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Report: #1488231

Complaint Review: Bethesda Software LLC - Rockville MD

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  • Reported By: Rich — Burlington NJ United States
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  • Bethesda Software LLC 1370 Piccard Drive Rockville, MD United States

Bethesda Software LLC Zenimax Media Inc. Defective game product that the company refuses to stand by Rockville MD

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This may be a little long but it is well worth the read to know the truth about this company.

I purchased The Evil Within & The Evil Within 2 for PlayStation 4 from a Toys R Us store closing. Games were brand new and sealed.

I didn't open them for a while because I wasn't ready to play them. November of 2019, I finally decided to play The Evil within. When I opened the game up a "PlayStation 4 Data Disc" and next to it was a Corrupt Data logo.

I did get an error message stating that there wasn't enough memory on the console, so I deleted some things and eject the disc then put it back into the console which then came up fine.

When it installed it's latest update, I went to boot the game up and it showed me the title picture then came up with an error code. The error code was stated to be for the disc has a scratch, dust or fingerprint making the disc unreadable, so I checked the disc and nothing. It's a brand new disc with no scratches, dust or finger prints. So I popped it back into my system once again and it finally booted up.

It then started in the middle of game play with another error code for "Install updates to console or game". I went to the home menu and checked both, both console and game were up to date. So I started the game again and it played fine for the rest of the night.

The next night, went to boot up the game as it was still in my console and it came up again with a new error code "Could not start application". Ejected the disc and popped it back in, started to play fine.

After about 2 hours, the game crashed again saying to install updates. I gave up for the night. Then the third night I was getting the error messages again. Only this time, I decided to call Sony and ask them for help.

They walked me through some steps such as restoring licensing, uninstall and reinstall the game, clearing out cache and a few other steps. It seemed to work again and they told me if I had problems still, to reach out to the company.

Following night, still the same messages appeared. I reach out to Bethesda for support and spoke with someone name Q'Ron through their chat who wanted me to go through some steps that Sony already walked me through. I explained that I already did these steps and he asked if I tried to Initialization the system (aka wipe the system clean as a brand new console basically).

So he walked me through on how to do that and I asked if this doesn't work, is it possible to do a disc swap when I can send you the defective game and have a new copy sent to me? He said he had to convert the chat into an email session but it was possible to do. Because of the console having to do a "Full" wipe, I had to wait until the next day to get back to Q'Ron to let him know if this fixed the problem.

The following day, after everything had been wiped and I had to reinstall my other games, I popped the disc back in and it still gave me the error code. I eject the disc, put it back in and it started out fine but after the first 2 logos at the very start, the screen went black and froze.

I reached out to Q'Ron and explained that this still didn't fix the issue and I got another problem instead. I then get someone named Schwinn who asked me to provide a picture of the error and which I did. After I sent the picture, got another representative named Daiquann who went through explaining about how to make sure the console and game are up to date, initializing the console, check the hard drive, disabling face recognition and power cycling the PlayStation 4 which was all done with Q'Ron and Sony. I wrote back letting Daiquann know that we went through all that and got another Representative Manion asking if I tried the game on a different console, which I don't have another console to try it out on.

So I explained this to Manion and got another representative named Jason who said because I don't have my original receipt (which I do have my credit card statement, just not the receipt) I was considered "Out of Warranty" and would have to pay $20 for another copy and send them back the defective game. I'm fine sending the defective game back, but the game is defective from the manufacturer so I should haven't to pay another $20 for another copy. I explained to Jason how this was unfair to me as a consumer to now have to pay $20 (which the game would have cost me $40 plus S&H and tax) to get a working game that should have been working from the start.

I then get another representative Matthew who says I should return it to the store and get another copy from them. I asked "How would you like me to do that if the store closed down?" which I then got another representative named Zachary.

Zachary stated if I'm able to provide the actual receipt for the game, they will do it free of charge but because I don't have my receipt, I have to pay $20. So instead of playing this back and fourth in email, I decided to call their customer service number. I pressed the number for consumer customer support and pressed the digit for technical support with games. When the woman answered the phone, I started explaining what happened with the game and she immediately cut me off and said "You want the game department, let me transfer you" I said "Ok, thank you".

