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Amazon will soon directly address claims over faulty marketplace products
Amazon is updating its return policy to make it easier for customers to file complaints over defective products from third party marketplace sellers.
GoPro's replacement camera plan comes to the UK and Canada
GoPro is bringing its no-questions-asked device replacement guarantee to 25 more countries as part of its GoPro Plus subscription service, the company announced. Buyers in the UK, Canada, Australia, France, Germany could already get for the $5 per month service, which includes unlimited video and photo cloud storage, automatic content uploading and half-price accessories. Now, they'll also get a replacement guarantee that's handy for devices often used in extreme circumstances.
'Upfront' Uber pricing replaces estimates with guarantees
Soon, when you open up Uber and request a ride you'll see the pricing in a different way. Instead of its current method of displaying the rate (and multiplier, if surge pricing is in effect), with a fare estimate in a second screen, it will just display a guaranteed price to take you to your destination. Of course, that doesn't mean surge pricing is going away, just that it will already be figured in to the price you're quoted (with a "Fares are higher due to increased demand" note.)
Vodafone contracts now include a 30-day escape guarantee
There are plenty of things to consider when eyeing up a new mobile contract, from network quality and coverage to handset selection and pricing. All carriers try to tip the scales in their favour with device pre-order bonuses, a complimentary subscription here, free roaming there, et cetera. And in an attempt to distinguish itself from competitors, Vodafone announced a brand new customer perk today: The 30-day guarantee.
EA's Origin store now allows downloaded games to be returned within a week
Gamers have been choking lately on some of the restrictive DRM for upcoming consoles and titles, but at least EA is offering some relief. It just announced that its Origin store now features the "great game guarantee," letting you return downloaded games after purchasing. You'll have 24 hours to send it back, digitally speaking, after you first launch the game, or seven days from the date of purchase (or release date for pre-orders). By contrast, Steam offers no refunds or exchanges on any of its games. Origin's new policy is now available in 20 countries, but only applies to EA-published games and not downloadable content. There's also a clause for any "abuse of the refund process," so if you're looking to see how many games you can beat in a day, you may wanna rethink that.
Nissan upgrades US Leaf warranties, will 'restore' batteries that lose too much charge
Nissan has thrown down the warranty gauntlet to other EV makers by announcing it would be the first to "restore" battery capacity if a Leaf's full charge fell below 9 out of 12 "bars" within 5 years or 60k miles. The new clause was announced by VP Andy Palmer and will go into effect in spring of next year on all models, including those sold in 2011 and 2012. The company stressed it would only "repair or replace the battery under warranty with a new or remanufactured unit to restore capacity at or above a minimum of nine bars," and not a full charge -- saying a gradual, but not excessive loss of charge was normal. Nissan added that it'd look to improve the accuracy of the battery gauge, since the aforementioned bars on the dash were computer managed and not exactly scientific. All of this applies to US-only vehicles for now, but similar policies will soon go into effect worldwide, according to the statement. So, if you've been starting to get range anxiety, check the PR below the break for more info.
RIM offers developers $10,000 incentive for certified apps
At BlackBerry World 2012, RIM is bumping up the stakes for its developers by putting more money where its mouth is, announcing a $10,000 guarantee to get potential coders excited to hop onto Team BlackBerry. If you get your app certified on App World and don't earn ten grand in the first year, RIM will cut you a check for the difference. Of course, incentive programs are nothing new in today's increasingly competitive development world -- Research in Motion has offered free phones and PlayBooks in the past, and Microsoft is known for throwing cash at big-name developers to beckon them to Windows Phone, for instance. The guarantee, however, is certainly a unique approach to entice new devs to BlackBerry 10. As these programs often do, there is one catch: to qualify, you'll need to not only earn quality certification, you'll also have to generate $1,000 on your own accord. All of this is part of a $100 million investment in its new ecosystem, and should help spark some developer interest in the lead-up to Waterloo's upcoming platform refresh. If you think you've got what it takes, start thinking up those million-dollar ideas right now. Joseph Volpe contributed to this report.
Jawbone offers 'no questions asked' refund for troubled Up band, even if you keep it
While Jawbone attempts to fix the handful of substantial issues plaguing its new Up fitness band, it's now announced that it will begin giving free refunds to dissatisfied customers -- and you can even keep hold of the band afterwards. Production of it has been put on pause, but the company is continuing to roll out software tweaks for existing lifestyle metric obsessives. The new guarantee starts on December 9th, and will only cover Up bands purchased this year. You can read up on all the refund specifics -- along with Jawbone CEO Hosain Rahman's apology -- at the source links below.
