So this is going to be my first thread, I realize it is on the tech support sub-forum but I'm posting it in the hopes that it may help someone else who is going through issues with this game and perhaps will be able to learn anything that might be helpful to their given situation. If the mods deem that this thread is violating the forum rules then they can lock and erase it. To everyone else whatever you choose to do as far as your copy of Skyrim goes, good luck.
Here is the response to the complaint I filed against Gamestop(the retailer where I purchased my copy) and my response back to them:
"Our research in regards to this situation has found:

That this would not be a complaint that would be directed at GameStop as GameStop is not the manufacturer.
GameStop has a non return policy on opened new product however it can receive a trade value
Any dispute over a full refund will need to be sent to Bethesda
We consider this matter closed.

It is GameStop/EB Games position that we have given the customer due diligence in regards to this situation and considers this issue closed."

My response to that was this:
"Regardless I have resolved the issue on my own working with my local GameStop store where I purchased my copy of the PS3 version of Skyrim. I still am unsatisfied with the amount of trouble I had to go through to come to terms with my store and I am also unsatisfied with the response that was given to this complaint and here are the reasons why:

1. Title 15 > chapter 2 > subchapter 1 > section 52 of the Federal Trade Commission Act states it shall be unlawful for any person, partnership, or corporation to disseminate, or cause to be disseminated, any false advertisemant. The PS3 version of Skyrim's quality was vouched for himself by the VP of Public Relations for Bethesda, Pete Hines as can be seen in this article as well as the actual tweet itself dated at Sept 14th(before the actually release date of the game which was 11/11/2011 and that I had pre-ordered at 10/26/2011)@ 2:37 pm:
http://myona.com/201...ns-ps3-quality/
https://twitter.com/#!/DCDeacon

2. Many people on the forums of Bethesda are also reporting similar issues and while Bethesda claims that they are working on a patch for this problem no one stated this problem would be consistent with the purchase of the copy of the game i.e. Gamestop or any other retailer. Here are some examples of the problem:
http://www.youtube.c...eature=youtu.be
and this video was posted after the 1.2 patch for the PS3 version of Skyrim:
http://www.youtube.c...h?v=rU7XS__ElRU
The forums are flooding with people experiencing the same issue proving this is not a single isolated incident:
http://forums.bethso...-playstation-3/

3. Ign(major game review site) has officially recognized the issues as well:
http://ps3.ign.com/a.../1214016p1.html

Since I was able to resolve the issue(through much trial and error) with my local Gamestop store I will no longer be seeking a full refund. However, I'll have it noted that my dealings with Gamestop as far as new digital purchases go will cease to continue indefinitely. I will also inform others through gaming forums and such how your company handled the issue as well."

Thanks goes to Zidane Tribal for his video references.

My dealings with Gamestop over Skyrim ended as expected, with them denying me a refund. From now on I am purchasing everything from another retailer, or even an online retailer.

good job

cool story bro

Thing is, Gamestop isn't responsible for the problem. If you're having a problem with something you purchase, contact the manufacturer. Gamestop is well within its rights to have a "no refunds" policy, especially since it deals almost solely with software, which is very easy to copy. If they didn't have that policy, they wouldn't remain in business for very long - people would buy games, copy them, then return them for a refund.

In fact, I challenge you to find a single store that sells software without a "no refunds on opened software" policy.

In the UK, there is the Sale of Goods Act 1979, which states that anything sold must be fit for purpose. Sellers often have Terms and Conditions associated with sales/returns etc, but always, the purchaser's Statutory Rights are not affected, If the product is not fit for purpose, the vendor must refund the cost. Simples.

That's rather odd, considering how any reasonable person should, in theory, understand a "no refunds on opened software" policy, ESPECIALLY with all of the flapping about of mouths regarding media piracy.

As put above my post, here in the UK, it is the responsibility of the retailer to ensure the product they are selling is fit for purpose. Any issues following that fall to the retailer not the manufacturer in cases where the retailer is third party to the manufacture. Basically, shop owners shouldn't willingly sell us products with faults without notifying the customer pre-purchase, its down to the retailer to make sure they are selling quality goods.

A good example is the xbox, since the discovery of the RROD, GAME and Gamestation are obliged by company policy (they are owned by the same company) to alert customers that the RROD exists, its a possibility and most probably will happen at some point down the line. Now they sugar coat it by adding in GAME insurance, but thats not the point, they HAVE to let the customer know.

The no refunds on opened software was introduced to combat the rising issue of pre-console PC gamers taking a product home, ripping the ISO to their HDD and returning the product the same day. However No instore policy here in the UK is allowed to effect your statutory rights, meaning they can say what they want, they sell you skyrim without pointing out the PS3 issue, you can return for a full refund.

Id be highly suprised if the US didnt have something similar

Is this in response to my post? Regardless of a 'reasonable person' understanding a 'no refunds' policy, at the end of the day, if it doesn't work, the consumer is protected, and gets refunded. By law.

The US doesn't. Our retailers are free to shaft us as hard as they want, but we're also free to take our business elsewhere. It keeps most businesses honest.



The bug ... hell, call a spade a spade - it's a memory leak ... wasn't noticed until after the game's release, and people plowed into it. So you can't really say that it's their fault for not notifying you - the problem simply didn't exist at the time of purchase.



I'm not familiar with the UK laws, but if that's the case, then I'm going to move to the UK, just so I can get all of my games for free!

Just like you can rip ISOs of PC games, you can also rip ISOs of console games. It's not limited to the PC.

You're missing the point - it has to be broken!! :facepalm:

Yes, and just like the xbox, when the problem was found, the retailers gave full refunds to those that requested it.


