After reading about all the troubles people have had, I'm (almost) happy to have missed these great deals/mistakes on GamersGate. :)
Feel bad for the people with games retroactively un-purchased. At least with stuff like the Ubisoft & EA coupons we all knew someone had made a mistake, and if it didn't work we'd only wasted a bit of time. This sounds like some folks have had their money taken, and then the games taken away as well? What a mess...
I've enjoyed a lot of Paradox games, most of which were purchased from GamersGate, and with no problems. But next time I see a great deal, how will I know if it's too great, and tomorrow my game will disappear? :(
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The last paragraph actually is very true. A customer can never distinguish between a mistake and a good offer. Promising to solve that problem (like they said keys will be available in January) and then simply refunding the money is a very bad behaviour and will lower their reputation
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Difference is, UBI and EA are the publishers and can decide to make a loss on their own titles, whereas Gamersgate (unless if we are talking about paradox games) is not in the same situation...
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Those fucking idiots should just put their site down and work on it.
EVERY SINGLE DAY THERE IS A PRICE MISTAKE.
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Hmm. Nice of them to send me a courtesy email apologising for removing the games from my library and no issuing a refund [yet].
Oh.... They didn't :(
Cancelling a completed order is one thing (and potentially a legally problematic thing in many countries) but not even bothering to contact the customer and tell them what is going on is another thing entirely. Facebook is a totally inappropriate medium by which to communicate with customers regarding individual orders. Not everybody uses Facebook, and far fewer will check a website's Facebook page when there is a transactional issue on their account.
Gamersgate's reputation is in tatters at the moment. I wonder whether they've had any choice here with reversing purchases, as the alternative may well have been financial ruin, but if you want to have any hope of retaining a shred of customer goodwill, you can't go around treating them like twats.
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I'm probably a bit of a simpleton, but I don't understand why, if they can carry out an instant wholesale cancellation of all these orders, they can't send out a bulk email to all the connected addresses saying "Hi Joe Customer, this is what happened."
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Haha. You're not wrong :D
Maybe as punishment, their head of pricing is being made to manually type out each individual email...
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I agree the situation is terrible, but just to clarify: they haven't been contacting users through Facebook about the issue, the only notice anyone's gotten has been emails sent to some (but not all, for whatever reason) users and then those users quoted the email they received in comments on Gamersgate's Facebook page, which were then referenced in the OP. So it's not that Gamersgate thinks Facebook is an appropriate avenue for informing users about the issue, that's just the slightly unclear wording in the OP.
In fact it's pretty much the opposite, last I looked they haven't said anything at all about the cancellations on either Facebook or Twitter, the official reps have been completely silent since the 22nd on Twitter and the only official posts on Facebook have been advertisements for more deals.
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Just waiting to see if they're gonna revoke keys already activated on Steam... That would unleash a shitstorm unseen so far when it comes to stuff like that.
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Anyone who wants to trade their bo2 gift??? If you still have it pm me :)
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Did you read the thread?
Soon or late nobody will have any keys got by this way
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Some people are saying that they are refunding based on chronological order which they are purchased. This is absolutely incorrect as my bethesda collection (Which I got all my keys and activated) hasn't been refunded YET.
If they do however revoke my games in steam, I'm gonna contact my cousin, which is a lawyer, to decide what is the legal thing to do.
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I gave a couple of my Bethesda Collection keys away as gifts. That could be awkward :[
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I'm not in a position to know for sure, but in another thread someone reported their Fallout 3 was removed from Steam, even though it didn't even come from GG, and they refunded less than the original amount due to transaction fees. It sounds too far fetched, but their little stunt has definitely backfired. They're already breaking the law in Europe as it stands.
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Totally agree.
I can only think that they're right up against the wall, and honouring the Bethesda pack/Borderlands 2 orders will put them in dire financial straits/bankruptcy.
That's the sole reason I can think of that would cause them to risk breaking EU law, upsetting thousands of their customers and causing a gargantuan internet shitstorm that threatens to bury them several miles deep in virtual raw sewage.
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A lot of people traded/sold keys. This goes down much, much further than a single layer.
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I bought two Borderlands 2-4Packs and they only refunded one. I think people should raise a class sue.
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They removed my 2 BL2 4packs but I didn't get refund mail and they didn't refund my money. WTF?
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Customer support is down.
This is the sort of low stunt I'd expect a shady key site to pull, not a so-called reputable vendor.
Have a feeling this episode could lose them far more money in the medium to long term than swallowing the loss on those mispriced keys ever would have.
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Odd, I have a ticket in and pending, it's not down for me. Are they answering? Who the fuck knows. But I'm able to connect and have a ticket in.
