Sony's support (refund policy) is absolute shit! (trying to refund CP2077 pre-order)

Son of Sparda · Oct 28, 2020

Update:

So I tried the website again, this time without the VPN hiccup. Went through the process again and managed to chat with a live agent and got a refund! All of it took like 10 minutes and it went really smooth!

Thank you everyone for your suggestions here.

P.S: I feel bad that after I clicked the "End Chat" button the survey page didn't load and I couldn't give the agent a good review cause he was really helpful :(
====================================
Original OP:

I know it's pretty much known that Sony's support is abysmal but man, I didn't know it was this bad.

I don't want to go on and on and make a huge OP that no one reads, so long story short, I've been trying to get a refund for CP2077 for the past couple of hours (maybe even more) and not only my experience has been awful but I've gotten nowhere.

So I chat with the PlayStation bot and answer the typical questions it has. After answering all of them, I'm given a support ID and I'm told that I should call them and it's faster that way. (I had no option to do live chat at that time)

Try calling, estimated wait time: 60 fucking minutes

After 1 hour and 45 minutes of waiting on hold (while the bot on the phone is saying that you should do this through live chat cause that's faster... sigh), I try to contact online support again and do all the stupid bot questions for like the 4th time. This time I do get a live-chat option (though the bot tells me again that calling is faster.... sigh 2.0).

I fill the form and request a chat..... standby.... "you've been blocked from chat"

WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU EVEN TALKING ABOUT?! This is my first fucking time trying to do this shit!

"Well, maybe that was a weird error" I thought. So let's try this stupid bot again. Answer the questions. Pick live chat. Fill the form. Standby...

Screenshot_2020-10-28_PlayStation_Service_Request_-_Error.png

FUCK OFF SONY!

Man, I'm frustrated. I pre-ordered CP2077 with PSN Cards, so this is the only method that I can use for a refund and it's fucking bullshit.

Yuntu · Oct 28, 2020

Sounds like an extremly understaffed support center from Sony.

zma1013 · Oct 28, 2020

Your refund has been delayed.

Lashley · Oct 28, 2020

Aye, its absolutely dire. Puts me off going full digital.

PlanetSmasher · Oct 28, 2020

Yup. Digital distribution will forever be an inferior way of buying games as long as refunds are this much of a hassle.

Richter1887 · Oct 28, 2020

Send them an email instead. They will fix it while you do something else instead of being tied to them.

krae_man · Oct 28, 2020

Did you by chance do the chat bot from two different computers?

One time I tried to do a chat from work but got busy and had to give up, then tried it again when I got home and they noticed the two different IP address attempting to chat in the same day and soft banned me from chat.

Apparently they trust the phone support staff more with verifying people than they do the chat staff or something.

Carthago Delenda Est · Oct 28, 2020

Think of all the time they saved you today be blocking you instead of making you wait to ultimately be disappointed.

Deleted member 44371 · Oct 28, 2020

This is exactly the reason why I am not going full digital.

Davilmar · Oct 28, 2020

This has been one of my fears going digital with any platform. Granted, some places are much better than others.

TeenageFBI · Oct 28, 2020

PlanetSmasher said:
Yup. Digital distribution will forever be an inferior way of buying games as long as refunds are this much of a hassle.

Some stores do it right at least.

If I'm going to preorder a game on Playstation, I'll only do it the day before launch. Sony's stance on refunds is insane.

Davilmar said:
This has been one of my fears going digital with any platform. Granted, some places are much better than others.

It's basically automated on Steam. Pre-orders are refunded without question.

I haven't had problems at Green Man Gaming either, but that gets tricky since it will only work BEFORE they provide a key.

Richter1887 · Oct 28, 2020

To expand on my earlier post.

When I needed to refund anything I basically sent them an email telling them I want to refund this game or something while giving them a reason (in this case cancelling a preorder) and then I would tell them my PSN ID. That takes care of it most of the time. If not then they will tell you to give them extra information about you and that's where it would end. Later I get an email that they refunded and when the money will be given back.

Deleted member 39374 · Oct 28, 2020

PlanetSmasher said:
Yup. Digital distribution will forever be an inferior way of buying games as long as refunds are this much of a hassle.

