Frontier cannot offer a refund on purchased Arx

[bitstorm]

Just a warning for others.

If you purchase a cosmetic item from Frontier and it's faulty they will not give you your money back.

Nor will they refund that faulty item back to Arx.

Really not very happy about that, especially given how shoddy much of the cosmetics are and given often you don't find out till after the purchase.

It's absolutely not my fault that this item was faulty, and I had no choice but to purchase Arx in order to obtain this item.

I don't think I'll be purchasing anything else after this, certainly not cosmetics.

I'll be honest the phrase that was used does annoy me quite a bit, you hear it from a lot of companies :

"We cannot offer a refund".

It's always a lie, the company can of course give you a refund if they want to, they just choose not to and then pretend their hands are tied.

 

[Vasco Sapien]

Yes but if you toss them into a hole in the ground they will grow a massive beanstalk reaching up into the clouds. (maybe)

 

[Zhark]

Maybe worth bringing this to the attention of the government..

Accepting returns and giving refunds: the law

When you do and do not have to offer a refund, repair or replacement, unconditional refunds for online purchases, and penalties for deceiving customers

www.gov.uk

 

[Deleted member 182079]

Genuine question, did you not notice the issue in the in-game preview screen?

 

[Mohrgan]

Take the swap and stop yer belly aching.

 

[bitstorm]

Here is the fault for reference :

You can overlook it, it's much more noticeable in VR. Each person's tolerance for quality of these cosmetics may very but it clearly IS faulty.

In all honestly I was expecting to have to argue for a monetary refund, but felt I should argue because it's right that a refund should be provided for a faulty item.

I was a bit surprised that they would not even refund back to Arx.

 

[[PS4] Filthymick420]

I suppose this is why it is important to find reviews on item before purchasing them. Be happy you only spent money on arx and not did something stupid like buy a psvr because your game implied it supported vr based on text in the options panel a year ago

 

[Ganogati]

Genuine question, did you not notice the issue in the in-game preview screen?

There's a lot of things you can't see in that preview screen. The livery has no free camera, and gives you 1 view angle that may or may not be terrible. You cant preview from the inside, from other sides, etc. I've made more than 1 purchase that I realized later was not what I wanted.

 

[bitstorm]

Maybe worth bringing this to the attention of the government..

Accepting returns and giving refunds: the law

When you do and do not have to offer a refund, repair or replacement, unconditional refunds for online purchases, and penalties for deceiving customers

www.gov.uk

I think they avoid this by using Arx as an intermediary currency.

You bought Arx and you got Arx, that's it. Once it's in Arx you got what you paid for and no laws likely apply.

Which is how they can refuse to even refund the faulty cosmetic back to Arx.

 

[Enderby]

They should refund if it doesn't work properly
as seems the case
I'm pretty sure they can do if they wanted.
They gave free arx out daily a while ago

 

[Zhark]

I think they avoid this by using Arx as an intermediary currency.

You bought Arx and you got Arx, that's it. Once it's in Arx you got what you paid for and no laws likely apply.

Which is how they can refuse to even refund the faulty cosmetic back to Arx.

I can't find anything to that effect..

Consumer contracts: distance sales | Business Companion

The rules when you form contracts at a distance, including information requirements and cancellation rights

www.businesscompanion.info

 

[Enderby]

Good reminder for me to not buy any more arx

 

[Deleted member 182079]

Here is the fault for reference :

You can overlook it, it's much more noticeable in VR. Each person's tolerance for quality of these cosmetics may very but it clearly IS faulty.

In all honestly I was expecting to have to argue for a monetary refund, but felt I should argue because it's right that a refund should be provided for a faulty item.

I was a bit surprised that they would not even refund back to Arx.

Ah - oh dear that's not good alright. Didn't realise the issue is visible from the cockpit like that, thought it'd be an external misalignment.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

I think they avoid this by using Arx as an intermediary currency.

You bought Arx and you got Arx, that's it. Once it's in Arx you got what you paid for and no laws likely apply.

Which is how they can refuse to even refund the faulty cosmetic back to Arx.

Yes, that's pretty much it, I think.

 

[Zhark]

Additional reading.

National Consumer Campaign

Learn about our National Consumer Campaign, where we work with partners to raise awareness of different consumer issues.

www.citizensadvice.org.uk

 

[bitstorm]

I can't find anything to that effect..

Consumer contracts: distance sales | Business Companion

The rules when you form contracts at a distance, including information requirements and cancellation rights

www.businesscompanion.info

I can imagine it working similar to say gift cards.

Not entirely sure what the legal status of those is but if you have a gift card and the item bought is faulty I doubt you can refund back to cash?

The crappiness here of course is that I have no choice but to purchase Arx, it isn't optional. And in this case I purchased the Arx specifically for this ship kit, the process was Arx then shipkit right after, Frontier will be able to see this from the purchase history.

 

[Deleted member 182079]

There's a lot of things you can't see in that preview screen. The livery has no free camera, and gives you 1 view angle that may or may not be terrible. You cant preview from the inside, from other sides, etc. I've made more than 1 purchase that I realized later was not what I wanted.

Fair points - as I said I was genuinely curious as you couldn't see the issue from the OP. But seeing it now... yikes. Shoddy work.

 

[Ca$hback]

When a company says a refund is not our policy it's the same as saying: "Screw you. We've got your money."
If the complaint is legitimate they should be cooperative.
Your request is reasonable, this is poor business practice.
Some people are willing to spend $1000 to make sure someone doesn't get $100.
We need a few of those people here to slap them on the wrist.
"No return policy, store credit only" is something people need to stop putting up with.
Ideally, they should fix the problem itself. If not, refund the money. Disgusting. I hope they see reason.
The principle is what matters.

 

[Deleted member 182079]

Take the swap and stop yer belly aching.

Yeah I'd have to agree with this also - not worth getting heartburn over. I understand the frustration though as you wouldn't expect that sort of product quality considering how these items are priced.

 

[Zhark]

Yes, that's pretty much it, I think.

The law appears to apply to microtransactions:

Consumer Rights Act 2015 - Explanatory Notes

www.legislation.gov.uk

Section 44 Subsection 4
"If a consumer has paid a trader money to buy in-game currencies (a virtual currency) that can then only be used to buy other digital content from that trader, any digital content bought using the virtual currencies would still be covered by the digital content quality standards in out in sections 34, 35 or 36 (satisfactory quality, fitness for purpose and meets the description) by virtue of section 33(3). However, subsection (5) does not mean that a trader can refund the consumer by giving them back the virtual currency. Rather, to satisfy this requirement a trader must give the consumer back the money originally paid for the in-game currency, using the means of payment that the consumer used to buy that in-game currency (unless the consumer expressly agrees otherwise)."