I bought a game in Game yesterday for my PC. On going to the counter I was asked to make sure that my computer met the minimum specifications (it did), and that if I bought the game there would be no refund, no exchange, and no comeback whatsoever. I know that by warning me in advance they might be covering themselves, but it still sounds rather illegal to me.
Of course I asked why there was no refund or exchange:
“You could take it home and copy it and then exchange it, or take the serial key and use it making the cd useless for the next person who buys it”. Or something to that effect is what I was told.
“What happens if it doesn’t work?” I ask.
[Worker shrugs shoulders]
I looked up legislation related to this and couldn’t find anything specifically making this kind of behaviour illegal. Any thoughts?
1980 Sale of Goods and Services Act springs to mind. If it doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do they MUST refund you your money. No disclaimer can take away your rights. If they don’t like it, then should make it so their games can’t be copied.
As John says if goods are faulty you are entitled to your full money back, not a credit slip, a full refund.
Many consumer are unaware of this and some businesses say they don’t do refunds but credit notes instead so people accept this. But if goods are faulty, they cannot refuse to give you your money back.
I am aware of the 1980 Act, but in this case it seems a bit more complicated than a normal product purchase. I might be buying a licence too. Is it my fault if my PC doesnt work the game? Is it their fault? There are a number of scenarios with PC software.
I reckon it’s your fault if it doesn’t work. I’ve often heard of people buying furniture and it not fitting and things like that. I think this is analogous to this. Where it gets interesting though is that you may have a CD drive as per the spec but it may not work on your PC because of the copy protections or what not. Then you’re forced to use a crack if GAME don’t take it back.
So that’d be my cover if I did want to return the game as ‘faulty’