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Apple confirms $100 refund for those who recently purchased an original iPad
Much like the company did when it suddenly dropped the price of its original iPhone, Apple is giving $100 back to those who purchased an iPad up to a fortnight before the March 2nd unveiling of the iPad 2. If our math is correct, that makes February 16th the cutoff date, and it's being reported that those in the US will see $100 placed back on their credit card, while those overseas will get £100 / €100 back in their pocket. If you've suddenly found yourself in this pool, you'll need to head back to a brick-and-mortar location with your receipt to get the refund processed, or if you ordered online, you'll need to call Apple's 1-800 number and use your smoothest late-night voice when asking nicely for your Benjamin back. Godspeed.
Fantasy Earth Zero shutting down on March 24th
Sad news today for fans of Fantasy Earth Zero -- after officially launching less than a year ago, the game will be shutting down in North America in just under two months. Gamepot USA has posted a full statement explaining the game's shutdown schedule as well as the policies on refunds for any game currency purchased within the last month. The game's cash shop has been closed, with all servers set to quadruple experience and money so that players can enjoy the time that's left. Fantasy Earth Zero took the long way around to get released stateside in the first place, after being developed by Square-Enix and then nearly shut down in Japan due to poor sales. An emotional farewell letter has also been posted, something fans of the game will no doubt wish to read. There's still time left to enjoy the accelerated servers before the shutdown, but when the lights go out on March 24th, they won't be coming back on. [Thanks to Jeffrey for the tip.]
Samsung offering refunds for PCs affected by Sandy Bridge glitch, NEC looking at delays
We finally received full details on the issue affecting Intel's Sandy Bridge chipsets this morning, and now we're hearing of what looks to be the first confirmed recall. Samsung is indicating it will offer refunds for affected computers and, while it isn't saying exactly which models will be affected, it did give a number: six models sold in South Korea and one available in the US will be eligible for return or refund, about 3,000 total machines. NEC, meanwhile, who just went all-in with Lenovo, is indicating that it may push back the release of four separate models. Naturally we'll keep the updates coming as we get more details. [Thanks, Peter]
FLO TV rebates for devices and service are now live
FLO TV said that it would be refunding the eight folks who actually bought into its services once it made the tough decision to shut things down on March 27, 2011, and lo and behold, it's a promise kept. What we weren't expecting, however, was any sort of monetary compensation for hardware, but it looks as if FLO TV will be providing some sort of rebate amount to those who purchased a FLO TV Personal Television, Audiovox Portable DVD Player with FLO TV or FLO TV Auto Entertainment center. It's unclear how much you'll be getting back -- you'll need to go through the entire rebate process to find out -- but you will be reimbursed for any prepaid FLO TV services that you're no longer interested in using (or won't be able to use due to the March 2011 cutoff). Hit the source link to file your claim, but be aware that your service will be cut within 72 hours of submitting it. Beyond the break, you'll find the full email that FLO TV is sending to its customers. [Thanks, T.J.]
Verizon sends $25 million settlement to FCC, credits customers $52.8 million for wrongful data fees
Did we say Verizon would dole out $90 million in credits? It seems we spoke too soon, because the US Government is taking its cut of the carrier's apology after charging for data that customers didn't actually use. Verizon says it's settled with the FCC for $25 million and will cut a check to the US Treasury, and put the remaining $52.8 million towards the bills of 15 million affected customers in the form of $2 to $6 credits each. Verizon's not taking any blame in the matter, mind you, as it says the original data charges were "inadvertent" and caused by software pre-loaded on some phones. Yet another reason to ditch the bloatware, we suppose. PR after the break.
Verizon agrees to refund customers $90 million for wrongful data charges
Did you have a Verizon phone sans data plan, but get billed for data anyhow? Verizon Wireless is dropping $90 million to make things right next month. The company will refund 15 million cellular customers who were wrongly charged for internet use, in the form of $2 to $6 credits on their next bill -- unless the fiasco already caused you to leave, in which case you'll get a similar check in the mail. The New York Times reports that the FCC pressured Verizon into this settlement following hundreds of complaints, so it looks like the squeaky wheel may have won this round. If you can call Verizon treating you to the equivalent of a latte a "win," of course. Read Verizon's full statement after the break.
Report: Some APB players receiving compensation, but denied refund
The short, brutal life of APB (and developer Realtime Words) recently ended, with consumers seemingly unable to reclaim whatever investment they put into the MMO. However, despite not receiving refunds, consumers are reportedly obtaining compensation in other ways. Gamasutra and Dtoid both report that players have been offered a discount or free game after contacting EA's support line. According to the administrators behind Realtime Worlds' bankruptcy, consumers should contact the retailers from which they purchased the game in order to pursue "entitlement to any refund."
