Sony Won't Refund PS4 User Who Lost $600 From Hack
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Questions have been raised over the standard of Sony”s customer services after it was discovered that the victim of a PlayStation 4 hack would not be fully refunded the $600 that was stolen from him.
“The Sony representative told me that they are only permitted to refund” Reddit user Kadjar
A Reddit user, going by the name Kadjar, explained that he awoke on Wednesday morning with a series of email alerts stating that about $600 of content had been purchased through his account. He also discovered that his PlayStation 4 has been deactivated from PSN and another system, of which the location is unknown, has seized control as the primary system on the account.
Having spoken to Sony customer services on several occasions throughout the day, his criticisms of its response was summarized accordingly:
Sony will only refund $150 of the $600 that was taken. The money will be in PSN credit, and not refunded into the bank. If the user escalates the payment dispute with his bank, his account will be banned. If his account is banned, his purchased licences for games, such as The Last of Us Remastered, will be wiped. If the licences are wiped, there is no way of restoring them.
The user”s PlayStation 4 cannot be designated as the primary console for another 6 months, meaning it is locked out of the account until then.
If a PlayStation 4 loses its place as the primary console, users must wait six months to reverse the policy.
Readers on Reddit have voiced outrage at what they consider poor protection from account hacks. Others have urged that this story highlights how important it is that users protect their account with a very strong password, due to the lack of protection should something go wrong.
GameSpot has contacted Sony to discuss the matter or provide some clarification.
Kadjar has published images of his online chat with Sony customer services, and highlights three other cases where users have complained about similar issues.
His post reads:
“This morning, I started receiving emails indicating a number of purchases on my PSN account. As the transactions came in, one-by-one, it became immediately clear that my account had been hacked. I immediately logged into PSN and removed my card from the account, changed my email and password, and simultaneously launched support chats with both Sony and my bank.
“The Sony representative told me that they are only permitted to refund transactions of up to $150. He also informed me that I could dispute the charges with my bank, but by doing so, my account would be banned from PSN. As a result, I would permanently lose all of my purchases, including the Last of Us Remastered.
“He also informed me that my existing PS4 had been deactivated from the network this morning, and that a new one had been activated. When I asked him to deactivate that new, mystery PS4, he said he could not. I then turned on my PS4, logged in with my new credentials, and attempted to activate my PS4 with my account, but it informed me that I could not activate it as long as there was another PS4 bound to my account.
“I called customer support, hoping for some clarification. The agent informed me that there is indeed a refund investigation underway, but that it will be limited to $150, and that it would be credited to my PSN wallet, not my bank account.
“Furthermore, my account will not be able to activate a new system for 6 months, per Sony policy. I”m completely locked out of my own account until that date. I then asked about what would happen if I got my bank to reverse the charges, and he informed me that it would result in a banned account. I asked if there would be any way to restore my purchases, and he told me that there would not be, but I “only have the Last of Us and a couple of the monthly free deal games,” so it”s not a big deal.”
Several Reddit users have offered Kadjar copies of their games, which he has thanked them for, but declined.
“My goal here is bring attention to a few of Sony”s bad customer service policies in the hopes that they”ll change them,” he said.
“The Sony representative told me that they are only permitted to refund” Reddit user Kadjar
A Reddit user, going by the name Kadjar, explained that he awoke on Wednesday morning with a series of email alerts stating that about $600 of content had been purchased through his account. He also discovered that his PlayStation 4 has been deactivated from PSN and another system, of which the location is unknown, has seized control as the primary system on the account.
Having spoken to Sony customer services on several occasions throughout the day, his criticisms of its response was summarized accordingly:
Sony will only refund $150 of the $600 that was taken. The money will be in PSN credit, and not refunded into the bank. If the user escalates the payment dispute with his bank, his account will be banned. If his account is banned, his purchased licences for games, such as The Last of Us Remastered, will be wiped. If the licences are wiped, there is no way of restoring them.
The user”s PlayStation 4 cannot be designated as the primary console for another 6 months, meaning it is locked out of the account until then.
If a PlayStation 4 loses its place as the primary console, users must wait six months to reverse the policy.
Readers on Reddit have voiced outrage at what they consider poor protection from account hacks. Others have urged that this story highlights how important it is that users protect their account with a very strong password, due to the lack of protection should something go wrong.
GameSpot has contacted Sony to discuss the matter or provide some clarification.
Kadjar has published images of his online chat with Sony customer services, and highlights three other cases where users have complained about similar issues.
His post reads:
“This morning, I started receiving emails indicating a number of purchases on my PSN account. As the transactions came in, one-by-one, it became immediately clear that my account had been hacked. I immediately logged into PSN and removed my card from the account, changed my email and password, and simultaneously launched support chats with both Sony and my bank.
“The Sony representative told me that they are only permitted to refund transactions of up to $150. He also informed me that I could dispute the charges with my bank, but by doing so, my account would be banned from PSN. As a result, I would permanently lose all of my purchases, including the Last of Us Remastered.
“He also informed me that my existing PS4 had been deactivated from the network this morning, and that a new one had been activated. When I asked him to deactivate that new, mystery PS4, he said he could not. I then turned on my PS4, logged in with my new credentials, and attempted to activate my PS4 with my account, but it informed me that I could not activate it as long as there was another PS4 bound to my account.
