Valve is being taken to court in Australia over its refund policy.

[Ruby 9,039]

http://kotaku.com/valve-taken-to-court-over-its-refund-policy-1628236525

Well... at least someone is doing something right on this planet.

[Mana 3,867]

Its surprising this hasn't happened earlier. I guess they might be selectively complying with different refund laws based on the country?

[Ruby 9,039]

Its surprising this hasn't happened earlier. I guess they might be selectively complying with different refund laws based on the country?

They already have different refund policies for the EU... it's just that the EU one is just a reword of the one they use for the rest of the world. Basically, if you're living in the rest of the world, there are no refunds. But if you are an EU resident, you can ask for a refund, but only if you didn't start consuming the service. The service is considered consumed once the game you've bought is in your Steam library or your Steam inventory. So basically, no refunds unless Steam glitches out.

[luop90 4,400]

[- Mike - 2,728]

Time to stop having services to Australia if they want to screw over Valve.

 

buncha dirty bogans

[D-Bee 3,448]

Why ask for a refund? I clearly remember a time when you bought a game and if it sucked you were out of luck.

[Canti 386]

Not sure why Valve specifically is always the one targetted for these. You wouldn't get a refund on anything you bought on PSN either (and I did try, accidentally bought a Vita version instead of PS3 version of a game. Flat out refused a refund and told to be more careful next time...)

[Ruby 9,039]

Not sure why Valve specifically is always the one targetted for these. You wouldn't get a refund on anything you bought on PSN either (and I did try, accidentally bought a Vita version instead of PS3 version of a game. Flat out refused a refund and told to be more careful next time...)

Because Steam is the biggest online game delivery service. Origin offers a 24 hour or 7 day (depending on whether you played the game or not) refund. Technically you could issue a chargeback request but Valve will actually VAC-ban (or something similar) you for that.

Why ask for a refund? I clearly remember a time when you bought a game and if it sucked you were out of luck.

Because if you bought a broken fridge, a motherboard that doesn't work, got faulty service, bought someone a t-shirt which ended up being too small, or flat out disliked the new phone you bought, you'd be guaranteed a refund not for 24 hours but sometimes even up for three months. Why should video games be different - especially if there are no demo versions? What's the difference between me buying a game and having it not work on my computer, and me plugging in a new RAM module and having it not work on my computer? Not being able to get a refund. Why is that? Because companies like Valve are untouchable when it comes to that. But they're getting too big to get away with it.

[Canti 386]

Just to clarify a few things, Origin is owned by EA and the refund policy only applies to EA games. It's different with Steam, since 99.9% of the games are not published by Valve, they have to keep their partners happy.

 

Performing a chargeback will remove any games or items purchased with the money reversed and prevent the account from buying anything else until the user works it out with their (slow) support.

 

Also the difference between faulty software and faulty hardware is that you can use the software and exhaust its intended purpose within a few hours, then you can "claim" that it doesn't work to get your money back. With faulty hardware like fridges, phones and RAM, that are expected to do a duty for several years, plus usually cost money and time to return the items when faulty, means far less people would bother with such a swindle.

 

Returning faulty downloaded software is a lot like returning a packet of sandwiches for having the wrong filling, except you ate them all anyway and don't have to actually prove anything.

[The Hungry Caterpillar 585]

You can't complete a t-shirt or a phone. If you want a refund on a game, you would have to prove that you'd never played it, or everyone would be buying games, finishing it in 23 hours and then demanding a their money back because 'there was a bug I didn't like' or 'an npc looked at me funny'.

[- Mike - 2,728]

And if you do a chargeback chances are your account will get banned.

[Krash 1,040]

A wise man once said, mo' money mo' problems.

[fever 9,884]

Also the difference between faulty software and faulty hardware is that you can use the software and exhaust its intended purpose within a few hours, then you can "claim" that it doesn't work to get your money back. With faulty hardware like fridges, phones and RAM, that are expected to do a duty for several years, plus usually cost money and time to return the items when faulty, means far less people would bother with such a swindle.

 

Returning faulty downloaded software is a lot like returning a packet of sandwiches for having the wrong filling, except you ate them all anyway and don't have to actually prove anything.

^ This

Well said mate