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[TheVoidDragon]

So last night GamesRepublic had Civilization VI Deluxe Edition on their site for around £13. This morning they said they are going to cancel the orders and revoke the Steam keys because it was a price mistake. The keys still work on Steam for now but they've been refunded, and those keys that were provided to the customer yet not able to be used in time were removed from the customers account. Is that something they're legally allowed to do after a purchase has been made and the keys provided? If the keys hadn't been given out yet, it seems like it would be fine, but they basically made a sale, then afterwards changed their mind about it and decided the customer can't have it after all because they just don't want them to.

These aren't stolen or illegally purchased keys, they were obtained via a legit, legal purchase. The transaction was completed, paypal payment went through, emails received, appeared in order history etc; this morning gone from my account before i could actually use the key. Reading their terms and conditions it seems like there is nothing saying that this sort of thing could happen, it says the opposite infact: https://gamesrepublic.com/service/terms-conditions.html

"The Company is entitled to change the Distribution Prices and/or list of the available Applications at any time and for any reason at the Company’s sole discretion without any notice provided that such changes shall not affect any purchases already made by the End User. The Company is entitled to add, modify or delete any information available on the Website at any time for any reasons which shall not affect to the Applications already purchased by the End User. "

So those terms say that it's fine for them to change a pricing after and stop selling it, as long as it doesn't affect purchases already made.

"ll purchased Applications shall be delivered by providing the End User with link which enables such Applications download. The End Users agrees and accepts that: (a) purchase shall be deemed made by the Parties upon recording the payment of End User at the Company’s account,"

"The Company is obliged to enable mentioned download link to the fully paid Application without any delay"

According to this, once a purchase has been made, which is defined by them as when they recieve confirmation of the order and payment, they are then obligated to provide the game.

Their terms also seem to make no mention of price mistakes, or them cancelling orders at all. It says a customer can request refunds, but beyond that i can't see anything about orders being cancelled.

So I'm wondering, who is actually in the right here? Yes, it was a price mistake, but unless I'm missing something evoking the keys and cancelling orders goes against their own ToS.

 

[DataGhost]

Yes it's allowed. It was a price bug for goodness sake. There will be more deals in the future

 

[Lagamorph]

I assume you're in the UK.
They're in the wrong totally if you already have the key and have registered it in Steam. Once the product is delivered to you then by UK consumer law the contract is complete. They cannot change their minds at that point even if it was a pricing mistake.

 

[TheVoidDragon]

Yes it's allowed. It was a price bug for goodness sake. There will be more deals in the future

Read their Terms and Conditions. Where does it say that's allowed?

I assume you're in the UK.
They're in the wrong totally if you already have the key and have registered it in Steam. Once the product is delivered to you then by UK consumer law the contract is complete. They cannot change their minds at that point even if it was a pricing mistake.

Who's laws apply, though? It's an EU site.

 

[Z3M0G]

Yes it's allowed. It was a price bug for goodness sake. There will be more deals in the future

Did you read the OP? It's not that cut and dry...

I assume you're in the UK.
They're in the wrong totally if you already have the key and have registered it in Steam. Once the product is delivered to you then by UK consumer law the contract is complete. They cannot change their minds at that point even if it was a pricing mistake.

ToS sounds like they should still be OK even if not yet redeemed. The code is supposed to be "Activated" immediately at the time of purchase.

 

[Ibuki]

Maybe you can sue them but it might be cheaper to just pay a bit more for Civ VI.

 

[DataGhost]

Read their Terms and Conditions. Where does it say that's allowed?

You can't account for everything. At the same time, this was not a price they were wanting to sell it. A price bug is probably something they've never had. Also, I'm sure they don't want to run out of the business because of an error not because of intentional pricing.

 

[GhostTrick]

I think it is and it makes sense. Sure, it's great when you can enjoy price mistake. I did it before. But it's also understandable when keys get revoked, especially for small retailers. It's not happening with Amazon and co because they're big enough to take the loss. But when you make a few bucks on a product and you take a huge loss... that's something that could get you go out of business.

 

[DataGhost]

Did you read the OP? It's not that cut and dry...



ToS sounds like they should still be OK even if not yet redeemed. The code is supposed to be "Activated" immediately at the time of purchase.

