My partner bought me a Nintendo Switch game for Christmas, purchased downstairs at NOVA in Taichung. I opened it yesterday, fired it up, and found it it was only in Japanese and Chinese. We took it back to the store, and they said they would not exchange it, despite it being purchased just a few days ago, because it had been opened. Is this legal in Taiwan? Do any consumer protection laws exist which we could invoke? She doesn’t earn a lot of money so that was a fairly big purchase, and now it’s worthless. They just flat-out cited ‘store policy’ and wouldn’t budge on refund, exchange, anything. Kinda fuming.
You’re supposed to have 7 days to return it, that is Taiwan’s consumer laws. Most big retailers (Carrefour, B&Q, etc.) go above and beyond that.
But a lot of small retailers cheat on that and don’t offer much, if any returns.
But I read software like games may be exempt because I’ve been to many retailers in the US who will only exchange for the exact item if a game/software were opened. I think it’s to prevent you from making copies of it and then returning them.
Your only recourse is sell it on ebay or ruten if that’s the case…
also A lot of games are localized so this is why if I bought console games I bought it from ebay US. Halo is particularly bad about this, everything down to the voice over is localized.
Thanks for that. They did tell us about the copies thing, but it’s a cartridge! I know you can copy CDs, but a cartridge is a bit of a stretch. And I’m kicking myself for not checking the language first, but I already have about 7 or 8 physical games for the Switch, all bought here, and they’re all in English (with options for Chinese, Japanese, and others).
Will keep looking to see if I can find anything definitive about an exemption.
Can’t return opened software or personal items. That’s a no brainer.
It also clearly states the supported languages on the box.
How old is your Switch? Is it custom firmware compatible?
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You have been able to pirate Switch games for a long time. You can dump the cartridges to mSD or PC easily.
No brainer to you perhaps, but I’m from the EU where we thankfully have pretty strong consumer protection laws. I’d have expected a store to be more reasonable. And yes, the languages are stated on the box, but that’s not exactly the first thing you think of when opening a gift, especially when all of your previous experience leads you to expect no language issues.
As for the Switch, it’s 2 years old, but I have no idea about custom firmware. I just use it to play games. No other fiddling about.
Same deal in the EU. Games, DVDs, CDs are exempt as far as I know for obvious reasons. I think they only hold the place to uphold their return policy. Which they have.
What exactly is this supposed to help with?
As a consumer, you have to check to make sure whatever you purchase is compatible/right product, especially if you’re in a foreign country. If you had Switch for two years, I don’t think it’s hard to figure out the language issues with certain games, and it doesn’t hurt to ask a store employee, even in broken Chinese.
And you can’t bring your EU expectations and laws here and use that against stores or others here on this board. Remember, this is Taiwan, and part of living here is to understand how people deal with such daily occurrences.
With that said, I hope you can figure this problem out. Happy holidays.
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Since you already bought the game, just download the English version and play it… if your Switch isn’t patched.
Returning video games isn’t covered by EU consumer rights in the first place. EU laws and regulations are annoying. There are so many and sometimes contradicts local laws.
I didn’t buy the game, it was a gift as I said. And as I also said my previous experience over the past two years is that games purchased here are playable in multiple languages, including English.
The EU comment was not about pushing my expectations on people or stores here. I’ve lived here for nearly ten years, I’m aware that laws are different. I was simply responding to the comment that it was a ‘no brainer’.
You mean if I have a physical copy I can download the digital copy from the eshop for no extra charge? I just checked and that doesn’t seem to be the case.
No. I mean you can download the pirated version without a guilty conscience.
Nintendo would just tell you to shove off.
You’re into gaming and you have no idea about CFW and piracy… and you live in Taiwan? Weird.
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Here is a suggestion. Go to this FB group. I use it to buy, sell, and trade games all the time. You might ask for someone to trade you a copy that has English to help you out. Or sell it and buy a new one. Or trade with another game you want to play. The consumer rights laws on this matter in Taiwan is the same in the EU. Now you know.
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We aren’t allowed to promote illegal activities. Pirating IP isn’t cool.
I’m a gamer and I never pirate games.
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I know all about piracy, I just didn’t assume you’d be recommending it on a board for legal matters. Not interested in any case. As for custom firmware, I meant I had no idea of mine was compatible or not. It’s not something I checked since I only use it for playing games, which it does perfectly well without any tinkering whatsoever. But in any case, none of this relates to the question of refund policy, that’s taken care of. Thanks for the help.
He already bought the game. Wouldn’t you agree it’s fair use to play the English version?
It’s still illegal As far as I know. I’m just giving you a heads up to the board rules. I wouldn’t argue against it being fair as he bought the game. But I’m just letting you know about the rules.
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