Steam legal action
The Australian consumer watchdog is suing the US company behind the wildly popular online video games distribution platform Steam, alleging it misled Australian consumers about their rights and refused to give refunds.
In court documents filed on Thursday, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission alleges that Valve, the maker of Steam, which has over 65 million users worldwide, made false or misleading representations to Australian customers.
Among many allegations, the consumer watchdog said that Valve claimed that Australian consumers were not entitled to a refund for any games sold via Steam under any circumstances. The watchdog also alleges that Valve excluded, restricted or modified statutory guarantees and warranties that goods would be of acceptable quality.
Three Australians are mentioned in court documents who experienced issues with Valve.
On its website Valve states that, unless required by local law, it does "not offer refunds or exchanges" on games.
It's unclear whether Valve will reject the court action as it doesn't have offices in Australia. But the ACCC firmly believes it can sue the company, and is aready in the process of suing other non-Australian companies, such as Visa and its related entities, in relation to other matters.
"The Australian Consumer Law applies to any business providing goods or services within Australia. 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," ACCC chairman Rod Sims said.
"It is a breach of the Australian Consumer Law for businesses to state that they do not give refunds under any circumstances, including for gifts and during sales. Under the Australian Consumer Law, consumers can insist on a refund or replacement at their option if a product has a major fault," Mr Sims said.
The ACCC is seeking declarations, injunctions, pecuniary penalties, disclosure orders, adverse publicity orders, non-party consumer redress, a compliance program order and costs.
"We are making every effort to co-operate with the Australian officials on this matter, while continuing to provide Steam services to our customers across the world, including Australian gamers," Valve spokesman Doug Lombardi told Fairfax Media.
The matter has been filed in the Federal Court's Sydney registry. A date for the first directions hearing is set for October 7, 2014, at the Federal Court in Sydney before Justice Jayne Jagot.
In 2013, Steam was estimated to have been the source of 75 per cent of all online video game purchases on PC.
Source: The Melbourne Age 31/8/14
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games with no refunds.
Originally Posted by Death from Anon