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gamersgate should only revoke the orders which is made by one people for multyply times and accounts
i only purchased one copy for myself(maybe gift my friend), and i still dont receive the email telling that they refund me
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Nobody got an email, it seems.
They just removed the games from everyone's accounts, then clocked off for the day.
They're probably all on a sunny beach somewhere, lighting oversized Cuban cigars with hundred dollar notes...
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I've received this mail (mind you that I bought only the Bethesda pack): "Hi,
This message is regarding issues with the Bethesda New Year Collection and the Borderlands 2 Four Pack deal.
We´re very sorry but due to technical difficulties we are not able to deliver the product you purchased and have provided a full refund of your purchase. We are currently looking into the possibility of additional compensation for this inconvenience.
GamersGate team
support@gamersgate.com
"
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Money-wise they must be in a bad way. I can't imagine any other situation where they would risk alienating so many customers. I don't know their numbers obviously but when a mistake like this happens, you have to decide whether to eat the loss or face the consequences. Acting like this, I'm assuming that they simply can't eat the loss and will take any amount of blowback just to stay afloat.
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I agree, and posted something similar earlier. By taking this path, they are running the twin gauntlets of EU customer protection law and hugely damaging publicity.
Like you, I can only think that the alternative is financial ruin.
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I dont know what's worse, the fact that these people are actually surprised and whining that they're getting their games revoked, or that THIS many people abused the obvious pricing mistake, this is the exact same thing as with the origin coupon code a while back, where people made tons of accounts just to steal games.
Dont go and pretend that you didnt know it was a pricing mistake. Dishonored alone was worth more then 30 dollars, everyone knew something was fishy, so dont act all surprised when a mistake is corrected.
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People whining that a company has broken the law? Bunch of entitled idiots...
If every great offer was viewed with that sort of suspicion, many of Amazon's Christmas deals wouldn't have sold a single copy.
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Maybe it's just something from where I live, but generally if a store makes a mistake with pricing or what not, it's all on them (although I can understand that being much different in the internet arena since people can respond quickly and in large numbers to pricing errors). I am surprised that the games are being revoked, but only because they said they'd supply them (them = Bethesda bundle). And trust me, we all knew it was a pricing mistake, can you show me someone who doesn't? Don't know why you're wasting your breath making that point when everybody already knows it to be true.
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I suddenly have a good idea. If you are running a digital game download store and want to screw all of your competitor stores' holiday sale, you can do this:
Put all games that every competitor store has on sale at 99% off, tell everyone to come here to purchase, and yeah generally people don't buy duplicated games from different store in a same holiday just in case of order refunds, and 99% off is an ultimately cool discount and of course many customers will buy from your store instead of competitor stores, right? And then you can just tell people to wait and say you've run out of keys. And after the holiday, you can refund all orders and say sorry + good bye. And all your competitor stores and their customers are screwed.
WOW~~~~nice idea, your competitor stores loose lots of sales because their customers have already bought games from you so they surely didn't buy another copy from another store. WOW WOW, and because you've put the statement "you can't sue us" in your TOS so nobody can do anything to you. WOW WOW WOW and even that the law is still supporting you. Cool! What a nice strategy.
Since when a TOS became the law and the law says you can refuse to fulfill paid orders and refund them whenever you like?
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in that case you'd go out of business. . this is a glitch, you know it and we all know it. There are protocols against false advertising. TOS are unchallenged by law due to lobbyists making sure that TOS stand, in any case any business can enact these routes, it's just easier online and with digital information . . . well you buy the rights to a product, not buy THE product. In all rights you can be sold a game then have it revoked three months later. . . Just look at WOw's business model. With the internet the power of the people reigns, and as such the goal is to have a consumer base, not lose it.
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When a game for 60$ is put on for 11.00 bucks for a 4 pack, you know it's a glitch in the system. .Anyone crying about not ripping off a company here knows that it was a glitch and should just drop it. If there's an internet error and it causes a price to be placed wrong, in no way does a retailer have to give goods at that price. It's like If you sold a product for X dollars and due to a bug/hacker/glitch the price was put up wrong: you wouldn't have to go bankrupt in order to meet the demands of some spoiled children crying to their lawyers over not being able to screw you over. . . why would you even phantom doing it to someone else. . . other then this is the internet, and other then your apathetic greedy natures.
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So...every time there's a really good deal, everyone is supposed to go "it might be a glitch in the system, better not buy it or we're greedily ripping them off"? Your logic is absolutely ridiculous.
Forcing a refund on people is illegal in the UK and EU due to various consumer protection laws. People do have a right to be upset, not only because they're potentially losing the things they rightfully paid for at advertised price, but because GamersGate is violating the law to do so.
You should probably know what you're talking about before you start with your childish, borderline incoherent rambling.
