from their accounts.

Not that I'm advocating it, but I'd like to think that anyone planning on abusing the system for free games would probably just pirate them anyway.

 

[Alexios]

Cool. I guess this is done purely as PR, anyone can abuse their past policies just as well as they can download the back up/offline installers and then get a refund before even launching it or whatever, not to mention without even using their client for that information to be available, and the games will still work as they're DRM-free. 30 days is way too much to be anything other than PR, half that seems more appropriate, close to what the law requires in many countries, yet other digital distribution services claim you forfeit that right when you play a game for more than 2 hours or whatever.

 

[GymWolf]

They are gonna change this stuff in about 2 weeks

 

[TacosNSalsa]

I just hope people don't abuse this, because this is good.

There will always be people who abuse polices like this ( any policy really) . I guess the hope is the good greatly outweighs the bad .

 

[ROMhack]

This is great and the fact it's such an outlier really highlights how negatively gaming companies have become about gamers.

Good work GOG.

 

[ROMhack]

I just hope people don't abuse this, because this is good.

Agreed but you have to ask - who is really going to abuse it?

The only people I know who tend to take advantage of such things are younger people (no money) and those weird anarchist types you get on 4chan (no life). I don't think most adults have the time, energy or desire to try and 'get one over' on GOG.

Edit: It's also something you find on Audible who happily refund purchases as long as you don't abuse it too often.

 

[Vlodril]

This is pretty great. If people abuse it they will stop refunding to specific people as they said so its going to be done manually i guess.

 

[ROMhack]

This is pretty great. If people abuse it they will stop refunding to specific people as they said so its going to be done manually i guess.

Mentioned in the post above yours but I think it'll likely follow something similar to Audible. You can return any audiobook credit within 30 days if you aren't happy with it. Theoretically you could listen to the whole thing and send it back without them knowing. It's only if you abuse it constantly that they refuse and I expect GOG to do something similar.

 

[FranXico]

Good guy poland. I love this. Lets me even more gravitate towards becoming a PC gamer. All their games "just work", even if they are 30 years old and this is just another reason to use this awesome service.

They work hard to keep old classics playable. I GOG

 

[rofif]

That's... a bit unfair for the developers

 

[TacosNSalsa]

That's... a bit unfair for the developers

Taking a shot in the dark but I'm assuming that those that find it too generous will just not put it on their store to begin with . I'd also assume those would be the same companies that wouldn't put it there regardless due to no DRM and the ability to copy it as much as you like (that's how it works right?)

 

[GHG]

That's... a bit unfair for the developers

How about don't release shitty/unfinished or broken products, then nobody will have a reason to refund what they've bought.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

I like the 30 days compared to Steam's 14 days. I'll often buy a game on a sale and not even boot it up within that two week window. Still, I think having a time played limit is perfectly fair. 2 hours with Steam is fair (except for games that can be finished in less time than that).

I honestly don't see how this can work with GOG since the games are DRM-free. Nothing stopping people from just downloading what they want, keeping the executables, and refunding the games after that. They're totally banking on people's good will and I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable with that if I were a developer or publisher.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

This is a good move, but I don't see it being a good move. There is being pro-consumer and there is being naive.

 

[Alexios]

Like said, people can already do that with how gog works, this change doesn't make it any easier really, if they intend to pirate shit why would they wait for 30 days rather than do it before the 14th, or on day 1, while keeping the drm-free installers? But it does let people who genuinely need it use it. Don't be an ignorant concern troll:

 

[rofif]

How about don't release shitty/unfinished or broken products, then nobody will have a reason to refund what they've bought.

That's naive. In reality, it will hit small game developers. People will finish those games are refund

 

[RobotXTaisen]

I love GOG!

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

That's pretty damn bold.

 

[RedVIper]

I like the 30 days compared to Steam's 14 days. I'll often buy a game on a sale and not even boot it up within that two week window. Still, I think having a time played limit is perfectly fair. 2 hours with Steam is fair (except for games that can be finished in less time than that).

I honestly don't see how this can work with GOG since the games are DRM-free. Nothing stopping people from just downloading what they want, keeping the executables, and refunding the games after that. They're totally banking on people's good will and I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable with that if I were a developer or publisher.

GoG games don't have DRM, if i want to get them for free it's already extremely easy, I don't see why somebody would bother to buy a game and then refund it just to get a copy.
Not sure how this makes a difference if you're a publisher who was already okay with that.

 

[ChoosableOne]

I think 2 hours gameplay policy is more than enough. "30 days" is a welcome change, but no limits other than that will scare developers and not necessary imho.

