CDPR admit they have no special deal in place with retailers for Cyberpunk refunds

[Master Disaster]

As I'm sure most of you are aware, yesterday CDPR apologised for the state of Cyberpunk and offered console owners the option to refund the game if they are unwilling to wait for patches. In case you missed, here is that statement.

 

Well things took a turn for the worse today when customers tried taking them up on the offer. Customers from Sony, Microsoft and owners of boxed copies are all being refused the refunds CDPR promised them

Quote

I've seen mixed results from customers trying to get a refund out of Sony. While there are reports of success, one customer contacted Eurogamer last night to say they had been through live chat and, after being refused a refund there, spoke to a PlayStation customer service rep on the phone and was still refused a refund.

 

Microsoft's refund policy is a bit less stringent, pointing out most purchases are not eligible for a refund after 14 days. There is a form to fill in, however, if you fancy a go, and it seems customers are, again, having mixed results with this one.

 

It seems harder to secure a refund when it comes to physical copies of Cyberpunk 2077. GAME store staff are not currently giving out refunds, instead pointing customers to the refund email address CD Projekt included in its statement. When I asked my local GAME store if I could get a refund on the Xbox One version of the game because I considered it to be faulty, a member of staff replied to say no, pointed out updates are coming, and suggested I email CD Projekt.

 

I spoke to a source at a GAME store who confirmed the policy. Staff are not doing refunds, I was told by the staff member who asked not to be named in order to protect their job. "We've been told to direct people wanting refunds to the CD Project Red email address that was provided," they told me. "The only time we're doing any refunds is if the game is still sealed in the original box. Even then we are only doing exchange or credit note as per our current returns policy."

As it happens there is a reason for that, turns out CDPR have had no contact with any retailers, have not got special measures in place for the refund offer and seem to think the root cause is of all this is customer confusion. Here's what CDPR's SVP of Business Development told investors earlier today.

Quote

"One has to understand: Microsoft and Sony have refund policies for every product that is released digitally on their storefronts," Nowakowski said.

 

"Despite several articles I've seen that things are being set up just for us, it's actually not true - these policies are in place and have always been in place; they're not offered specifically for us. Anyone who has purchased any title on the PlayStation Network or the Microsoft storefront can ask for a refund, and if it's made within certain boundaries, usually related to time, usage and so on, can ask for that refund.

 

"Our procedure here with Microsoft and Sony is not different than with any other title released on any of those storefronts. I want to state that clearly, as there seem to be certain misconceptions."

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-12-15-the-cyberpunk-2077-refund-situation-is-a-mess-of-mixed-messages

 

Right, so you released a statement telling people they could have a refund, people asked for their refund, got refused because you didn't tell them all the relevant facts of the matter and then you say customers have misconceptions about your statement.

 

Yeah they have misconceptions, you guys are the ones who created the misconceptions by telling customers one thing while meaning something else.

 

This launch has been a giant pile of steaming horse shit and the sad part is, underneath all the bugs and broken promises is a good game in hiding.

[Hairless Monkey Boy]

I think it's pretty clear in the statement that they had no special arrangement, and were simply asking people to take advantage of existing return policies.

 

But I'm a rare breed, I read things carefully.

[Master Disaster]

1 minute ago, HairlessMonkeyBoy said:

I think it's pretty clear in the statement that they had no special arrangement, and were simply asking people to take advantage of existing return policies.

 

But I'm a rare breed, I read things carefully.

Well you'd be among the minority. Twitter and YouTube have blown up with videos covering this.

 

They said, you can opt for a refund, if you want a refund then contact MS or Sony. There was no mention of existing policies still being in place at all and considering they are the developers, you'd think them literally telling people they can refund the game would mean they can refund the game.

 

If they intended people to take existing arrangements into account then why did it take them 3 days from launch to tell people to refund?

 

It wouldn't be the first time a blanket refund has been offered and respected in the industry.

