Earlier today, Good Old Games released a statement regarding the European Union refund change. In it, GOG not only are willing to honor the 14 day no-questions-asked refund policy, but also to take it a step further. Any purchase from the online PC game store will be subject to a 30 day refund policy, and what’s more, it’s worldwide.
“We thought this might be a pretty good time to say a word or two about how we do things, recent changes, and our approach to your customer experience.”
Refunds via digital store outlets has been a hot topic as of late: Valve ask that their customers waive their right to a refund as soon as they hit the purchase button, due to the fact the product is provided instantly. Yuck.
GOG on the other hand are much more liberal with their refund policy. “European Union law states that you should have 14 days to withdraw from a purchase.” GOG explains. “That’s not a bad deal, but it’s not always enough. We think that 30 days is more like it, and that worldwide is just nicer – within that period, we only consider your purchase final if you’ve already started to actually download your game.
“We want all of our customers to feel that our refund policy is there to give you a comfortable experience – not that we were forced into having one.”
But it doesn’t end there. GOG will also provide you with a refund if you run into “technical issues” when trying to play your newly purchased game; contacting customer service will even stop the 30 day timer on your refund window.
Do you think this should be the norm across all digital outlets?