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Valve fined $3 million by Australian Federal Court for refund policy from 2011-2014

Z

Zushin

Member
In a hearing earlier this afternoon, the Federal Court has fined Valve $3 million over breaches of Australian consumer law for their lack of an advertised refund policy on Steam from 2011 to 2014.
In the judgement published online, Justice Edelman ruled that Valve "engaged in conduct which was misleading or deceptive or likely to mislead or deceive in contravention" of Australian consumer law when they advertised to consumers that users had no obligation to refunds for games purchased through Steam.

Although Valve introduced a refunds policy on Steam since the case began, the Federal Court found that the breaches of consumer law between 1 January, 2011 and 28 August, 2014, were significant enough to warrant a fine of $3 million.

The fine is to be paid within 30 days. Justice Edelman also ruled that a notice must be displayed to Australian users
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Via Kotaku

The notices Valve has to post on Steam are at the link.

I think this is a fair ruling even though Valve has since changed its policy. I hope PSN/XBL are next.
 
C

Chris1

Member
RichiRamjag said:
Nah. Not always. I got turned down for one not too far back. I got one when MCC released, but I had to raise hell about it.

In the states though. Not sure if it's different overseas.
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It depends where you live I think. The UK has a lot of laws regarding this so they will refund without issue if you have a legit reasoning.
 
Plumpbiscuit

Plumpbiscuit

Member
Good, not being able to even refund a digital purchase is insane, not to mention not even advertising that you even have a refund policy.
 
J

jabberwocker

Banned
Sadly the American corporate infrastructure of litigation probably would make this a lot more difficult to fly here in the United States.
 
D

Dreams-Visions

Member
Plumpbiscuit said:
Good, not being able to even refund a digital purchase is insane, not to mention not even advertising that you even have a refund policy.
Click to expand...

Only the consoles are dragging their feet in 2016.

Valve's refund implementation should be the industry standard for digital games on all major platforms going forward.
 
H

Hephaestus

Member
Could valve add a temporary fee to all games sold in australia now to cover the fine?
Like a 99 cent administration charge.
 
D

DealWithIt

Member
jabberwocker said:
Sadly the American corporate infrastructure of litigation probably would make this a lot more difficult to fly here in the United States.
Click to expand...

? This is a punitive suit by the government. On top of that the US is legal system considered the most plaintiff friendly major legal system on the planet. Not sure what you're on about.
 
R

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
Poor Gabe will have to settle for buing less knives this year
 
D

dude

dude
This is good.
It this government-prompted or is it based on people complaints? What are the odds of going after XBL/PSN next considering ASAIK these two still don't have any clear return policies.
 
N

Nzyme32

Member
dude said:
This is good.
It this government-prompted or is it based on people complaints? What are the odds of going after XBL/PSN next considering ASAIK these two still don't have any clear return policies.
Click to expand...

The difference with Valve was they subscriber agreement made things a bit more dubious. Otherwise the situations for digital purchases were pretty much the same, where you have no clear solution but to contact the respective platform holder and hope that they grant you the refund (frequently turning people down). I find it hilarious that Valve flipped from worst to one of the best refund solutions for digital games, but without doubt they reached that solution (and took more time with it) in their efforts to keep things as automated as possible.
 
J

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
dude said:
This is good.
It this government-prompted or is it based on people complaints?
Click to expand...

The lawsuit was initiated by the ACCC, which is Australia's consumer protection body, so I'd imagine a tipping point was reached.

What are the odds of going after XBL/PSN next considering ASAIK these two still don't have any clear return policies.
Click to expand...

I'd say that's unlikely to happen any time soon as contrary to the PC there isn't an overwhelming preference for digital distribution, which makes for a quieter voice of concern.

Patrick Young said:
So every Australian Steam user gets AU$3 or something refunded right? ...right?
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No, but as I can only assume Valve will follow the letter of the law rather than risk another lengthy and uphill battle of a court case, we'll no longer be beholden to Valve's refund policy in cases where our consumer guarantee laws apply, meaning there'll be the option of revisiting select refund requests that were previously denied.
 
E

Evolution of Metal

Member
Nzyme32 said:
The difference with Valve was they subscriber agreement made things a bit more dubious. Otherwise the situations for digital purchases were pretty much the same, where you have no clear solution but to contact the respective platform holder and hope that they grant you the refund (frequently turning people down). I find it hilarious that Valve flipped from worst to one of the best refund solutions for digital games, but without doubt they reached that solution (and took more time with it) in their efforts to keep things as automated as possible.
Click to expand...

It is average. It isn't above GOG or Origin.

It is time for Sony to step up their refund policy though.
 
J

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Evolution of Metal said:
It is average. It isn't above GOG or Origin.
Click to expand...

There's certainly an argument to be made for GOG, but while the conditions attached to EA's refund policy are a little looser, they also have one major drawback in that they apply only to EA's own games and literally just a handful of third-party titles rather than every game on available on the store. Granted, though, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who actively uses Origin for third-party titles.
 
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