PlayStation India is refusing to refund me a DLC / Add-On for a Game I don’t even own.

PlayStation India is refusing to refund me a DLC / Add-On for a Game I don’t even own. It was an “accidental purchase” while claiming PlayStation Plus freebies, my Credit-Card is linked to my PSN account + I had some PSN Balance which was used.

As soon as I realised, I wrote to Sony PlayStation (India) via email on May 5th. They requested me to wait a week, now “9 days” later they have replied they cannot refund me, stating -
1. 14 Day Policy.
2. The content is applied to my account.
3. That I should have checked and confirmed before buying.

I mean.. what? I’ve clearly mentioned it’s an “accidental purchase!”
These things happen! Right? I shouldn’t have to go through such hassle for something small like this, especially from a company like Sony / PlayStation (India).

1. I complained within minutes, besides it’s “STILL currently well within the 14 day policy”. They told me to wait a week and I waited!
2. How can the content be applied / claimed / downloaded, when “I’ve not even had the base game in my account” in the past or present?

As per the PlayStation (India) website, refunds are accepted for Games, Add-Ons, DLC etc for those items which are not downloaded or streamed. I have done neither, not even owning the base game, within the 14 day policy and they’re still denying me a refund? How? Why?
Sad to see this is how PlayStation (India) customer support handles refunds. Seems like the staff is either just plain lazy or ignorant when it comes to helping a customer out for a simple refund process.

Shame I had to make such a huge deal about this and call them out, when the process could have been smooth and hassle-free.

I have tweeted about this entire thing.

Is there anything else I could do about this? Tweet someone in particular or email a specific person.
Legal / Consumer Forum Complaints? Would this work in my case? I mean, I have all the proof required especially their website clearly mentioning certain steps which I have not crossed, yet they refuse to refund.
The amount is not much, I’m doing this because a big company like Sony / PlayStation shouldn’t overstep on their customers and just because this is India it doesn’t mean they can get away with anything that they feel like.
I’ve read online, for others (people abroad), theres not much issues with these kind of refunds.



—

Should this topic be here or in the ‘General Talk‘ thread?

Darth Vader said:

CC Chargeback ?

Click to expand...

Been advised by several people to “not do this!” They ban accounts!
Besides 95% of the amount was used via PSN balance, 5% went via CC.

puns said:

this is surprising. I had done this once a long time back. I remember I purchased and applied for a refund. I had got the refund. I probably didnt download.
did you write to sonyindia.care@ap.sony.com ?

Click to expand...

Yes, wrote to them and those were their answers posted above.

cellar_door said:

This is a nuclear option but it has always worked for me.

Escalate, escalate, escalate.

Start with their social media, complain on everything. Tag them. Then go to every single piece of Sony website you can find, find emails for anyone high enough up on the chain. Between Linkedin and Apollo (https://www.apollo.io has a free trial) you can find email addresses to most of the top people at Sony. Write a nice, angry email to everyone ("your company scammed me and your customer service lied" is a nice little subject line usually). CC their legal and compliance email addresses that are listed.

They dont check their emails (the ones publicly listed) but those emails are handled by Escalations customer care teams. You will get a call back soon enough.

EDIT I dont do this as a first step, its easier to try it out with regular customer service. But when all else fails, anytime I have had to do this, issue has been resolved in under 2 days lol

Click to expand...

Have asked them to escalate, they replied with the same generic answers.

superczar said:

same here .. i cal look up the mail ID if OP wants…
I had some stupid game worth 4K or so in my existing cart .. didnt check amount while checking out a new intended purchase..
Realized it a good 10 days later but they did refund it after a mail.

I had actually hoped for an automatic refund process so I wasnt too happy when they took a bit of time to revert - but looking at the OPs scenario, I guess my issue was nothing.

On a side note, the refund for non downloaded/ unused digital items of this nature should have been an automated process

Click to expand...

They are being stubborn with my issue, idk why.

—

Too much to write here, I’ve linked below my latest tweets regarding this.

puns said:

are you saying this purchase happened months/years back. if thats the case, I dont think you will get money back

Click to expand...

No. That’s the Free2Play Base Game - Neverwinter. I must’ve added / claimed it months or years ago to my library. Didn’t notice until I checked recently. The game was never downloaded / played in the past or present.
This is regarding the DLC / Add-On I accidentally bought 10 days ago, while claiming PS+ freebies in the exclusive packs section which usually consists of free stuff mainly, I have a habit of claiming anything and everything free from the store.
I notified them that their legal section of the DLC / Add-On store page, it is clearly mentioned free for PS+ users, but somehow I was still charged.

—

UPDATE -
THEY HAVE REFUNDED ME!!

I emailed them this yesterday -

1. If the pack mentions it was for free, how come I was charged for it? I have PlayStation Plus activated for years.
2. What do you’ll mean “it is applied to my account?” Give an elaborate explanation regarding this.
3. The red box marked in the screenshot is your legal info. These words clearly mention it is claimed once I start the game and go to a specific “section within the game” itself, then only it is applied!
4. I have never downloaded or played this game, so how can you’ll say “it is applied?”

You’ll are not following your own terms and conditions. You’ll are contradicting your own rules.
Just because this is India, this is how PlayStation runs things? Overstepping on customers, not following your own terms and conditions?
For a simple refund you’ll are making this into a big issue!!



—

This is their reply via email -

This is in reference to your e-mail dated 15/05/2023.

In accordance with your email, we would like to inform you that you does have the game Neverwinter on this account.

However, in this instance, we have now refunded the add-on as a good will gesture.

We would like to inform you that Rs 80,00 have been returned to your card. The funds may take up to 5 working days to appear on your credit/debit card statement. This delay is entirely dependent on how quickly your bank processes the refund.

Rs 502 have been returned to the account wallet instead, as you used funds from a voucher top up to pay for part of this purchase.

—

The amount may have been small, but that doesn’t mean a corporation can go back on their own terms and conditions, overstep on customers and take them for a ride.
I wouldn’t have bothered so much If it was for a game I’d actually play, they triggered me with the way they replied and handled it.
Hopefully this sets an example that it can be done, if you have all valid proof etc presented.
I believe making enough noise on social media is the only solution currently. Really hope they improve for their own sake.