Why i can't get gem refund if i bought the game 20 days ago from an official retailer?

[Etienne.3049]

Because that's what Anet decided as their policy.That's pretty much all there is to it.

I believe the term "refund" to be a poor choice here, especially for the compensation in gems and sadly this terminology seems to be a major factor in several of the less than helpful replies.A better way of looking at it is that, if I've understood the situation correctly (and I admit I haven't followed this closely as it seems the announcement was so useless I can't be bothered to look for a transcript), they gave 3 levels of compensation depending on various factors:1: Compensation in money equal to the purchase price2: Compensation in gems with an equal retail price to the purchase price3: Compensation in a handfull of ingame stuff

As for the people saying there is no contractual/legal relation between you and Anet, that's just wrong (and kind of besides the point), Anet has the obligation, towards all of us, to provide us access to those areas of the game we paid for, whether they engaged in this relation by proxy (although that might not be the exact English legal term) or directly makes little difference. (That's not an absolute and eternal obligation, circumstances may arise that allow them to get out of the obligation.)What is important is that they aren't reneging on that obligation, those of us who bought HoT will still be able to access the HoT content, they were under no obligation to not give what we paid for away for free.

They are not legally obliged to offer any form of compensation (although not doing so might not go over too well).

Were they able to offer anyone who activated HoT within any period any quantity of gems? Certainly, but they didn't have to and chose not to.Woould it be better/fairer/more reasonable for them to do so? I'd say yes, but that's of little importance as I'm not a shareholder or in any other position to influence their decisions.

All you can do is try to convince them, they might read this thread or perhaps you could have support get you in contact with someone who could do something.If you choose not to or fail to, try to accept that beyond what you paid for you'll get the third type of compensation.

@KelyNeli.4516 said:They could close the servers even tommorow afternoon and you have nothing to say in this matter, read the terms of service.That would largely depend on how good the consumer protection laws in your area are, if such a situation were to occur in the EU I wouldn't bet on it, in the USA, yeah, probably, I don't think they really do consumer protection there.

[b k.1648]

This is simply not going to happen. ANet can't offer refunds for sales made through intermediaries, and retailers can't accept returns for used codes. That's why it explicitly states BLTC or official website: third-party vendors make such an arrangement very complicated, if not actually impossible.

[Skotlex.7580]

@kharmin.7683 said:

@Skotlex.7580 said:

@kharmin.7683 said:

@SeikeNz.3526 said:im not even asking for cash, its just the gems like everyone else would get

Gems are cash for ANet, so ... yeah, you kinda are asking for cash.

except ANet can freely create gems out of thin air, whereas they can't do that with actual money. :D

For which they have no incentive to do so since real money goes to them to purchase gems. Why would they release free gems?

In this specific case: public relationships. The way ANet's policy works for retail sales leave this segment of the customer base with a sour taste, and some of them might leave the game for it (which is potential gems sales lost).

Granted, there might be good reasons why ANet cannot reimburse the gems, or there might not be a good enough reason to support retail refunds. As usual, ANet doesn't disclose the specifics of their decisions publicly.

[mercury ranique.2170]

The short and simple answer is that you need to talk to the reseller. If they refuse to give you a refund, you can always contact support and ask them to assist in the matter. (e.g. contacting the reseller and explaining the situation and helping them to get their refund when they refund you).

Depending on local laws where you live there might be some possibilities to get the money back through legal procedures, but it is akways the reseller who is the person you need to deal with.

[b k.1648]

@Skotlex.7580 said:

@kharmin.7683 said:For which they have no incentive to do so since real money goes to them to purchase gems. Why would they release free gems?

In this specific case: public relationships. The way ANet's policy works for retail sales leave this segment of the customer base with a sour taste, and some of them might leave the game for it (which is potential gems sales lost).

Granted, there might be good reasons why ANet cannot reimburse the gems, or there might not be a good enough reason to support retail refunds. As usual, ANet doesn't disclose the specifics of their decisions publicly.

There's a few reasons, and mostly revolving around who paid who how much.

In retail where returns are guaranteed due to consumer laws etc., the goods are usually refunded at the retailer, sent back to the manufacturer (either via retailer or directly from the customer in some cases), and the manufacturer refunds the commission or wholesale price to the retailer. Something similar would happen in this case if the product was defective.

It's not, however; the refund is just a courtesy gesture. It could be expensive to extend the offer to retailers, and an additional problem is that the price that the retailer bought that copy of HoT for, whenever that was, will not be the same as what the end user paid for it. So if ANet made the offer unilaterally it would be at a loss, and if someone picked it up in a clearance sale for $5, they've just snagged some very cheap gems.