Demand a refund for SimCity and risk the Origin ban hammer

It seems Marcel Hatam's words regarding SimCity refunds may have been misconstrued — or maybe he just wasn't being as honest as we thought. In light of the recent launch troubles plaguing SimCity, EA global community manager Marcel Hatam stated, "If you regrettably feel that we left you down, you can of course request a refund for your order at http://help.origin.com/contact-us, though we are currently still in the process of resolving this issue."

As it turns out, getting a refund may prove to be more difficult than it seems. One user, understandably frustrated with the game's launch, shared his recent troubles with EA's customer service while requesting a refund. He posted a transcript of the conversation that took place between him and an EA representative.

As you can see from the above conversation, getting a refund may be a little harder than you thought. Admittedly, I'm not a fan of EA's return and cancelation policy in general. But I'm not even concerned with that portion of the conversation right now. Keep in mind, we don't know exactly how this user purchased his copy of SimCity (EA clearly states in their policy that they do not offer refunds on any products downloaded through Origin; full terms of service can be found here). What I find most shocking is the the EA rep's threat to ban the user's Origin account if he goes directly through his bank to obtain a refund.

You'd think EA would try a little more damage control rather than risk alienating consumers with things like the ban hammer. If they continue down this path of customer service their may not be any users to even threaten to ban in the future. Lesson to take away from this? Don't purchase games with a strict always-on DRM at launch — or at least until you are certain they will work properly.

Bi*ch about SimCity with @Matt_GZ on Twitter.

[Gamechup]