Sony Won't Refund PS4 Gamer - Account will be banned if dispute is raised with the bank

Recent events have occurred that involved Sony and a PS4 User. The PS4 user realised that he had been hacked after $600 worth of cash had been spent via his PSN account. As such, he removed his card from the account and simultaneously launched support chats with both Sony and his bank to sort out the problem, preferably get a full refund of his $600. Reddit user Kadjar went to Reddit as well to post his ordeal with Sony and told the story of what had happened, but what shocked him most was how Sony dealt with the issue - although fast in response, they did not deliver Kadjar's $600. Instead, they only refunded a measly $150 to his PSN wallet, stating that the Sony representative is only permitted to refund up to $150, and not even to his bank account, but only to his PSN wallet.

Kadjar also realised that not only had his account been hacked, but that the hacker had taken full control of the account by deactivating Kadjar's PS4 and that another system had become the primary system for the account.

Kadjar spoke to many Sony Representatives throughout the day in regards to what had happened, and his complaints could be narrowed down to the following:

• Sony will only refund $150 of the $600 that was taken.
• The money will be in PSN credit, and not refunded into the bank.
• If the user escalates the payment dispute with his bank, his PSN account will be banned.
• If his account is banned, his purchased licences for games, such as The Last of Us, will be wiped.
• If the licences are wiped, there is no way of restoring them.

The most startling bullet point of the five is the 3rd; his account will be banned if he raises a dispute with the bank. This is bullying, Sony failed at their job and seems like they are simply being greedy - scare tactics to minimize their losses, instead of caring about loyal customers which could then increase their profits. The money that Sony/PlayStation received is not even intended for them, so why are they getting so defensive on not returning the full $600? This has only put Sony in a bad light, and the news has spread like wildfire across the internet, destroying any reputation remaining that Sony had going for itself within the gaming community.

On top of this, Kadjar's PS4 cannot be designated as the primary console for another 6 months, meaning it is locked out of the account until then. Reddit users are outraged at what they consider poor protection and customer care. Others argue that this highlights how important it is to have a strong password on your account, to deter events like these from happening.

Kadjar's post reads as follows:

"This morning, I started receiving emails indicating a number of purchases on my PSN account. As the transactions came in, one-by-one, it became immediately clear that my account had been hacked. I immediately logged into PSN and removed my card from the account, changed my email and password, and simultaneously launched support chats with both Sony and my bank."

"The Sony representative told me that they are only permitted to refund transactions of up to $150. He also informed me that I could dispute the charges with my bank, but by doing so, my account would be banned from PSN. As a result, I would permanently lose all of my purchases, including the Last of Us Remastered."

"He also informed me that my existing PS4 had been deactivated from the network this morning, and that a new one had been activated. When I asked him to deactivate that new, mystery PS4, he said he could not. I then turned on my PS4, logged in with my new credentials, and attempted to activate my PS4 with my account, but it informed me that I could not activate it as long as there was another PS4 bound to my account."

"I called customer support, hoping for some clarification. The agent informed me that there is indeed a refund investigation underway, but that it will be limited to $150, and that it would be credited to my PSN wallet, not my bank account."

"Furthermore, my account will not be able to activate a new system for 6 months, per Sony policy. I'm completely locked out of my own account until that date. I then asked about what would happen if I got my bank to reverse the charges, and he informed me that it would result in a banned account. I asked if there would be any way to restore my purchases, and he told me that there would not be, but I 'only have the Last of Us and a couple of the monthly free deal games,' so it's not a big deal."

- Kadjar, Reddit user

Several Reddit users have offered Kadjar copies of their games, which he has thanked them for but politely declined. Kadjar's goal was to bring light to Sony's awful customer service policies in hope that they might change them for the better.