I did read the op and I'm sure there are things that cannot be expected. They were not willing to sell at the bugged price. Steam keys can be revoked, it had been done before. Pricing mistakes happen all the time. I would say it's pretty cut and dry when you're probably losing $20 a copy out whatever currency it's in

 

[TheVoidDragon]

You can't account for everything. At the same time, this was not a price they were wanting to sell it. A price bug is probably something they've never had. Also, I'm sure they don't want to run out of the business because of an error not because of intentional pricing.

It being a price mistake doesn't change that it's a legal purchase under their terms and conditions that they have then seemingly changed their mind about after the completed sale when those terms give no indication of letting them do that.

 

[Hip Hop]

Any examples of game keys revoked after being used and redeemed?

 

[robotrock]

Games Republic's Terms of Services are not legally binding at all.

 

[Alavard]

In many jurisdictions, there are provisions for cancellations due to legitimate price errors. However, as far as I'm aware, the idea is supposed to be that the cancellation is done before the consumer actually gets the product. That being the case, I'm not sure how that would work here. On the one hand, the product, which is the key, has been delivered to the customer. On the other hand, it's an automated and near-instantaneous delivery (depending on how long it takes for them to process and send the key), without much chance for them to correct the mistake and correctly do proper cancellations before the key arrives.

If I recall correctly, there was a similar incident several years back where BestBuy was selling digital keys for... Metro Last Light I think, for $0.01 that was supposed to be a part of a promo deal for buying a certain graphics card or something. I wonder how that got resolved in the end - if any keys were revoked or not.

Anyway, the terms and conditions aren't really important right now. They're there to protect them, not you. What's important is the consumer laws in your jurisdiction.

 

[Kyou]

Any examples of game keys revoked after being used and redeemed?

Didn't a bunch of fallout 4s get revoked on xbox after a store error or something

 

[BRocknRolla]

Want a real answer?

Legal or not, it's fine for them to do it as long as you don't fight back against it. Doesn't matter what the ToS says, courts interpret the law and can easily override a ToS if they think it's too far reaching.

All that said, how far are you willing to push? Maybe a strongly worded email is enough for them to decide it isn't worth going to court. Maybe they'd call your bluff and you'd decide it wasn't worth going to court.

Anyone claiming "X is illegal/legal" is being myopic. These things are never cut and dry. Such is the nature of internet commerce and trade law.

Games Republic's Terms of Services are not legally binding at all.

Not to call this poster out specifically, but this is precisely what I mean. Whether this statement is true or not is dependent on a large number of factors.

 

[DataGhost]

It being a price mistake doesn't change that it's a legal purchase under their terms and conditions that they have then seemingly changed their mind about after the completed sale when those terms give no indication of letting them do that.

You are really adamant about this. Jesus Christ. They are not going to account for everything.

Sure it was a price mistake, bit odd they can take it back, they sure as hell can considering the keys can be counted as exploited due to a bug

 

[Fracas]

I don't have any citation but I'm about 70% sure someone would win a case against that.

 

[DataGhost]

Any examples of game keys revoked after being used and redeemed?

G2a stolen keys were one

Amazon exploit gears keys

 

[Zafir]

I assume you're in the UK.
They're in the wrong totally if you already have the key and have registered it in Steam. Once the product is delivered to you then by UK consumer law the contract is complete. They cannot change their minds at that point even if it was a pricing mistake.

I mean, I don't think it's that clear cut when it comes to price mistakes when it's online. Mainly due to the ambiguity of when the contract is actually formed. It becomes even more complicated when you have automated systems in place.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/c...f-something-is-advertised-at-the-wrong-price/ suggests that even if a contract was made they can cancel it if it was an honest mistake.

 

[KojiKnight]

Were your refunded? I don't see the issue if you were... It was obvious it was a pricing mistake.

 

[ViolentP]

You can't account for everything. At the same time, this was not a price they were wanting to sell it. A price bug is probably something they've never had. Also, I'm sure they don't want to run out of the business because of an error not because of intentional pricing.

The other way to look at it is the pricing error was their error. It is due to their mistake that the loss of sales occurred. Revoking the license is like playing a bad move in chess, opponent takes your queen, and you say "nevermind, didn't want to do that. I'm moving the pieces back."

 

[Wowfunhappy]

Yeah, this is pretty crap. Another reason I just dislike DRM in general. You wouldn't physically able to do this on GOG--or at least, if you did, it wouldn't matter because I would've already downloaded and backed up the installer.

 

[Grim Patron]

Maybe you can sue them but it might be cheaper to just pay a bit more for Civ VI.

Damn. I agree.

