Freeman
Bad experience with returns, but company seem to be making amends
UPDATE: Following this review, and me publicising this experience via Reddit, I was contacted by u/tuncerd who identified themselves as the CEO of WinGameStore. They assured me they would revise their returns policy to be compliant with consumer rights. They have since done so and now have a proper returns policy which states "Refunds may be exceptionally offered if customer service has determined the customer’s refund request is reasonable (for example, proof that the game does not run on your PC/Mac)." They also assured me that the person who sent the rude reply would "no longer be doing any kind of support". I have increased my review from 1 to 4 stars. ORIGINAL REVIEW: I bought Death Stranding from WinGameStore a week ago, and it just wouldn't run. A few hours of troubleshooting later, I gave up and started looking into refunds. I couldn't get my refund with Steam, since I didn't pay them anything, and according to WinGameStore's Terms and Conditions, they don't offer any refunds at all -- only store credit. I looked into it and discovered that this policy is actually illegal. I live in England. WinGameStore is an American business, but companies need to follow the laws of the countries they're doing business in. Long story short, if the game doesn't work, we're entitled to a refund, exactly the same as if they'd sold you a faulty lawnmower. Knowing from their policies WinGameStore would almost certainly refuse, I sent them an email based on a template from Which (a mainstream English consumer advocacy site), formally invoking my consumer rights. To my surprise, I received a refund straight away. Plus an angry, condescending email wherein a very offended WinGameStore representative called me out for my "hostility" and effectively banned me from using their store, telling me to "do business elsewhere in future". They made sure to let me know that they weren't refunding me because of my "UK Demands", but because they "actually like to help out [their] customers". I found this unconvincing. If they liked helping their customers by providing refunds, they wouldn't have an explicit and illegal "no refunds" clause in their T&Cs. I'm happy that I got my money back. However, this interaction makes it clear that WinGameStore does not respect the rights of their customers. It is shady and unethical to get mad at people and ban them from your store for returning a faulty product. Be careful when doing business with WinGameStore, and don't be afraid to exercise your rights where appropriate. If someone sells you software that doesn't work, at least in the UK, you're entitled to get it repaired or refunded.