I've seen a lot of misinformation being posted over the last few day in relation to people's queries about whether or not they are entitled to a refund on the PS3 Version of Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. This topic is aimed at informing those people who are considering whether or not they will get a refund how they can get a refund should they feel that is the only option they are left with.

So, If you are experiencing these game-breaking memory leak and frame-rate issues can you get a full cash refund no matter what?

The answer to that question is unequivocally YES.

Provided you live in a Country where the rule of law is strong i.e America, Australia, Canada, England, France etc. You will have something that should fall under the umbrella of consumer rights. In Australia these are known as your "Statutory Consumer Rights" and they extend further than any warranty or protection on your product. The names and various uses of these rights will vary but a small amount of research should put you onto a Government Website that explains these rights to you.

Now to the crux of the matter. What good are these Consumer Rights to your purpose?

These rights entitle you as a consumer to expect certain levels of performance based on the cost and the features advertised. So if you buy a microwave and it breaks after only a month and half of use, regardless of if the warranty only lasted a month, you still have further protection provided to you under these legislations that will entitle you to a full refund if you so choose.

The same principle applies here with Skyrim. Bethesda has sold a product to you that promised to meet or exceed certain levels of performance (frame-rate issue being one part of this) and they have failed to do so. Even if you bought the game 3 months ago you are still entitled to a refund regardless of whether or not you fall under warranty conditions, because the product is faulty and therefore all costs are to be borne by the manufacturer. In short you had a right to expect a certain amount of usage from the product, the product has failed to meet that standard, go and get your money back.

The retailers may say that this is not the case initially but do your research before dealing with them so that you are fully aware of exactly what it is you are entitled to under the umbrella of Consumer Law within your country of residence, and there is no way that they or Bethesda will be able to deny your money back as they are legally obligated to reimburse you for a faulty product.

In reality, Producers and Retailers prey on the fact that people are criminally under-aware of what their rights actually are when dealing with these sorts of issues, they will tell you it is not true but, like I said, do your research and if or when the time comes that you have had enough of the problems and you choose to return the game to either Bethesda or the Retailer from which you purchased, if they even try to say no you will, quite literally, be able to wave these consumer laws in their faces and say "Well Sir, I'm sorry to inform you but I think Not".

In closing know your rights and don't take no for an answer. These people are liable for their mistakes and it is entirely up to you to see that they fulfill their legal obligations to You, their consumer.

lol...You going to hire a lawyer? Or maybe take time off and go to court yourself? Over 60 dollars? That won't even cover court fee.

Actually these proceedings never go through a court room. It is only a matter of stating your case effectively to the retailer/producer. To be honest I don't see what's so funny about me trying to provide some vital information to other people?

He's just flamebaiting and trolling..

lol exactly

just take it back to the store and replace it with another game

or get over it
! its only money and not very much money either!

If people started doing this tho,
it would definently make the gaming industry think twice before launchning untested or
semi-faulty products.

I work in the court system in Denmark and I am pretty sudden that the OP is correct in this regard.
You do however have an issue regarding proving that the company have not fulfilled its promises as we
have a game here which works for most of the time. And its not a general problem as some people doesn't
have the same problems you do.

I say it COULD work. But i wouldn't use time on taking my case to the danish consumers right office.
I haven't spend nearly enough money on this game to give that kind of effort.
I'd rather wait and see what the next patch brings into the game. Or the patch after that.
Clearly bethesda is aware of the problem.

I don't know about that one, Bethesda keeps denying that the game is broken on PS3. So I'm not sure if their aware of anything.
Yeah, 60 dollars isn't that much money, But we payed for something that we were PROMISED ran the same on all three platforms. It obviously doesn't, It may run all fine and dandy on PC and Xbox but PS3 consumers are still getting screwed. Some people are not having these lag issues, But A LOT of people are having the issue with the PS3 version. I will think twice before pre-ordering or buying another Bethesda game, If the next patch doesn't solve this problem, I will trade the game in for something that actually runs on my PS3. Sad to say, I'm only 20 some hours into the game. Tons of quests need to be completed and I can barely play.

Give them a chance to patch it before you take up torches and pitchforks.

Well said and thanks for the post.

The poster has a valid point.

If we started to actually look after our consumer rights, other game and software companies would think a thousand times before releasing a game in beta state, like Skyrim actually is. Its not a matter of trading for a new game, which is going to lag again and/or erase save game files. Its a matter of paying for a finished work, which didnt happen.

Instead of arguing and trolling whoever looks after our rights, we should support them.

http://www.gamezone.com/news/skyrim-patch-1-2-will-improve-ps3-performance
Pete Hines adress that they are aware and fixing the issue of "Long-term play on PS3".
Read yourself. Just wait til the 28. Then decide if you want to get your game money back

Did your mom or dad buy you the game? just wondering.

Guess its all about how you see it.
I bought the game myself. but im not like "damn that was alot of money wasted".
Even if the new patch doesn't fix everything.