Sprint Free Guarantee eliminates all traces of buyer's remorse within 30 day trial
Sprint must be feeling pretty good about its chances against the big guys right now, because it's on the cusp of deploying the most comprehensive money-back guarantee policy in the industry -- a policy that erases every red cent you've spent to pick up service with them in the event you change your mind. Starting tomorrow, new customers will have 30 days to check out their Hero, Pre, Pixi, or whatever other device they happen to choose (no EVO 4G yet, sadly), and if they're not happy, a return to the store will trigger a refund for everything, up to and including the service plan charges, taxes, and fees you've incurred so far. AT&T and Verizon come close to Sprint's policy, but they stop short of refunding the plan itself and charge an activation fee if you take more than 3 days to return your goods, and T-Mobile -- long regarded the customer service king in this biz -- only gives you 20 days and won't even pretend to refund your activation fee. Will this trigger a domino effect of changes across the Big Four? We certainly hope so.
An app with everything but sales
TriplePoint PR's site has a post on their blog about Orbital [iTunes Link], an iPhone game released a while back that I presume is one of their clients. Obviously, they've done their job: we're talking about the game, which is $.99US or available in a lite free version [iTunes Link]. But they've also provided us with a little insight into just how things are going in the app's release, and the picture they paint says "not well." Oh, sure, it's been reviewed well, there's a little bit of buzz about it, and the game itself, says the firm, is good (trust them at your own risk, but they sound like they really do enjoy it). So what's the problem? It's not selling. To be fair, it is selling. They've sold less than 100,000 units, they say, and even half of that is a nice chunk of sales. But apparently that's not a success, and they're wondering why. Piracy is their first guess -- we've heard before that piracy can be a huge issue, even on cheap apps. They say the game had an 80% piracy rate in the first week, which has since dropped down to 24%. I'm not convinced piracy can be blamed completely -- there's no guaranteeing that all pirates would have bought a real copy anyway. But certainly there's something going on here -- you can have a terrific app that's well-reviewed and buzzworthy, and if it doesn't end up in the right place at the right time, it still won't be successful (or at least as successful as you want). Everyone is still working to unlock success in the App Store, but with over 100,000 products on the shelves, it has become increasingly more difficult for the good apps to stand apart.
EU Commission proposal wants two-year guarantee for games
European game developers are up in arms about a recent EU Commission proposal that, if approved, would require devs to abide by the EU Sales and Guarantees Directive, a rule that mandates "a minimum 2-year guarantee on tangible movable consumer goods." While this guarantee sounds great for consumers, Dr. Richard Wilson, head of game developer advocacy group Tiga, is worried it may "stifle new ideas as [developers] could end up just playing it safe."Developers' qualms go deeper than that, however -- they're worried that consumers might abuse a two-year guarantee on video games by returning the game with a complaint about a bug or glitch that doesn't actually exist. Furthermore, Business Software Alliance director Francisco Mingorance argues digital content isn't tangible, and shouldn't follow the "same liability rules as toasters." He also pointed out digital content isn't technically sold to consumers -- it is licensed for private use.Joystiq's Law of the Game writer (and radical lawyer) Mark Methenitis threw in his two cents, explaining that patches and updates have ended the age of game-ruining glitches, and that a potentially exploitable two-year guarantee on games is unnecessary. He adds, "if you're unsatisfied with an ongoing pattern of bugs you encounter from a developer's product, you should probably consider whether you want to continue purchasing that developer's products, thereby letting the market correct the problem." [Image]
Circuit City: Super Paper Mario guaranteed in-store or $20
Circuit City in their most recent flyer guarantees Super Paper Mario to be in-store April 10 by 2 PM or the bamboozled customer receives a $20 gift card. Those addendums you see there represented by "3" and "**" are that the offer is only good this week and the $20 needs to be used on a future purchase, which means if the game isn't "in-store" tomorrow that's an insta-twenty bucks off -- that's a free greatest hits title on any system.We really are having a hard time seeing the downside to this deal. If the product isn't there, that's an automatic $20 gift card. Or the product is there and we get a new game -- and not Gamestop's definition of "new." Then again, we could check Gamestop today and maybe they'll have a video of the Super Paper Mario ending and save us $50 right from the start. Definitely worth the trip to Circuit City if you were looking to pick up Super Paper Mario, the newest Gamecube title for the Wii.[Via WiiFanboy]
