GOG.Com on Customer Service [Mar 25, 2015, 5:56 pm ET] – Share – Viewing Comments
There's a new
State of Customer Experience post on GOG.com where they outline their
approach to customer support. Presumably taking advantage of recent
attention drawn to how Steam requires a forfeiture of rights to a refund upon
installing a game, they highlight how liberal their policies are:
In which we talk about our relationship with you.
Refunds, terms of use, customer support - it's the hot button issue right now and it's been on our minds as well. We thought this might be a pretty good time to say a word or two about how we do things, recent changes, and our approach to your customer experience.
Refunds.
We've got 'em, and here are the basics you might need to know:
You have 30 days, worldwide. Hitting "Buy" doesn't waive your rights.
European Union law states that you should have 14 days to withdraw from a purchase. That's not a bad deal, but it's not always enough. We think that 30 days is more like it, and that worldwide is just nicer - within that period, we only consider your purchase final if you've already started to actually download your game. We want all of our customers to feel that our refund policy is there to give you a comfortable experience - not that we were forced into having one.
You can still get a refund for technical issues after downloading your game.
Downloading a game doesn't mean you're on your own, you still have our guarantee that it works!
If you have your game, but it doesn't work for one of the million reasons that just happen - we're here to help. We want you to be able to play your game, and if you can't, there's no reason why you should be stuck with it. We call this the Money Back Guarantee. If your game doesn't work due to technical issues, and our support team is unable to help you fix it, we'll offer you a refund - and two ways to do it. You'll have the choice of a refund in store credit, (this is almost immediate), or back to your card/PayPal account (if you're okay with waiting a few days to be cleared by your card or account issuer). You have 30 days to contact us after making your purchase, but there's no rush - your refund-timer stops ticking once you get in touch.
Customer support
We think that good customer support is one of the pillars of an awesome GOG.com experience. A hard time getting through to a living, breathing, human being can be one of the most frustrating things ever. But that's just not us.
Our support team is a cool, friendly bunch of people. Emphasis on people. They're really good at what they do, and they're here to provide you with a friendly, personal way to get in touch. We offer in-house tech support for all your problems, crashes, and other (totally not PEBKAC) issues, and we'll provide full support with no time restrictions. If that game you bought two years ago isn't working anymore, we might just be able to help. We'll take the time to walk you through any suggestions, and do our best to accommodate your non-technical needs - but that doesn't mean we can't work fast. Beginning January of this year, the waiting time for your average support ticket response was under 24 hours, and we got your problems completely resolved in under 36 hours.
Still, there's no reason why we couldn't do even better: we recently started offering support on Saturdays and Sundays, and the team just got a bit bigger. You can now write to us in English, French and German, and we plan to include more languages as we continue to expand. We're planning a significant update to our website support section, so finding information and getting in touch should be much easier. Soon, we'll also offer a much finer way to track your purchases and gifts, while all orders eligible for our Money Back Guarantee will be clearly labeled.
That's our two cents. We hope that this gives all of you a better (and much needed) inside look at customer experience and support from our perspective. If you have any questions, feel free to drop us a line in the comments section. We're here to talk!
This should really be the standard return policy for every software vendor.
I don't think most people will use the return policy as a rental service (and it should be easy to see who is doing that and ban them anyway).
Good for GOG. Maybe I'll throw my purchases over there instead of Steam. I lose nothing hedging my bets..
I don't think most people will use the return policy as a rental service (and it should be easy to see who is doing that and ban them anyway).
Good for GOG. Maybe I'll throw my purchases over there instead of Steam. I lose nothing hedging my bets..
Uh. Did you notice this part?
"we only consider your purchase final if you've already started to actually download your game"
Pretty sure this is not going to come close to letting people use the return policy as a rental service...
"we only consider your purchase final if you've already started to actually download your game"
Pretty sure this is not going to come close to letting people use the return policy as a rental service...
Not to mention they absorb the costs on regional pricing to keep it fair for everyone. GoG fucking rocks, which is why the big pubs want nothing to do with them. The more we can all buy on GoG and not Steam the better!
One of the unsung heroes of game publishing/digital downloads business. I've never had a single complaint doing business with GoG.
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"Both the “left” and the “right” pretend they have the answer, but they are mere flippers on the same thalidomide baby, and the truth is that neither side has a clue."
- Jim Goad
Hump wrote on Mar 25, 2015, 19:07:
One of the unsung heroes of game publishing/digital downloads business. I've never had a single complaint doing business with GoG.
My only complaint is their lack of DRM...oh, wait.
Total-Khaos wrote on Mar 25, 2015, 19:22:Hump wrote on Mar 25, 2015, 19:07:
One of the unsung heroes of game publishing/digital downloads business. I've never had a single complaint doing business with GoG.
My only complaint is their lack of DRM...oh, wait.
/giggle I see what you did there... ; )
I could have bought Wild Hunt for cheaper but I pre-ordered from GOG as soon as it was announced. They are a quality supplier that /shock horror listens to their customers and actually tries to make you feel like your business means something (as opposed to EA who force you to use Origin and still insist on bending you over afterwards).
Good old GoG!
I buy everything that I can through GOG due to it's DRM free policy. GOG>Steam.
Man, kudos to them. Competition is a wonderful thing.
It will be interesting to see how they handle abusers. Costco used to have a 6 month return policy, cut it down to 3. I knew a guy would would get stuff there and keep it for as long as he could before returning it for a full refund.
It will be interesting to see how they handle abusers. Costco used to have a 6 month return policy, cut it down to 3. I knew a guy would would get stuff there and keep it for as long as he could before returning it for a full refund.
If Russia stops fighting, the war ends. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine ends. Slava Ukraini!
30 days returning if you haven't downloaded yet, ok, whatever. How often does that happen. But ok, thanks.