And no.. its not free.. you cant return something for general bugs, it has to be game breaking issues that mean the original product cant be used to its intended purpose. This means a game you physically cannot complete because of an issue is faulty.

Interesting. Thanks for posting!!

That is absolute rubbish, there is something to protect the consumer called the "sales of goods act" they have a right to refund you as they were the ones who sold you this. I have given about 5 people refunds for this game.

The game has a defect which in any court of law no matter what the terms and conditions are would be in favour of the consumer due to the circumstances

I,m gonna try this today T an ebgames I'm gonna try either exchanging my ps3 copy for a pc copy I know there not gonna refund me, then I'll prob post it online and sell it for $50 or so I'll take a cut but at least I'll be buying a new game and never a Beth game,I've even deterred some family from buying it for their kids as gifts this Xmas . After its all fixed and is the way it should I could care less if other buy from them,But not me.




It,s been almost a month now and no fix Beth your treating your customers who put that Porsche in yours Driveway, like junk.I hope you don,t win GOTY award on this junk title.

I returned mine to Tesco's in the UK with some grief, having spoken to customer services on the phone who assured me there would be no problem with a refund the staff in store were not as helpful and attempted to deny me my rights, I however stood my ground and ended up after about 40 minutes of being led around in circles stating to some upper management guy who they'd called 'This is really simple, you either abide by the law and give me a full refund (an exchange or instore credit is not acceptable and the law backs you on this) or I take you to court, end of discussion.' Was asked to hand the phone back to in store management and then had my refund processed about a minute later.

This.
I'll add that the most likely the only reason Gamestop is trying to weather this out and be so stubborn is because Bethesda doesn't acknowledge that the problem is effecting everyone as a whole(which it may very well be true some people aren't experiencing problems but from what I see to many are having them to be denied the right of a refund, especially those who bought the collectors edition). Bethesda denied me a refund during my phone conversation shifting responsibility to my retailer. So one of them was giving me false information. I'm guessing since Gamestop finally caved after multiple conversations with the store manager(He didn't give me a refund but full store credit on the game instead of the 30 dollar trade in which I was willing to work with) that they know they're responsible for this situation as well.
Also I didn't post this thread to start arguing on the ethics of obtaining a refund from retailer/manufacturer. If you feel like waiting for Bethesda to patch your game or if you aren't having any problems with the game then more power to you. It is a good game when it works as intended. It wasn't the case for me and it seems the same for many others on this subforum.

I'll also say if you're really interested in debating the issue I'm willing to admit I'm wrong. Just source your information. This is the internet after all.

They offered you a 30$ trade in for the collectors? If thats the case ill prob get 5 $ for my non collectors if the exchange don't work. In that case i'll prob never buy a game from eb again ill take my hard earned $ to wal-mart.lol

I'm fine with no refund but I just wish I could exchange it for the 360 or PC version of the same game.

I spoke with the manager of my local Game Stop and he offered me a full refund with proof of receipt. No exchanges, etc...full refund. I even bought mine at the midnight release, so it's been well over a few weeks since I opened it. I politely informed them that customers at Amazon were able to refund their Skyrim purchases, and if that if my local game store did not have the same respect for their customers, then I would be purchasing my games elsewhere from now on. After I threatened to take my business elsewhere he offered me a full refund. Now all I have to do is actually get enough motivation to go to the store and do this. My conversation with him was over the phone. You can also request the name and number of the regional manager for your your area if the in-store manager is difficult. This happened in San Diego, Ca. so it's not a small town atmosphere either.

yesterday I had some luck changing my PS3 version for the Xbox360 version, I had emailed the store I had bought it from (GAME,uk) returns department, after a few days of back and forth they finally accepted that the game was faulty and I could return it for an exchange or full refund, so I went into my local store and noticed that the game had been reduced to ￡22.50, luckily I had brought the email from the returns department and told the shop manager that I want to return the game with a FULL refund of ￡40 and then buy the Xbox360 at ￡22.50. they couldn't understand why the returns department would let me get a full refund but eventually they had to accept. so now I have the Xbox360 version and ￡17.50 of my money back .WIN!!

P.S my game was not sealed, been playing allot before the frame rate problem killed it.

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No I had the standard 60 dollar edition, I was just saying if you bought the collectors edition and wanted a refund 100 bucks > 60 bucks. I'd imagine you'd be more upset.



Ah nice, well I would of continued to converse with my store regarding my refund but he offered full store credit stating that he wouldn't be able to get a refund from the manufacturer and that was the customers job to get the refund from them(which I still don't trust at this point). I wanted to pick up Uncharted 3 anyway. So I saved myself from ongoing debate.

What you encountered for a no refund policy isn't just Gamestop's policy, Best Buy, Walmart and just about every retailer that sells video game in hard copy, will not take a return if the package was opened, and for good reason. It even states that on their receipts. Thing is, the retailer isn't responsible for the problem with the software, the publisher is. Using your logic in the way you sought to reconcile the situation, Gamestop should be the company patching the game since they sold it to you, but we know that isn't how it works.

If you haven't been reading this thread some people have actually managed to get full refunds. This isn't a simple case of not liking the game you've bought and saying "Oh I'm going to take it back and get a refund".
Gamestop's Refund policy:
http://www.gamestop.com/gs/help/Returns.aspx
Here I figured I'd look it up straight from the source. It proves your point however as I said before I'm not trying to debate the ethics of getting a refund on a product that isn't working the way it was said to work when a person purchases it. If you can convince your Gamestop store manager to give you a refund or full credit using any of the information from this thread in a constructive way then my job is done. If that is the route you want to take.

Locked per OP request.