Sony Won't Refund PS4 User who was Hacked

Demon_Skeith

Demon_Skeith

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Questions have been raised over the standard of Sony's customer services after it was discovered that the victim of a PlayStation 4 hack would not be fully refunded the $600 that was stolen from him.

A Reddit user, going by the name Kadjar, explained that he awoke on Wednesday morning with a series of email alerts stating that about $600 of content had been purchased through his account. He also discovered that his PlayStation 4 has been deactivated from PSN and another system, of which the location is unknown, has seized control as the primary system on the account.

Having spoken to Sony customer services on several occasions throughout the day, his criticisms of its response was summarized accordingly:
  •     Sony will only refund $150 of the $600 that was taken.
  •     The money will be in PSN credit, and not refunded into the bank.
  •     If the user escalates the payment dispute with his bank, his account will be banned.
  •     If his account is banned, his purchased licences for games, such as The Last of Us Remastered, will be wiped.
  •     If the licences are wiped, there is no way of restoring them.
  • The user's PlayStation 4 cannot be designated as the primary console for another 6 months, meaning it is locked out of the account until then.
Readers on Reddit have voiced outrage at what they consider poor protection from account hacks. Others have urged that this story highlights how important it is that users protect their account with a very strong password, due to the lack of protection should something go wrong.

GameSpot has contacted Sony to discuss the matter or provide some clarification.

Kadjar has published images of his online chat with Sony customer services, and highlights three other cases where users have complained about similar issues.

His post reads:

"This morning, I started receiving emails indicating a number of purchases on my PSN account. As the transactions came in, one-by-one, it became immediately clear that my account had been hacked. I immediately logged into PSN and removed my card from the account, changed my email and password, and simultaneously launched support chats with both Sony and my bank.

"The Sony representative told me that they are only permitted to refund transactions of up to $150. He also informed me that I could dispute the charges with my bank, but by doing so, my account would be banned from PSN. As a result, I would permanently lose all of my purchases, including the Last of Us Remastered.

"He also informed me that my existing PS4 had been deactivated from the network this morning, and that a new one had been activated. When I asked him to deactivate that new, mystery PS4, he said he could not. I then turned on my PS4, logged in with my new credentials, and attempted to activate my PS4 with my account, but it informed me that I could not activate it as long as there was another PS4 bound to my account.

"I called customer support, hoping for some clarification. The agent informed me that there is indeed a refund investigation underway, but that it will be limited to $150, and that it would be credited to my PSN wallet, not my bank account.

"Furthermore, my account will not be able to activate a new system for 6 months, per Sony policy. I'm completely locked out of my own account until that date. I then asked about what would happen if I got my bank to reverse the charges, and he informed me that it would result in a banned account. I asked if there would be any way to restore my purchases, and he told me that there would not be, but I 'only have the Last of Us and a couple of the monthly free deal games,' so it's not a big deal."

Several Reddit users have offered Kadjar copies of their games, which he has thanked them for, but declined.

"My goal here is bring attention to a few of Sony's bad customer service policies in the hopes that they'll change them," he said.
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That sucks, I hope he gets his money back not that you should tie a credit card to a PSN account.
 
This stinks for him, and Sony's business practices are very restrictive when it comes to refund. It is not like Sony can't afford to refund $600.

He should of use a PSN gift card, prepaid credit card where he needs to manually load money, or a Paypal account where it is not linked to a bank account with hundreds or more dollars to it.
 
alakazam said:
Wow, how unprofessional of them. I guess it's time for the guy to move to Xbox One. Either that or sue Sony just to prove a point...
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Wii U, and PC Gaming can also be a good option for him now that he got betrayed by Sony's refund policy refusing to refund money that was stolen from him through a PSN hacker.
 
froggyboy604 said:
This stinks for him, and Sony's business practices are very restrictive when it comes to refund. It is not like Sony can't afford to refund $600.

He should of use a PSN gift card, prepaid credit card where he needs to manually load money, or a Paypal account where it is not linked to a bank account with hundreds or more dollars to it.
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paypal would be worse since that is more closely connected to your bank.


Also I wonder if this was done with credit card and have the charges dropped via them?
 
Demon_Skeith said:
paypal would be worse since that is more closely connected to your bank.


Also I wonder if this was done with credit card and have the charges dropped via them?
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You can use prepaid credit/debit cards to load money into Paypal, or have someone send you money through Paypal with a donation button, or Paypal money transfer, and you just re-pay them with real cash, or something of value like video games, toys or food.

I have used Paypal without a bank account, or credit card for many years by using prepaid credit cards and having people with Paypal accounts send me money with the Paypal donation button on my website, or through Paypal's user account page which they can reach after they logged into Paypal.

I think it is more difficult for the credit card company to figure out if you made the purchase or someone stole your credit card's money since it is digital purchases.
 
froggyboy604 said:
You can use prepaid credit/debit cards to load money into Paypal, or have someone send you money through Paypal with a donation button, or Paypal money transfer, and you just re-pay them with real cash, or something of value like video games, toys or food.

I have used Paypal without a bank account, or credit card for many years by using prepaid credit cards and having people with Paypal accounts send me money with the Paypal donation button on my website, or through Paypal's user account page which they can reach after they logged into Paypal.

I think it is more difficult for the credit card company to figure out if you made the purchase or someone stole your credit card's money since it is digital purchases.
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Can you purchase stuff on eBay without having a credit card attached to your Paypal account?
 
alakazam said:
Can you purchase stuff on eBay without having a credit card attached to your Paypal account?
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Yes, I used money people send me through Paypal to buy a product on eBay when I did not have a Credit Card attach to Paypal. I think there is a $4000 sending limit on how much you can spend before you need to attach a Bank account to make your Paypal verified, so you can send more money.

But, some sellers only sell to verified Paypal buyers since they are afraid of being scammed.
 
You can get Paypal without having to attach a bank account or even a credit card. However, like FroggyBoy mentioned, by doing so there are some extra limitations placed on your account. I don't recall the exact amount they limit you to though. 

Though for Kadjar, if he disputes the charges with his credit card they will refund him... Since they're fraudulent charges that he never authorized. But in doing so he's going to lose his PSN account and any purchases attached to it. That could really suck if he's made a bunch of digital purchases already. Like if he bought $700 worth of content previously. (This is one reason I hate digital titles... they're bound to your account so if Sony or Microsoft bans you or whatever they get to keep your money and revoke access to their games.)

Furthermore he can't sue Sony due to the new terms of service agreement that they force you to accept before you can use PSN. (Under section 18, the binding arbitration clause, they basically state that you waive all rights to take legal action against Sony. Both individual or class action level suits.)
 
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