EU watchdog sues Nintendo for no-refund policy

Nintendo Switch users know that once they make a purchase there is no way to reverse it due to the no refund rules. According to The German Consumer Protection Authority (VZBV), this policy is illegal, and the case will soon be submitted to the court.

Most game distribution services utilize a refund policy which can be used if the case meets certain criteria. For example, users can refund Steam games if they clocked less than 2 hours playing them and the purchase happened less than 2 weeks ago. There are certain exceptions even on Steam but they occur rarely and for specific reasons, like with Artifact where user forfeits the right to refund upon receiving the starter pack.

Nintendo's eShop refuses to refund purchases in any case even if the game in question was preordered. The Norwegian Consumer Council was the first to take action against the Japanese company. According to the watchdog, until the game is downloaded and can be played, the consumer must have the right to refund it and the process must be as easy as a “click of a button”.

Since Nintendo’s European headquarters are situated in Germany, the Norwegian consumer protection body had to refer the case to their colleagues at VZBV.

According to a Norwegian site called Pressfire, the complaint will be officially submitted to the court in 3 or 4 weeks. Such cases usually take a lot of time and it might take several months, so there is no guarantee that the final verdict will be announced sooner than 2020.