EA giving free game to disgruntled APB buyers [Updated]
reddit_url = "http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/27/ea-giving-free-game-to-disgruntled-apb-buyers/"; Tweet Ticked off about the recent closure of Realtime Worlds' All Points Bulletin? Well you're not alone, and surprisingly enough it seems like Electronic Arts has heard your cries for justice. According to reports from CVG and SavyGamer, the publishing giant is ponying up a free download from the EA Store for customers who purchased APB via Valve's Steam digital distribution platform. The list of possible freebies is nothing to sneeze at either, as it includes BioWare darlings Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins, as well as Spore, The Saboteur, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and several more. There's currently no word on refunds or compensation for those who purchased the ill-fated urban crime MMOFPS from retail outlets or other digital shops. [Editor's Note: Having just gone through this process myself, I can tell you that it's easy and virtually painless. Simply visit www.ea.com, choose your country of origin, visit the support link in the upper right hand corner, and log into your EA account. Once that's done, click the "contact us/email us" button to create a new question to ask the EA support representatives. Select APB as the game in question and tell them that you own the game, where you bought it, and that you'd like to take advantage of their refund offer. The representative will ask you to make a list of games you'd like (pre-order titles are excluded and only games in the EA store are being offered) and that's it! Once you send your list, they'll give you a game (most likely your first choice) and you can download it using their instructions. ~Seraphina]
Final Realtime Worlds employees let go, US branch also shutting down
Though reports last week seemed to indicate that a buyer would swoop in at the last second and save the faltering APB developer Realtime Worlds, the studio has revealed that its remaining 50 employees have been terminated. Sixteen temporary positions are still active to finish shutting down the Dundee studio. The company's US branch, based out of Boulder, Colo., is facing a similar fate, letting go of 33 of its staff, leaving behind a skeleton crew to bring the branch to a close. A Realtime spokesperson told Develop that the studio is "now likely to apply for Chapter 7 Protection." Begbies Traynor, the firm responsible for the company's administration, is also under fire from a handful of sources both internal and otherwise. Develop reports that a number of ex-Realtime employees claim they've been denied their redundancy pay -- a claim which a Begbies Traynor spokesperson responded to by saying, "redundancy payment will be made in accordance with current UK legislation."
Enso shutting down retail sales, finally refunding zenPad orders
We didn't want to get sucked into this whole Enso debacle, but our first post on the company and its too good to be true zenPad resulted in a flurry of warnings about unsatisfied customers and never-appearing shipments. After numerous delays we finally got one to try out -- and a sad, sorry review unit it was. Now, nearly six months on from that original post, the company is finally, finally processing refunds for those who ordered their zenPads back in March but were left with nary a gadget in sight. With all that behind it, Enso is shifting its efforts exclusively to B2B sales, meaning that you can still buy any of its various and KIRFy wares but the minimum order is 25 units. C'mon now, who wants to be the proud owner of two-dozen zenDroids? [Thanks, @PitchingAFit]
Apple begins bumper refund program and free orders
In last week's press conference held about iPhone 4 reception issues*, Apple made mention of distributing not only bumpers for iPhones going forward, but refunds to those who had already purchased bumpers or other iPhone 4 cases. So if you didn't get one before they were pulled from Apple stores, progress is being made. A number of tipsters have written in to let us know they received email from Apple this evening about their refunds being processed. Read the whole thing after the break. We've heard of the "Cash For Clunkers" program, but what would you call this one? "Bucks for Bumpers"? "Ante For Antennagate"? Leave your best answer in the comments. Update: the page on Apple.com is now available. To claim your free case, you will need to download an app.