 

[synchronicity]

Yeah GOG is great. Personally, I'd probably never refund. Got too many games and rarely play what I buy within a 30 day window, lol. But, I really appreciate the gesture, and it's just a nice reflection of who GOG is as a company.

 

[Hostile_18]

This is a good move, but I don't see it being a good move. There is being pro-consumer and there is being naive.

I agree. What legitimate reason would someone have for wanting a refund 30 days after purchase with it been played.

I'm very pro refunds but this is too much and open to abuse. Most games can be completed within 30 days. Even if they monitor refund requests closely its loads more manpower which means extra costs.

It will more than likely make publishers not want to publish there anymore.

 

[manfestival]

I mean... I love the move but 30 days seems like... well a bit excessive for a game. I am sure people abuse steam's policy to a certain degree but I find their policy fair. This one is beyond fair and seems really unfair to the publishers/developers. Either way, I don't mind pro consumer. Just voicing a thought in a very cool policy update.

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

I mean... I love the move but 30 days seems like... well a bit excessive for a game. I am sure people abuse steam's policy to a certain degree but I find their policy fair. This one is beyond fair and seems really unfair to the publishers/developers. Either way, I don't mind pro consumer. Just voicing a thought in a very cool policy update.

30 days does seem like a lot but I’m gonna assume there’s a common sense hours played soft-limit they will use as quasi-standard, if someone plays a game for 40 hours and requests refund 4 weeks later I would think that gets denied

 

[MMaRsu]

gog is the best

 

[Darkmakaimura]

GOG is the best thing to ever happen with digital distribution.

Holefully they don't get screwed with this.

 

[Knightime_X]

I'm sure certain shitheads will abuse this.
I hope not. I really like this policy.
Some developers are really shady. This pulls them out of hiding in that my money isn't theirs just yet until I know for sure what I got is worthy of a transaction.

 

[oya_zenkimi]

We don't deserve GOG

 

[ROMhack]

I love GOG!

WTF? Now I do too.

 

[Griffon]

Steam refund policy feels more fair for everyone tho (if you refund you lose the game) and you can refund for any reasons and without draconian limits to how often.
Whereas with gog I would be hesitant to use their refunds, it's like you already eaten at the restaurant but refuse to pay, no drm means you easily keep the game.

If I used gog like I do steam (I try a lot of games I wouldn't be 100% sure about, keep if good and refund if no good), I would definitely get flagged. It kind of defeats the purpose of it all.

 

[Trogdor1123]

I hope Sony, MS, and Nintendo follow suit.

 

[Bonfires Down]

At least they are guaranteed to never get AAA games now

 

[johntown]

I think this is great! I will be going to GOG more for games I may be iffy about and really want to try first and not have to be worries about accidentally going over the 2 hour time limit. Some games 2 hours is just not enough to know if you will really like it or not (RPG's).

 

[Fuz]

You can't be more pro-consumer than me, but this is a really stupid move.

 

[Panajev2001a]

there are no limits but instead, we reserve the right to refuse refunds in individual cases.

Aka, how to gather great PR, but still have things relatively the same in practice:

 

[ROMhack]

At least they are guaranteed to never get AAA games now

Maybe but their parent company is producing the only AAA this year that anybody cares about.

 

[Stuart360]

I guess this is just on GOG Galaxy?, i mean if its none Galaxy then people could just buy a game, and copy the exe and then get a refund.

 

[ROMhack]

You can't be more pro-consumer than me, but this is a really stupid move.

Opening the dialogue, why do you think that? I can certainly imagine some will milk the teet for delicious free milk but it's not entirely different from what a lot of digital services do already (e.g. Audible, see my post above).

It's only games that tend to offer such paltry returns for digital products. I think we've become too accustomed to these negative viewpoints that all gamers are maladjusted villains looking to take advantage of the system.

I think for gaming to mature we must venture forward into the dark night, eyes open to the possibility that we may be the heroes we've been looking for all along. It's up to you Fuz. Will you answer the call, please?

 

[Panajev2001a]

... or because this is a bit more of a PR stunt than anything (see my previous cynic post above). Even the PR, not the fine print, states that they reserve the fright to refuse individual refunds.

 

[Arun1910]

So basically I can get free games for life now from there if I finish the game within 30 days?

This seems like a dumb business move.

 

[Panajev2001a]

You can't be more pro-consumer than me, but this is a really stupid move.

How? They get free publicity, gamers appreciation, and they can still do what they want to protect from abuse. Again:

G.O.G Updates refund policy (VERY Pro-consumer!!)

This is kinda nuts honestly ..I hope(and am somewhat confidnet) that they have some safegaurds to protect themselves for those that will abuse the system ...

www.neogaf.com