[Vanderburg]

3 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

Well you'd be among the minority. Twitter and YouTube have blown up with videos covering this.

Oh, you've taken a poll of everyone? Or are you just saying there are some loud dumb people on the internet? Because some loud dumb people don't make a majority.

 

I also didn't infer that there was some special arrangement. They just said to use the regular refund paths for the respective services and that if you had an issue with that, contact them directly. You know what happens when you assume......

[TetraSky]

Another reason not to buy games digitally on consoles.

Sony's refund policy is essentially this : "if you've downloaded it, you can go fuck yourself".

They don't even give you two hours or whatever else like we see on PC. Just the act of downloading it makes you ineligible to a refund.

 

That said, I had also interpreted their original message as them having deals in place to get a refund and to contact them if you ran into any issues.

[Hairless Monkey Boy]

7 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

Twitter and YouTube have blown up with videos covering this.

I'm sure they have, nothing gets views and retweets like a controversy, and Cyberpunk 2077 SEO is hot right now...

 

7 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

They said, you can opt for a refund, if you want a refund then contact MS or Sony.

Nope. What the statement you posted literally says is, "please use the refund system of PSN or XBOX." The terms and conditions for which you should be aware of.

 

The only thing they promise is to, "do our best to help you." Their best seems to suck, but they didn't lie...

 

[Dedayog]

19 minutes ago, HairlessMonkeyBoy said:

I think it's pretty clear in the statement that they had no special arrangement, and were simply asking people to take advantage of existing return policies.

 

But I'm a rare breed, I read things carefully.

They allude to you being able to refund and even direct you how to go about it.  The agreement is implied, per the language.

 

I read enough legal language, leases and agreements in my job to know there is argument there.  Lawyers will be chomping at the bit to get a class action going soon I wager.

[Gamer Schnitzel]

I don't see anything wrong with this. People should research a buy beforehand and not just expect companies to bend over backwards. It's also made very clear that this is up to the retailer. Just because a bunch of clueless influencers with clickbait titles misled people it doesn't mean it's the devs fault or problem. I think they shouldn't have commented on this in the first place. 

[Vanderburg]

4 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

They allude to you being able to refund and even direct you how to go about it.  The agreement is implied, per the language.

 

I read enough legal language, leases and agreements in my job to know there is argument there.  Lawyers will be chomping at the bit to get a class action going soon I wager.

lol

[Master Disaster]

28 minutes ago, Gamer Schnitzel said:

I don't see anything wrong with this. People should research a buy beforehand and not just expect companies to bend over backwards. It's also made very clear that this is up to the retailer. Just because a bunch of clueless influencers with clickbait titles misled people it doesn't mean it's the devs fault or problem. I think they shouldn't have commented on this in the first place. 

Except they literally could not do that because CDPR only seeded PC review codes and reviewers we're forbidden from using their own footage before the embargo lifted and were literally forced to use CDPR provided stock footage. Nobody could even talk about the last gen version until it released because nobody had seen it.

 

PC players we're told a little white lie but if you bought this on PS4 or XB1 what CDPR did to you is akin to selling trying to sell you London bridge. You were straight conned to the point were in a lot of Europe & Australia you'd probably be eligible for a refund under your local consumer protection laws. The last gen version of this game is not fit for purpose.

 

36 minutes ago, HairlessMonkeyBoy said:

I'm sure they have, nothing gets views and retweets like a controversy, and Cyberpunk 2077 SEO is hot right now...

 

Nope. What the statement you posted literally says is, "please use the refund system of PSN or XBOX." The terms and conditions for which you should be aware of.

 

The only thing they promise is to, "do our best to help you." Their best seems to suck, but they didn't lie...

 

Interesting you had to cut out the bit that says "If you're not satisfied with your copy of the game, you can opt for a refund".

 

They publicly told all last gen owners they could have a refund, no mention of any pre existing exclusions or conditions. They said you can have a refund.

