68 réponses à ce sujet

[Morroian]

So do people get refunds for the extra $5 if they bought it already?

[Asperath]

So do people get refunds for the extra $5 if they bought it already?

 

That's what I'd like to know. I didn't even realise there was a difference between Xbone & PC til I just read this thread and had stupidly brought it the other day (so used to over paying for things now often don't stop to think about it anymore unfortunately )

[katling73]

That is a question I can't answer. Theoretically they should but you may need to agitate a little. You might want to open a case with EA's customer service asking for the $5 refund.

 

You might additionally try very politely tweeting Conal Pierse about it. I tweeted him originally, asking him to pass the issue on to the relevant people and he said he would do so. Though perhaps wait and see what EA's support say about it. It might be like Myki here in Melbourne - they only give you a refund if you actually ask for it, it's not automatic.

[Asperath]

So annoyed as I was, I contacted EA and chatted to a "EA Advisor" and was told:

 

"EA adviosr: Yes So no need to worry, that has been decided by the management team , and the players who have purchased it for the &25 , are going to get the refund for the &5."

 

&

 

"EA adviosr:Anyone who purchased Jaws of Hakkon at the higher price will have the difference refunded to them automatically. Look for an email from Origin team with all the details"

 

So I would keep a close eye on it if you have paid $25

[AlexMBrennan]

so why make us pay at a higher price than them?

Because they can: your customers aren't gonna move to the U.S. To get cheaper games, and neither can they buy xbox dlc for their pc version.
As such, businesses can set optimal prices for each market - if they can maximize profit by charging one market more then, well, sucks for you if you bought the PC version.
Every business will try this if they do not have to worry about resale (e.g. Hairdressers charge women a higher per hour rate)

[katling73]

So annoyed as I was, I contacted EA and chatted to a "EA Advisor" and was told:

 

"EA adviosr: Yes So no need to worry, that has been decided by the management team , and the players who have purchased it for the &25 , are going to get the refund for the &5."

 

&

 

"EA adviosr:Anyone who purchased Jaws of Hakkon at the higher price will have the difference refunded to them automatically. Look for an email from Origin team with all the details"

 

So I would keep a close eye on it if you have paid $25

 

That's good to hear! At least they're not being douchey about it and trying to keep the extra money.

[Asperath]

That's good to hear! At least they're not being douchey about it and trying to keep the extra money.

 

I still think if people have paid more they need to keep an eye on it (just in case)

[katling73]

I still think if people have paid more they need to keep an eye on it (just in case)

 

Oh yeah, definitely. EA haven't earned that much trust.

[Firky]

$5 refund? OK. I shall wait for it.

What a weird thing this is.

Edit. Does "oh, you caught us charging you more, here have a refund" engender goodwill? Doesn't make me feel great. It is better than them not back-pedalling, but marginally. Especially without an explanation.

(Another edit. Although this may very well be something actual BioWare, EA ? , was not aware of, so I'm not necessarily blaming them. But "pricing mistakes" on Origin should surely be something they seek to avoid.)

Last edit. This is still worth a read in 2015. http://www.kotaku.co...e-in-australia/Maybe we'll start to see "fair price vouchers" or such on Origin. Like, "buy this DLC for $20 and get $2 off your next origin game" makes me have warm and fuzzy feelings towards BioWare (even if they actually have nothing tri do with it.) Retrospectively refunding $5 in this context, less so.

[lucky5hot]

$5 refund? OK. I shall wait for it.

What a weird thing this is.

Edit. Does "oh, you caught us charging you more, here have a refund" engender goodwill? Doesn't make me feel great. It is better than them not back-pedalling, but marginally. Especially without an explanation.

(Another edit. Although this may very well be something actual BioWare, EA ? , was not aware of, so I'm not necessarily blaming them. But "pricing mistakes" on Origin should surely be something they seek to avoid.)

