Interest-free loans (Destiny)

by narcogen , Andover, Massachusetts, Sunday, April 16, 2017, 02:24 (2567 days ago) @ Kahzgul

As most of you are aware, I stand staunchly against pre-orders for many, many reasons.

HOWEVER,

The possibility of a refund if you find that you received a product other than what you expected negates the reasons why I am against preorders. So, I am pleased to announce that you can now get refunds from the Xbox Live store for preordered digital content that is not up to snuff.

That's great!

Although I'd suggest there are other reasons to avoid preorders.

Preorders are allowing the amalgamation of retailers, publishers and (indirectly) developers to treat you like an interest-free bank.

They get your money, well in advance, for a thing that isn't even out yet, and in extreme cases, might not ever be. Refunding your money afterwards isn't actually fair compensation because of lost opportunity costs. They should at least pay you back your initial payment plus prime over the term for an item that is never released. (Rare, but it does happen.)

Generally I only preorder stuff I *know* I will play regardless of what happens (I preordered Destiny and expansions purely for my own convenience) or I preorder other things a day or so in advance so I don't have to wake up in the middle of the night to start a manual download.