Australia: ACCC forces EA to give refunds to gamers

Electronic Arts, the third-largest publisher and developer of video games in the world, has run up against consumer watchdog the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission over its Origin PC digital download service’s no-refund policy in Australia following its launch in June 2011.

“It is a breach of the Australian Consumer Law for businesses to state that customers are not entitled to refunds under any circumstances,” said ACCC chairman Rod Sims.

From at least January 1, 2012, the ACCC received numerous complaints. This raised the regulatory body’s concerns that EA had stated via its Origin terms and conditions, and via customer services representatives, that Australians were not entitled to refunds on digitally downloaded video games purchased through the platform. The ACCC was also concerned that EA had modified or restricted consumer guarantees for Australian Origin customers.

“If you sell to consumers in Australia, then the Australian Consumer Law applies to all goods or services you supply.

Full Content: ZDNet

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