I'm trying to get a refund but I am being denied on all fronts, including the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). What can I do?

[Mr Holiday]

So the story is Battlefield 2042, a game that is atrociously buggy and riddled with crashes, I have paid $138 for the Base game, the Year 1 Pass, and some pre-order stuff.

After 3 months, and 115 hours playtime, many of the bugs and crashes are still present, EA/DICE cannot provide a remedy (fixes) in a reasonable time, with the only suggested timeframe being "Months ahead" in https://www.ea.com/games/battlefield/battlefield-2042/news/battlefield-briefing-the-journey-to-season-one

They even openly state

"working on taking action on multiple fronts to address feedback and implement extensive fixes to the game, key features that are important to you, and getting team play where it needs to be."

meaning it was an incomplete game, with enough bugs that it had caused the playerbase community to have an aneurysm.

I've approaches steam support several times at this point, I had a slow start trying to request my refund, mostly being responded to about the Refund Policy everyone knows about, but I gradually learned the Steam Subscriber Agreement had the exception for the ACL, the Australian Consumer Law which is completely covered here
https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees/repair-replace-refund

7. DISCLAIMERS; LIMITATION OF LIABILITY; NO GUARANTEES; LIMITED WARRANTY & AGREEMENT ⏶

THIS SECTION 7 DOES NOT APPLY TO EU SUBSCRIBERS.

FOR AUSTRALIAN SUBSCRIBERS, THIS SECTION 7 DOES NOT EXCLUDE, RESTRICT OR MODIFY THE APPLICATION OF ANY GUARANTEE, RIGHT OR REMEDY THAT CANNOT BE SO EXCLUDED, RESTRICTED OR MODIFIED, INCLUDING THOSE CONFERRED BY THE AUSTRALIAN CONSUMER LAW (ACL). UNDER THE ACL, GOODS COME WITH GUARANTEES INCLUDING A GUARANTEE THAT GOODS ARE OF ACCEPTABLE QUALITY. IF THERE IS A FAILURE OF THIS GUARANTEE, YOU ARE ENTITLED TO A REMEDY (WHICH MAY INCLUDE HAVING THE GOODS REPAIRED OR REPLACED OR A REFUND). IF A REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT CANNOT BE PROVIDED OR THERE IS A MAJOR FAILURE, YOU ARE ENTITLED TO A REFUND.

So I have approached Steam requesting on the ACL front, then I got directed to EA Support for getting a refund; I complied, I got the transcript from their support that described that they cannot provide a refund for me, and their Warrant does cover the ACL included.

I listed out the reasons I wanted a refund, "it has multiple minor problems that, when taken as a whole, would have stopped someone from buying it if they’d known about them", and further pointed the ACL policy on "warranty expiries" that so long as the consumer is not simply "changing their mind" and how it applies to faulty items.

At this point I am trying to not seek escalation, and I have complied on as many fronts as I can, with their requests, with the Steam Subscriber Agreement, and now I'm pretty sure my account is being ignored, with my last ticket request straight up being deleted after 2 days I waited for a response.

I need some kind of advice here, this game isn't complete, it is riddled with bugs and crashes, the developers can't provide a fix and hasn't even given a timeline on how long or soon, and the Year 1 pass battlecontent and promised specialists cannot even be given a promised release date, even after 3 months, and the only slated date that was delayed previously is now June - July, but in the current state of all the crashes and bugs, and how much time since release this isn't a reasonable timeframe.

[Mr Holiday]

Here was my last reply, and what really got me was the fact they reference I had a "continued investment" because on the day I started trying to get my refund, I took one last look at the game to see if there was any chance since EA has suggested there would be changes.

Nothing changed, it was still horrible.

We have closely reviewed the information you provided and your purchase of Battlefi eld 2042 doesn't qualify for a refund.

You have already played the game for signifi cantly longer than 2 hours, including as recently as January 21, 2022. Your continued investmentin this game doesn't suggest a major defect with the product. Any future refund requests for Battlefi eld 2042 will receive the same response.