Apple begins iPhone 4 Case Program: apply for your free case or Bumper now
Well, there's nothing like masking bad news with good news, right Apple? Just moments after quietly announcing that the white iPhone 4 is now scheduled to ship sometime between tomorrow and your New Year's Eve party, the company has also fired up its iPhone 4 Case Program. Just as Jobs promised last week at an emergency press event, this program will ensure that anyone who purchases an iPhone 4 prior to September 30th will be able to receive an iPhone 4 Bumper or select third-party case from the company at no charge. 'Course, you need to be located in a country or territory that Apple actually ships to, but if that's all squared away, feel free to hit up the App Store to download the iPhone 4 Case Program app. Once there, you'll need to sign into your iTunes Store account, select your Bumper or case and wait oh-so-patiently (read: "3 to 5 weeks"). Better hurry -- wouldn't want the servers to get overloaded, now would we?Oh, and if you happened to have already purchased a Bumper, the company should be hitting your credit card with a full refund (including any applicable taxes and shipping) momentarily. As for the case / Bumper choices? Every single option is available in any color you like... so long as it's black, of course. There's a black Apple Bumper option, an Incase Snap Case, Belkin Shield Micra, Griffin Motif, Griffin Reveal, Speck Fitted and Speck PixelSkin HD, but again, don't go in hoping to select your favorite hue. Yeah, you're free to bicker about free things -- we won't judge.Update: If you're one of those wise guys who purchased an iPhone 4 right away just to sell it, you can forget about getting a free case for the handset you no longer own. Apple has arranged this so that only one case can be ordered per iPhone 4, so even if you ordered two under your account name, you'll need two phones to place both of those orders. Check out the error message below if you still don't believe us. %Gallery-98074%
Apple starts refunding Bumper purchases automagically
Automatic refunds, or so the email says. We've been on the receiving end of a deluge of tips this morning pointing out that Apple has begun funneling cash back into its users' pockets -- a most unusual event, to be sure -- to live up to its retroactive promise of free Bumpers for all (who buy their iPhone 4 before September 30). If the particular wording is to be trusted, that should mean that even those who haven't yet bothered to put in a claim, but did purchase a Bumper, will find themselves enriched in due course. Apple estimates this bandaid solution to its antenna problems will cost $175 million in real cash money, but we suspect the biggest price to pay will be in the form of pride and reputation. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Why Apple has a split personality when it comes to keeping iPhone owners happy
After shelling out top dollar, the customers felt betrayed and angry. The shine on the company's new flagship product was tarnished. The remedy wasn't cheap... and the CEO stepped up and spoke to those irate early adopters. "We want to do the right thing for our valued customers. We apologize for disappointing some of you, and we are doing our best to live up to your high expectations of us," he said, responding quickly after the first complaints came in. Within a few weeks, the PR hiccup was calmed, and the new product went on to glory and success. Looking back on that experience is illuminating. With the rapid response, the willingness to pay for customer happiness, and the frank handling of the situation, it's a bit surprising to be in the midst of the current stressfest and see how things have deteriorated. Where's the corporate responsibility and the can-do attitude of 2007 when we need it? Let's take a look at how the two scenarios diverge, and why Apple didn't -- or couldn't -- step up to the plate now like it did then.
Palm retroactively refunding $50 webOS app submission fee -- each and every one
Palm's made a few half-baked attempts at wooing developers in the past, like that time in October when it waived the fees and review process for open-source apps (but not App Catalog entries) or when it provided discounted handsets that happened to carry a large carrier-specific ball and chain. This week, Palm's decided to be a bit more generous -- it's eliminating the $50 App Catalog submission fee entirely and putting every last cent back where it came from. With only 2,684 apps in the store, that's just $134,200 in total, but symbolically it's a very welcome gesture, no? According to the official Palm Developer Center Blog, developers should see credits appear in their PayPal accounts soon -- though perhaps not soon enough to spend it on the fruit of their fellow man's labor at 50 percent off.
LGJ: Does PS3 Firmware 3.21 come with a refund?
Mark Methenitis contributes Law of the Game on Joystiq ("LGJ"), a column on legal issues as they relate to video games: [Flickr: DeclanTM] By now you've installed the PS3 Firmware 3.21 update that removes the "Other OS" option (more or less) from your console. (You've at least read about it.) Besides angering the PS3 users who had been enjoying the Other OS feature, this incident has had some unintended consequences in the realm of consumer protection and warranty laws, both in the US and abroad. It's certainly a bit of an unusual situation, but hopefully this column will provide you a bit of an explanation on a global scale, and answer the question, can I get a refund? For anyone who's not clear on what laws are involved, the broad areas of consumer protection and warranties both deal with protecting the purchasers of products from those who make or sell those products. The idea being that you should be entitled to purchase and own the product that you intended to buy, rather than something that's misleading, fraudulent, likely to break on its own, or broken. This is to help ensure the integrity of the marketplace, which helps secure consumer confidence. After all, aren't you more likely to buy a game console when you know it's a game console and (if new) covered by a warranty against defects, rather than an empty case or a box with bricks in it?
Enso's zenPad is vaporware, get refunds while they last (update)
Did you order a Enso zenPad? If so, you'll be happy to hear that the company has decided on a concrete release date; its website is now ticking down the days, hours, minutes and seconds until May 8th, when Enso claims they'll finally ship the rebranded Smit MID. Problem is, if you ordered your zenPad on March 22nd -- the day we wrote about it -- you will have waited 47 days by the time the device ships, exactly two days too many to get a PayPal refund. But more importantly, manufacturer Smit has now disavowed any knowledge of a deal, and Enso itself has admitted that the zenPad as such does not currently exist. We've done quite a bit of digging and even spoke with an Enso founder to get the whole story. Enough promises have now been broken and lies told that if we were you, we'd request refunds ASAP, but if you still want to hang on for a chance at a $155 Android tablet, you can hear the whole tale right after the break. Update: We just spoke to Enso CEO Alberto Armandi, who says that the company has now secured the necessary funding to make good on orders, and promises that he will ship us a zenPad for review within two weeks. We'll revisit this story then. Meanwhile, read how we got to this juncture after the break.
