GAME Australia Enters Administration

[Andy Chalk]

GAME Australia Enters Administration

Australian GAME customers will get neither Diablo 3 nor a refund on their preorders.

Australian gamers got a dose of bad news yesterday with the announcement that the nation's chain of Game stores had entered administration. It's not necessarily the end of the world, as demonstrated by the re-emergence [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/116604-Buy-Out-Saves-British-Retailer-GAME] of the U.K.-based Game Group last month, but it does typically signal the start of a painful process that means store closures and job losses for a lot of people.

But, the real-life travails of those unfortunately unemployed notwithstanding, the news got a whole lot worse in a whole heck of a hurry for the country's gamers when Game revealed that because of the entry into administration, it will not be stocking Max Payne 3 [http://www.amazon.com/Diablo-III-Collectors-Edition-Pc/dp/B0050SZC5U/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1337013568&sr=8-2] - and it will not offer refunds to those who plunked down their money for preorders.

"We are still working to clarify the status of preorders. At this stage we are intending on honoring certain preorders placed on the Diablo 3 and Max Payne new releases. We will provide clarity on these and other new releases in due course," the company said in a statement [http://www.game.com.au/faq]. "We are not able to refund customer deposits and customers who have paid a deposit for a preordered item at this stage should continue to monitor the website for further updates."

This kind of thing is apparently legal in Australia, where gamers with paid preorders join the list of Game's unsecured creditors, who are eligible to be repaid once all the secured creditors are taken care of. In other words, if you're an Aussie with a preorder receipt from Game, your best bet is to either ride it out or write it off.

Game Australia also said that it will continue to accept gift cards but only for a maximum of 25 percent of the total purchase price, but returns and trade-ins will not be accepted.

via: GamesIndustry [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-05-14-game-australia-in-administration]



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[Amnestic]

Wait, you have to pay to preorder at GAME Australia?

I'm fairly certain I never had to drop money down on a preorder at any of the GAME UK's I shopped at.

 

[Lizardon]

I'm confused, in the statement they said at this stage they are intending to honour the pre-orders on Max Payne and Diablo, and that they will be repaid when all the secured creditors are taken care of. So they will get the games or their refunds, so what is the problem (besides GAME entering administration, that's a problem for some.)

 

[Bricky]

I'm confused, in the statement they said at this stage they are intending to honour the pre-orders on Max Payne and Diablo, and that they will be repaid when all the secured creditors are taken care of. So they will get the games or their refunds, so what is the problem (besides GAME entering administration, that's a problem for some.)

The problem is that in Australia the law says that if GAME sell off all their assets and the total money they get is only equal to, say... all the secured creditors and 1 quarter of the unsecured creditors, then GAME only have to pay the secured creditors and 1 quarter of the un secured creditors and the other 3 quarters get nothing

 

[weirdee]

welp, the first and last reason to preorder, and it doesn't mean anything

it's stupid how they let the market slip so easily to general retailers

 

[Lizardon]

I'm confused, in the statement they said at this stage they are intending to honour the pre-orders on Max Payne and Diablo, and that they will be repaid when all the secured creditors are taken care of. So they will get the games or their refunds, so what is the problem (besides GAME entering administration, that's a problem for some.)

The problem is that in Australia the law says that if GAME sell off all their assets and the total money they get is only equal to, say... all the secured creditors and 1 quarter of the unsecured creditors, then GAME only have to pay the secured creditors and 1 quarter of the un secured creditors and the other 3 quarters get nothing

I see so whether or not their assets will cover the costs is in doubt. Thanks for clearing that up. I am Australian and somewhat familiar with how this all works.

If this was say an American company who couldn't afford to pay refunds on the pre-orders, where would the money come from?

 

[Roboto]

I see so whether or not their assets will cover the costs is in doubt. Thanks for clearing that up. I am Australian and somewhat familiar with how this all works.

If this was say an American company who couldn't afford to pay refunds on the pre-orders, where would the money come from?

They would declare bankruptcy and not have to pay back the pre-orders.

Followed by all the customers calling the credit card companies to lodge a complaint (payment made but product not received) and having the CC companies duke it out with the law. Trade disputes are one of the reasons CC are a GOOD thing for the consumer (ignore blinding debt for now).

Nobody mentioned Gift Card worth. After the Circuit City fiasco we had a while back (look it up if you are so inclined), gift card law was reformed. TL;DR: Circuit City went bankrupt, refused to honor gift cards. Got away with it. Laws changed. Gift cards now can never expire among other things.

 

[Silver Patriot]

Can they put the preorder money towards another available game? Not a perfect solution but better than walking away with nothing.