Digital purchases I've always been a bit apprehensive about. Mainly because you are beholden to the provider and the general customer rights involving them. It's why I always go physical where possible due to the flexibility and having control in my own hands. The exceptions being for digital only games and if there's a steep discount. Also why I've pretty much bought nothing on my Android account either (bar a few essentials and no games).
One of the things I've liked recently is Steam's no questions asked refund policy. Yes it has potential to be open to abuse, but it's something every digital storefront should have as a safeguard for a customer. And they've stated those that abuse it may not have access to it in the future so it all works out well in the end. People who use the refund policy for a legit reason will be shown goodwill, other's not so much. It's kind of like how Amazon customer service is by far the best I've experienced. I use them extensively and very rarely have problems, but on the off chance there is one they help me out and everything is so straight forward. A friend I know has some problems with them, but I know he's the type of person to abuse refunds/goodwill so in a way it makes sense. Reward good customers and maybe take a bit more care with others.
Now this brings me to my current problem. I'd gotten in from work yesterday with the Vita and a few other things in my hand. I couldn't put them all away at once so I left the Vita on a counter, and when I came back i saw it was on the table in a different room and a purchase had been made for a film. My sister and 2 year old niece were visiting and in the 2 minutes i was gone someone must have given the Vita to her and the purchase was made. It hadn't been downloaded and it was asking me If I wanted to which I declined.
First thing I did was find out the Customer Service number to but they were out of hours (Close at 8:30PM in the UK which is ridiculously early). I called them today wanting a refund explaining the problem. They agent said he'd send a refund request through to the department, but in his experience he expects it to be declined. I mean what? I never downloaded the film, have an account that stretches back to 2008 in which I've made a good amount of purchases over the years and never needed to call customer service or ask for a refund before, and a purchase that the agent agreed was clearly made in error can't be refunded because that's their policy.
The agent accused me of lax security on my end as well and said I should have had password on checkout. Now I can accept that my niece getting into her hands was on my end (even if I left it on a high counter for 2 mins), but the extra security is something I've always wanted. I have it so a password is required on checkout for all my online purchases, be they digital on stuff like Google Play, or retailers like Amazon. It's something I've wanted to set up on the Vita for ages but could never find the option. When I asked the agent how to do it, of all things he then says he's not sure if it's possible on Vita and shows me how to do it on PS4 instead.
Now if this was Steam there wouldn't be a problem. I'd have applied for a refund straightaway and gotten one no questions asked. PSN and other digital market places need to have a similar policy for purchases made in error. By all means take note and flag accounts that may abuse it, but Sony can clearly see that I've never bought a film on PSN before and it's obviously an unusual purchase that I requested a refund for at the earliest opportunity. But apparantly my refund request is unlikely to go through and I'll be very annoyed if it doesn't. It's not so much about the actual cost which I can write off, but more the principal of the matter and how pathetically awful Sony's policy is on refunds that I'm most angry about.
One of the things I've liked recently is Steam's no questions asked refund policy. Yes it has potential to be open to abuse, but it's something every digital storefront should have as a safeguard for a customer. And they've stated those that abuse it may not have access to it in the future so it all works out well in the end. People who use the refund policy for a legit reason will be shown goodwill, other's not so much. It's kind of like how Amazon customer service is by far the best I've experienced. I use them extensively and very rarely have problems, but on the off chance there is one they help me out and everything is so straight forward. A friend I know has some problems with them, but I know he's the type of person to abuse refunds/goodwill so in a way it makes sense. Reward good customers and maybe take a bit more care with others.
Now this brings me to my current problem. I'd gotten in from work yesterday with the Vita and a few other things in my hand. I couldn't put them all away at once so I left the Vita on a counter, and when I came back i saw it was on the table in a different room and a purchase had been made for a film. My sister and 2 year old niece were visiting and in the 2 minutes i was gone someone must have given the Vita to her and the purchase was made. It hadn't been downloaded and it was asking me If I wanted to which I declined.
First thing I did was find out the Customer Service number to but they were out of hours (Close at 8:30PM in the UK which is ridiculously early). I called them today wanting a refund explaining the problem. They agent said he'd send a refund request through to the department, but in his experience he expects it to be declined. I mean what? I never downloaded the film, have an account that stretches back to 2008 in which I've made a good amount of purchases over the years and never needed to call customer service or ask for a refund before, and a purchase that the agent agreed was clearly made in error can't be refunded because that's their policy.
The agent accused me of lax security on my end as well and said I should have had password on checkout. Now I can accept that my niece getting into her hands was on my end (even if I left it on a high counter for 2 mins), but the extra security is something I've always wanted. I have it so a password is required on checkout for all my online purchases, be they digital on stuff like Google Play, or retailers like Amazon. It's something I've wanted to set up on the Vita for ages but could never find the option. When I asked the agent how to do it, of all things he then says he's not sure if it's possible on Vita and shows me how to do it on PS4 instead.
Now if this was Steam there wouldn't be a problem. I'd have applied for a refund straightaway and gotten one no questions asked. PSN and other digital market places need to have a similar policy for purchases made in error. By all means take note and flag accounts that may abuse it, but Sony can clearly see that I've never bought a film on PSN before and it's obviously an unusual purchase that I requested a refund for at the earliest opportunity. But apparantly my refund request is unlikely to go through and I'll be very annoyed if it doesn't. It's not so much about the actual cost which I can write off, but more the principal of the matter and how pathetically awful Sony's policy is on refunds that I'm most angry about.