How annoyed am I at Microsoft?

Posted 26th Dec 2022

So you know how it works - the kids tell Santa what games they want for Christmas, Santa goes and buys the digital versions in November, the kids install the games on Christmas day and it's then when I see the same games some with up to 87% off what I know Santa paid for them! Oh I am upset.
Thing is it the kids birthday in the New Year and Santa advised me to buy a few digital games back then. They haven't been activated yet, could I ask Microsoft to refund the difference or is that unlikely?
So annoyed right now! I reckon I could've saved more than £200

Misc

New Comment

Groups

Microsoft

Electronics

29 Comments

sorted by

26th Dec
Request a refund for digital games

We understand that sometimes purchases of digital game products don’t go as planned. When that happens, we’ll help you request a refund.
Refunds are typically issued for requests meeting the following criteria:
Requests are made within 14 days of the purchase date
Requests are for games in which you haven’t accumulated a significant amount of play time
Note Submitting a request doesn’t guarantee a refund, especially if it doesn’t meet the above criteria.
If the refund request is approved, you'll it see it being processed on your Microsoft account, and you'll no longer be able to access the digital game product.
26th Dec
November was way more than 14 days ago
23 h, 48 m ago
Considering they’re Microsoft platform titles, you’re probably being ripped off by buying from Microsoft in the first place. The likes of cdkeys are way cheaper about 80% of the time.

I don’t think you’ve got much chance of a refund in your circumstances. But hopefully in future you’ll buy during sales or from alternative key sites as mentioned above.
23 h, 48 m ago
87% is a massive reduction. I would be upset
23 h, 32 m ago
Absolutely! But sometimes it's necessary to also accept your own responsibility.
21 h, 54 m ago
Trouble here is that digital games aren't going out of stock so there was no need to panic buy back in November. Take it as a lesson learned and as mentioned wait for sales when possible.
26th Dec
you can ask but it's a long time inbetween i wouldn't think they will honour that but no harm in trying...
All i can say is always wait for sales, no need to pay the prices until a sale is on, think the sale started 15th December as well? (edited)
26th Dec
Sounds like a skill issue to me.
21 h, 12 m ago
Not a games person but if it’s a digital version why would you need to buy it so early, do they have a limited run or stock?
17 h, 26 m ago
only reason i thought was to install the games for christmas day beforehand but op says installed on the day
26th Dec
Would you expect another retailer to refund you the price difference if it is beyond the return period? No harm in asking, but don't hold your breath.
23 h, 37 m ago
Prices vary, and new games tend to reduce in price over time. Some boxing day sales started early. Use a website/app like this, and you learn when best to purchase.
21 h, 30 m ago
Maybe take a quick flight to turkey or Argentina in the future ?
You can save loads 🤫
21 h, 5 m ago
A lesson learned I'm afraid- don't buy digital in advance unless onna good deal as trend is always downwarda
Author
11 h, 52 m ago
Yes - I guess this was more a footnote for me to remind me to tell Santa not to make digital purchases early!
Sickening that some of the games have dropped in price so much! Really annoyed with the £99 Call of Duty - it's now £79!
Dying Light 2 Stay Human - Ultimate Edition was £89.99 - it's now £62.99
Thanks for all the comments, it's interesting how some empathise whilst others mock, it's quite telling!
6 h, 6 m ago
There was a trick to get Modern Warfare 2 Vault Edition for £30 on the Microsoft store back in November. As mentioned above, you should really look at purchasing games from Argentina, Brazil and Turkey as they can be a lot cheaper. Dying Light 2 Ultimate Edition has been as low as £30 from these other regions.
Author
5 h, 51 m ago
I read up and it looks like you can no longer use the gift options to buy the digital versions from Argentina, Brazil and Turkey? Tell me I am wrong. I have MS gift cards redeemed from MS reward points in GBP and was going to buy them from the UK store anyway, but if there is a way to use the GBP gift cards to buy from Argentina, Brazil or Turkey and then gift them I'd like to know!
4 m ago
You can't use GBP gift cards on foreign stores. Each region has their own currency. Your best bet for games from those stores are 3rd party key seller sites like Eneba and Gamivo.