EA just approved my refund for SimCity

[bug_of_war]

One good deed does not erase a history of sins.

Look at it from his perspective, yeah he got his money back but he had to spend what was no doubt a significant amount of valuable time to do. Valuable time that he would not have had to waste had EA's standard method of business not lead to the games unsatisfactory state of functionality; be that directly or indirectly. How many times has the OP been burned by EA? How many times has his attempts at customer service been fruitless?

The OP was helped successfully, once. To then go and express how poor a company to do business with EA is, is perfectly reasonable. Let's look at a somewhat similar situation to make my point more clear.

No, one good deed cannot erase a history of sins, but it can be the start of a turn around. As for valuable time, I agree, it can be a pain in the ass, I should know because I was screwed around by Valve for 6 weeks trying to get a refund for a game that would literally not open even to the main menu. I get that it's a pain in the ass and time consuming, but in the end he got his money back. That should give some brownie points. And as for EA's latest bad moves, the only 2 that I can think of is this one and Dragon Age 2 (Which is still a game that functions perfectly fine, but could use more content). Other than those 2 I've never really seen any reason to hate on EA.

You go to the movies and while you're there you find that the theaters are poorly maintained, the bathrooms filthy, the projector simply will not function correctly, and that all their popcorn is stale. Dissatisfied you walk out of the movie and ask for a refund. The staff and subsequent managers that you speak with are all very polite and apologetic, and in the end you are given a full refund.

Are you going to leave the theater and then recommend it to your friends, or are you going to tell them what an awful experience you had and to instead try another one? Customer service is triage. By the time the customer reaches that point, all hope of making a good impression on them has gone out the window. If you still recommend that theater, despite it's awful condition, based solely on that you got a refund after you had a bad experience, then you my friend are insane.

No I wouldn't recommend it to my friends, but I would say, "While the popcorn sucked, the theatre was poor, (public bathrooms are always filthy IMO, and at a cinema I'm not exactly going to spend time in their toilets so...) and the projector didn't function well, the staff were really good and at least I got my money back". That doesn't make the cinema better, but if I got really polite staff whom were kind and helped me get my money back I would not go out of my way to bad mouth the whole cinema. I got my money back, I can always go to a better cinema to see the movie again or a new one. Instead of expending energy on a bad experience I would move forward.

 

[Abomination]

I'm not saying you're wrong, a few people have backed up your statement on the customer service issue (and there was that one picture someone linked), I just prefer to make sure it isn't someone making up stories to make EA look worse.

You do not earn the reputation EA has earned by making a "few" mistakes.

I think the primary example is the +$2/minute for calling their helpdesk. That's the customer service culture.

Perhaps they're starting to slowly turn over a new leaf - if so good on them, maybe the new CEO will slam some heads together. I mean, the only way to go is up.

EA has made some great games. I have honestly enjoyed Mass Effect III and Dead Space III and felt I got my money's worth.

I did not enjoy SimCity but I took the free Dead Space III they gave me and am satisfied paying as much as I did for SimCity to get those games. So if I feel I got what I paid for I am happy. At the same time I despite their customer service and the path they are continuing to travel down.

 

[ResonanceSD]

So I was super excited to get the new SimCity, I even posted about it here.

However, after a few weeks of giving EA the benefit of the doubt, even my magnificence can be proved completely wrong.

Broken utilities, pathing issues (and given the reliance of the entire fucking game on pathing), poor communication and the beyond ridiculous Nissan Leaf DLC, I applied for, and got a refund.

And I'll happily be voting for EA in the "worst company evar" poll. Because unlike Bank of America, EA will at least pretend to give a shit about it.

So giving you a refund isn't pretending to give a shit?

No, that's following the law, if they did not comply with the law in this country, then the government fines them for more than my $80.

And then they refund me.

 

[ResonanceSD]

So I was super excited to get the new SimCity, I even posted about it here.

However, after a few weeks of giving EA the benefit of the doubt, even my magnificence can be proved completely wrong.

Broken utilities, pathing issues (and given the reliance of the entire fucking game on pathing), poor communication and the beyond ridiculous Nissan Leaf DLC, I applied for, and got a refund.

And I'll happily be voting for EA in the "worst company evar" poll. Because unlike Bank of America, EA will at least pretend to give a shit about it.

So giving you a refund isn't pretending to give a shit?

No, that's following the law, if they did not comply with the law in this country, then the government fines them for more than my $80.

And then they refund me.

By the way, I love how you blame EA for a shit game instead of Maxis haha.

yeah it's not like EA completely own Maxis or anything. Nope, not at all.