 

That constitutes a verbal agreement and verbal agreements are legally enforceable.

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A verbal contract is a valid contract, barring some exceptions such as agreements involving property or guarantees

 

[Gamer Schnitzel]

4 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

Except they literally could not do that because CDPR only seeded PC review codes and reviewers we're forbidden from using their own footage before the embargo lifted and were literally forced to use CDPR provided stock footage. Nobody could even talk about the last gen version until it released because nobody had seen it.

 

PC players we're told a little white lie but if you bought this on PS4 or XB1 what CDPR did to you is akin to selling trying to sell you London bridge. You were straight conned to the point were in a lot of Europe & Australia you'd probably be eligible for a refund under your local consumer protection laws. The last gen version of this game is not fit for purpose.

Okay so.. wait for the embargo to lift and then watch old gen footage? I really don't understand what the problem is here.. am I maybe too intelligent? What's wrong with waiting until you are able to see the actual product before you buy it? I never ever had any issues with anything I ever bought. I never regretted a purchase my entire life. 

[Master Disaster]

Just now, Gamer Schnitzel said:

Okay so.. wait for the embargo to lift and then watch old gen footage? I really don't understand what the problem is here.. am I maybe too intelligent? What's wrong with waiting until you are able to see the actual product before you buy it? I never ever had any issues with anything I ever bought. I never regretted a purchase my entire life. 

I don't disagree but that doesn't change the fact that a few weeks before launch CDPR were quoted as saying "the game runs surprisingly well on last gen consoles" then hiding the fact the game was broken beyond belief while also selling the game to unsuspecting customers at £50 a pop.

 

Anybody who did preorder it shouldn't have but they still were still sold a product which was grossly and deliberately misrepresented.

[Gamer Schnitzel]

10 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

I don't disagree but that doesn't change the fact that a few weeks before launch CDPR were quoted as saying "the game runs surprisingly well on last gen consoles" then hiding the fact the game was broken beyond belief while also selling the game to unsuspecting customers at £50 a pop.

 

Anybody who did preorder it shouldn't have but they still were still sold a product which was grossly and deliberately misrepresented.

I still don't get what the problem is. Every single company lies. It's pretty normal and CP2077 is not a game for kids, it's for adults. Adults are fully developed brains that allow them self control unlike kids who just have to buy a Happy Meal at McDonald's because they want that toy, they cannot control themselves. It is a consumer's duty to always avoid giving a business money before you are certain that you want a product. Money is the only incentive for a company to try to give you a good product. As soon as you pre-order you take that incentive away and they will just give you a crappy product. If a consumer falls for marketing and cannot control themselves because a random business told them it's good then it's their own fault. People really need to start trying to be a little more intelligent like me. I never ever pre-order anything until I know exactly what I am buying. If everyone was like me the world would literally be a better place in terms of quality products. Was there ever a company that told consumers that their product is bad so they shouldn't buy it? I hope they will remain tough and not give them refunds because it teaches these people an incredibly important life lesson but if they get their way they will keep doing stupid things like this in the future because they think that if they just cry about it it'll fix it. 

[Dedayog]

16 minutes ago, Gamer Schnitzel said:

I still don't get what the problem is. Every single company lies. It's pretty normal and CP2077 is not a game for kids, it's for adults. Adults are fully developed brains that allow them self control unlike kids who just have to buy a Happy Meal at McDonald's because they want that toy, they cannot control themselves. It is a consumer's duty to always avoid giving a business money before you are certain that you want a product. Money is the only incentive for a company to try to give you a good product. As soon as you pre-order you take that incentive away and they will just give you a crappy product. If a consumer falls for marketing and cannot control themselves because a random business told them it's good then it's their own fault. People really need to start trying to be a little more intelligent like me. I never ever pre-order anything until I know exactly what I am buying. If everyone was like me the world would literally be a better place in terms of quality products. Was there ever a company that told consumers that their product is bad so they shouldn't buy it? I hope they will remain tough and not give them refunds because it teaches these people an incredibly important life lesson but if they get their way they will keep doing stupid things like this in the future because they think that if they just cry about it it'll fix it. 