Haha sure 60$ of our money individually might not count much, but seriously 7million copies+ at around 65$ each? thats alot of dough...especially when the majority of the PS3 players are having issues. I mean if youre rackin that much cash you might as well try to have ap roduct that works and not disrespect the consumers. Either that or they really just dont care cause they know in the future alot of players will buy their games. I mean this problems been going on in 3 past games already... i like an answer for that.

Actually, its more a matter of how you feel it. Perhaps you are pretty resistant to frustrations, due to your life story and context.

Some other people simply cant "eat" it, specially when they raise expectations regarding a game like this.

This is a pointless arguing, the real point is getting those companies to stop launching beta games, and one of the tools we got to break this scenario is through legal actions.

Again, I reiterate that this is not a matter of how much did you pay, but if your interests as a consumer were hurted, and this is true if you consider the number of outrageous bugs and issues people have been having with the PS3 version of the game.

All:

The OP is correct. And to those who say "It's only 60 dollars, so what, trade it in, etc." You're not getting rid of the core issue: the beta release of a game, utilizing end users as unpaid testers. In addition, not providing the commodity we paid for or was advertised.

But you're correct, no lawyer will touch a $60 dollar lawsuit. It's not even large enough for small claims court. The real way to go about this is quite simple, and will scare the [censored] out of Bethesda: Class Action Lawsuit.


1,000,000 failures? More? False advertising, lemons, faulty product? Multi-million dollar developer? And everyone other operating company involved in the production and release of this item?

It may well kill the goose who lays the golden eggs (Bethesda), but I promise you wouldn't have to worry about developers releasing a [censored] product straight out of the gates anymore.

Will you get a big payout? No, the lawyer/firm will. You'll probably get a few bucks as 1 of 1MM plaintiffs. But will this ever happen again? Not likely.

Personally, I don't care enough. But if you do, it's something to consider.

Just an anecdote to share with you about refunding sky rim Ps3

I live in the UK and after reading on this forum about the lag problems I decided to take my PS3 copy back to the store to get a refund or exchange.

I bought it at Tescos which is a supermarket chain in the UK.

I explained the issues of the game to the check out guy and he was willing to let me swap the game for another new copy of the game but wouldn't let me swap it for a different PS3 title.

I asked him why not and he said because of "copyright issues".

I then asked for a refund explaining that a new copy of the game probably won't work as the problems only arise after extended play but I was refused.

If I had known what the poster explained about I might have pressured him more about these vague "copyright issues" and retaliated with some info about consumer rights.

I imagine then he would probably would have let me swap the game for dark souls as I asked.

In the end tho, I just shrugged my shoulders and left hoping like everyone else that the patch 1.2 will fix the issue. If not, I will go back again and state my case more assertively!

Agreed
I just love to argue for the sake of a good discussion

Generally speaking even if the conflict between yourself and the retailer were to rise regarding whether or not they owe you a refund these things do not go straight to courtrooms, there are a number of systems in place depending on your country of residence that will allow you to raise these claims. Furthermore, It's often a matter of speaking to the right person, and usually that means going beyond the guy at the counter, who tells you that you can't return what is most definitely a faulty product, and asking to speak with a manager. It also helps to be calm and polite but remain assertive. You have the moral and legal right to complain about this, and provided you show up with a knowledge of the relevant consumer laws within your country and assert your rights they should not and cannot refuse you.

As to the guy saying "Hey it's only $60", it was $120 where I live and if I let every [censored] with a dodgy product rip me off like this I'd be broke very quickly. But more than that, to me it's about knowing that you can do something about it when a multi-million dollar corporation pawns off a bad product on you and acts like that is acceptable behavior. I'd like to put a stop to that sort of thing as soon as possible, and that is why I'm trying to let people know how they can effectively broker a fair outcome out of what is rapidly becoming a bad situation.

I hope that if people have made the choice that they would like to return the game, then being more aware of their rights as consumers has helped them to do so. I personally have yet to return it as I am waiting in the hope that they might actually fix it. But time will tell, and if they don't I will be using the exact argument I have put forth here on Bethesda or the retailer from which I purchased it, and there is no way they will be able to refuse.

The game is not broken.
The game does not have game breaking lag if played as intended.
The game encounters issues and glitches when played for extended periods of time.

Because of this they have not sold you a lemon in any way. This is like buying a stain resistant shirt and wearing it nonstop for multiple days of manual labor work and getting pissed and demanding a refund if it gets a stain.

What the hell is "played as intended" ?
if i want to play a certain way (which is not even bug hunting) and the game becames so laggy its unplayable, then the game is broken.
Lets all buy games to play for 2 hours and never again to avoid this problems. Come on, be real.

This is not a hardware/software issue. It's basically a petition and operates on the assumption that all players are experiencing these issues. They are not, which is not intended to irritate those that have issues, but to hopefully add some much needed perspective.