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[jayj]

When I want to do a return on Steam, I just send them a message, and so long as it hasn't been over two weeks or played for two or more hours it gets refunded. When I want a game refunded on Xbox, I just send a request, only takes me a minute, and the game gets returned under similar requirements that Steam has. With Sony however, I just tried to do that today, and you need to deal with a chat-bot, enter all sorts of information, just to find out that you absolutely must chat with a customer service agent, and they are only available during business hours. When you finally do get ahold of them, after waiting for about 15 - 45 minutes, and going over everything with someone, they might tell you there's some sort of "processing issues" and that it will take "within 5 days" for them to review your request (literally just happened to me), and you have to wait for an email that might show up who knows when to find out if they decided to refund you or not.

Haven't tried to return anything from the Nintendo e-shop, maybe they are better or worse (anyone care to chime in)? Still, considering all the praise Sony gets, their customer service has been awful in my experience.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

That's why I'm still with old-fashioned discs on PlayStation.

 

[YeulEmeralda]

 

[Topher]

Yeah, Sony needs to do better here. This and locking cloud saves behind a PS+ is just so out of whack with the rest of the industry.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

When I want to do a return on Steam, I just send them a message, and so long as it hasn't been over two weeks or played for two or more hours it gets refunded. When I want a game refunded on Xbox, I just send a request, only takes me a minute, and the game gets returned under similar requirements that Steam has. With Sony however, I just tried to do that today, and you need to deal with a chat-bot, enter all sorts of information, just to find out that you absolutely must chat with a customer service agent, and they are only available during business hours. When you finally do get ahold of them, after waiting for about 15 - 45 minutes, and going over everything with someone, they might tell you there's some sort of "processing issues" and that it will take "within 5 days" for them to review your request (literally just happened to me), and you have to wait for an email that might show up who knows when to find out if they decided to refund you or not.

Haven't tried to return anything from the Nintendo e-shop, maybe they are better or worse (anyone care to chime in)? Still, considering all the praise Sony gets, their customer service has been awful in my experience.

Why are you buying things if you aren't sure you want them?

If this is a repeat issue, it's a you problem.

 

[angrod14]

Not saying it's your case, but I don't really think refunding like it's nothing is a reasonable habit a costumer should have. If you purchased something, suck it up. Should've researched and thought about it BEFORE making the decision. Be thankful they're refunding you at all.

If the software has problems or something like that, sure, like it happened with Cyberpunk at launch. But refunding whatever just out of whim? No.

 

[IFireflyl]

Still, considering all the praise Sony gets, their customer service has been awful in my experience.

Sony's customer service has historically been lacking, especially where refunds are concerned.

 

[Kilau]

I love that Sony’s solution to dealing with the mass Cyberpunk refund requests wasn’t to improve their service but to just remove the game from sale.

 

[Freelance Yakuza]

I had problems with Sony's customer service in 2010 and it was a nightmare. I couldn't get any cohesive answer because every new emails acted like it was the first time I've sent my complain and repeated the instructions that I already tried...

Sony also hates refunds, hates hates hates
Hell, that is why Cyberpunk 2077 was removed from PSN lol

 

[Jesb]

I’m not crazy about steams policy either. If your over 2 hours than no refund. Steams hourly playtime is not accurate as well. I tried refunding a game that kept crashing my system. Didn’t even play two hours but they just tell you that’s not what the timer says. Ridiculous

 

[angrod14]

locking cloud saves behind a PS+ is just so out of whack with the rest of the industry.

Unfortunately Nintendo does the same.

 

[radewagon]

Why are you buying things if you aren't sure you want them?

If this is a repeat issue, it's a you problem.

 

[PSYGN]

I love that Sony’s solution to dealing with the mass Cyberpunk refund requests wasn’t to improve their service but to just remove the game from sale.

True, but at the same time it should be a lesson to the publishers.

 

[Topher]

I love that Sony’s solution to dealing with the mass Cyberpunk refund requests wasn’t to improve their service but to just remove the game from sale.

Well....they handled that correctly and offered refunds to folks who bought the game as well as removed it from the store. It's the individual customer issues where they really tend to suck.

 

[bender]

AFAIK, Sony allows for a one-time refund so use it wisely.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Not saying it's your case, but I don't really think refunding like it's nothing is a reasonable habit a costumer should have. If you purchased something, suck it up. Should've researched and thought about it BEFORE making the decision. Be thankful they're refunding you at all.

If the software has problems or something like that, sure, like it happened with Cyberpunk at launch. But refunding whatever just out of whim? No.

I doubt anyone on consoles expect unlimited refunds, but both Sony and Nintendo are pretty stingy when it comes to refunds. MS has a policy where you can ask for like three refunds per year, and I think that's fair.

Sometimes, despite our best efforts, a game is misleading, doesn't live up to perceived value etc. or turns out totally different that what one would expect. In those rare cases a refund should be in order for the consumer.

 

[angrod14]

I don't know how in the world Cyberpunk even got cleared to be sold in the store in the first place. They probably didn't even check it out because of the devs reputation... and that turned out well.