Yes, you're special and unique.  No, you have a fundamental misunderstanding how human beings and their psychology work.  Impulse control?  Seriously?

 

1.  I am certain that I WANT a cyberpunk game like Cyberpunk 2077.

2.  I am reassured by the statement from the CREATORS that it works well for my situation.

3.  Creators in #2 are obligated to be honest to certain degrees due to US and other countries FRAUD laws.

 

So your "too intelligent" is offset by not understanding parts of the world around you, kind of a net zero sum.    You may not be more intelligent than everyone else.  I'm not either, but then again I didn't buy the game, tho I have bought others.  Cough*Marvel*cough

 

 

 

[Random_Person1234]

https://www.techspot.com/news/87979-cdpr-execs-face-tough-questions-unscheduled-investors-call.html

They just had an unscheduled investors call. CDPR execs faced some tough questions.

[Gamer Schnitzel]

25 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

Yes, you're special and unique.  No, you have a fundamental misunderstanding how human beings and their psychology work.  Impulse control?  Seriously?

 

1.  I am certain that I WANT a cyberpunk game like Cyberpunk 2077.

2.  I am reassured by the statement from the CREATORS that it works well for my situation.

3.  Creators in #2 are obligated to be honest to certain degrees due to US and other countries FRAUD laws.

 

So your "too intelligent" is offset by not understanding parts of the world around you, kind of a net zero sum.    You may not be more intelligent than everyone else.  I'm not either, but then again I didn't buy the game, tho I have bought others.  Cough*Marvel*cough

 

 

 

1. You can never be certain that you want something unless you see an objective review coming from sources not linked to the developer. Therefore this statement is flawed. If you are ever certain tht you want a product prior to this then you are gullible and simply need to further work on developing your brain fully as to avoid falling prey to marketing.

2. There is no such thing as reassurance from the seller of a product. Any piece of information that comes out of a company is marketing including leaks and marketing cannot be trusted. The only reason marketing departments exist is because stupid people exist. Intelligent people like myself could not care less about marketing, trailers and paid reviews. I just click them off.

3. They were honest to a certain degree. The game clearly runs on the consoles. Just because it doesn't run to the standard you expect it doesn't mean that they lied. There are plenty of people who are right now playing the game on old gen consoles and are even close to finishing it. If you really think that this is fraud then I welcome you to sue them and prove me wrong by winning the lawsuit.

 

I hope I was able to answer your questions. I always try to educate people where possible and I hope that in future you can think a little more about your buying decisions so that you can be like me and affect the world in a positive way. If everyone was like this things like this would never happen because businesses would learn their lesson 

[Moonzy]

it's always a good idea to not pre-order and wait for people to beta tests, that's for sure, unless they did open beta testing then it's slightly more okay

 

i hope CDPR makes it out of this alive

other game studios might look at this and be afraid to be this ambitious after this incident i suppose

[dizmo]

They acted very strangely by seeding review copies (for console) to people a day or so before release. They claimed it was because they were still working on it, but other companies release games in an unfinished state and simply include a disclaimer to the reviewer. The console game, at least on the PS4/Xbox is frankly a joke. Apparently it's slightly better on the next gen (when do we move to calling them current gen, since they're out?) consoles, but still.

 

The whole "we will try to help you" thing seems slightly backhanded. It's like them saying "oh, we'll talk to Sony/Microsoft and ask nicely, but if they say no, well, we did what we said and we tried." No. You developed the game, you can refund the money.

 

There's a reason CDPR's stock took a pretty large hit, and I hope it stays low for a while and teaches them a valuable lesson.

 

Personally I look forward to playing it again in the summer, when it's what it should have been at launch.

