In light of my recent friendly discussions with our esteemed Moderator Aynen (Sunshine and Rainbows people!!) and his acknowledgement that I am not attempting to foment an uprising against Steam nor am I in any way shape or form trying to incite people into demanding refunds from Steam (which FYI is totally against "The Rules" and I do not condone such behaviour). I am reposting this helpful information related to Kickstarter refunds here.

I would like to point out very clearly that this information, while bearing some passing resemblance to the process by which one might be able to obtain a refund from Steam, is only related to Kickstarter. The fact that the processes discussed are universal under UK Law and would then apply in any situation is not really my fault. So any concerns related to that fact should really be taken up with the Government of the United Kigdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and not directed at me in the form of some kind of heinous and barbaric punishment.

So, in closing, this is not about Steam and as "The Rules" indicate that refund matters related to Steam should be referred to Steam Support so they can handle it I highly recommend anyone with such an enquiry do so.

If however your refund enquiry is not Steam related then you should feel free to take advantage of the information I provide below.

Be cool.

Demosthien


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Dear Godus Kickstarter (KS) Backers (I did not back on KS so I can't put this info there but feel free to copy/paste it around),

I know how you’re feeling… I really do. I was a KS backer for the game Elite: Dangerous (ED). A game that had a pedigree as long as my memory can reach, right back to when I was a youngster playing Elite on my primary school’s one student computer. David Braben was a recognisable name to me and I thought, given all his assurances, that Elite: Dangerous would be what he promised. Alas, that was not to be the case.

I backed ED on KS for the promised offline mode. A few weeks before the final release date (December 2014) David Braben announced (albeit very quietly) that Frontier Developments had decided to drop offline mode for *reasons*, “But hey! The game will still be great!!”.

I have some advice for you and it may well get you your KS money refunded… All of it. I am not a lawyer so this isn’t legal advice (etc etc) but I was part of a large group of ED KS backers who have almost all been able to get 100% of our KS payments refunded using this information. We stuck together, we formed a mailing list for advice and updates on actions, we coordinated our actions and we commented far and wide on various ED related articles to get the word out. I highly recommend you get together and support each other in this way. Our Reddit page is a place you can verify my info and also ask for more advice.

Screen capture everything! Screen cap all the times a member of 22 Cans said that something *was* going to be included in the game. Screen cap the entire Kickstarter page. Screen cap any interviews. Screen cap forum posts and Q&A session everywhere. Act as if anything that 22 Cans has control over will be removed at any moment. Don’t forget to screen cap this post as it may not stick around long!

22 Cans is based in the United Kingdom (UK) and as such it is subject to the laws of the UK. Everyone who has dealings with 22 Cans, irrespective of their own location on the globe or that it was via KS, is covered by UK law. If you’re not in the UK there will be some extra difficulties but you can still take effective action.

Currently, in the UK, KS is *not* a recognised “investment” company (I have contacted the relevant regulators and had this confirmed). As such, when you make a payment for a product or service via KS then it is generally considered a sale. This is important as there are always people who will come out of the woodwork to claim that a KS pledge is an “investment”. *It is not*. Digital downloads (as opposed to any physical KS rewards) are slightly different but the principle is essentially the same.

A key aspect of our actions was that the product or service being sold must be “as described” by the seller at the point of sale. As a KS backer your point of sale is the moment the money was taken from your account by KS. The recent announcements by 22 Cans are proof that the item you purchased via your KS payment is not the item 22 Cans described when you made the payment.

Keep your communications with 22 Cans civil, simple and short. Do not go off on one and get angry at them or get too detailed. The less said the better for you. Also, make sure you include the statement; “without prejudice” in all your correspondence. This basically means that the content of your conversations can’t be used against you in any later legal case (if it comes to that).

You should immediately contact 22 Cans via whatever support system they have. State that their recent announcements indicate that the game they are planning to deliver is not as described by them at the point of purchase and as a result you understand that this is contrary to UK law. State that as a result you are requesting a full refund of all money you paid. Remember “without prejudice”.

Contact the Guildford Consumer Advice Bureau (CAB)[www.guildfordcab.org.uk] and give them a rundown on your situation. Let them know that you are aware of a similar case reported to Cambridge CAB (that would be our ED case) that was referred to the Cambridge Fair Trading Unit. Ask if they could refer the information on as well, this will help in preventing this kind of abuse of KS backers as the more complaints there are the more likely action will be taken.

You may get a reply to your message denying your refund because of *reasons*. There are no reasons that they can give for denying you refund it does not matter that; you tested the alpha/beta, it’s still going to be a great game, other people like it or anything else. Just reply back and restate exactly what you said in your first message. This time add that you have lodged a complaint with the CAB and asked for it to be referred to Fair Trading. Tell them that if 22 Cans do not refund you in a reasonable timeframe then you will be looking to take further action via Money Claim Online (MCOL)[www.moneyclaim.gov.uk].

It is unlikely they will refuse you after that point. However, if they do then you need to start taking more serious action. This means you need to begin the process of making a claim using MCOL. If you’re from overseas you can still use MCOL you will just need a trustworthy UK address to list for your correspondence. If you’re in the EU there is actually an EU version of this site you should use instead but I don’t have the details at hand. The MCOL site lets you enter all the information and then save it before submitting the action so it’s a good idea to do that right now.

Read these;
PDF User Guide for MCOL[www.justice.gov.uk]
“Letter Before Action” & general court action advice[www.adviceguide.org.uk]

Contact 22 Cans one last time and inform them that if they continue to refuse your request for refund then they leave you no option but to commence legal action via MCOL and they should expect to receive your “Letter Before Action”.

Write a “Letter Before Action” (LBA), see the link above, and send it via registered mail to 22 Cans office.

If it’s gotten this far then you’re now at the point where Frontier Developments began to cave. It took a lot of people coordinating their individual actions so that a bunch of LBA’s arrived at Frontier Developments’ office around the same time for them to realise this wasn’t something they could just ignore. It was at this point that the refunds began to get approved.

Be aware that our refunds sent out via PayPal were getting a fee charged which reduced the refunded amount… Don’t just accept that you have to pay the fee, demand the full and complete payment from 22 Cans and get them to cough up the extra.

I have no advice for you beyond this point as this was as far as we had to go but I seriously doubt that 22 Cans will want to take this action to court so you should get your money back. If it does go further for you the MCOL process looks pretty easy though so read up on it and make your case.

I sincerely wish you good luck in whatever you decide to do and hope you get your money back. This kind of behaviour by KS project creators is becoming more prevalent and KS backers are becoming a kind of interest and commitment free bank for cash injections. The more people who challenge this behaviour the better it will be for all of us.

Yours,

Demosthien

PS: All credit goes out to those people on the Elite: Dangerous refunds mailing list for the advice I have distilled here any mistakes are more than likely my own. ;-)

EDIT: I should also point out that you may have some options available to you via PayPal refund or credit card chargebacks. Don't forget to explore those options as well! Sorry about that, such a long post and I was bound to forget something.