When in Rome…
Today, the Australian Competition And Consumer Commission (ACCC) has fined Sony for $3.5 Million AUD (2.4 Million USD) over their misconduct in running their PlayStation online store. It seems like Sony wasn’t following the laws put in place in Australia to protect its consumers, but instead following their practices present in North American and Europe. Such practices as not being able to refund a game if it has been downloaded, or only being able to be paid back in store credit just don’t abide by Australian consumer laws.
ACCC Chair Rod Sims gave the following statement regarding the matter: “Consumer guarantee rights do not expire after a digital product has been downloaded and certainly do not disappear after 14 days or any other arbitrary date claimed by a game store or developer. Consumers who buy digital products online have exactly the same rights as they would if they made the purchase at a physical store. Refunds under the consumer guarantees must also be given in cash or money transfer if the consumer originally paid in one of those ways, unless the consumer chooses to receive store credit”
Looks like this slight lazy negligence is going to cost Sony a bit of money. You might be surprised to hear this isn’t the first big game retailer has been caught with this law, as Valve was fined for the same thing in 2014.
source: Gamespot