 

2 hours ago, HairlessMonkeyBoy said:

I think it's pretty clear in the statement that they had no special arrangement, and were simply asking people to take advantage of existing return policies.

 

But I'm a rare breed, I read things carefully.

They also stated that they should be contacted if initial attempts didn't succeed. So. They made it seem like they'd make special arrangements.

2 hours ago, Gamer Schnitzel said:

I don't see anything wrong with this. People should research a buy beforehand and not just expect companies to bend over backwards. It's also made very clear that this is up to the retailer. Just because a bunch of clueless influencers with clickbait titles misled people it doesn't mean it's the devs fault or problem. I think they shouldn't have commented on this in the first place. 

Really? You don't see a problem with releasing a game that, frankly, is in an unplayable state? Interesting.

1 hour ago, Gamer Schnitzel said:

I still don't get what the problem is. Every single company lies. It's pretty normal and CP2077 is not a game for kids, it's for adults. Adults are fully developed brains that allow them self control unlike kids who just have to buy a Happy Meal at McDonald's because they want that toy, they cannot control themselves. It is a consumer's duty to always avoid giving a business money before you are certain that you want a product. Money is the only incentive for a company to try to give you a good product. As soon as you pre-order you take that incentive away and they will just give you a crappy product. If a consumer falls for marketing and cannot control themselves because a random business told them it's good then it's their own fault. People really need to start trying to be a little more intelligent like me. I never ever pre-order anything until I know exactly what I am buying. If everyone was like me the world would literally be a better place in terms of quality products. Was there ever a company that told consumers that their product is bad so they shouldn't buy it? I hope they will remain tough and not give them refunds because it teaches these people an incredibly important life lesson but if they get their way they will keep doing stupid things like this in the future because they think that if they just cry about it it'll fix it. 

Saying every company lies does not mean that it's ok. Saying that it's fine for a company to release something that's broken or not fit for purpose is not only sad, but in a lot of places, illegal. Not only that, this affects people that bought it on release. NOT a preorder. Thus, your entire thought process doesn't fit the entire reason they have to offer refunds.

[SteveGrabowski0]

17 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

it's always a good idea to not pre-order and wait for people to beta tests, that's for sure, unless they did open beta testing then it's slightly more okay

 

i hope CDPR makes it out of this alive

other game studios might look at this and be afraid to be this ambitious after this incident i suppose

I hope they are afraid to put out garbage like that. If base PS4 can make Ghost of Tsushima and RDR2 look as good as they do there is no excuse for Cyberpunk to be such a steaming turd.

[Gamer Schnitzel]

6 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Really? You don't see a problem with releasing a game that, frankly, is in an unplayable state? Interesting.

Saying every company lies does not mean that it's ok. Saying that it's fine for a company to release something that's broken or not fit for purpose is not only sad, but in a lot of places, illegal. Not only that, this affects people that bought it on release. NOT a preorder. Thus, your entire thought process doesn't fit the entire reason they have to offer refunds.

No I do not see anything wrong with it because it is up to consumers to reward companies for releasing good products. There is no law that says that every single product in existence has to be high quality. Companies simply do what consumers reward them for. I personally think that they should have postponed the game by another month so why did they not do this? Because there was an insane outcry of people spamming social media that if there is one more delay they will not buy the game at all. This comment was top voted on nearly every video on YT and other social media and I can assure you that the developer heard this message loud and clear. Consumers are to blame that an unfinished game was released and now consumers are crying foul and want special treatment after purchasing a product because they did not want to wait for an objective review.

Yes my entire argument is still compleely valid because it does not matter whether you pre-order or not. What matters is how much thought and analysis you put in a purchase. These people clearly did not wait for objective reviews before they bought the game on old gen.

 

I wanted to buy CP2077 but I didn't so I will explain my thought process so maybe you guys will learn for future purchases. 

1. I wanted to buy CP2077.

2. I waited for release and embargo release despite my favourite review site talking about it and showing game footage a day before embargo end.

