EA Offer refunds on Origin purchases
I had an interesting chat with a bloke called Avnish at on EA’s livechat help service last night. I wanted to see if I could get a refund on BF3 (despite having bought a retail version), or get it swapped for a different game. Sadly I couldn’t. Still, I did glean some worthwhile information. Here’s a slice of the conversations:
Avnish: May I know from where you have purchased the game?
Lewie: Tesco
Avnish: If you want a refund please contact your retailer.
Lewie: Tesco don’t give refunds on unsealed games though
Avnish: We are sorry as you have purchased the game form third party retailer we can not provide you refund.
Lewie: is there anything you can do? Maybe let me swap it for a different game on Origin?
Avnish: No.
Lewie: but if I had bought it through origin, you’d have given me a refund?
Avnish: Yes.
Lewie: is that a standard policy or something, only I wasn’t aware you offered refunds on origin games, and it might be a factor in when I consider buying EA games in the future
Avnish: Yes, we refund games that are purchased through Origin.
All I had said was I wanted a refund because I was disappointed with the game, not that it was faulty or anything.
Useful information, no doubt. If there are any games you’d consider buying from Origin, but would like to have the option of a refund if you don’t like it, I suppose this would work for you. I didn’t find out how long you’d have to get a refund, presumably there is a limit to how long they would let you try a game. This would also be useful if there is a game that you aren’t totally sure how well it will run on your system.
Let me know if you have any trouble with trying to get a refund on any Origin purchases. Does anyone know any other DD outlets that offer refunds?
It’s illegal to not allow a refund under the Distance Selling Regulations. You can get a refund on Steam, but you have to “remind” them about it.
I’ve tried that, and got nowhere.
Are you sure about this? I know this applies to physical goods, but I was under the impression that unsealed software and services are exception to the regulations. I know steam do give refunds in some cases, but are their games not classed as a service and don’t have to legally?
Yeah, Valve said that the distance selling regulations didn’t apply to digital goods, and so I didn’t know what to say to that.
I’d say, if you’ve already downloaded the game, then there is almost no chance to get a refund (only in special cases, when the game doesn’t work at all), but if you haven’t even started the download, then they would have to refund you.
DSR’s are a tricky one because they handle goods and services seperately. There are specific rule s relating to things that cannot be resold. Ultimately, I think it comes down much more on the retailer on how they handle this.
The thing with software that has always interested me is the EULA – you need to break the seal and begin the install to read and agree with it but if you don’t agree with it I understand that you should be able to return to the seller for a refund.
Does the retail copy of BF3 bind to your Origin account, or could you just sell the game on ebay or sth?
Btw, I find it funny, that the standard response, to someone who doesn’t like the singleplayer part is: “It’s a multiplayer game”
Yeah, but if it is a multiplayer game, then why did they bother making a singleplayer campaign at all? So clearly it isn’t an exclusive multiplayer game.
That said, I understand, why you would want to get rid of it.
Yeah, retail copies bind to Origin.
And yeah, I understand that it is a mainly MP focussed game, but that’s no excuse for such a terrible solo campaign. All I want is to shoot men.
That sucks… hope you at least enjoy the multiplayer part.
From what I’ve heard the campaign is horrible. Black Ops, but bad (is that even possible?).
It’s all QTEs and waiting for guys to open doors for you. It falls apart if you try to do anything other than exactly what they want you to do.
I have to agree that after playing the first level, that’s all I could notice. Why can’t I go here? Oh, it doesn’t want me to. Why am I waiting for ages for them to open a door? Oh, I’m standing in front of someone I should be behind, so the man at the door won’t open it yet – how careless of me.
Does cinematic just mean “corridor shooter where the corridors are sometimes invisible”?
Were you actually disappointed with BF3, or were you checking Origin’s stance regarding refunds?
A little from column A, a little from column B.
Direct 2 Drive have given me a discount before. When I bought an expansion pack through Gamersgate, it wasn’t compatible with my other copy of the game (from a different DD outlet), so instead of giving me a refund, they just gave me the original game and all it’s previous expansions for free through Gamersgate. Great customer service.
Re: Distance Selling:
http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/distance-selling-downloads/in-practice/In_Practice_supplied_for_am1.pdf
Near the bottom:
“Customer wants to cancel after they downloaded product
Q: We sell online video games that are available for download from our website. A
customer just called to say that he doesn’t want the game he just downloaded from our
site. Specifically, he says that because he hasn’t used the game and has removed it from
his computer, he should be able to get a refund.
Before a customer can successfully download a product from us, they must accept our
terms and conditions which clearly indicate that, as soon as the download starts, their
purchase is complete.
So, do I need to give him a full refund?
A: Tangible products like hardware, CDs and DVDs are goods, but intangible products
such as downloads and software are generally considered to be services, although this is
not straightforward.
The cancellation rights under the Distance Selling Regulations (DSRs) will apply to the
provision of video games by download. Furthermore, the cancellation period for a services
contract is normally seven working days after the date it was concluded or the date the
information required by the DSRs is given in durable form, if later. However, if you provide
all the durable information before the service starts and the customer agrees to the service
starting within seven working days after the date of the contract, then the customer will
have no right to cancel. Therefore, if you have done this, your customer is not legally
entitled to cancel. If you had not provided this vital information before the download began,
your customer would have had cancellation rights.”
Put simply, if you agree to T&Cs before download, you have agreed to a service, and therefore cannot cancel according to the DSRs
May help http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/forums/showthread.php?1531-Seems-UK-citizens-can-refund-steam-games-quick-and-painless
I did exactly that, and got nowhere with Steam.
I doubt they understood your intentions. I don’t believe you could actually buy a game on Origin, register it, download it, play it for 3-4 hours, and then request a refund because you don’t like it.
I would be EXTREMELY shocked if they would actually do such refund? Anyone care to try? 🙂
I was actually able to refund my PC DOWNLOAD version of battlefield 3. i simply explained that my game did not work on my system