The ACCC, also known as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, is suing Valve over Steam‘s refund policy. The ACCC claims that Valve made “false or misleading representations regarding the application of the consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law.”
Valve Sued By ACCC
Apparently, Steam’s refund policy breaches Australian Consumer Law. The law is defined as follows:
“The Australian Consumer Law provides consumers with rights to certain remedies from retailers and manufacturers, when goods fail to comply with the consumer guarantee provisions of the ACL, including that the goods are of acceptable quality and fit for the purpose for which they were sold. That is, if a good is not, for example, of acceptable quality, consumers may be entitled to a refund or a replacement item. These rights cannot be excluded, restricted or modified.”
Valve has no physical headquarters in Australia, however the law extends “to any business providing goods or services within Australia.”
The following comes from the official ACCC release:
The ACCC alleges that Valve’s refund policy indicated the following:
- Consumers were not entitled to a refund for any games sold by Valve via Steam in any circumstances.
- Valve had excluded, restricted or modified statutory guarantees and/or warranties that goods would be of acceptable quality.
- Valve was not under any obligation to repair, replace or provide a refund for a game where the consumer had not contacted and attempted to resolve the problem with the computer game developer; and the statutory consumer guarantees did not apply to games sold by Valve.
You can find the full Australian Competition and Consumer Commission release here.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman, Rod Sims, stated:
“It is a breach of the Australian Consumer Law for businesses to state that they do not give refunds under any circumstances, including for gifts and during sales. Under the Australian Consumer Law, consumers can insist on a refund or replacement at their option if a product has a major fault. The consumer guarantees provided under the Australian Consumer Law cannot be excluded, restricted or modified.”
The ACCC has ties with the Australian government, which makes this whole situation just a bit more serious than it already is. According to their site, “appointments to the ACCC involve participation by Commonwealth, state and territory governments. The ACCC currently comes under the portfolio responsibilities of The Treasury.”
Fortunately, Valve is doing their best to comply with the wishes of the ACCC and Australian law (Thanks to Eurogamer):
“We are making every effort to cooperate with the Australian officials on this matter, while continuing to provide Steam services to our customers across the world, including Australian gamers.”
A hearing is set for the October 7th, 2014.
What are your thoughts on this whole situation? What do you personally think of Steam’s refund policy? Have you ever had any trouble with Valve’s popular service? Let us know in the comments section below! As always, stay tuned to GamerHeadlines.com for the latest in video game and technology news.
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