Nintendo as a company is known for some inventive consoles, fantastic first party titles and a complete unwillingness to give refunds for digital purchases of any kind except when they absolutely have to. A mentality so ingrained in the company that in 2018 Nintendo was taken to court in the EU to force them to start issuing refunds on digital products in accordance with the letter of the law. This company is so incensed by Blizzards human rights violation, however, that they have reportedly begun allowing some refunds for Overwatch pre-orders for those contacting customer support and requesting one.
good news! if u pre-ordered Overwatch on Switch but u don’t want to continue to support Blizzard, u can call Nintendo support they can give u a refund. just went through the process myself, they said they normally don’t cancel digital pre-orders but this is a unique case.
— charl-EEEK! bryant [@getvent] (@getvent) October 14, 2019
“good news! if u pre-ordered Overwatch on Switch but u don’t want to continue to support Blizzard, u can call Nintendo support they can give u a refund. just went through the process myself, they said they normally don’t cancel digital pre-orders but this is a unique case.”
Don’t expect this to be a change of heart for the publisher. Several reports have claimed these refunds are occurring under unique circumstances without any further clarification as to what those unique circumstances are. Damage Control is already being carried out by Reddit Moderators and users are claiming the special circumstances are the one refund you are allowed per account.
This statement is patently as insane as it is false. Barring the legal ramifications Nintendo would face ignoring multiple nations laws not even Nintendo themselves claim this to be their policy. On the official Nintendo Help Forums when inquired about refund policy the moderation approved the following as the correct answer regarding obtaining a refund…
“Refunds are typically only issued in cases where required by law, in cases of theft, or if a game will, for whatever reason, simply not work on one’s system. You’d have to talk directly to a representative at Nintendo to see if a refund would be possible. You can do so by contacting them using their support line at 1-800-255-3700, 6:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M., Pacific time, every day.”
There is no “one refund per account” policy at Nintendo. Refunds are at the discretion of Nintendo staff, which are not reported to be generous in their dispatching, so much so the prevailing understanding is Nintendo has a no refunds policy in place. Whereas it can helped while operating within the boundaries of the law of the nation they are operating in. Overwatch preorders being refunded purely because a user doesn’t want to support Blizzard is an exceptional circumstance for Nintendo.
With the cancellation of the Overwatch launch event Nintendo appears to be distancing themselves from the company. It is not possible to then say this refund is happening devoid of any extenuating actions taken by Nintendo beyond the refunds. All of this comes after Blizzard was accused of Human Rights Abuses and as the company comes under the scrutiny of Congress. A company would have to be run by absolute morons to fail to see what is coming down the pipeline for them. Especially as Blizzard sets out to prove as Mark Kern stated, that the company has deep ties to China.
If you or any of your friends were unfortunate enough to adopt this game prior to this entire saga beginning you can reach Nintendo at 1-(800)-255-3700 and request your refund today.
(Thanks for the tip J. Black)
