September 28, 2010 at 22:30Reality Unreal or Buyer Always Wrong
In March 2010, an invitation to the conference "The evolution of legislation in the field of software quality" was sent to the mailing list. The main speaker was Cem Kaner, JD (Doctor of Law), PhD, a professor at the Florida Institute of Technology, in general, a serious comrade. And the theses were also very attractive (I quote in my translation):
- why software manufacturers have no obligations comparable to manufacturers of other products;
- how, from the point of view of the law, software services should be interpreted ( namely, services, not software - my note );
- The legality of restricting rights to reverse engineering.
Etc. The conference was supposed to be very interesting. Unfortunately, I didn’t get on it.
In the light of some recent events, I wanted to speculate about the first paragraph of the plan. So, “Why do software manufacturers have no obligations comparable to manufacturers of other products?”
Let's start with double recognition. My wife is an Amazon addict, and I, in turn, am a Steam addict. She can spend hours choosing a gift on Amazon - comparing descriptions, reading customer reviews, etc. I can spend about the same amount of time looking for ancient computer games and nostalgically looking at 640x480 screenshots. Not that we bought a lot, no, but the selection process is addictive. In this aspect, both Amazon and Steam and many other online trading services are very addictive: A lot of Products. Symptoms are the same as those of a book lover who ended up in London’s huge six-story Waterstone's bookstore. But! The serious differences between the same Amazon and Steam become clear as soon as it comes to shopping.
Most of the items purchased on Amazon can be returned (or replaced)if you suddenly didn’t like them, didn’t come up, or if you suddenly regretted the money spent on this nonsense. Pack and ship within 30 days, even shipping will most likely not cost anything. Very convenient, isn't it. And this is by no means a laudatory ode exclusively to Amazon; most online and "ordinary" stores provide the same opportunities. Even the mattress, on which you found it uncomfortable to sleep, can be returned within a month.
Everything is completely different in Steam. The only way to refuse a purchase is to cancel the pre-order before the release of the game. In all other cases, money already spent cannot be returned in any way.
And this is very strange and, at the same time, very bad for two reasons.
Firstly, it is not clear how the game differs from the same mattress. Both that, and that - the goods. A product that may not fit / dislike / did not suit the quality. Moreover, in the case of a mattress, the return process is definitely more difficult, and the prospects of reselling the mattress on which they slept for 29 days (out of the permissible 30 to “try”) are doubtful.
Secondly, by denying customers the opportunity to refuse the goods and demand their money back, we lose the effective feedback mechanism. Imagine that Toyota would have the opportunity to refuse the exchange of defective cars with a depressing gas pedal. Or Nokia with their exploding batteries - “it’s already tied to your account, we can’t do anything.” The situation is absurd, but in Steam it is in the order of things.
A recent example: Civilization V came out monstrously buggy and with AI at the level of an underdeveloped baby. Howling in the specialized forums is still worth it; judging by the polls, more than half of the visitors are dissatisfied with the game. However, players do not have the opportunity to return the game, and thereby show their attitude towards the release of a low-quality product. The question is why? The answer is because it’s not profitable for the publisher. But wait, after all, returning shoes purchased on Amazon that did not fit in size is not profitable for Amazon - at least you need to pay shipping in both directions. What is the difference between two goods, one of which can be returned or exchanged, and the second not?
I do not see this difference. I see only the difference in relation to the buyer. Instead of the usual “customer is always right,” we get the exact opposite.
Typically, when it comes to piracy, publishers' advocates put an equal sign between “virtual” goods (in our case, games) and “real” (read — boots or mattresses). But as soon as it comes to the return of money, five gigabytes of garbage on the disk are much more significant than the same shoes. No guarantee of quality, and do not even dare to be unhappy.
What the hell is asking?
I would love to know what Professor Cem Kaner of Florida Technological thinks about this. It’s possible I’ll even write him a letter if I find the address. I am almost sure that the current state of things is not only bothering me.
I also wonder how things are with other software and other online services. The fact that there is no guarantee is a given, I believe, everywhere. But what about the refund? For example, Microsoft, it will not be remembered by night, it allows the return of its products within 45 days . With a lot of reservations and limitations, but still there is a chance to get money back for, say, Windows. I do not know how real it is; I have not yet had to try this mechanism in practice.
