Sony’s fiscal year just started and the company has already begun to roll-out some big changes for the PlayStation Network. Most notably, the Refunds and Cancellations policy on the PlayStation Network has been changed to become more user-friendly and stick up for the rights of consumers.
Under the new policy, digital content purchases may be refunded within 14 days of the transaction date, so long as the customer hasn’t downloaded or streamed the product to their console. Digital content purchases that have been downloaded or streamed, however, will only be eligible for refund if the game is found to be faulty or broken. Season Pass purchases will also be eligible for refund provided they meet the same criteria - i.e. refundable within 14 days as long as content included in the season pass hasn’t been downloaded or streamed. Another change to the PlayStation Store policy will also have refunds sent to customer’s PSN Wallet usable for purchases throughout the PlayStation Network instead of a credit reversal. The Refund policy applies to the various subscription services available on PSN, including PlayStation Plus, PlayStation Now, and Spotify.
For a more in-depth look at all the changes to the PSN Terms of Service with regard to refunds and cancellations, visit the official PlayStation Network website here.
Prior to the changes in the ToS, Sony had no obligation to refund purchases. In the old system, players relied on ‘goodwill’ refunds that required customers to submit a ticket, have their case reviewed and investigated based on a number of factors, and even then offered no guarantees towards refunds. While the change is definitely welcome, the policy was most likely amended to be applicable in situations involving faulty products and broken games, especially after the recent issues with Anthem. The recent title from EA was reported to have 'bricked' PlayStation 4 consoles in numerous cases.
Sony has plenty of other changes lined up for the PlayStation Network, including the gradual rolling-out of the long-awaited PSN Name Change option. The new name change feature might not be available to the public anytime soon, but there are a lot of folks that are glad that it’s coming.
What do you think about this move from Sony? Are you for the updated policy, which seems to protect consumers from faulty products? What do you think about refunds going to PSN Wallet instead of direct to the consumer? Let us know in the comments section below!