 

[Topher]

When I want to do a return on Steam, I just send them a message, and so long as it hasn't been over two weeks or played for two or more hours it gets refunded. When I want a game refunded on Xbox, I just send a request, only takes me a minute, and the game gets returned under similar requirements that Steam has. With Sony however, I just tried to do that today, and you need to deal with a chat-bot, enter all sorts of information, just to find out that you absolutely must chat with a customer service agent, and they are only available during business hours. When you finally do get ahold of them, after waiting for about 15 - 45 minutes, and going over everything with someone, they might tell you there's some sort of "processing issues" and that it will take "within 5 days" for them to review your request (literally just happened to me), and you have to wait for an email that might show up who knows when to find out if they decided to refund you or not.

Haven't tried to return anything from the Nintendo e-shop, maybe they are better or worse (anyone care to chime in)? Still, considering all the praise Sony gets, their customer service has been awful in my experience.

What game were you trying to refund and why?

 

[adamsapple]

It's why I always sleep on it before I buy anything digitally on PSN. I had an absolutely terrible time trying to get a refund on something I got on PS4, they didn't do it at the end regardless and I knew if I use my bank to do a charge-back, they'll ban the PSN ID, so I said fuck it and ate the cost.

 

[dorkimoe]

I bought wayfinder and loaded it only to realize I needed ps+ to play. They denied my refund request because I played it…. I fully accept I should have read the store page better but my god come on.

 

[bender]

It's why I always sleep on it before I buy anything digitally on PSN. I had an absolutely terrible time trying to get a refund on something I got on PS4, they didn't do it at the end regardless and I knew if I use my bank to do a charge-back, they'll ban the PSN ID, so I said fuck it and ate the cost.

Solid advice. I managed to navigate the store and buy Far Cry Primal when I used my Playstation controller on PC. Thankfully I explained the situation to a human being and they gave me a refund but they did mention it was a one-time exception. I tried again a few years later for some indie 2D souls-like that constantly crashed and they denied me since that one time exception was flagged on my account.

 

[username12]

The last time I dealt with Sony's customer service was the last time I will deal with Sony's customer service. If I'm not a customer, I don't have to worry about it.

 

[kikii]

why would u buy anything else digital than except ?? >>

 

[jayj]

What game were you trying to refund and why?

It's over a bad listing really. A DLC bundle that was poorly described, doesn't really tell you what's included, and despite it sharing the same name as a DLC bundle for the same exact game on Steam, it included far less content.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Why are you buying things if you aren't sure you want them?

If this is a repeat issue, it's a you problem.

Pretty much.

Only had a refund happen twice, one of which was to upgrade to a more expensive edition (that might have helped).
Took one ~15 minute phonecall both times to get it done instantly.

Compare that to the hassle it was to get all my money back from Epic after they canceled Paragon and I have no complaints about Sony.

 

[Topher]

It's over a bad listing really. A DLC bundle that was poorly described, doesn't really tell you what's included, and despite it sharing the same name as a DLC bundle for the same exact game on Steam, it included far less content.

Hmm, what DLC bundle is it?

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

It needs fixing and while they are at it... they need to add the ability to gift people like steam and Xbox has.

 

[Iced Arcade]

They were pretty good to refund me last month for my PS+ extra subscription. Well they "made a 1 time only exception"

I didn't realize I had my CC on file (not super trusting of Sony with my financials) so I bought gift cards instead. It's on me for not making sure my CC wasn't saved.

 

[Kerotan]

Never been an issue for me. Quick and easy. Only asked like 3 times.

 

[nikos]

I asked for ONE refund in 2019, after buying stuff on Sony's network since the day it became a thing and holding an active subscription to whichever service they had at any given time.

It was denied. I let my PS+ sub lapse and haven't really bought much on there since.

Epic might actually be more convenient than Steam. You click refund and get it.

 

[DeVeAn]

I’ve had multiple different issues on PSN stuff and the customer service sucks as did the outcomes.

Bought Xenoverse 2 pre-order and didn’t get the pre-order bonus. Called and they said you bought it after we stopped it. I said I’m currently on PSN and it’s still advertised as we speak. Hard no. I asked for a code or refund. Day later you have played “x” many hours. They would not honor the bonus or refund, didn’t care.

Another time a promo spend $ get $15 credit. Apparently you had to redeem a code that was sent to your messages which never had a blue dot indicating I had one. When I look it was 1 day expired. Called and hard no. Like as long as I’ve been a customer and all the money spent they couldn’t just honor the $15 credit?

Decided to just buy shit on Xbox instead unless it’s an exclusive. Been on PSN since it launched with that shitty web based store on PS3. Couldn’t have a little grace?

 

[Digfox]

I've never refunded a digital game so I can't comment from experience, however I can absolutely believe Sony (and probably Nintendo, maybe others) have appalling Refund policies. As I'm in the UK my cynical expectation is that they just don't offer them here (unless there is some exceptional, one-off circumstance, i.e. fraudulent purchases).