“I called customer support, hoping for some clarification. The agent informed me that there is indeed a refund investigation underway, but that it will be limited to $150, and that it would be credited to my PSN wallet, not my bank account.
“Furthermore, my account will not be able to activate a new system for 6 months, per Sony policy. I”m completely locked out of my own account until that date. I then asked about what would happen if I got my bank to reverse the charges, and he informed me that it would result in a banned account. I asked if there would be any way to restore my purchases, and he told me that there would not be, but I “only have the Last of Us and a couple of the monthly free deal games,” so it”s not a big deal.”
Several Reddit users have offered Kadjar copies of their games, which he has thanked them for, but declined.
“My goal here is bring attention to a few of Sony”s bad customer service policies in the hopes that they”ll change them,” he said.
Comments
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People still registering credit card info on playstations? lol
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sounds like he was gamesharing and someone jacked his ? LMAO
shout out @KillaCham we need to start getting these nigggas again -
That's Fk'ed up. I remember this happen to me a while ago on the 360. Mfer stole my account and spent almost $400 dollars worth of ? . MS refunded all my money but I had to close that account out and make a new one. Lost all most Arcade purchases but I wasn't concern about them ? just wanted my money back.
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Kinda naive if he was expecting them to just hand over $600 based solely on his word. If they handle things like banks, it'll be around two weeks for fraud/compliance to investigate and get back to him. Not exactly bad customer service, just a really frustrating thing to deal with. Rep shouldve been a little clearer with his explanation though.
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funkdocdamc wrote: »People still registering credit card info on playstations? lol
Right, not for no video games. It ain't even that serious lol. -
dogfromduckhunt wrote: »Kinda naive if he was expecting them to just hand over $600 based solely on his word. If they handle things like banks, it'll be around two weeks for fraud/compliance to investigate and get back to him. Not exactly bad customer service, just a really frustrating thing to deal with. Rep shouldve been a little clearer with his explanation though.
Nah, Sony Customer Service been cheeks. I remember people's PS2's bricking, having warranties, and Sony being like, "Yeeeeeeeeah, it'll cost YOU $200 plus shipping for us to fix that." The one common denominator that led to them doing what they were supposed to do? Going completely ape ? on the phone. If you were any type of educated or civil with them, they're dismissive as ? . Call in like Antoine Dodson? Oh, suddenly they pay shipping both ways, give free demos, games, and are apologetic.
They're the corporate equivalent of a female that doesn't know how to be treated nice. -
#4theplayers
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I wouldve gone to the bank, not Sony. But I don't understand why they threatened to ban his acct.
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earth two superman wrote: »I wouldve gone to the bank, not Sony. But I don't understand why they threatened to ban his acct.
The banning is because they don't believe him or feel that the PSN Store is not at fault for his CC info being used for fraud in this case, right now they're considering these purchases legit from the CC holder so if he disputes the charges with the bank and get's them reversed they will ban him as they will see it as passing a bad check...
It would seem Sony would benefit greatly from some sort of fraud department in these call centers, just someone to help assuage the feelings you could have in these situations and have more of a "we will look into it and get back to you in 24-48 hrs" attitude rather than "Oh well your on your own and it's all your fault and we won't help" attitude... -
Damn
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I thought the idea of using a credit card is because you're protected from fraud.
The guy is probably an idiot. -
This is why I buy pre-paid cards for anything I want to buy on PSN.
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Sony is wrong for this...it's their shitry infrastructure. .they should pay all of it
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John_Blazini wrote: »Sony is wrong for this...it's their shitry infrastructure. .they should pay all of it
Yeah they should be liable
Sounds like he may have a case tho
just sucks he's going to need to lawyer up -
So Sony refunded him and unbanned him...
"FINAL UPDATE: After contacting Unicorn--Legal today, a member of Sony's legal team, my account was unblocked. Sony did the right thing in the end and have responded promptly. Thank you all for your support during this turbulent situation, and thank you, Sony, for doing the right thing." -
the ? up part is not the fact they will only give him 150 back. its that even if he got the full 600 dollars back it would be in psn credit. ? his life right now..
and ? sony for only wanting to give psn credit out -
Legit don't see how Sony is in the wrong for this.dogfromduckhunt wrote: »Kinda naive if he was expecting them to just hand over $600 based solely on his word. If they handle things like banks, it'll be around two weeks for fraud/compliance to investigate and get back to him. Not exactly bad customer service, just a really frustrating thing to deal with. Rep shouldve been a little clearer with his explanation though.
Nah, Sony Customer Service been cheeks. I remember people's PS2's bricking, having warranties, and Sony being like, "Yeeeeeeeeah, it'll cost YOU $200 plus shipping for us to fix that." The one common denominator that led to them doing what they were supposed to do? Going completely ape ? on the phone. If you were any type of educated or civil with them, they're dismissive as ? . Call in like Antoine Dodson? Oh, suddenly they pay shipping both ways, give free demos, games, and are apologetic.
They're the corporate equivalent of a female that doesn't know how to be treated nice.
lol. Makes me wish I went with that gamestop warranty now. -
What makes this worse is Sony didn't even lose anything I all of this, it's not like they are taking a loss on physical goods. They being greedy over digital goods, something that's just a copy of data.