 

[Abomination]

So I was super excited to get the new SimCity, I even posted about it here.

However, after a few weeks of giving EA the benefit of the doubt, even my magnificence can be proved completely wrong.

Broken utilities, pathing issues (and given the reliance of the entire fucking game on pathing), poor communication and the beyond ridiculous Nissan Leaf DLC, I applied for, and got a refund.

And I'll happily be voting for EA in the "worst company evar" poll. Because unlike Bank of America, EA will at least pretend to give a shit about it.

So giving you a refund isn't pretending to give a shit?

No, that's following the law, if they did not comply with the law in this country, then the government fines them for more than my $80.

And then they refund me.

By the way, I love how you blame EA for a shit game instead of Maxis haha.

yeah it's not like EA completely own Maxis or anything. Nope, not at all.

Yeah, and they completely own a lot of companies but it's common practice for when someone likes an EA game to praise the developer and when someone hates an EA game they fault the publisher.

When the games are failing for decisions that EA makes then you blame EA for the game failing. When a game does well for decisions the developer makes you praise the developer for the game doing well.

Maxis saying it was their idea to go "fully online" is a statement made under duress. You would be mad to think a member of Maxis would say "EA told us to do this so we did this" and expect to keep their job.

 

[Therumancer]

simcity 4

SC4 never stopped crashing for me, I think my PC is too advanced to run it these days.

I'm not a big city sim fan, but in the wake of this disaster I've actually heard people saying a lot of unusually nice things about Anno 2070 again, even if it is an Ubisoft game apparently. Never played it, but I guess STEAM did a sale on it not too long ago and it's been scratching the itch for some people.

 

[bug_of_war]

You do not earn the reputation EA has earned by making a "few" mistakes.

I think the primary example is the +$2/minute for calling their helpdesk. That's the customer service culture.

Perhaps they're starting to slowly turn over a new leaf - if so good on them, maybe the new CEO will slam some heads together. I mean, the only way to go is up.

EA has made some great games. I have honestly enjoyed Mass Effect III and Dead Space III and felt I got my money's worth.

I did not enjoy SimCity but I took the free Dead Space III they gave me and am satisfied paying as much as I did for SimCity to get those games. So if I feel I got what I paid for I am happy. At the same time I despite their customer service and the path they are continuing to travel down.

Everyone says they've made so many mistakes yet I have literally only ever heard of the most recent ones, some of which have nothing to do with EA. I too really enjoyed Mass Effect 3 and Dead Space 3, hell I've defended the absolute fuck out of ME3 on this website, so it's good to see some other people also enjoyed the game. Also, I have trouble seeing this supposed evil road that EA are/have travelled down and would appreciate some more examples so that I better understand why all the hate for EA. Because honestly, I see very little wrong with EA at this point and have been happily purchasing and enjoying their products since 1999.

 

[Madman123456]

I have to say i did not expect something like that. I mean, you did get a Game as per "contract" and in that Contract there isn't a clause that says that you get your money back if the Game doesn't perform to your expectations.

It's likely that the Person who got your email thought you where one of the People who could keep the Internet hate against EA simmering for a bit longer and didn't want to give you any ammunition.
For all they, or we know you might be some Blogger with a billion People following.

Then again, i will have to acknowledge a nice gesture and this certainly was one. In this one Case (and possibly others) EA has done a nice thing. So nice in fact that this can not become something general because then everyone would play "Call of Honorfield" for a Month and then apply for a refund because the Noobtube hasn't been nerfed yet.


One thing that does rub me the wrong way, because there can't be an EA thread without that; Sim City *still* doesn't work right? Apart from the DRM, which is not a DRM measure of course, just being there, it still has server issues?

 

[major_chaos]

Good lord I'm trying to think of everything I would have had to demand a refund for if issues near launch made me this mad. Off the top of my head: Diablo 3, Guild Wars 2, Deus Ex HR, every single Bethesda game I have ever played, TERA. Hell the only time I have ever asked for a refund was from Steam after they sold me the totally-nonfunctional-even-after-hours-of-dicking-with-it Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines, and I was told in no uncertain terms that A. no refunds, no exceptions and B. they didn't even read the rest of my ticket. EA support on the other hand has been prompt and helpful on both occasions I have had to contact them so I guess I just have weird reverse luck.

 

[Abomination]

Under duress? You know this for fact do you?

When saying the alternative isn't even available? Might as well be.