That said I do think that even the best of the digital marketplaces are 'best of a bad bunch'. GOG is along the right lines with 30-days/doesn't matter how long you've played, but even then I find it pretty shocking that I have better consumer rights for physical purchases than anything digital. And I suspect a lot of these current refund policies get even worse when microtransactions or DLC are involved.

I think greatly improved consumer rights and legislation on digital purchases (i.e. banning lootboxes etc.) go hand-in-hand together as future improvement for consumers.

 

[DenchDeckard]

If they sort this and cloud saves not being a PS plus requirement...I would buy more stuff from them digitally but for me, my Playstation games have always been 90 percent Disk.

 

[Pedro Motta]

Am I the only one that never asked for a refund of anything?

 

[Kilau]

Well....they handled that correctly and offered refunds to folks who bought the game as well as removed it from the store. It's the individual customer issues where they really tend to suck.

Not without a lot of negative press on how poor the refund process was first. My point is, I don’t think they actually cared about the technical issues with Cyberpunk, they just didn’t want to deal with a game causing them to issue so many refunds. They certainly haven’t implemented a better refund process to match the industry standards since.

 

[Toots]

Sony is in fact acting in OPs favor by making it a hassle or outright refusing his refunds.
Obviously he did not have the chance to have a father figure growing up and doesn't know the first thing about financial responsability.
Im guessing one of the last decision of Jim Ryan mandate was to teach this poor soul a valuable life lesson, almost free of charge.
That's the power of Playstation.

 

[The Pleasure]

It's why I always sleep on it before I buy anything digitally on PSN. I had an absolutely terrible time trying to get a refund on something I got on PS4, they didn't do it at the end regardless and I knew if I use my bank to do a charge-back, they'll ban the PSN ID, so I said fuck it and ate the cost.

 

[nemiroff]

Sony has always been complete shit at this kind of customer service in my experience over the years. ..And Xbox used to be exactly as bad, but at least they managed to change their ways for the better.

What's funny is that even Epic Games Store has an extremely easy refund process now, basically as easy as Steam.

 

[Zathalus]

Why are you buying things if you aren't sure you want them?

If this is a repeat issue, it's a you problem.

Not saying it's your case, but I don't really think refunding like it's nothing is a reasonable habit a costumer should have. If you purchased something, suck it up. Should've researched and thought about it BEFORE making the decision. Be thankful they're refunding you at all.

If the software has problems or something like that, sure, like it happened with Cyberpunk at launch. But refunding whatever just out of whim? No.

Corporations aren't your friends. Consumer protection laws are a thing and I sincerely hope the EU forces them to change this sooner rather then later.

Refunding items under reasonable conditions should always be allowed, no matter how much you happen to like a company.

 

[GHG]

Am I the only one that never asked for a refund of anything?

On Playstation? No, I've never asked for a refund on anything but that's because I make sure I want something before purchasing due to their refund policy.

On PC I'm far more inclined to just "check something out" because I know if it's shite I can get a refund easily.

As a result I've purchased far more games via Steam than I ever would have on PSN, so Sony are shooting themselves in the foot here with this crappy policy.

 

[Ronin_7]

I tried to enter in contact with their service and it's almost impossible.

Trash tier customer service.

 

[MaKTaiL]

I've refunded on PSN about 5 times in my whole lifetime and never had an issue. It was instant.

 

[King Dazzar]

Yep Sony's refund system as we venture further and further into digital is pretty awful. I wouldn't be surprised if they get forced to do better in certain regions. I've only used PSN refunds once here in the UK and had to provide extensive evidence as to why I deemed the game to be of unacceptable quality. They caved in the end and refunded. But its set up for sure to make you never try.

I'm surprised by those supporting Sony on this and blaming customers. Consumers deserve better considering how unfinished, pending further patches, lots of games are these days.

 

[MALpractice311]

Yeah, Sony needs to do better here. This and locking cloud saves behind a PS+ is just so out of whack with the rest of the industry.

Shit. That reminds me. I need to download all my cloud saves when my PS+ subscription expires next month.

Fuck you $79.99 for the basic PS+.

 

[Auto_aim1]

You have to send an email to them with your transaction id and game details. That's it.

 

[rkofan87]

this is why we need more demos.

 

[Putonahappyface]

Yeah I've been caught out once buying Crysis Remastered from PlayStation store and the game was a buggy broken mess and I was refused a refund.

 

[MidGenRefresh]

Isn't that a problem with all console manufacturers? I hope EU will get to their asses because these anti-consumer practices are making me sick.

All it does is restricting people from trying new things.

 

[jm89]

It's a disgrace really.

It's why whenever i buy digitally i'm 100% confident in what i'm getting, otherwise i stick to physical.

 

[Ar¢tos]

I only refunded Destiny 2 at launch because it was incompatible with the router I had at the time. I had about 2h of gameplay (broken gameplay, because the issue caused the game to disconnect every 5-10min) and there was no information about this on the psn page and I only found out via Bungie's forum that the problem was acknowledged by them. Even sending them the link to where Bungie acknowledged the problem, they refused to do a normal refund and I had to use the one time refund for that.
I don't buy games at launch now, so I never needed to refund anything again.