With this bit of news taking us all by surprise today, Valve is being sued by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
In an article posted on Kotaku, the ACCC claims that Valve’s refund policy for games on Steam goes against Australian Consumer Law as it does not provide any refunds for users. The ACCC have provided their findings below:
The ACCC alleges that Valve made false or misleading representations to Australian customers of Steam that:
– consumers were not entitled to a refund for any games sold by Valve via Steam in any circumstances;
– Valve had excluded, restricted or modified statutory guarantees and/or warranties that goods would be of acceptable quality;
– Valve was not under any obligation to repair, replace or provide a refund for a game where the consumer had not contacted and attempted to resolve the problem with the computer game developer; and the statutory consumer guarantees did not apply to games sold by Valve.
For those wondering why Australian Consumer Law is important, its standout purpose is to ensure that consumers can be given a refund by a business. ACCC Chairman Rod Sims states that “Valve may be an American based company with no physical presence in Australia, but it is carrying on business in Australia by selling to Australian consumers, who are protected by the Australian Consumer Law.”
Valve have responded to the matter, with Vice President of Marketing Doug Lombardi stating “we are making every effort to cooperate with the Australian officials on this matter, while continuing to provide Steam services to our customers across the world, including Australian gamers”.
We’ll update this article when we hear more info.