It then came up with a answer machine to leave my information and they would call me back. So I did.

The next day, I get a phone call from Bethesda and the woman asked "How can I help you?" I explained what was going on and after I was done she said "We don't offer phone support (even though it says on their website "Customer Support") and you would have to contact Technical Support through email. I explained that I did that and I'm not getting a resolution to my problem. She then said that she had my transcript pulled up on her screen and all I needed to do was provide a receipt and if I didn't have it they would still exchange it out for me.

I asked if she could put that on my account in case if I ran into any problems and she said "No, because we are customer support. You would have to go through the emails you have been corresponding" I then explained that they wanted $20 and would consider it out of warranty. She said no they didn't say that and I said yes they did and we went back and fourth until I told her to look down in the conversation. She then said "Oh, your right.

I didn't see that". She then said "Well if you have your receipt they will do it at no charge but the $20 is a charge for not having your receipt" I said that's stupid, I have my credit card statement that can show this purchase and she said "No it has to be the receipt". She then stated that she couldn't help me and I really needed to contact them through Email. I asked if I could speak with a supervisor to see if I could get actual help then playing around with all these representatives.

She then said "I can request for a supervisor to contact you but I can't promise they will. It may be a day or two days or they may not contact you at all and at that point you need to contact the support through email." I then asked "Ok if I don't hear from the supervisor in 2 days, I can call back and ask to speak with one?" she then said really nasty "Well, since you said that, you are now blacklisted and we will no longer accept any calls from you." I thought to myself, what the heck is she talking about? I then began telling her that their warranty talks about how they replace lost, stolen or damage discs but says nothing about a manufacture defect. She then passed the buck to Sony saying "Sony told you it was a manufacture defect, we didn't" I said "Sony never said that, you guys did" and she then went back and fourth on that issue.

Until she finally said "we are not saying it's a manufacture defect because we can't determine that", I said "How can you not determine that when all your representatives walked me through every troubleshooting step and this doesn't happen to any other game disc (as I was able to play Outlast and Resident Evil Origins Collection game discs before starting The Evil Within) why wouldn't it be a manufacture defect? She then stated "we can't determine if it is or it isn't. You just decided it was" I said "When a game is coming up with error codes every day and between 3 different codes, screams defect to me". She then said "we test all out products and know our products work.

For all we know the store could have got a return and they shrink wrapped the product and put it back on the shelf which you happened to purchase" I said "so you are blaming the store now?" She then said "It's a possibility because we don't know what happen to the game from our warehouse to the store and then to you the consumer". I then went back and asked "You said you test all your products?"

She then said "Yes we test everything single thing before it ships out" I then said "I find that hard to believe that you test every single game copy from start to finish with over millions of copies worldwide" She said "Yes we do and we stand behind out products and know they actually work". I laughed and said "Well apparently not because you missed this one". She said "We don't know what happen to that copy you have and it's out of our hands" I said "No, it's your problem because it's your game and you just admitted that the game works and is guaranteed to work." She said "Yes because our products are tested to the best quality for our customers".

So at this point she was giving me the corporate answer.

That same night I called Sony again and see if they had any other suggestions and explained to them what happened. They had me delete the game and transfer it to the system's memory rather than the external hard drive. It seemed to work for a few days then the game started having issues again after I had ejected the disc to watch a Blu-Ray movie the night before. It was reading the game as "Blu-Ray Data disc" this time around.

I want people to know that this is a bad game company to do business with.

We've not only seen issues with their Fallout series, Anthem game and for me The Evil Within, this company does not want to help resolve customer issues but just take your money and let you deal with the issue. I would love to see a class action lawsuit against this company for their faulty products and the consumers receive a refund for their Bethesda games.

Only time will tell, but in the mean time, I would strongly encourage you NOT to buy any product with their name on it. I have multiple pictures and a video to show this game is defective but the company refuses to hear or see it without the receipt.

I even recorded the call with the representative (which it's legal in my state) of how rude and ignorant they truly are. I hope this helps anyone who is looking to find out about this company and how their service truly is to us consumers.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 11/24/2019 07:22 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/report/bethesda-software-llc/rockville-md-zenimax-media-1488231. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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