By Claire Reilly
While there was some good news to come out of the Game administration yesterday – the producers of the newly-released Diablo III game were offering to reimburse Game customers who had not received their copy of the game – the bad stories keep coming in.
Current.com.au yesterday reported that consumers with gift cards, gift vouchers and store credit with the retailer would have heavy restrictions imposed on the use of these credits in stores.
PricewaterhouseCoopers issued a statement saying that administrators would be “prepared to honour existing gift cards, gift vouchers and credit notes for most of the products in our stores or online on the basis that these can only be used for 25% of the total purchase price”.
Several consumers have contacted this website with details on their personal experiences with the retailer following news of the administration and the new redemption rules.
“I have just been advised that I will have to spend four times my store credit amount to get a return on it,” said reader Paul. “I had credit with the store while waiting for the restock of a sold out game. I don't understand how Game can change the terms of my contract with them this way.”
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Another customer, Chris, labelled the new redemption scheme as a “joke”.
“I traded my Xbox, Kinect and games in last week,” he said. “I got a gift card for them of only $70. My wife went in today and was told she had to spend $280 to use the card. Is this illegal as I would think the card is like cash? I think they are trying to rip people off.”
Unfortunately, Australian Consumer Law stipulates that customers who have been affected by an administration are not necessarily entitled to a refund on store credits or vouchers. These customers become “unsecured creditors” and must get in line behind suppliers (who are often owed much larger amounts) in order to recoup their costs.
Let us know your experience with Game – feel free to leave a comment in the box below.