In regards to tech issues, 30 days is very liberal, 36 hours to me seems reasonable, in terms of needing to report after download. But more the merrier.
But there is always room to improve customer service, there are plenty of startups that hit it big with very liberal return policies, that is how they got their following and they know most people don't take them up on it.
However... Egghead is what "could happen", they were a brick and mortar that had a 30 day return. Tons abused it, over time you would raise the bar of satisfaction. In the end they sold and also pointed issue with return abuse.
GoG needs and should be doing what they are doing, that is how you compete with #1, offer more incentive and superior support.
I still find buying a game and 36 hours to report technical issues reasonable for a refund. And/or game time playing a factor in returns or not.
In regards to tech issues, 30 days is very liberal, 36 hours to me seems reasonable, in terms of needing to report after download. But more the merrier.
But there is always room to improve customer service, there are plenty of startups that hit it big with very liberal return policies, that is how they got their following and they know most people don't take them up on it.
However... Egghead is what "could happen", they were a brick and mortar that had a 30 day return. Tons abused it, over time you would raise the bar of satisfaction. In the end they sold and also pointed issue with return abuse.
GoG needs and should be doing what they are doing, that is how you compete with #1, offer more incentive and superior support.
I still find buying a game and 36 hours to report technical issues reasonable for a refund. And/or game time playing a factor in returns or not.
Tom wrote on Mar 25, 2015, 18:28:
Uh. Did you notice this part?
"we only consider your purchase final if you've already started to actually download your game"
Pretty sure this is not going to come close to letting people use the return policy as a rental service...
You still have up to 30 days after that to get a refund for technical issues. I don't doubt they try harder than most to get your issues straightened out (even if just as research for making their stuff work as well as possible), but it'd be pretty easy to tell them a game doesn't work after you've taken a week to play through it. You probably won't be able to use that excuse very often, but I'm sure it's possible. Without DRM, they have no way to prove whether you've already enjoyed the game or not.
Using it as a rental service seems like an odd thing to do given you could just pirate games outright for about the same amount of effort and without having anyone hold on to your money in the mean time. I'm sure it would be done, but not by many people.
jacobvandy wrote on Mar 25, 2015, 20:25:
You still have up to 30 days after that to get a refund for technical issues.
Why does it have to be technical issues? What if I think something about the game in question is ass (aka a deal breaker) and don't want to play it?
Example: The combat controls for The Witcher (Yes, their game) sucked so bad I barely made it though the tutorial and gave up. Subsequently I never went any further nor bought the sequels.
There was no "getting used to it".
I outright hated it.
And it's unfortunate because everyone says what a great RPG it is. I'll never find out.
/shrug
Now, before folks pounce on me about MY personal preferences and tell me how great The Witcher is, and how I'm missing out, blah blah blah...
THE POINT IS: There are a lot of games out there that have some fucked up aspect that doesn't make them worth purchasing... and no amount of doing your homework will reveal it until you actually try the game.
The only reason I don't feel ripped off from the Witcher was because I bought the DRM Free version (When it first came out on DVD... Pre-GOG I think) and I voted with my wallet for that. That said... I'm still disappointed in my purchase.
So... Technical difficulties shouldn't be the only reason to be able to get a refund.
...and Obviously I'm not talking about someone abusing getting refunds (using as a rental system). I have over 100 games and there are a small handful that I regret buying... and wouldn't have if I gotr to try them first.
This comment was edited on Mar 25, 2015, 21:13.
Get your games from GOG DAMMIT!
That is why there should be a small period of time, no questions asked refund. You also are explaining the Egghead issue, you will find your tolerances get lower and lower knowing you have a refund option.
GoG just happens to be at that point in their history where they are still enjoying getting screwed. That will change.
My faith in the average customer is...well...I have none.
My faith in the average customer is...well...I have none.
Aero wrote on Mar 25, 2015, 20:35:That's a good point although I could still see someone abusing this due to the convenience and support from GoG.
Using it as a rental service seems like an odd thing to do given you could just pirate games outright for about the same amount of effort and without having anyone hold on to your money in the mean time. I'm sure it would be done, but not by many people.
If Russia stops fighting, the war ends. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine ends. Slava Ukraini!
@wtf man
I wonder if there are mods that might make the Witcher more tolerable by now.
I wonder if there are mods that might make the Witcher more tolerable by now.
If Russia stops fighting, the war ends. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine ends. Slava Ukraini!
Aero wrote on Mar 25, 2015, 20:35:You could pirate the game, maybe get a virus, and probably get something that doesn't work quite as well as the real thing. Or you could "buy" it, get your enjoyment out of a properly functioning copy, and then get a refund. Abusing too lenient refund policies makes all the sense in the world.
Using it as a rental service seems like an odd thing to do given you could just pirate games outright for about the same amount of effort and without having anyone hold on to your money in the mean time. I'm sure it would be done, but not by many people.
But in any case, GoG seems to have their head on straight here, since you only get a refund if you haven't downloaded it.
jdreyer wrote on Mar 25, 2015, 22:13:
@wtf man
I wonder if there are mods that might make the Witcher more tolerable by now.
I found this mod at nexus and it is the only reason I was able to finish the game. I too hated the control scheme in the release version.
Full Combat Rebalance @ Nexus Mods: http://www.nexusmods.com/witcher/mods/237/?
You're alright by me, GOG. 
ViRGE wrote on Mar 25, 2015, 22:31:
You could pirate the game, maybe get a virus, and probably get something that doesn't work quite as well as the real thing.
That's true, and it's why when GOG started encrypting some stuff and we had a thread on here about it I mentioned how it could be construed as indirect DRM because it made pirating the files more risky. So, yeah, they are aware of it.
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