It will be necessary to delve into this somehow at your leisure.
All the best, take care of your money.
- why software manufacturers have no obligations comparable to manufacturers of other products;
- how, from the point of view of the law, software services should be interpreted ( namely, services, not software - my note );
- The legality of restricting rights to reverse engineering.
Etc. The conference was supposed to be very interesting. Unfortunately, I didn’t get on it.
In the light of some recent events, I wanted to speculate about the first paragraph of the plan. So, “Why do software manufacturers have no obligations comparable to manufacturers of other products?”
Let's start with double recognition. My wife is an Amazon addict, and I, in turn, am a Steam addict. She can spend hours choosing a gift on Amazon - comparing descriptions, reading customer reviews, etc. I can spend about the same amount of time looking for ancient computer games and nostalgically looking at 640x480 screenshots. Not that we bought a lot, no, but the selection process is addictive. In this aspect, both Amazon and Steam and many other online trading services are very addictive: A lot of Products. Symptoms are the same as those of a book lover who ended up in London’s huge six-story Waterstone's bookstore. But! The serious differences between the same Amazon and Steam become clear as soon as it comes to shopping.
Most of the items purchased on Amazon can be returned (or replaced)if you suddenly didn’t like them, didn’t come up, or if you suddenly regretted the money spent on this nonsense. Pack and ship within 30 days, even shipping will most likely not cost anything. Very convenient, isn't it. And this is by no means a laudatory ode exclusively to Amazon; most online and "ordinary" stores provide the same opportunities. Even the mattress, on which you found it uncomfortable to sleep, can be returned within a month.
Everything is completely different in Steam. The only way to refuse a purchase is to cancel the pre-order before the release of the game. In all other cases, money already spent cannot be returned in any way.
And this is very strange and, at the same time, very bad for two reasons.
Firstly, it is not clear how the game differs from the same mattress. Both that, and that - the goods. A product that may not fit / dislike / did not suit the quality. Moreover, in the case of a mattress, the return process is definitely more difficult, and the prospects of reselling the mattress on which they slept for 29 days (out of the permissible 30 to “try”) are doubtful.
Secondly, by denying customers the opportunity to refuse the goods and demand their money back, we lose the effective feedback mechanism. Imagine that Toyota would have the opportunity to refuse the exchange of defective cars with a depressing gas pedal. Or Nokia with their exploding batteries - “it’s already tied to your account, we can’t do anything.” The situation is absurd, but in Steam it is in the order of things.
A recent example: Civilization V came out monstrously buggy and with AI at the level of an underdeveloped baby. Howling in the specialized forums is still worth it; judging by the polls, more than half of the visitors are dissatisfied with the game. However, players do not have the opportunity to return the game, and thereby show their attitude towards the release of a low-quality product. The question is why? The answer is because it’s not profitable for the publisher. But wait, after all, returning shoes purchased on Amazon that did not fit in size is not profitable for Amazon - at least you need to pay shipping in both directions. What is the difference between two goods, one of which can be returned or exchanged, and the second not?
I do not see this difference. I see only the difference in relation to the buyer. Instead of the usual “customer is always right,” we get the exact opposite.
Typically, when it comes to piracy, publishers' advocates put an equal sign between “virtual” goods (in our case, games) and “real” (read — boots or mattresses). But as soon as it comes to the return of money, five gigabytes of garbage on the disk are much more significant than the same shoes. No guarantee of quality, and do not even dare to be unhappy.
What the hell is asking?
I would love to know what Professor Cem Kaner of Florida Technological thinks about this. It’s possible I’ll even write him a letter if I find the address. I am almost sure that the current state of things is not only bothering me.
I also wonder how things are with other software and other online services. The fact that there is no guarantee is a given, I believe, everywhere. But what about the refund? For example, Microsoft, it will not be remembered by night, it allows the return of its products within 45 days . With a lot of reservations and limitations, but still there is a chance to get money back for, say, Windows. I do not know how real it is; I have not yet had to try this mechanism in practice.
It will be necessary to delve into this somehow at your leisure.
All the best, take care of your money.