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The thing is, everyone knew something was up too. It was all "Teehee, we're getting away with one here! They've made an error and we're cashing in!"
And now it's all "Those bastards! They should honour their mistake! This is outrageous! This is illegal!" ...and well... I don't think it is, not at the moment. I'd liken it to ordering an item from a store, going to collect it and being told on arrival "Hey sorry, the product's not available. Here's a refund instead." Sure, you'd be annoyed and it's not great PR but it's hardly illegal.
The questionable bit is the removal of keys from people's GamersGate accounts, possibly before they've been able to make use of them. My question is, at which point does the customer own the product? When they receive the key or when they activate the key?
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Oh come on, I don't mean that wishy-washy definition of "owning" a digital product. Let's ignore that for now and consider it an actual good, something that you own. For example, a store wouldn't pinch a TV from you after you'd taken it home. Basically what I'm asking is, is receiving the key the same as "taking it home"? There can't be one rule for physical goods and another for digital.
It's 5am here now, I might just be talking gibberish, hopefully not.
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No having a key for a game isn't like taking it home. When you buy a manufactured T.v. you buy the goods and thus you have a psychical object in the home. With a digital product you are buying a licensed copy of the base game subject to thew terms of the disturber AND manufacture (publisher and developer). When you get the license you get to make X amount of copies of said digital property. At anytime that license can be revoked. Look at it more under the terms or advanced rentals then anything else. The reasons for this are so that the digital property can be modified by the license retainer. AKa patches and expansions and also because if you bought the actual game and owned it you could lay claim to the actual product, that Product is an advanced concept here for license over digital property nullifies all of the file jargon. None the less you never own anything just rent. The only reason you don't see a dev or manufacturer revoke without cause is due to the need for profits and sales. Make no mistake the gaming community relies heavily on return customers.
A great example of this rental notion with the immediate revoke of said sale is Blizzard. People buy a key for WOW and have to keep renewing their license every month in order to keep their rental up. At the end of said rental they revoke the incense until you renew it.
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Unless I'm searching for the wrong terms, I honestly can't find anything on this online.
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I don't know if it's called the same thing in other places but in the UK it's covered in the Distance Selling Regulations 2000. It's all about protecting the rights of the consumer, usually in web/phone transactions, and it states that not only can they not force refunds on you, but also that they may have to sell you a product at advertised price, even if it's priced that way by mistake.
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I have no sympathy for GamersGate, yeah there was a price error, but there have been more than one price error before this. The thing that is really wrong about what they did is that they A) refunded people who didn't request keys but didn't refund people who used them, so it's unequal treatment of sorts and B) for the Bethesda pack they actually said they would supply the keys, so that was confirmation for the buyer that they could count on getting the keys. I now have a Skyrim giveaway for some friends I'll have to delete.
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Yeah it sucks but that's what happens when you ride on a glitch. I mean it's not like they did to you what Get games go did to me. I'll bet you any money it's an employee or a hacker screwing them around. In any case, if it's too good to be true, it probably is. With Borderlands 2 the 4 pack was priced cheaper then a single copy. The Bethesda pack didn't revoke keys given, rather issued refunds for the key that they were able to supply.
Gamersgate has never had an issue like this before and treats their customers better then most sites. So They get my love.
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Generally when a store makes a mistake on pricing, it's on them to honor it, although I can understand being the internet they might be pressured to refund due to the number of people who can respond to such things in so little time
Has never happened before, Oh really?
Mind you, I'm not like one of those people that are going to call my lawyer (I don't feel that entitled lol), I'm just upset that they said I'd get my keys and I went ahead and made a giveaway for one of them and now I have to delete it and crush the dreams of all the entrants :P
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http://www.steamgifts.com/forum/vJii2/thq-complete-collection-30-on-gamersgate
http://www.steamgifts.com/forum/IQJ1z/max-payne-3-99-off-at-gamersgate
Obviously the second one wasn't abuseable, but they do that a lot, mess with the base price and put a higher discount tag on it, serves them right having a system that toys with the prices so much
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I used keys and got refunds so I'm not sure where you got the idea that they didn't refund the people that used keys. They didn't revoke the keys that have been used but they did issue refunds. I ordered four packs and have been refunded for three packs so far. Two of those packs have keys used from them
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I'm not entirely sure how they're determining whether or not to issue refunds. One of my friends that bought two packs and gifted one (the other was completely untouched) hasn't received any refund at all yet yet. I bought 4 packs. 2 sat in my account are are now removed and refunded. 1 was gifted to a friend. 1 had one key activated and the rest was gifted to a friend. I've received three refunds so far. Seems to me that it's not based on how many you gifted/gave away since if that were the case I should have only gotten two refunds.