Last edit. This is still worth a read in 2015. http://www.kotaku.co...e-in-australia/Maybe we'll start to see "fair price vouchers" or such on Origin. Like, "buy this DLC for $20 and get $2 off your next origin game" makes me have warm and fuzzy feelings towards BioWare (even if they actually have nothing tri do with it.) Retrospectively refunding $5 in this context, less so.

 

I'm not so sure it was malicious in the first place. I think ideally they might want to charge $25 to all aussies anyway, but as they priced close to conversion on Xbox, it was only fair they did it for PC too.

Consider this, when the Aussie dollar is around .75, the $60 dollar game becomes $75-80. Add 10% GST, and thats over $80. Therefore, we are priced slightly lower. Now, the dollar has been sliding a lot to get to .75, and its currently closer to .80... but a lot of the perception with game pricing forgets GST.

 

Now again, consider DLC. The $15 dollar DLC when you change currency and add gst is over $20. Setting the additional price point gives them a buffer to protect the margin for further currency slides. As you could see above, there have been some points around the .75 currency mark where they were literally selling the game cheaper in AU than they were in US per dollar. Right now, its about square/even at $20. Personally, I think that $25 is way too high of a margin, and especially with DLC, we want DLC to be priced close to conversion. Therefore, $20 at the moment is nice and fair.

 

Its not to say that it was never the case that there was an aussie tax. For a brief moment, the currency was $1->$1,  but for several years it was around .9 and .95, and at those times, there certainly was a markup purely for Australia. But as it stands, the unfortunate reality of every game in AU being $80 for the $60 in the US is less about an invisible tax and more a reality of currency conversion + GST, same goes for DLC.

 

In short, with how quickly they resolved it, and the bizarre nature of it in the first place, I have no doubt in my mind it was literally a mistake and not nefarious. They could have easily chosen to charge everybody $25 or everybody $20 (latter being fairer), but they made a mistake in the parity which clearly needed to be resolved.

[Firky]

It may very well not have been nefarious.

 

Even if someone in charge of pricing very specifically went, "Let's charge PC more! They won't notice." I'd personally call it "disappointing and a bit rude" rather than "evil."

 

But, given the context of price gouging for digital entertainment in Australia, I just find these kind of "mistakes" contribute to a general sense of annoyance. And, $25 is a prohibitive price, for me. Only just. But still. (I bought a copy. I love DA and would like the devs to keep doing their thing, even if DAI wasn't entirely my cup of tea.)

 

(I'm still putting "mistakes" in quotation marks, because this happens so often with games, Origin and elsewhere, that even if it is a mistake, it just makes the pricing people seem like they have no idea what they are doing.)

[Kantr]

Never mind Australia, it's priced £12 here [UK].  Was about to purchase it this morning, then saw the price.    There's no way I'm paying £12 for a piece of DLC.  Slightly more and we're talking full expansion prices.  No doubt someone will come along soon with their pizzanomics to tell me why £12 is a bargain in the grand scheme of things.

 

Or maybe I'm being too cynical and this dlc does indeed contain 1/3 of the content the full game does.  If so, I'll stand corrected.

Standard dlc price here. About the same amount for skyrim and Bioshock inifnite

[DragonAgeLegend]

How do I get some of my money back?

[Dio Demon]

How do I get some of my money back?

If you don't get an email within a few days. Check your account to see if they put the money back in. Have the receipt, talk to customer service and ask them about the refund thingy.

[Firky]

I'm still interested. Has anyone been refunded?

 

I haven't, automatically, if that is the case, as yet.

[NRieh]

 

t is indeed showing up as $20 Au in Origin. So they have at least made the platforms equal

No they have not. Russia still has PC 200rub more expensive than Xbox.  

[Banxey]

I'm still interested. Has anyone been refunded?

 

I haven't, automatically, if that is the case, as yet.

 

I got my refund this morning and a confirmation email.

[Stelae]

I got my refund this morning and a confirmation email.

Same. 

[Firky]

Hey, there you go. I got the email. (Not the money yet, but my bank usually takes a few days with stuff.)

 

Funny old process this was. Good for the people who raised the issue.