Did you miss the fact where they said they wouldn't give them a refund for an obvious problem on their storefront? They are responsible for the double charge, not that poster. So premptively saying "We won't give you a refund for our mistake, and we also will ban your account if you chargeback" is basically holding the customer hostage using their account as leverage. Chargebacks are a last resort, but that situation is exactly the type of situation chargeback are meant for, a company unwilling to rectify their mistake which cost you money.
The way I read it is they told him it was under review, not that they said no.
Read his post again. You condescendingly say "Did you miss the fact where they said they wouldn't give them a refund for an obvious problem on their storefront?" but he said nothing of the sort. In fact, he essentially says they told him it was under review and he was warned not to charge back while it was under review. That is correct advice.
What is chargeback abuse in your opinion? If a game I bought is broken and customer support refuses to help, is it chargeback abuse if I try and get my money back?
There are two issues I see here. First, even if the person crossed a line this still doesn't mean that the company has any right to deny him support services. No right whatsoever. They can refuse to do business with him in the future by banning future purchases but they absolutely can't deny him access to support for a product he has already purchased. Second, if he was indeed banned from support chat he should have received a notification informing him of the reason and the duration of the ban. That's how these things should work.
Regarding the first paragraph, no matter what we think of their no return policy, we know they have a no return policy. There is also no clear definition of a 'broken' game. For example, I just platinumed and loved JC3, which many people thought was 'broken'. Are they right? Am I right? If they are right, then any game can be called 'broken', since all games have bugs. Are unwinnable trophies 'broken' games that deserve refunds? What is a 'game breaking' bug? If you played for 20 hours, etc...
The point is, I don't know the answer there. They have a strict policy and I know they have a strict policy. I buy with that in mind, and that can sometimes affect the price I am willing to pay. I consider myself an informed consumer, so am careful... just like I buy almost anything from other stores knowing I can just return it easily. Since my knowledge of the policy affects my habits, I don't feel bothered by their policies... I just adapt to them.
I do know I've gotten 3 refunds from Sony. All of them were my fault to begin with [forgot to turn off auto-renew on ps+, their music service, etc]. They refunded within 2 minutes of polite conversation. I'm sure people have bad experiences too... but plenty of people also treat reps like trash and, on the internet, it can be very difficult to know what went down since we only have one perspective.
I also know their policy on chargebacks [which other companies also have]. Heck, nowadays there are businesses who -share- banlists with other companies [to prevent fraud, etc], so you need to be extra careful. While I don't consider this a good thing, I do accept it's an understandable position. While chargebacks should always be in good faith, the unfortunate underbelly is that they are a massive source of consumer fraud as well, and if a company feels the need to protect themselves I 'get it', because, well, I know how bad chargeback expenses are based on personal career experience.
Regarding your second point, banning policy. I guess? Sure, I guess it's nice to be told why and how long you are banned for? But again, while there will always going to be exceptions, I don't think it's absurd to think they ban for abusive behavior [or potential scammers, etc]. While some innocents get caught up in that, I can't say I blame reps for banning some people.
