UK issues new 'Right to 30-day refund' law. Will likely cover digital purchases.

This looks like an interesting development in terms of consumer rights and especially digital consumer rights in the UK

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34403005

Previously consumers were only entitled to refunds for a "reasonable time". Now that reasonable time has been codified as 30 days.

The goods or services purchased;

• must be of satisfactory quality, based on what a reasonable person would expect, taking into account the price
• must be fit for purpose. If the consumer has a particular purpose in mind, he or she should make that clear
• must meet the expectations of the consumer

The whole 'must meet the expectations of the consumer' thing is going to be hard to quantify, but I'm sure it'll cover "the game must work as advertised". Perhaps if this law had been in place last year then more refunds for Unity and MCC would have been sought?

Nothing new here that wasn't already covered under EU law.

http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/shopping/shopping-abroad/guarantees/index_en.htm

Whether you bought the goods in a shop or online, under EU rules you always have the right to a minimum two-year guarantee period at no cost.

If an item you bought anywhere in the EU turns out to be faulty or does not look or work as advertised, the seller must repair or replace it free of charge or give you a full refund or reduction in price.

@extintor: Video games get torpedoed in the explanatory notes.

1 - Reasonable people shouldn't expect video games to work.

"...it is the norm to encounter some bugs in a complex game on release so a reasonable person might not expect that type of digital content to be free from minor defects."

2 - Reasonable people shouldn't expect video games to be fixed.

"...a piece of software which may require a patch... the process might be expected to take longer."

The guardian makes a good point regarding pre-order purchases and the right to return that will now be covered under the act in relation to reasonably set expectations

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/oct/01/new-consumer-rights-act-gamers

basically, if a pre-ordered game doesn't meet the expectations (as advertised) in the lead up to the release of the game, I think this act now unequivocally entitles a refund.

It'd be interesting to see how this plays out. On balance, I think this is probably good.