Google Play faulty purchase

TinyPomegranate

I downloaded a free game from Google Play which I enjoyed so I then decided to treat myself to an in-game purchase upgrade. I paid for the upgrade using a combination of credit card and Google Play credit, the total was £8.99.

The upgrade worked for a day but then parts of it stopped working, i.e. you press the button that gives you the bonus content and it doesn't open any more. Some of the bonus content does still work. It wasn't a limited time purchase or anything, it was a permanent upgrade. My purchase is definitely faulty.

I have tried Google Play's refund process, they are back-and-forth with me telling me to contact the developer and saying they won't refund me.

I have done everything they told me to i.e. contact developer and send them screenshots of the email I sent but even after I've followed Google's directions they are still saying they won't refund me as they only give refunds in exceptional cases. The developer never replied to my email as I predicted they wouldn't. I have asked Google to escalate but they say I will get the same answer that they don't give refunds. I keep reiterating it is faulty and doesn't work as advertised.

I know there are lots of threads on this forum about fraudulent purchases, accidental child purchases, and buyers remorse regarding Google Play, but does anyone have any advice for a faulty purchase please? I would like either my money back or just for the game to work as advertised.

Thanks.

RefluentBeans

Hi - first thing I would say is there is no automatic right to refund afforded in CRA for digital services, and so the standard '30-day rule' that allows products that are faulty within 30 days to be eligible for a full refund doesn't exist for digital content. 

The CRA does allow the retailer to 'fix', or replace the content for you. This is with the retailer, which based on Google Plays T/S, appears to be Google:

Content on Google Play is offered by Google Commerce Limited, and when you download, view, use, or purchase Content on or using Google Play, you will enter into a separate contract based on these Terms (as applicable) with Google Commerce Limited.

Thus, Google (or specifically, Google Commerce Limited) should repair or replace the digital service in a 'timely' manner. This is obviously a loaded term - what you might consider to be an 'easy' fix (switching the content switch back on) might be an obscure bug, and that can only be resolved by the developer of the app. So what might be timely for you (say a couple of hours for the access to be pushed to your account) might not be timely for them (liaising with an app developer to find why an API call isn't working as expected). Nevertheless, I would say 14 days is a reasonable time to be considered timely. 

Say this add-on was a DLC that allowed you to play 5 extra levels - If the solution is to reset an app (and thus lose any saved progress etc.); I would feel this would be significantly inconvenient. So if that's a proposed solution, I would argue it still breaches the CRA. But if the solution was to reset the DLC (those 5 added levels) back to the start, I would say that is reasonable. 

You are entitled to a (full or partial) refund if:

• The cost of the repair or replacement is disproportionate to the value of the digital content (retailers choice)
• Repair or replacement is impossible
• Repair or replacement would be significantly inconvenient
• Repair would take unreasonably long
• Repair has been unsuccessful.

A refund may only be partial if you keep the content that does work. Remember these are with Google and not the developer. Google requests that you contact the developer, but this is just for their own refund policy (which they have said they're not going to refund you through). I would go back to Google with a final letter asking for the issue to be resolved within 2 weeks, or you expect a refund as per the consumer rights act. 

TinyPomegranate

Thank you, this is really helpful.