PS3 owners eligible for cash refund after 'Other OS' removal?
Admit it, most of you don't use the "Other OS" option on your PS3, do you? That's ok, we don't either, at least not regularly. Nevertheless, it's irksome, nay, vexing that Sony had the audacity to pull it; that feature was part of the deal bargained when we purchased the unit after all. Forum moderator, "lapetus," over at NeoGAF decided to take on the man by invoking European directive 1999/44/EC, a consumer protection law that requires goods to be "fit for the purpose which the consumer requires them and which was made known to the seller at the time of purchase." That little tactic earned lapetus a refund of £84.00 from Amazon without physically returning the console even though his (?) PS3 was well out of warranty. Oh just you never mind that Sony's user agreement claims the ability to revise settings and features without limitation to, "prevent access to unauthorized or pirated content, or use of unauthorized hardware or software in connection with the PS3 system." In other words, request your refund before installing Geohot's hacked 3.21 firmware.
iPod nano scratch lawsuit checks are in the mail
According to Engadget, people are finally starting to receive settlement checks for the iPod nano class action lawsuit that was filed shortly after the first-gen nano's release in 2005. Only days after the first nano debuted, people started noticing that the iPod nano's screen was about as easy to scratch as a block of butter. Apple quickly tried to claim that nano screen scratching wasn't a widespread issue, but the lawyers smelled blood and swarmed in; less than three weeks after the class action suit began in the US, the iPod nano suit went international. Apple agreed to pay a $22.5 million dollar settlement in early 2009. The settlement terms indicated that people would receive refunds in the amount of $15 to $25, depending on whether the iPod nano had a protective slip case included with it or not. However, Engadget's story shows an unidentified submitter receiving a check for $37.50. The settlement terms indicate that the $22.5 million is split up amongst those who participated in the class action lawsuit, regardless of how many applied, and that the ultimate settlement can't exceed 150% of the per-claimant settlement. In the Engadget reader's case, he would have received $25, but since there apparently weren't all that many actual claimants in the case, he received the maximum settlement possible of $37.50. This is an interesting study of the class action system at work. First, although the suit was filed in late 2005, it took over three years before it was finally resolved. Apple agreed to pay out $22.5 million in consumer refunds in early 2009 -- refunds which are only now arriving in claimants' mailboxes -- and another $4 million in attorney fees. Those $37.50 check claimants are receiving a pittance compared to what Steve Berman, lead attorney in the class action case, likely received in his mailbox. Far more important than the money being thrown around is a practical side-effect of the case: Apple's portables are much less prone to scratches than the first-gen iPod nano. Perhaps, learning its lesson from the nano brouhaha, Apple changed its mind at the last second and decided to use glass instead of plastic for the iPhone's screen -- a decision that greatly improved the durability of the screen and very likely spared the company from yet another lawsuit.
JooJoo refund issues creating some bad juju
Given the legally-disputed origins of the JooJoo and the current shipping delays, you'd think Fusion Garage would scrupulously maintain a squeaky-clean image with its customers as it leads up to launch, but it looks like it wasn't quite prepared to handle refunds in a sensible way -- we just confirmed that the company asked a customer for his bank account information in order to deposit a refund directly after running into some troubles with PayPal. Here's the relevant exchange: "Support Joojoo" wrote: Dear Rony, We have checked this at our end and there seems to be a problem with refunding via paypal. To avoid any further wait time, could you send us your bank name, bank account name, bank account number, sort or swift code and your bank address. We will have a direct transfer done to your bank account. If you could provide us the details today, we will ensure that the refund hits your bank account by friday of this week. Please advise . Sorry for the inconvenience caused. Fusion Garage tells us that this customer actually changed his mind about getting a refund several times, and that they've only had three customers with refund issues, all of which were related to problems with PayPal issuing credit long after pre-orders were placed. While it's uncommon here in the States (and obviously this buyer wasn't keen on it), bank to bank transfers are the norm in Europe and widely used for the wiring of cash across international lines. Clearly after the issues with PayPal, however, the idea of handing over bank details doesn't seem appealing in this case. We'll see how everyone feels when that promised March 25 ship date rolls around, and we'll let you know what happens with Rony and his refund when we find out more. Maybe next time just mail a check, guys.