Germany Suing Nintendo For "No Refund" Policy

The United States deciding that video games are more responsible for school shootings than our abundance of guns is obviously ridiculous, especially when there are so many other things you can blame video games for that are actually true and still a very big problem (although perhaps not as big a problem as school shootings). For example, Nintendo, the very good developer who’s also a very bad company and their uncompromising “no refund” policy for anything purchased online, including preorders.

But while America might not have any problem with that, Germany does, and now Nintendo is being taken to court by the Europeans for breaching a number of European consumer protection laws. While this particular problem – the no refund policy – was actually started in Norway, since Germany houses America’s European headquarters, the lawsuit is being moved there as well.

Now, normally, Nintendo really wouldn’t have a defense for this kind of practice outside “we really like money", but Nintendo’s lawyers have crafted a rather scheming way to explain their no-refund policy: Article 16 of European Consumer Law Directive 2011/83. And if for some dumb reason you don’t know what that is, let me explain – it states that companies can ignore the cancellation requirements if "the performance has begun with the consumer's prior express consent, and with the acknowledgment that he will lose his right of withdrawal once the contract has been fully performed by the trader".

So basically, since Nintendo starts pre-loading games the moment you buy it, you “own” it, regardless of if you play it or not. Thus, you cannot cancel or refund your purchase, even if it is a pre-order.

Of course, we have yet to see if this argument will hold water. But I’d like to hope that Germany cuts through the corporate BS and protects the costumer on this one. We could use more wins.