For technical assistance with Battlefi eld™ 2042, please contact the game's support team since they are best equipped to address any issuesyou are experiencing with this product. The
developer is actively working on making improvements so please allow some time for your issue tobe resolved.

This game is defective, I can't stand playing it in this atrocious state, and I have no reason to believe they're going to fix it and continue to support it as a "live service" like they suggest.

[feytharn]

They are right though. Steam is a store, they sell products. Their responsibility for the product ended some time during the 115 hours of playtime you put in that game. They can't take your 'broken' copy of the game, hand it back to EA and get the money back, they would need to bite the bullet themselfs, as the store who sold a game you obviously had no trouble using for 115 hours.

Contact EA and see if you can work out a way to get your money back.

[MancSoulja]

Why did you wait 3 months and 115 hours to ask for a refund?

To me, it looks like you’ve had your fill and now you’re trying to get your money back.

I mean who puts 115 into a game they’re trying to claim isn’t fit for purpose?

[J4MESOX4D]

The game works - it's just absolute trash. You got what you paid for and its a bit late to have buyers remorse now that the game is dead. Support have made their decision and they wont change their minds.

[ReBoot]

There's a few thousand playing this game. While this number isn't much on the relative scale, it's still quite a lot on the absolute scale.

This game isn't broken. It may be utter ♥♥♥♥ in the game design department, but that doesn't warrant a refund.

Accept that you got no case & learn from your mistake. With everybody & their grandma claiming the game to suck, why did you buy it in the first place? That was your mistake.

Your next mistake was to wait over 2 weeks to request a refund.

Learn from your mistakes!

[Cathulhu]

https://steamdb.info/app/1517290/graphs/
Well, the graphs certainly don't look good. Even the free weekend didn't help the game's decline.

[Mr Holiday]

Originally posted by feytharn:

Contact EA and see if you can work out a way to get your money back.

I did. They aren't the live service that provided the game, and Steam cannot provide a remedy because they aren't the developers and there is presently no publicly provided information made available on when a remedy will arrive; As of such Steam cannot provide a reasonable time for a remedy.

Originally posted by MancSoulja:

Why did you wait 3 months and 115 hours to ask for a refund?

I mean who puts 115 into a game they’re trying to claim isn’t fit for purpose?

The reason being is, can you experience a multitude of bugs, crashes, and game breaking glitches within a few or more hours? I'd say no, and it took me that long to find them all. I really thought that the bugs, the crashes, the glitches would be fixed after a few patches.

Were on Patch 3.2, about 4 patches in or so, and that's only since early this year, and a large amount of those bugs are still present. I think the worst one is the ADS bug preventing you from even aiming and shooting at people.

Originally posted by J4MESOX4D:

The game works - it's just absolute trash. You got what you paid for and its a bit late to have buyers remorse now that the game is dead. Support have made their decision and they wont change their minds.

Honestly a issue I have and didn't realise is: The trailers and gameplay didn't even accurately represent the game. Now that's just a question "is the buyer at fault is the seller?"

Originally posted by Cathulhu:

https://steamdb.info/app/1517290/graphs/
Well, the graphs certainly don't look good. Even the free weekend didn't help the game's decline.

Yeah. I've been keeping up with the posts, it's really concerning that Conquest is pretty much dead. I'm just waiting for people to say the Australian servers are dead.

[Mr. Smiles]

Originally posted by ReBoot:

There's a few thousand playing this game. While this number isn't much on the relative scale, it's still quite a lot on the absolute scale.

This game isn't broken. It may be utter ♥♥♥♥ in the game design department, but that doesn't warrant a refund.

Accept that you got no case & learn from your mistake. With everybody & their grandma claiming the game to suck, why did you buy it in the first place? That was your mistake.

Your next mistake was to wait over 2 weeks to request a refund.

Learn from your mistakes!

This, you don't even have to do any product research, the whole internet is ablaze with how bad the game is...

