Google officially rings the Reimbursement of money spent by Stadia customers begins. The latter are fully compensated for all their purchases, including devices such as controllers, made via the Stadia Store during the short life of the service.
Stadia Pro subscriptions are the one thing the firm won’t refund except for monthly installments paid on or after September 29, 2022. Power Support Claw to hook the smartphone to the controller is the only other exception. The firm specifies that all of these reimbursements are made automatically.
Google confirms refunds start around Stadia
And recommends not overwhelming customer service with requests – as advisors don’t have the ability to act on refunds or expedite certain cases. Google explains that customers who have made less than 20 purchases will receive an email for each refunded item.
Those who purchased more stuff from the Stadia Store will receive a one-time email that includes the full list of everything the user has purchased on the service. Additionally, even Founder’s Edition, Premiere Edition, and Google TV bundles will be refunded. In the case of physical items, it is not necessary to send anything back.
They remain your property, although at this time it’s unclear if Google has any plans to make Stadia Controller software more open or give them a new option that would allow them to be usable on other platforms – to avoid inevitably generating a new mountain of electronic waste.
A majority of refunds will be made before January 18, 2023
Google specifies that it is still necessary to have the controllers in its possession to hope to obtain a refund. In the case of a gift, the refund will be returned to the person who actually paid for the order. According to Google, a majority of refunds will be processed by January 18, 2023 – Stadia’s scheduled death date.
Google concludes: “We urge you to be patient as we review each transaction and ask that you do not contact customer service as they will not be able to issue your refund during this time”.
Stadia’s closure was ultimately a half-surprise, although one might wonder why Google didn’t give the service more time to better position itself and gain market share. The real surprise comes rather from the reimbursement of the sums spent by the players.
Indeed, by acting in this way Google makes the extent of its failure all the greater since it will have only freed Stadia from deadweight losses. What the customers concerned, moreover, should not worry too much about.
