Make a big stink, they'll change their tune quickly. Maybe you can get your story posted on sites like kotaku for notoriety?
I really hate that you have to do this. Drives me so crazy.
Make a big stink, they'll change their tune quickly. Maybe you can get your story posted on sites like kotaku for notoriety?
Actually, the problem is quite clearly that Sony does not have an explicitly stated, well-defined, consumer-friendly refund policy.I'm noticing a heavy pattern in these threads that the fault really lies in the EU branch of Playstation.
People know that I'm all in favor of opening up platforms to most anything, but I feel like easy refunds are a huge part of what makes that work. Because they almost entirely eliminate any risk in buying the occasional turd (other than losing a few minutes).Making things worse, PSN has become a haven of shovelware, some that didn't even get through Steam Greenlight. Yes, products so bad it couldn't even get on Steam.
If you liked Farming Simulator (an actual good simulator game) and get tricked into buying a very similar looking Firefighters: The Simulation (broken shovelware Unity garbage), you're not getting that refund.
I mean, games are software. Software has bugs sometimes. Idk where you established the expectation that you would receive a refund. I'm sure ninja theory is working on a fix
We need to organize a proper Facebook/tweeter/social media campaign to convince Sony to make a proper refund policy.
There are plenty of digital store fronts that do accept refunds, including the Xbox marketplace.
Companies are driven by profits, if people are still willing to buy online from them even when they have ludicrous policies what benefit would be for them to improve anything?
In other words, vote with your wallet.
This.
To everyone ITT saying,
"Sony has to change. Sony has to get with the times"
No they don't. Not as long as people keep saying, "I'm going digital only, bro! DIGITAL ONLY LIFE, BRO!"
Yeah, well there ya go. Enjoy those shitty return policies.
Actually, they do. Consumer protection laws are catching up with digital distribution. Many vendors have way better customer service than Sony. At some point Sony will have to have better staff training and transparent refund policies. Not a matter of if, but when. People will still increasingly buy digital goods because that is the direction society is moving towards, and everything will adjust to that.
Making things worse, PSN has become a haven of shovelware, some that didn't even get through Steam Greenlight. Yes, products so bad it couldn't even get on Steam.
If you liked Farming Simulator (an actual good simulator game) and get tricked into buying a very similar looking Firefighters: The Simulation (broken shovelware Unity garbage), you're not getting that refund.
Maybe it's just because I'm old. But I never expect a refund on digital or electronics.
Most stores won't even refund you money on a video game if you've opened it. In store credit if you're lucky.
Maybe it's just because I'm old. But I never expect a refund on digital or electronics.
Most stores won't even refund you money on a video game if you've opened it. In store credit if you're lucky.
I mean, games are software. Software has bugs sometimes. Idk where you established the expectation that you would receive a refund. I'm sure ninja theory is working on a fix.
Depending on what "a few hours" means steam would tell you a big nope.
And Walmart/GameStop/etc isn't taking an opened game back for full refund.
Of course, it's up to the discretion of the platform holder to refund when they feel it's necessary. They refunded a lot of no man's sky digital purchases.
Actually, they do. Consumer protection laws are catching up with digital distribution. Many vendors have way better customer service than Sony. At some point Sony will have to have better staff training and transparent refund policies. Not a matter of if, but when. People will still increasingly buy digital goods because that is the direction society is moving towards, and everything will adjust to that.
MS on Xbox and Windows, EA on PC, and Steam all offer refunds for their digital ecosystems.Digital future on consoles and all that. Enjoy.
Xbox does do refunds now.
They need to get with the times. Steam, GoG, Origin and Microsoft all offer refunds. If Sony really want us to buy into the digital future (and there's no doubt they do) they should up their game.
Pretty sure Sony has banned me from chat ever since asking for a refund. It's been about a year and the few times I've tried live chat, it won't let me connect.
I'm pretty sure Sony legally have to give you a refund for a broken digital game in the UK.
Pretty sure Sony has banned me from chat ever since asking for a refund. It's been about a year and the few times I've tried live chat, it won't let me connect.
Me too, it's one of the reasons why I'm still iffy about the digital future. Why in the world can I not get a refund on a preorder if I change my mind? And why is it that once I get that refund after an hour long argument, I'm now banned from chat support and have to use a different PSN ID to talk to these people. It's disgusting.
Hence why they asked for proof. No proof = they don't have to give you shit.
Obviously, that's terrible on Sony's end. But they're not breaking laws here.
Personally, I've had amazing interactions with customer support in the UK. They really went out their way to solve an issue that was 100% my fault.
Pretty sure Sony has banned me from chat ever since asking for a refund. It's been about a year and the few times I've tried live chat, it won't let me connect.
Me too, it's one of the reasons why I'm still iffy about the digital future. Why in the world can I not get a refund on a preorder if I change my mind? And why is it that once I get that refund after an hour long argument, I'm now banned from chat support and have to use a different PSN ID to talk to these people. It's disgusting.
Please don't defend the archaic PSN refund system. It seriously needs fixing.
Kinda unrelated but Sony's support is also garbage too, I once got double charged for EDF 4.1 and they told me that if I chargebacked they would then determine if it was a 'legitimate' request, and if they felt otherwise, I would lose my account entirely.
needless to say, I didn't think it was worth losing my account over $50.
Holy crap they are actually banning people from chat support now for asking for refunds? Sony really needs to change their return policy to make it more like steam and more flexible. Banning from chat is just ridiculous...
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.But they're right... you should never chargeback any company for any issue currently under review/discussion. That's not what chargeback is for, it's chargeback abuse. Chargebacks are for scammers and unresponsive vendors.
When you chargeback, the company, in addition to getting the money revoked, also gets a sizeable fine [depends, but ranges from around $5 to $35, dependent on the merchant's contract].... and repeated offenses can even cause further fines or have their ability to take cc's revoked by the cc company. Its a massive expense for many companies, between people using it willy nilly and straight up scammers.
This is why many companies have no interest in dealing with customers who abuse chargebacks.
In other words, the customer service gave you sound advice. You just didn't want to hear it.
Pretty sure Sony has banned me from chat ever since asking for a refund. It's been about a year and the few times I've tried live chat, it won't let me connect.
PSN has huge amounts of trash now, just like Life of Black Tiger. Sony has even lower curation than Steam Greenlight now. Of course, Steam Direct is now here to let literally anything in including obvious copyright violation, so Steam is probably going to take the cake on garbage again.Are you talking about Life of Black Tiger, you do know that's an exception right? While I don't have the statistics, I'm willing to assume that more than 90% of PSN's catalogue is not shovelware.
On the store page, Firefighters looks like one of those dozen German simulators that do their job somewhat well. In reality, it's trash made with Unity store assets that had no effort put into it at all. The same shit that is all over Steam. It could trick some people. A refund policy is desperately needed to let people get their money back if they buy some of this garbage.How do you get tricked into buying a game?
____
I am all for a universal well-defined refund policy.
Hence why they asked for proof. No proof = they don't have to give you shit.
Obviously, that's terrible on Sony's end. But they're not breaking laws here.
Personally, I've had amazing interactions with customer support in the UK. They really went out their way to solve an issue that was 100% my fault.
I don't think they think banned him for asking for refunds, I mean he literally said "once I get that refund after an hour long argument"... we don't have access to that hour long argument, but given that there was one it's hard to know if he crossed a line or not.
Plenty of people have gotten refunds [including me] without argument or ban.