Clearly you've never bought and refunded anything on Steam. It's very easy and fast.

adj_noun · Oct 28, 2020

PSN kinda sucks when it comes to refunding/canceling pre-orders. :/

Microsoft and Steam and Nintendo are a different story.

Xando · Oct 28, 2020

Polymerization said:
Clearly you've never bought and refunded anything on Steam. It's very easy and fast.

Yeah MS is also usually pretty fast.

This is on Sony being shitty with refunds more than anything

Sheepinator · Oct 28, 2020

Sony's customer service is awful.

You should be eligible for a refund though. Believe it or not, Sony's ToS has actually improved for consumers. It used to be in the US that you couldn't get a refund at all unless they gave you a "one time" (rumored to be about once per year) refund. Now, we at least get the same deal as EU law which is you get a refund within 14 days of purchase if you haven't downloaded it. You're also now eligible for a pre-order refund up to release date.

We're still not entitled to price drops if games drop in price before release. The price you pay is the price at the time of the transaction.

As for blocking you from the site if they think you're spamming it, yeah they do that. But again, they have improved, believe it or not. They used to put up a page saying the chat support was temporarily down, when it actually wasn't, so you might try again only to get the same result, not realizing they had in fact blocked you. At least now they just tell you to fuck off, which is better.

I remember one agent telling me I wasn't due a refund because "the game was in progress", i.e. I was in the middle of playing it. Except, it had never been downloaded.

You may cancel a pre-order of digital content at any time before the release date and receive a refund. If the release date has passed, you can still change your mind and request a refund up to 14 days after payment was taken for the pre-order, provided that you have not started downloading or streaming the content to your device.

If you have started to download the main part of the order, you will not be able to request a refund. Please be aware that downloads will happen automatically if Automatic Downloads are enabled in your system settings. To turn off Automatic Downloads, head to [Settings] > [System] > [Automatic Downloads] and untick the checkbox next to "Application Update Files".

If you have not started to download the main product and your order included immediately accessible extra content, this extra content will stop working if you cancel your pre-order. You will receive a refund to the original payment method where possible*.

*We are unable to do this for certain payment methods. In those cases, the refund will be sent to your PSN wallet.

You may have additional refund rights under applicable local law for pre-order purchases if the release date changes; nothing in the summary above or below limits any such rights under local law.

PlayStation Store cancellation policy

www.playstation.com

Proteus · Oct 28, 2020

Don't they usually refund anyway when a game is delayed?

I'm not excusing their service because it really is awful.

Malkier · Oct 28, 2020

I just got a refund for spider-man a few days ago no problem. Other then them wanting me to detail price amount of refund requested and stuff. Never had an issue on my 2 refunds.

flaxknuckles · Oct 28, 2020

Polymerization said:
Clearly you've never bought and refunded anything on Steam. It's very easy and fast.

I've never had a problem getting refunded for preorders on Xbox either. I canceled my Watch Dogs Legion order and reordered like 5 times and I was using store credit so it charged me every time. (The MS Reward credit for buying Legion wasn't redeeming correctly at first. I didn't refund for fun or wishy washiness)

dancingphlower · Oct 28, 2020

Yeah fuck Sony's refund service/policy. Not sure why they're so backwards ass about it. Look at Steam, it's right there!

Iron Eddie · Oct 28, 2020

PlanetSmasher said:
Yup. Digital distribution will forever be an inferior way of buying games as long as refunds are this much of a hassle.

How many stores are hassle free once you open and try the game? Please don't use one stores example of how digital refunds work.

xxracerxx · Oct 28, 2020

Seriously they are awful.

Son of Sparda · Oct 28, 2020

krae_man said:
Did you by chance do the chat bot from two different computers?

One time I tried to do a chat from work but got busy and had to give up, then tried it again when I got home and they noticed the two different IP address attempting to chat in the same day and soft banned me from chat.

Apparently they trust the phone support staff more with verifying people than they do the chat staff or something.

I had my VPN on the first time I tried the bot. You think it might've been because of that?

Richter1887 said:
To expand on my earlier post.