3. I looked at a review site famous for being critical and half the video was used to talk about and show the various bugs.

4. It was announced that until February there will be 2 major patches to fix the bugs and improve the game experience.

5. I concluded that I will not be buying the product at this time as I do not feel that I would enjoy it currently and will re-evaluate my decision in March once said reviewer will have commented on the said patches.

5. The money incentive is still there for the developer and they are still motivated to work on the game and improve it because I have not given them the money yet and therefore I am still a potential customer.

[ouroesa]

This is why we don't pre-order boys and girls. Wait for reviews etc on release versions.

 

I downloaded the 'demo version' and was not happy with the experience so will try again after some time/updates until I am satisfied and then purchase the game. If it doesn't get to that point, so be it. 

[Master Disaster]

9 minutes ago, Gamer Schnitzel said:

No I do not see anything wrong with it because it is up to consumers to reward companies for releasing good products. There is no law that says that every single product in existence has to be high quality. Companies simply do what consumers reward them for. I personally think that they should have postponed the game by another month so why did they not do this? Because there was an insane outcry of people spamming social media that if there is one more delay they will not buy the game at all. This comment was top voted on nearly every video on YT and other social media and I can assure you that the developer heard this message loud and clear. Consumers are to blame that an unfinished game was released and now consumers are crying foul and want special treatment after purchasing a product because they did not want to wait for an objective review.

Yes my entire argument is still compleely valid because it does not matter whether you pre-order or not. What matters is how much thought and analysis you put in a purchase. These people clearly did not wait for objective reviews before they bought the game on old gen.

 

I wanted to buy CP2077 but I didn't so I will explain my thought process so maybe you guys will learn for future purchases. 

1. I wanted to buy CP2077.

2. I waited for release and embargo release despite my favourite review site talking about it and showing game footage a day before embargo end.

3. I looked at a review site famous for being critical and half the video was used to talk about and show the various bugs.

4. It was announced that until February there will be 2 major patches to fix the bugs and improve the game experience.

5. I concluded that I will not be buying the product at this time as I do not feel that I would enjoy it currently and will re-evaluate my decision in March once said reviewer will have commented on the said patches.

5. The money incentive is still there for the developer and they are still motivated to work on the game and improve it because I have not given them the money yet and therefore I am still a potential customer.

So your essentially saying its the customers fault that CDPR lied to them and sold them a thoroughly broken product then? That its OK for a business to lie in order to rip off its customers because the customer wasn't smart enough to catch them out?

 

Hate to break it to you but what CDPR did here is illegal pretty much everywhere, When a customer buys a product there is a reasonable expectation that the seller hasn't lied to them about the product and that the product will work,

[Monkey Dust]

40 minutes ago, SteveGrabowski0 said:

I hope they are afraid to put out garbage like that. If base PS4 can make Ghost of Tsushima and RDR2 look as good as they do there is no excuse for Cyberpunk to be such a steaming turd.

They must have known it was a steam pile on release. I guess if Christmas was a few months away they might have delayed it again, but it appears they gambled to get the Christmas sales, and it's bitten them on the arse.

 

It's a shame, it's a good game, if you have something that can manage to run it. Is this still an issue on the PS4 Pro and the whatever the fancy last gen Xbox is called?  

[Arika]

what an absolute mess of a launch.

 

This is why you don't get hyped for games and DONT PRE-ORDER FFS.

[Theminecraftaddict555]

5 hours ago, Gamer Schnitzel said:

SNIPPITY DOOT

TLDR, don't preorder games or buy games on release. If games like cyberpunk, that have well respected developers that are known for making awesome games, can fall into this "broken buggy crappy launch" schtick, so can any other game.  

 

Edit: Also there is a problem with companies lying. It being "normal" doesn't change that and don't point fingers solely at the customers (though they are part of the problem) point at the companies who lied.