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In many countries, however, the law is on the side of the consumer in this case, and what Gamersgate have done here is illegal.
I might disagree with the way a politician I now regret voting for behaves, and breaks his election promises, for example. That said, I can't just go and rough him up, no matter how strongly I believe this to be the morally correct course of action. It's not acceptable for an individual or company to just break the law in order to rectify a mistake they made.
As others have said, there is no comeback for an equivalent gaffe in a high street situation.
Just as it would be illegal to send bailiffs around to take back the physical copies of a game, it is no more legal in many countries to take the equivalent action digitally.
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It's hard to say if that's a mistake or a false advertising -- even it really looked like a mistake and we thought "it must be a mistake" at that time. They kept the discount open and lasted for hours -- not for several seconds or a few minutes, that's already longer than many flash sales. Sometimes amazon open a flash sale for only 2 hours with 90% discounts or even more, we can't say those were mistakes too just because the discounts were too good and then amazon can legitimately cancel our orders for whatever reason.
If a company open for business, they are responsible for what price they label. What GamersGate is doing today, I don't think it's legal.
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Borderlands was open for about 2 hours (at least), the first thread on SteamGifts is 19 hours old, the last batch of people I see posting saying they were able to buy it (in another thread) is dated about 17 hours ago (and I was actually up at that time trying to purchase it as well and reading their responses as they were coming up so I know the site hadn't been taken down at that time).
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No, it lasted for at least 2 and half a hours. Because I've been told by my friend to catch up the sale after the sale already started for at least 1 hour, and it was still there so I purchased and completed my order, and after another one and a half a hour I checked back to see the sale, it's still there, although the webpage opened very slow.
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Borderlands 2 was up for almost 4 hours and Beth was almost an entire day. I wouldn't have a problem with the whole revoking the keys/removing the games IF they hadn't told everyone who bought it "Don't worry we're restocking the keys and you will receive them in January" and leaving that up for a week then coming out and being like HAHA JKLOLOLOL have your money back instead because not only were you expecting something and told you'd get it but you could have been using that money on other sales like Amazon's amazing $7.49 deal on Lego Lord of the Rings or Scribblesnauts which btw wasn't a pricing error and was another one of those too good to be true deals. It just seems like they did all of this to get hits on the site and get people to buy it worked but it worked too well and now they are just like oh shit we can't do this even though we told them we would which isn't right in any case. If it was like hey we made a mistake sorry we'll refund you soon sent out on the day they found out about it that'd be fine but we're talking a week later after telling people they'd be getting their keys in January.
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You would have bought a copy? You dirty opportunist!
I don't know about a full day but I remember posts about the Bethesda pack being something along the lines of 6 or 7 hours old when I was still seeing the discounted price in their store.
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Next time if we see a very good discount we should just go away because according to some people's opinion if a discount is too good it is a mistake even it lasts for hours or even one day long and if we go get it we become opportunists and should expect refunds and maybe we should shame on ourselves, too.
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rthe whole nets having issues right now soo. the moral of the story is: screw all companies that make errs?
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I don't know, but why screw all customers that buying great discounted games? Is that an either-or option?
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They are going (once again) against their own words where they told us we could ask for a refund or wait till mid jan to get keys AND they are going against their own TOS which states "GamersGate reserves the right to change the price and availability of any products at any time without notice; provided, however, such price change will not affect your purchase price for orders that GamersGate has already received from you and processed." and on top of that, in more than one country, they are breaking the law. This company does not deserve anyones money ever again, the only thing they deserve is a lawsuit and I pray one starts and I can be involved. This isn't right!
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Just said in one of the comments on there face book page there are giving refunds to people they bought Bethesda collection and borderlands 2 4 pack rather then keys. O well getting my money back can't really complain about that part.
As taken from the face book page (this is not me)
Hi,
This message is regarding issues with the Bethesda New Year Collection and the Borderlands 2 Four Pack deal.
We´re very sorry but due to technical difficulties we are not able to deliver the product you purchased and have provided a full refund of your purchase. We are currently looking into the possibility of additional compensation for this inconvenience.
GamersGate team
support@gamersgate.com
Dear Muhammad Hafiz Mohd Suhaimi,
Gamersgate AB just sent you a full refund of $28.76 USD for your purchase.
If you have any questions about this refund, please contact Gamersgate AB.
The refund will go to the card you paid with.
To see all the transaction details, please log into your PayPal account. It may take a few moments for this transaction to appear in your account.
Merchant information
Gamersgate AB
support@gamersgate.com
http://www.gamersgate.com
+46 855588420
Note from merchant
Order item(s): 1 x Bethesda New Year Collection
Original transaction details
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