Playstation Store Refund Refusal

Feral_Squirrel

Greetings, all.

This seemed to be the best place for this so I apologize if this is meant to fit somewhere else.

Last year I signed up for Playstation Gold on the Playstation Store for a one year subscription. At the time I figured I'd give it a go and when it came time to renew, I'd cross that bridge when It came to it as to whether to renew it or not.

Last week, on thursday, it was time for renewal. I didn't fancy forking out £29.99 for it as I barely used the advantages associated with it, so didn't purchase it again.

However- when I checked my emails the next evening, I found that it had already been re-subscribed to- funds had been taken from my bank account, transferred into the Playstation Wallet and used to purchase the subscription for another year.

Irritated at this, I sent the Customer Help team an email explaining that I had no wish to resubscribe and had no idea why it had renewed something I didn't want and could they kindly refund my money.

In reply I was told that I effectively should have read the Terms of service, which state that there are no refunds from the Playstation Store, and also that I should have subsequently known that the Subscription automatically renews as default and had I not wanted to do so I should have turned that off.

I was also informed that when changes to the Terms of Service occur, I'm sent an email informing me of these changes- which I never, ever have so was equally miffed at.

I've read through the Terms of Service and still feel utterly cheated- I'm positive I should still be due a refund on this as there was never any suggestion at the time of purchase that there was an automatic renewal which I should turn off- I wasn't even aware of it until the Customer help team informed me of it.

Call me naive and a prat for not having checked- I know I've done the same myself- but do I have any kind of standing here that puts me in a position to still ask/demand a refund? I'm not presently in a position that I can simply shrug off effectively £30's worth of nothing and put it down to being a numpty, so it would be a great result to know I'm still in with a chance.

Forwandert

Usually when you sign upto something like this you have to confirm with tick box or something similar that you have read the TOS, what did the TOS say about auto renewal payments when you signed up originally? Did you read them?

mattyprice4004

Check the terms - but I don't think you'll see your 30 quid again.

wealdroam

Where are 'Playstation Store' based?
In UK?

Not sure any card protection, i.e. Section 75 or chargeback, would help as you appear to have agreed the automatic subscription renewal.

Have you got a link the their T&Cs?

System

On the plus side £30 is cheap. Its usually £40. You are just lucky your renewal came around when a promotion is on.

You should try and get use out of the service. In the last 2 months its got very very good. You get alot of free games. Currently you can download and play full versions of

Red Dead Redemption
Deus Ex
Just Cause 2
Little Big Planet 2
Boaderlands

Well worth £30 a year. They change 2 a month

DevCoder

wealdroam wrote: »

Where are 'Playstation Store' based?
In UK?

Not sure any card protection, i.e. Section 75 or chargeback, would help as you appear to have agreed the automatic subscription renewal.

Have you got a link the their T&Cs?

No section 75 as it was under £100, and as youve stated the auto-renewal was in the T&C's

visidigi

I don't understand where the dispute is, if its in the T&C's its in the T&C's.

I would try to extract as much value this year and ensure that it will not auto renew next year.

Feral_Squirrel

In reference to the TOS- Yes, I did read it because I am wise enough to do such a thing. At the time of purchase I did take the time to scroll down as I wanted to be sure of what was involved with the whole "Gold" thing.

So in regard to the TOS- yes, I did read it. No, it didn't state anything in them that it was impossible to get a refund. And I did try to link the TOS here but it wouldn't allow me to as I was a new member. It still won't allow me to now, either.

Best I can do (and I'm hoping the moderators don't throw me to the dogs for trying to circumvent the whole URL-posting-prevention thing) is this: (just add .html to the end, http:// at the beginning).

legaldoc.dl.playstation.net/ps3-eula/psn/e/e_tosua_en

My main point is that, as stated- I read the TOS and there was nothing, and I honestly, truthfully do mean -nothing- in there about automatic renewals, nor did it mention them being set to "on" as default.

And sure, to some £30 may seem like peanuts but believe me I wouldn't be "petty" about it if £30 really meant so little- I won't go into details as it's beyond the topic but I'm not a teenager living at home and I earn my own money- I have no "bank of mum" and thus if I can get my dosh back, I always like to try- especially if I feel it's my right to.

Lastly- I would get use out of it but this is my point- if I could, I would- but I literally work 6 days a week with one rest day- I don't have time to so much as check the news on a regular basis never mind get use out of a games console. If I could, I wouldn't be complaining here and it would be a non-issue.

Thanks for all of your help anyway chaps/chapettes. I really do appreciate it- I've taken steps to stop this happening again but as I laid out above- I'm not completely daft- I did read the TOS- otherwise I wouldn't have a problem and I'd put it down to being a prat.

I still think, TOS or not, it's a royal pain to not allow, within 24 hours, a refund to something that was an accident- but if I know Sony they'd only refund it to the wallet which is damn worthless to me anyway. Ah well.

Arg

I think it will depend on where the company is based.

wealdroam

OK, here is the link...
http://legaldoc.dl.playstation.net/ps3-eula/psn/e/e_tosua_en.html

OP, you say...

Feral_Squirrel wrote: »

So in regard to the TOS- yes, I did read it. No, it didn't state anything in them that it was impossible to get a refund.

I guess you missed this...

...if you cancel a subscription, cancellation will take effect from the end of the current Subscription Period. You can continue to use the relevant Service until cancellation takes effect and will not receive any refund of subscription charges already paid.

And then you say...

Feral_Squirrel wrote: »

My main point is that, as stated- I read the TOS and there was nothing, and I honestly, truthfully do mean -nothing- in there about automatic renewals, nor did it mention them being set to "on" as default.

The following quote from their Terms of Service seems to cover that...

When you purchase a subscription using a Master Account, Automatic Funding for that Master Account will automatically be set to "On". Automatic Funding is not available for Sub-Accounts. If, on the renewal date Automatic Funding is set to "On", your payment method is registered with us and your wallet does not have enough funds to cover the subscription charge, your wallet will be funded automatically from your registered payment method with the greater of the minimum top-up amount or the renewal cost. Funds added to the wallet are non-refundable. You can switch Automatic Funding to "Off" at any time after purchase via Sony Entertainment Network Account Management.

Both those quotes are from '10. Subscription Services'.

visidigi

A company the size of Sony was always going to have that covered...especially after all the grief they got when the network was knocked out, those T&C's will as be as watertight as anything...