And the thing is though, you complained about MORE than just the online didn't you. But conveniently when I call out your bullshit you neglect to mention the shitty gameplay elements that you complained about earlier. Yet those design choices, are via Maxis most probably. It's not too irrational to blame EA for the always online, that doesn't mean it's definitive that it's their fault but as far as guesses go it's a fair one (except of course you state as fact, not as a guess).

But then you blame EA for all the other shit too? Man alive, you people are hopeless.

Get some perspective.
Don't assume that you know what you don't know.
And don't blame design choices on a publisher. Blame overall implementation sure, but is the bad pathfinding EA's fault? Let me guess, you're gonna say "oh, the game was rushed, that's why it sucks. It's EA again." R

ational upon rational to prop up assumptions and double standards to maintain your unhealthy point of view.

The one glaring issue with the game is the always online feature and the other issues of the game were on Maxis but they are ALSO on EA. That's what being the boss is about. If your people make a shitty product the boss is just as liable as everyone else.

Maxis certainly fucked a lot up but it's the producer who has to keep their developers in line, give them goals and engage in product testing before okaying a ship.

This results in one of two scenarios: EA didn't product test enough to discover the glaring flaws or they DID discover the glaring flaws and decided to ship ANYWAY. Which is worse? They're BOTH bad and EA is responsible for both. If EA isn't responsible they can always sue Maxis for breach of contract.

 

[ResonanceSD]

simcity 4

SC4 never stopped crashing for me, I think my PC is too advanced to run it these days.

I'm not a big city sim fan, but in the wake of this disaster I've actually heard people saying a lot of unusually nice things about Anno 2070 again, even if it is an Ubisoft game apparently. Never played it, but I guess STEAM did a sale on it not too long ago and it's been scratching the itch for some people.

Try Tropico 4, that game is the shit. Seriously brilliant.

 

[ResonanceSD]

I have to say i did not expect something like that. I mean, you did get a Game as per "contract" and in that Contract there isn't a clause that says that you get your money back if the Game doesn't perform to your expectations.

Under Australian Law, the only law worth following, in this country, if a product or service isn't up to scratch, or isn't working like the seller said it would, I'm entitled to my fucking money back. Here we take a dim view of people who sell you broken products.

 

[shintakie10]

Me finding someone's wallet is different because I never told that individual "If I find your wallet I will return it to you." and they never gave me compensation before hand for that service I promised to provide them. Since there is no duty of care I am considered a good person for returning it to them if I was to do so because I was not OBLIGATED to do so. That is going above and beyond. That is customer service. Doing more than you are legally obliged to do.

Not making an effort to return it is a crime, "larceny by finding"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theft_by_finding

Yet you will find it to be seldom enforced or next to no effort put towards such "crimes" due to just how absurd it can be.

Certainly it's a crime not to but being honest with ourselves it's there to ping people who "find" incredibly valuable and important items knowing who the owner is and not returning it.

Actually, NYC likes to do sting operations in subways involvin just that. They leave a wallet/keys/bag of money somewhere and "walk away." When someone comes and takes it they show back up and ask for it back. If the person doesn't give it back, or tries to hide the fact that they took somethin from the bag, blah blah they get arrested.

It apparently helps quite a bit with petty theft, but I find it pretty shady myself.

 

[Drake666]

Me finding someone's wallet is different because I never told that individual "If I find your wallet I will return it to you." and they never gave me compensation before hand for that service I promised to provide them. Since there is no duty of care I am considered a good person for returning it to them if I was to do so because I was not OBLIGATED to do so. That is going above and beyond. That is customer service. Doing more than you are legally obliged to do.

Not making an effort to return it is a crime, "larceny by finding"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theft_by_finding

Yet you will find it to be seldom enforced or next to no effort put towards such "crimes" due to just how absurd it can be.

Certainly it's a crime not to but being honest with ourselves it's there to ping people who "find" incredibly valuable and important items knowing who the owner is and not returning it.

Actually, NYC likes to do sting operations in subways involvin just that. They leave a wallet/keys/bag of money somewhere and "walk away." When someone comes and takes it they show back up and ask for it back. If the person doesn't give it back, or tries to hide the fact that they took somethin from the bag, blah blah they get arrested.

It apparently helps quite a bit with petty theft, but I find it pretty shady myself.

Perhaps they think that if someone doesn't want to give back a found item, he is probably capable of other petty theft act... but, yeah, it seems a bit shady :S

OP: Loves the thread, by the way. I think the consumers' laws in Canada are more or less the same: even if you accept a EULA or sign ANY contract it does not mean that you lose some of your rights. American Laws are weird. However, your legal recourse seems easier. Canadian government tends to bend over for big corporation...