 

[DataGhost]

The other way to look at it is the pricing error was their error. It is due to their mistake that the loss of sales occurred. Revoking the license is like playing a bad move in chess, opponent takes your queen, and you say "nevermind, didn't want to do that. Move the pieces back."

That's a terrible analogy . it's more like you went to the bathroom and someone else made the move for you then you come
The computer made a mistake, not a person

 

[ViolentP]

That's a terrible analogy . it's more like you went to the bathroom and someone else made the move for you then you come back

Who made the price error if not the retailer?

 

[BRocknRolla]

Maybe you can sue them but it might be cheaper to just pay a bit more for Civ VI.

This is a true statement.

 

[MillionStabs]

It shouldn't be allowed, but it's been done before.

Imagine the state government puts up a 90MPH speed limit sign instead of 60, then 2 days later they realize their mistake and go around ticketing everyone who went over 60.

The sign said 90, and it was the governments fault, but that doesn't matter because reasons.

 

[Gritesh]

This is digital distribution.

Had it been a pricing error and it was a physical copy bought from a store they aren't going to drive to your house and take it back from you.

Feels like with digital distribution you never really own what you buy.

 

[Dusk Golem]

I think too many are trying to make this moment be a statement, more times than not when this happens developers will take the loss for goodwill with their customers. Most do it because they realize the mistake isn't on the user-end, and to have no illwill. This happens most of the time, there's been various examples of it.

But this is one of the rare occasions a developer/publisher is going to revoke the keys, but at the very least everyone's getting a refund. Steam keys can be revoked, but I know Valve highly pushes against it since it can unintentionally punish customers who paid for it fairly, but in this case I'm guessing they're going through because they can refund everyone who bought it (also 2K are honestly pretty dumb when it comes to this, they're kind of uptight, see the recent legal threats over a similar sounding game name to theirs they were threatening to sue over and some past instances of something like this).

It shouldn't be allowed, but it's been done before.

Imagine the state government puts up a 90MPH speed limit sign instead of 60, then 2 days later they realize their mistake and go around ticketing everyone who went over 60.

The sign said 90, and it was the governments fault, but that doesn't matter because reasons.

I think that's a bad analogy since I think everyone who bought it are being refunded.

 

[TheVoidDragon]

I mean, I don't think it's that clear cut when it comes to price mistakes when it's online. Mainly due to the ambiguity of when the contract is actually formed. It becomes even more complicated when you have automated systems in place.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/c...f-something-is-advertised-at-the-wrong-price/ suggests that even if a contract was made they can cancel it if it was an honest mistake.

It does say that, but the game was available for that price on their site for several hours. It wasn't just a short period of time, so i don't know how they didn't notice and correct it sooner.

 

[Octavianus]

It's pretty gross either way. It's not the customers fault they screwed up.

 

[BRocknRolla]

It shouldn't be allowed, but it's been done before.

Imagine the state government puts up a 90MPH speed limit sign instead of 60, then 2 days later they realize their mistake and go around ticketing everyone who went over 60.

The sign said 90, and it was the governments fault, but that doesn't matter because reasons.

Not a good analogy. If in this case, the buyers were being charged the difference without their consent, I could see your point, but in this case, everything is just being returned to the status quo here.

 

[BlitzerRadic]

Ok then so what's your recourse? Sue them in small claims. So you sue them in court... what are your damages, and what will the court do to if you win? Well first of all, you can't force someone to fulfill a contract if they don't want to keep their end of the bargain. Your damages are what you spent on the game, and you already got a refund...

Let it go, its a pricing mistake.

 

[Hip Hop]

Didn't a bunch of fallout 4s get revoked on xbox after a store error or something

G2a stolen keys were one

Amazon exploit gears keys

Yeah, but wasn't that Uplay and the Microsoft store?

And not Steam?

 

[blazeuk]

It's unlikely to ever reach a point of going to court but they'd be fine to cancel/revoke keys providing they could convince a court that it was an honest mistake on their part - the grey area in many of these mistakes is that they usually happen during sales and at that point would a consumer assume the price was just a sale rather than a mistake? That would be what it all comes down to.

 

[TheVoidDragon]

Games Republic's Terms of Services are not legally binding at all.

So what's the point of them then? They say "The End User and the Company acknowledge all provisions of the Terms as binding and valid." but i'm not entirely sure what that means exactly.

Either way though this definitely seems to go against their Terms.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

Yes it's allowed. You're simply agreeing to pay the price of an item and they can then decide to not sell you it.

