Closed Refund

Hi, I'm really sorry to have to post this here, because this should be a issue between me and customer support but since It's been 3 days without receiving an answer I feel this is the only way to reach them. I don't want to discuss this on public but I don't see an alternative. If Starbound support is willing to move this onto a private enviroment I will be happy to do so. So this said, I won't answer comments except those made by authorities (mods/dev staff/customer support), don't take it as anything personal. Also I apologize in advance for any language misunderstanding that could happen since english is not my first language.

I emailed Chucklefish customer support 20 days ago about a getting a refund for my purchase since they clearly broke their part of the agreement, that what was valid when I bought the preorder (I bough the week after they were open, when release date was 2013, blah blah blah, all that stuff). They first denied it to me saying:

"The game is in early access and we did warn about the potential for crashes, bugs and compatibility issues which we frequently put out patches to fix."

Which is a perfect reason to deny a refund to somebody who bought this game on Steam Early Access, or in any other distribution service at that time. I answered back saying that I actually bought the preorder and not the Early Access, and that the terms you buy an article in can't be changed.

This time, support only answers back this:

"Unfortunately, we aren't able to offer a refund"

Just because.

I emailed back stating the same thing I stated before, Early Access conditions can't be applied to my transaction because it was made on preorder conditions. It's been 3 days and support hasn't answered so I assume my email hasn't arrived because of some weird automated system or they have decided to ignore it. I don't care which is the reason but I'm sorry,I have the right to a refund. Chucklefish side of the agreement hasn't been met. When I feel Starbound is a product worthy of buying (it almost is now, but I'm not asking a refund because of that) I will be happy to buy it again.

In a personal level, I feel like I'm getting punished for trusting the developers too much up to this point, because I could have asked for a refund when preorder conditions were changed months later, when the updates slowed, etc but I didn't. I'm sorry to say I don't trust the Starbound developers ability to deliver the product, but I would be happy to be proven wrong.

That's all I have to say. Thank you for your time.

 

Uhh, before pre-orders went up it was stated that the game most likely wouldn't be out by the end of 2013 but that the beta definitely would be. So I'm not sure what pre-order conditions "changed" since you got it.

 

Also, you can't go to a developer to get a refund on steam, can you? You have to go to Steam for that.

 

Why do you want a refund. I really don't know.

 

Though I personally don't agree with those folks who have purchased games knowing about betas, per-orders, early access and all that, and after playing many many hours on said games, I thought I'd let you know there have been other such requests, (easily searched for instead of posting this way, FYI- here) so this thread can be closed. The best most direct route is to email Chucklefish directly- support@chucklefish.org

 

It's not about money (15$ is not a great amount in the videogame market) I want a refund because of principle. I don't like the direction the game is going. I gave them my confidence not ordering a refund several times I could/should have: When they changed preorder terms, when 4 million dollars only help got Starbound from 31 Dec to 3 Dec (and only in "beta" phase), when they seem to forget content promises or the direction of the game (story beign dark and adult), when they started other projects, etc. I'm very sorry to say this, but I don't trust Chucklefish ability to develop Starbound anymore. That is the reason I'm asking a refund, but not the reason why I have the right to it. I'm entitled to a refund because the conditions I bought the preorder in have not been met. "FAQ: Q. What if you don't get enough preorders, will the game be unfinished? A.No, the Starbound is going to make it out in 2013 no matter what. But by preordering you help it get here even faster.”, http://i.imgur.com/YGIhmHy.png. This have been discused thousands of times and this is not the thread to do it.

About the reason not to give me a refund, I agree. "Unfortunately, we aren't able to offer a refund" is everything support wrote (saving formalities). As I said, if I had bought the game on Steam or any other service when beta released, I woudn't have the rigth to a refund because of the reasons they stated on the first answer, but that's not the case.. I sent the message July 1st (Tuesday) and I haven't received an answer when I wrote the post (Friday the 4th) and I still don't have an answer today. I'm still waiting but I'm not in a hurry. It's just that after beign denied a refund without a reason and not receiving an answer to my response made feel weird.

I loved the concept of starbound (and I still do), If I didn't, I wouldn't have bought a 4-pack convincing my friends to buy it too. But I'm dissapointed in the result. I can understand people not wanting a refund and keep having faith on the game, but I'm sorry, I can't.

I'm posting here because I've already used chucklefish support. Please read my full post.

 

Just a heads up -- the entirety of Chucklefish has weekends "off", so it's not unusual that you haven't heard from them in the last 2-3 days. In fact, being on London time, I think they should just now be getting back to their offices.

I would not expect a refund though.

 

Just wan't to clearify some things

They're publishing (not actively developing) a bunch of other games and have another game (the pirate game) in a pre-production phase, which will be developed by a completely new team at a revenue (of the pirate game) shared basis.

Have you probably missed the nightly builds ? They're def. showing some nice progress. You might want to check them out, if you haven't before. =)

 

The reason they won't refund you is because they they will have to refund everyone else, which could get messy.

 

They aren't obligated to refund anyone anyway. They are still actively developing and intend to release the finished product. Also the OP has 27 hours played according to Steam, that's not an insignificant amount of time (significantly cheaper than seeing a movie).

 

Notice how in that picture you linked it reads ETA and ESTIMATED Release Date, it's an estimate, as in not set in stone.
Also, it did "make it out no matter what". The game was made available, you can play it. No promises were made for a FULL 100% completed release in 2013.

 

I honestly dont' see what good this is going to do. Email support@chucklefish like you did before asking for an update.