When I needed to refund anything I basically sent them an email telling them I want to refund this game or something while giving them a reason (in this case cancelling a preorder) and then I would tell them my PSN ID. That takes care of it most of the time. If not then they will tell you to give them extra information about you and that's where it would end. Later I get an email that they refunded and when the money will be given back.

It would be really helpful if you could give me their email address (didn't notice it on their website) and if could give me a few tips on what I actually should include in my email?

I would truly appreciate that.

Orb · Oct 28, 2020

I was able to successfully cancel a pre-order of Black Ops Cold War last week and it actually went pretty smoothly. Apparently they are having lots of issues today, seen the reports around the PSVR adapter.

Lemony1984 · Oct 28, 2020

Proteus said:
Don't they usually refund anyway when a game is delayed?

I'm not excusing their service because it really is awful.

I think they've only done that for first party games? Could be wrong.

zombiejames · Oct 28, 2020

Yup, this is one area Sony really needs to step up. Cancelling pre-orders should be simple and quick.

Deleted member 9330 · Oct 28, 2020

Walken said:
How many stores are hassle free once you open and try the game? Please don't use one stores example of how digital refunds work.

I was gonna say, I'm not aware of any stores (in the US at least) that will let you return an opened game. Software is always exempt from their return policies.

Abdiel · Oct 28, 2020

I was affected by the weird NISA fuckup for trails of cold steel IV with the digital deluxe preorder... At midnight they posted the regular edition as a separate version of the game, but the deluxe edition has been fubar for days. I bought the normal version, and then yesterday I took a few minutes and used their chat support on my phone, explained the situation, and they refunded my preorder without issue. Took 10 minutes?

Pretty painless overall. Sucks you've been having such a time of it.

Vic Damone Jr. · Oct 28, 2020

PlanetSmasher said:
Yup. Digital distribution will forever be an inferior way of buying games as long as refunds are this much of a hassle.

This. I'll never go fully digital, too damn anti consumer.

IIFloodyII · Oct 28, 2020

Proteus said:
Don't they usually refund anyway when a game is delayed?

I'm not excusing their service because it really is awful.

Only if there's no new date or if it's an extremely long delay. No dates are usually automatic refunds as they remove the game from the store.

Shoot · Oct 28, 2020

I once accidentally purchased a DLC of a game that I did not own (I thought it was the complete edition) and got a refund. They told me that they only offer refunds once per account then blocked me from ever using live chat again.

Playstation support is the worst customer support for a big company that I have ever seen in any industry. And it is disappointing that it does not appear to be changing anytime soon. This is one of the big barriers keeping people like me from going all digital, despite having already done so on PC.

PlanetSmasher · Oct 28, 2020

Polymerization said:
Clearly you've never bought and refunded anything on Steam. It's very easy and fast.

Very clearly talking about the console sphere here. Console refunds are a joke.

Iron Eddie · Oct 28, 2020

Zeyphersan said:
I was gonna say, I'm not aware of any stores (in the US at least) that will let you return an opened game. Software is always exempt from their return policies.

I think you are right, other than maybe store credit or used game trade ins. I have used Steam for many years and never had one issue. Same with CD Keys or Microsoft as long as you are within a certain timeframe.

PlanetSmasher said:
Very clearly talking about the console sphere here. Console refunds are a joke.

Clearly you have not used Microsoft's store and as others have said Nintendo is not an issue either.

Sheepinator · Oct 28, 2020

PlanetSmasher said:
Yup. Digital distribution will forever be an inferior way of buying games as long as refunds are this much of a hassle.

I can remember being unable to return opened physical games way back in the 80's. That's been standard since day one. As for unopened, i.e. not downloaded in digital case, the standard is 14 days for a full refund as per EU law and is common digital store policy including PSN.

fluffydelusions · Oct 28, 2020

I love how easy it is to get a refund on Steam. Don't even have to talk to anyone just a few button clicks and done.

GearDraxon · Oct 28, 2020

PlanetSmasher said:
Yup. Digital distribution will forever be an inferior way of buying games as long as refunds are this much of a hassle.

Absolutely incorrect. I've refunded a few things from Steam for a variety of reasons, and each time it took about 2 minutes. I also didn't have to go to a storefront and deal with the person behind the counter asking why I was returning this opened copy.

