Hi Everyone, not sure if this belongs here but here we go. This is a Rant / my experience / general plea just in case someone knows what to do. I find it hard to believe that digitally distributed content is subject to no regulatory customer obligations. Over Christmas my Brother bought me the £70 version of Call of Duty Advanced Warfare, after arriving home a few weeks later I discovered I was unable to play the game at all (first level would not load) I have well above the minimum hardware requirements and have followed all the customer support advice relating to the issue. No Luck. Thinking it was a driver / game programming issue, I thought I would wait until the nest driver / game update. This update has been and gone with no change. And so begins my email chain below, enjoy, I certainly didn't. Your Question Question Property Question Value Subject I wish to return this game Category Purchases and Payments >The Valve Store - T-Shirts and Posters This Question's Message(s) Message by you on Fri, 27th Mar 2015 8:23 I wish to return this game I have been unable to start first level in this game as the game crashes each time the level tries to load. I have followed your instructions and guides to the Nth degree but am fed up, after trying to play this game again I have decided enough is enough. I would like to return this game because it has failed to meet the manufacturing quality expected. Message by Support Tech on Tue, 31st Mar 2015 16:06 Hello Kalcifer, Thank you for contacting Steam Support. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Digital Pro Edition was received as a gift on your Steam account. We do not offer refunds for games that are received as gifts. Support for this title is provided by the original developer or publisher. Please refer to the following article for more information on contacting the support team for this title: Title: Call of Duty®: Advanced Warfare Link: http://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?appid=209650&tpg=1 It is recommended that you complete any applicable steps on the page linked above. If you are still unable to resolve the issue, click the blue "Contact Support" link provided in the article to contact the support department for this title. As an alternate resource, please check Steam Discussions for other users that may have resolved this issue. You can find this game by using the search box near the top of the page: http://steamcommunity.com/discussions/#games Message by you on Tue, 31st Mar 2015 21:37 Good morning Does that mean that the original purchaser has to ask for a refund? Regards Kalcifer > On 1 Apr 2015, at 01:06, Steam Support <email@support.steampowered.com> wrote: > Message by Support Tech on Thu, 2nd Apr 2015 12:41 Hello Kalcifer, As with most software products, we do not offer refunds or exchanges for purchases made on our website or through the Steam Client. This includes, but is not limited to, games, Early Access Games, software, gifted or traded purchases, downloadable content, subscriptions, and in-game items/currency. We will make an exception and refund titles that are still listed as available for Pre-Purchase on our website. The refund request must be received prior to the official release date for the item. You can see when a pre-purchased title is scheduled to officially unlock by viewing the green information bar on its store page. This only applies to preorders purchased from your account; preordered titles received or sent through the Steam Trading system cannot be refunded. We do not offer refunds for Early Access Games. Please review Section 3 of the Steam Subscriber Agreement for more information. http://www.steampowered.com/index.php?area=subscriber_agreement Message by you on Thu, 2nd Apr 2015 22:19 Steam Thank you for getting back to me, I think there may have been an accidental error in your email. Please note that... According to UK law, if the product is faulty you still have to offer a refund / exchange for a functioning product. This applies to all goods not just physical goods. Here is an extract from https://www.gov.uk/accepting-returns-and-giving-refunds Which is still applicable even if the seller is outside the UK because they are selling to the UK. You have to offer a refund for certain items only if they’re faulty, eg: personalised items and custom-made items, eg curtains perishable items, eg frozen food or flowers newspapers and magazines unwrapped CDs, DVDs and computer software Customers have exactly the same rights to refunds when they buy items in a sale as when they buy them at full price. I am returning these goods as they are faulty and (for me) are un-usable. I meet the minimum usage requirements of the game, and have spent not a small amount of time trying to get it to work. This is a known issue (according to forums, both yours and the developers) and I have attempted all the suggestions of both yourselves, the game developers and general advice around the Internet. The product still does not function as advertised. I ask you to check your stance on refunds and consider the current situation for deciding to deny this one. The person who bought this for me is my brother and we can work together if need be. If you say no to a refund again I will be forced to take this to our local ombudsman, or a small claims court (only costs £50), both of which I believe would easily side with me as I have made reasonable attempts to correct the issue to no avail. I am a GOOD customer, I like steam, I buy lots of things from Steam, and will probably continue to do so into the future. Please, I just want to return something that isn't working as described, and has caused lots of frustration. Best Regards Kalcifer > On 2 Apr 2015, at 21:41, Steam Support <email@support.steampowered.com> wrote: > Message by Support Tech on Sun, 5th Apr 2015 11:07 Hello Kalcifer, The regulations you are citing do not apply to digital distribution subscriptions, electronic games, or downloadable content. In these cases no right to withdraw exists if the consumer has consented to the delivery of digital content and services beginning immediately. Such a legal consent statement is part of the checkout process on Steam. Steam Support has provided you with all of the relevant information regarding this issue. You can log into your account at support.steampowered.com to review your Steam Support tickets. You will receive no further correspondence regarding this matter.
This is because you are not buying a copy of the game, with steam you are buying a licences to use there servers to access games. So buying games on steam isn't actually you owning them, this is how they don't have to give you a refund.
Eurogamer posted an article on the subject... http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-03-20-making-sense-of-steams-refund-policy This is how it should work, gog.com +1 / steam -1...
The great irony of digital distribution, Electronic Arts has the very best customer service and refund policy in the world. The days of Valve being a consumer focused business are long behind us. It's worth noting that you would not get a refund from GoG either, since you both downloaded and activated the product (only to find out that it didn't work), their right to withdrawal only applies until you start downloading. Only EA would actually give you the money back under these circumstances.
If you buy from steam (and I'm not saying I don't) this is what you sign up to. Origin are much better in this regard and GOG are much better in general. As far as I know you would be able to get a refund from GOG as their refund covers any technical problems or game-breaking bugs: http://www.gog.com/support/website_help/money_back_guarantee And moreover "activating" a game isn't a thing On GOG, as their games are DRM free.
You could speak to activision who owns call of duty and they may give you a reduction from another game dout they will give you a refund though.
I would still try contacting the local ombudsman as at least it might start the ball rolling on a potential change in policy.
Back in the days of physical media software could only be returned for a refund if it was still sealed (as in no attempt to use it was ever made), so digital distribution not giving refunds isn't surprising at all.
Your post prompted me to ask the question "Does an individual have the authority to waive his statutory rights?" and, while I didn't find a clear answer on that, I did find that the Consumer Rights Act 2015 received royal assent on the 26th of March, of which Part 1 Chapter 3 addresses the ambiguities of digital distribution. It comes in to force on the 1st Oct this year. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/contents/enacted/data.htm
If the product is faulty, then you will still be covered by consumer law - if not then you have no comeback