You are way over on both playtime and time since purchase, steam posts their refund guidelines.

Somewhat expensive lesson, but hey, they are going to "fix" it, so maybe someday you will have fun with it.

Enjoy your copy of 2042.

[J4MESOX4D]

Originally posted by Mr Holiday:

*Snip

You mention the trailers yet you have 12 hours in the beta..

[kitt]

well you pre-ordered in 2021, so yea you are at fault for believing anything comapnies say. Also it you apparently had fun for 100+s hours otherwise you would have stopped playing?


Glad they don't refund, learn from it even though it won't happen and you will pre-order the next BF for 500 Bucks

[Mr Holiday]

Originally posted by Mr. Smiles:

You are way over on both playtime and time since purchase, steam posts their refund guidelines.

The ACL. is clearly stated in their Steam Subscriber Agreement, and there isn't anything that suggests the Consumer Law is overruled by that, unless stated otherwise.

[Cathulhu]

You deem the game defective, despite having played it for over 100 hours.
A game being not good, does not mean it is defective.
You have no legal grounds for a refund.

[Mr Holiday]

Originally posted by Cathulhu:

You deem the game defective, despite having played it for over 100 hours.
A game being not good, does not mean it is defective.
You have no legal grounds for a refund.

https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees/repair-replace-refund

'No refund' signs and expired warranties
Signs stating ‘No refunds’ or ‘No refunds or exchanges on sale items’ are unlawful, as they imply that it’s not possible to get a refund under any circumstances, including for faulty items. In fact your consumer guarantee rights still apply. Retailers don’t have to give you a refund or exchange if you simply change your mind. Always check the store’s returns policy.

Your rights under the consumer guarantees do not have a specific expiry date and can apply even after any warranties you’ve got from a business have expired.

What is a major problem?
A product or good has a major problem when:

it has a problem that would have stopped someone from buying it if they’d known about it
it has multiple minor problems that, when taken as a whole, would have stopped someone from buying it if they’d known about them
it is significantly different from the sample or description
it is substantially unfit for its common purpose and can’t easily be fixed within a reasonable time
it doesn’t do what you asked for and can’t easily be fixed within a reasonable time; or
it is unsafe.

The Steam Subscriber Agreement

7. DISCLAIMERS; LIMITATION OF LIABILITY; NO GUARANTEES; LIMITED WARRANTY & AGREEMENT ⏶

THIS SECTION 7 DOES NOT APPLY TO EU SUBSCRIBERS.

FOR AUSTRALIAN SUBSCRIBERS, THIS SECTION 7 DOES NOT EXCLUDE, RESTRICT OR MODIFY THE APPLICATION OF ANY GUARANTEE, RIGHT OR REMEDY THAT CANNOT BE SO EXCLUDED, RESTRICTED OR MODIFIED, INCLUDING THOSE CONFERRED BY THE AUSTRALIAN CONSUMER LAW (ACL). UNDER THE ACL, GOODS COME WITH GUARANTEES INCLUDING A GUARANTEE THAT GOODS ARE OF ACCEPTABLE QUALITY. IF THERE IS A FAILURE OF THIS GUARANTEE, YOU ARE ENTITLED TO A REMEDY (WHICH MAY INCLUDE HAVING THE GOODS REPAIRED OR REPLACED OR A REFUND). IF A REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT CANNOT BE PROVIDED OR THERE IS A MAJOR FAILURE, YOU ARE ENTITLED TO A REFUND.

[J4MESOX4D]

Also how come you've only decided to refund now after 115 hours when the game is dead in your region? How come you didn't make this thread after 5, 10, 15, 40, 70, 85, 90, 100 hours? All would have been rejected regardless but it demonstrates you were happy to carry on playing right until the game went into life support. The game hasn't changed whatsoever since the first hour or even beta so you can't play the 'not representative' of trailer card now. That should have been used in the preorder phase to not buy the game altogether.

[Cathulhu]

That is for physical goods. Not digital ones. Nice try.