Watchdog, a BBC series that investigates accusations of customer service misconduct, is expected to broadcast an episode looking into Playstation Europe’s refund policy for digital content.
The episode, set to air on Thursday, will primarily deal with the case of a customer who was refused a refund for a digital purchase, despite Sony’s internal investigation revealing it was made when the account had been compromised.
Sony has an awkward refund policy for digital content, stating on its PlayStation Store website that a customer’s right to cancel store purchases and claim a refund “depends on the type of product” purchased from the Store.
“Wallet top-ups and purchases of digital content are final,” it said. “This means that we will not credit your wallet, refund any wallet balance or transfer funds or content to another account, unless required to by local law.”
Although this stance is common among other companies that deliver content digitally, it has left some customers to complain about the standards of customer service. In one recent case, John Lappin, a PlayStation 4 owner in the UK, was told that a Sony investigation had concluded that a £39.99 purchase made using his PlayStation Network account had come from a console he didn’t own, and concluded that fraud had been committed on his account.
Despite this, Lappin was not offered a refund for this purchase.
In the recorded phone call below, Lappin talks to a PlayStation customer service representative, and proceeds to read out an email he apparently received from the company.
Citing the email, Lappin said Sony’s response was: “In relation to the transactions you recently flagged, our investigation concluded that the serial number of the console on which these transactions were made does not match the serial number on the console you provided to us.”
He continues: “The next sentence then says, regrettably, you can’t offer any refund for purchases unless they’re defective. So what’s being said there is ‘yes, it probably was someone fraudulently making the purchase, but because it works for them, we can’t refund you,’ which is just ridiculous.”
According to the customer service rep, Sony is unable to provide the refund because it cannot conclusively prove that he didn’t personally allow someone else to purchase the content.
Posting on NeoGAF, Lappin further detailed his dealings with PlayStation customer service, saying he spoke to multiple people and, ultimately, was unable to resolve the situation satisfactorily.
“I phoned and spoke to 4 or 5 different people, all but one were nice enough but all said the same thing and that they couldn’t do anything,” he said.
“The last [conversation], when I asked where the money was now, after all they’d banned the offending console and revoked access to the game, Sony reluctantly admitted [they] had it. When I asked why they couldn’t give it back she explained it was my ‘punishment’ in case I had been trying to trick them.”
Lappin added that he understands the issue is “not that big of a deal,” but said Sony’s attitude towards the issue gave him cause to pursue it.
“Normally I’d let shit like this go and put it down to bad luck, but the attitude of Sony was so appalling it actually made me laugh,” he said. “I genuinely couldn’t believe some of the things they were saying and it was just amusing.
“Ultimately, it’s £40 on a videogame that a 35 year-old bloke lost, who cares? But this has happened to a lot of people, that money adds up. What if some kid gets a PSN card for his birthday and has that money taken?”
Issues pertaining to PlayStation’s customer service have been a topic of discussion on the RLLMUK forum, with the more extreme issues collated on the Tales From Sony Customer Service website. It may be that some of the other stories on this website will be referenced in BBC’s program.
GameSpot has contacted Sony for an official response on the accusations and the Watchdog episode. A spokesperson has said a statement will be issued shortly.
This episode of Watchdog is scheduled to be shown on BBC One at 8pm UK time (12pm Pacific) and will also be available following its airing on BBC iPlayer.
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