PlayStation’s new refund policy comes with one serious problem
Sony has kicked off a new refund policy for the PlayStation Store, and you might wish that it was an April fools joke, because it has serious flaws.
The new refund policy has emerged just after Sony pulled digital download codes from third-party retailers, meaning if you want a slice of hot and fresh digital content you need to buy it from the PlayStation Store, and abide by this new and unimproved refund policy.
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You can see the refund terms here, and it’s worth taking a close look because each of the different types of content has its own quirks. In general though, the smart option here is not to download anything until you’re 100 percent certain you want it. This means turning off automatic downloads, a setting that many PlayStation 4 owners have turned on, if you want to ensure you can refund things.
With the exception of subscription services like Spotify, PS Plus and PS Now, everything on the PlayStation Store becomes ineligible for a refund as soon as you download it.In the case of the subscription services, you can still get a refund but you’ll be charged a tiny percentage to factor in the usage that you got out of the service before you smashed refund.
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For pre-ordered content, you’ve got up to 14 days from the date of purchase to request a refund, providing you’ve not downloaded it or started preloading it. There’s a chance here that you’ll be able to get your cash back, in which case it’ll be refunded to the original payment method. If the game isn’t out yet, you can refund it until the date or purchase.
For DLC and games that are already released, things are much the same except that you’ll be refunded only in PSN wallet credit, making it less of a refund and more of an exchange.
Sony does still claim “faulty” games will be allowed refunds, but it’s not entirely sure what this means. For comparison, Steam’s fairly robust refund system allows you to get a refund if you’ve owned the game for 14 days or less or have played it for less than two hours. By comparison, Sony’s refund policy here seems like it’s going to punish a lot of people unnecessarily, especially those with automatic downloads turned on.
What do you make of Sony’s new refund policy? Let us know on Twitter at @TrustedReviews
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.