SimCity’s server disaster is starting to get out of hand.
A chorus of furious gamers began demanding that the publisher provide refunds for SimCity over the last few days. The city-builder is suffering from widespread problems that prevent players from enjoying it as intended.
While a spokesperson for EA’s Origin digital-distribution service previously told people they could request a refund, EA is backpedaling on this. The publisher is now referring everyone who asks for their money back to its return policy, which states that EA does not offer refunds for any product downloaded on Origin.
https://twitter.com/OriginInsider/status/309784107976634368
On March 5, EA global community manager for Origin Marcel Hatam posted a message to the SimCity forums that points gamers to the service’s help page.
“If you regrettably feel that we let you down, you can — of course — request a refund for your order at http://help.origin.com/contact-us,” wrote Hatam. “Though we are currently still in the process of resolving this issue.”
Hatam since amended the post to refer users to the aforementioned return policy.
That is EA’s official word on the matter. It doesn’t give refunds on digital Origin games, but according to a large number of users on Reddit’s SimCity forum, EA was reportedly giving refunds as recently as yesterday afternoon. Most recent posts on that message board now report that Origin customer service representatives claim that their hands are tied on the matter.
https://twitter.com/OriginInsider/status/309783718321590273
A rumor popped up yesterday that claimed EA was banning players from Origin if they requested a refund. The publisher is denying this; however, customers that dispute the charge with their credit-card company will likely be banned for making a fraudulent purchase on Origin.
In April, consumers voted Electronic Arts as the worst company in America. It’s incidents like this that encourage gamers to vote in those kinds of polls.