LeMillion · Oct 28, 2020

I don't doubt OP's authenticity, but I've never had a problem with getting a pre-order refunded.

If I were OP I would just wait until tomorrow. Is there something you desperately need that money for right this second?

krae_man · Oct 28, 2020

Son of Sparda said:
I had my VPN on the first time I tried the bot. You think it might've been because of that?

It would be really helpful if you could give me their email address (didn't notice it on their website) and if could give me a few tips on what I actually should include in my email?

It's just a hunch. This was a few years ago. It didn't tell me I was banned from chat, it just hid the option from me completely. Rep told me that when that happens, customers need to call. I complained at the time and asked them why they just couldn't give the email rep a flag that says "warning, IP address different than last time. Ask more security questions" or something and they didn't really have an answer for me.

And yeah, I feel your pain on finding who to contact. It should go like this:

1) go to playstation.com
2) click the contact us link
3) Page that lists all contact methods available. Phone number, email address, live chat button etc.

Instead you have t go on a treasure hunt and jump through a million hoops to even be told how you can contact them. It's dumb on purpose so people give up and stop trying.

Messofanego · Oct 28, 2020

Polymerization said:
Clearly you've never bought and refunded anything on Steam. It's very easy and fast.

But that's the thing, it's specific instead of universally understood refund processes when it's physical products. If only all platforms were like Steam in this regard.

molnizzle · Oct 28, 2020

Zeyphersan said:
I was gonna say, I'm not aware of any stores (in the US at least) that will let you return an opened game. Software is always exempt from their return policies.

This is a pre-order though. You can cancel physical pre-orders at every retailer ever.

Richter1887 · Oct 28, 2020

Son of Sparda said:
I had my VPN on the first time I tried the bot. You think it might've been because of that?

It would be really helpful if you could give me their email address (didn't notice it on their website) and if could give me a few tips on what I actually should include in my email?

I would truly appreciate that.

What region are you?

I have it for scandinavia. What you should say to them is that you want to cancel or refund the game in question. In this case Cyberpunk. Then you give them a reason why you want to cancel it (just so they don't question you why and make it so you need to email them again and tell them why). Then you write your PSN ID and it should be golden. If they need more info they will send you an email.

Fisty · Oct 28, 2020

OP if you were contacting support from a country other than your account region, you will get blocked from support. VPN will likely also trigger that.

The game has been delayed, they will most likely offer you an option to cancel through email.

molnizzle · Oct 28, 2020

Messofanego said:
But that's the thing, it's specific instead of universally understood refund processes when it's physical products. If only all platforms were like Steam in this regard.

In the U.S., it's only universally understood that you can cancel pre-orders. Opened physical media has not been returnable for 25+ years now.

Canucked · Oct 28, 2020

"Our chat support has not be effective for you"

That is some trash. That is your problem sony, not the customer!

Uzupedro · Oct 28, 2020

I only needed to refund one time and it was kinda easy, I guess I am minority on this.
Good luck with your refund, Sony really needs to improve on this, even more with the PS5 DE existing.

asd202 · Oct 28, 2020

Yeah it sucks but also do not pre-order digital games.

Era of not Yakuza · Oct 28, 2020

Sony support is trash
In my experience
In my friends experience

canderous · Oct 28, 2020

PlanetSmasher said:
Yup. Digital distribution will forever be an inferior way of buying games as long as refunds are this much of a hassle.

It's really not that much of a hassle, usually.

Unkindled · Oct 28, 2020

It's pretty bad.

Davilmar · Oct 28, 2020

TeenageFBI said:
Some stores do it right at least.

If I'm going to preorder a game on Playstation, I'll only do it the day before launch. Sony's stance on refunds is insane.

It's basically automated on Steam. Pre-orders are refunded without question.

I haven't had problems at Green Man Gaming either, but that gets tricky since it will only work BEFORE they provide a key.

Steam has been great for the last decade or so, but I remember how much Steam was an ass regarding account bans and refunds back when Half Life 2 came out. I've been more than satisfied, but I've never liked the idea of so much hinging on a company not being assholes online compared to in-person. Steam and GOG Gaming has been good, so I can't complain there.

Sony's support (refund policy) is absolute shit! (trying to refund CP2077 pre-order)

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