 

[Zafir]

It does say that, but the game was available for that price on their site for several hours. It wasn't just a short period of time, so i don't know how they didn't notice and correct it sooner.

They're a European company(Maltese but registered in Poland for financial reasons or something is what I heard), it was during sleeping hours, so they'll have been asleep.

 

[TheVoidDragon]

Yes it's allowed. You're simply agreeing to pay the price of an item and they can then decide to not sell you it.

Except that isn't what happened here. They'd already sold it and provided it, then decided afterwards they'd changed their mind.

Ok then so what's your recourse? Sue them in small claims. So you sue them in court... what are your damages, and what will the court do to if you win? Well first of all, you can't force someone to fulfill a contract if they don't want to keep their end of the bargain. Your damages are what you spent on the game, and you already got a refund...

Let it go, its a pricing mistake.

All i want to do here is discuss it and see what others say, if I'm going to do anything about it or not is entirely irrelevant to the actual issue occurring in the first place.

 

[warheat]

Legally not allowed especially in UK, but morally, I mean this is obviously a price mistake for christ sake, do you want them to run out of business because you want a cheap games when you obviously know it's a price mistake in the first place? Huge store like Amazon or Steam can take a hit because they're the big guy, people who threatening to sue small company trying to make a fortune because they're not honoring the sale is disgusting.

 

[Costia]

This is digital distribution.

Had it been a pricing error and it was a physical copy bought from a store they aren't going to drive to your house and take it back from you.

Feels like with digital distribution you never really own what you buy.

With physical you wont get pass the cashier.
Maybe the first guy who notices will get it for cheap, but then the price will be corrected.

 

[GSG Flash]

I don't think it should be allowed, and I'm not saying that just because I got a key last night.

If the keys were obtained illegally, like was the case with Sniper Elite 3 two years ago, then yes, I have no problem with them being revoked. But if the game was purchased legally, then I think it's a dick move.

 

[DataGhost]

Who made the price error if not the retailer?

The computer. The computer in charge of handling the prices, or whatever program was in charge of it

 

[ViolentP]

Ok then so what's your recourse? Sue them in small claims. So you sue them in court... what are your damages, and what will the court do to if you win? Well first of all, you can't force someone to fulfill a contract if they don't want to keep their end of the bargain. Your damages are what you spent on the game, and you already got a refund...

Let it go, its a pricing mistake.

It's about understanding the processes in place for something we all use.

The computer. The computer in charge of handling the prices, or whatever program was in charge of it

Jesus.

 

[TheVoidDragon]

Legally not allowed especially in UK, but morally, I mean this is obviously a price mistake for christ sake, do you want them to run out of business because you want a cheap games when you obviously know it's a price mistake in the first place? Huge store like Amazon or Steam can take a hit because they're the big guy, people who threatening to sue small company trying to make a fortune because they're not honoring the sale is disgusting.

Who said anything at all about suing? I'm certainly not going to sue them. I just want to discuss it and see what others say about this happening.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

Except that isn't what happened here. They'd already sold it and provided it, then decided afterwards they'd changed their mind.

I misunderstood. But as long as the funds are returned and the key is unregistered then I see it as fundamentally the same. Also they didn't really 'change their mind'. They didn't decide previously to sell it at a reduced price. It was a mistake.

 

[DataGhost]

Yeah, but wasn't that Uplay and the Microsoft store?

And not Steam?

G2A was definitely steam. I have no idea what other G2A keys you're talking about.

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

As someone who has openly taken advantage of these price mistakes in the past, sometimes getting away with it, and sometimes not, I think you just kind of have to roll with it and move on. Especially with a small site like Games Republic, this sort of mistake can really cut into their bottom line.

Mistakes are made, but these mistakes shouldn't keep people from getting paid or in some cases entire sites going belly up due to the financial losses incurred. While a company like Amazon can weather these and usually does, I doubt most of these smaller digital re-sellers online have that luxury.

 

[DataGhost]

It's about understanding the processes in place for something we all use.



Jesus.

Do you seriously believe a human being went up to CIv 6 and changed the price to 16 euros or whatever it was and said yeah, that's right?

It was most likely a bug in the program for setting BF sales.

 

[warheat]

Who said anything at all about suing? I'm certainly not going to sue them. I just want to discuss it and see what others say about this happening.

Quote me where I said that, I said "people who threatening to sue". But it seems to me that you sound pissed and want them to honor your purchase.