Pure Opinion: Sony's Poor Payment Handling is Sending My Cash Elsewhere

Pure PlayStation: Sony has a problem. The company wants my money, but it doesn’t want to make it easy for me to make payment. This is not good. Not good at all.

[Sonyslave3]

I feel his pain I got a Japanese account wish I could use my credit card to buy thing off the jp store.

[Doge]

Same. My main account is UK based and I live in the Middle East. PSN being the only platform that I still gotta buy gift cards for is a pain in the ass.

[Mr_Writer85]

@sonyslave

Why doesn't PayPal work?

[Tapani]

Well, get a Japanese credit card then? We use ours when we buy from PSN Japan. Or you can buy gift cards with a really cheap conversion rate if you know where to look. This is the site I've been using mostly: https://www.seagm.com/plays...

Or have a friend in Japan buy these for you. My friend sometimes goes to Kombini and just buys worth a few thousand man yen for me when I'm in Europe and don't want to touch the CC and exchange rates are bad on the sites (they usually are pretty good.)

Btw, you can also order Japanese physical games from Amazon Japan, and it accepts all credit cards, plus is in English.

[Azurite]

"worth a few thousand man yen"
Say what now?

Thousand man yen = 10 000 000 yen = more than $90 000

[Tapani]

@Azurite

You are right, sorry! I could not edit the comment later anymore. I meant few thousand yen. Or few man yen. Choose thousands or tens of thousands (yen.)

[AcidDvl]

@Mr_Writer85 Paypal does work.

[sushimama]

Shut up. It's easy AF

[isarai]

The $5 minimum is dumb, but other than that it's really no different than any other online marketplace.

[OneEyedSteve]

Don't know about elsewhere but the £5 minimum spend hasn't been a thing for ages now.

[jznrpg]

I have been able to spend under 5$ for a long time now

[execution17]

The least amount I've paid with a credit card is 50 cents

[isarai]

How long ago was that? I don't buy digitally often, last time I bought something digital below $5 since... I don't even remember TBH.

Anywho that's cool that they got rid of that, don't know how I missed that hit of news.

[milohighclub]

Cant you just change store location? From the main page of the store... also buy your psn cards from legit businesses and your codes will work. Not rocket science.

[porkChop]

You can't just simply change the store location on your account. If your account is American you have to use the American store. This is why people make secondary accounts to access the Japanese store.

No other platform is this restricted though. If you have an American account, and move to Canada or Europe, you shouldn't be required to buy American PSN cards online or make a new account. You should be able to use your local bank/credit cards or your PayPal. PC, Xbox, and Nintendo don't have this issue.

[milohighclub]

How come it let's you change store front? What's the purpose of that? Well just start a new account or go somewhere else?

[ApocalypseShadow]

From the article:

**That’s not Sony’s fault**

**And yes, I’m aware I could just make a German PSN and buy the games in my local currency and then play them on my main account**

**Some will say I’m being pedantic and that I should just suck it up and make another account**

**I think I’ve got the right to be a little demanding.**

Translation: entitlement.

Would it be nice to buy any game and play any game from any market worldwide on any PlayStation? Sure. But stop being overly dramatic. There's a reason why there's different game stores for different customers. But no one cares about your first world problems and trash of an article.

People always expecting everything and not the context of why things are the way they are. And he already said it wasn't Sony's fault but wants to complain.

[chrish1990]

Quality comment, clearly taking the words out of context. For those who can't be arsed clicking, here's the full argument:

"The problem is that I have a UK account but I live in Germany. This means I can't use my German bank cards, my German credit cards, or even my PayPal account to make purchases. In the beginning this wasn't so bad as I'd simply buy a PSN gift card and do my spending that way. Not anymore, though. I've had enough of having to spend £10 just to buy a £4.99 game. I'm sick of going through third-party sites that sell these codes because sometimes they just don't work and there's little chance of a refund. I always pay via PayPal, but since the start of this year I've had six codes not work for me, and I've received zero refunds, resulting in a total loss of £150 (I tend to buy my codes in £10 or £25 denominations). That's not Sony's fault, sure, but they're not getting completely off the hook. If their systems weren't so backwards, I wouldn't need to do this! And yes, I'm aware I could just make a German PSN and buy the games in my local currency and then play them on my main account. I'm aware that option exists, but I'm not doing it. I don't have to do it on the Xbox or the Nintendo. On those stores my identity is universal. I can go anywhere and buy anything without having to remember to set up two-step authentication for multiple accounts.

Some will say I'm being pedantic and that I should just suck it up and make another account. Maybe that works for you, but as a customer, I think I've got the right to be a little demanding. I mean, all I want to do is spend my money. Should it be that complicated?"

The point is that on Microsoft and Nintendo machines, and even on PC, I can go anywhere in the world and not face the same problems as I do with PlayStation's store.

[Silly gameAr]

Sony is sooooo anti-consumer. You have the right to be entitled, and whine about something so small. There are actually things out there that matter that you can moan about, like censorship or cross-play for example. That's something else that MS and Nintendo do better also apparently. Just giving you ideas for some future articles that no one seems to talk about on N4G,ever.

Give me a break.

[milohighclub]

Dude I made the click and read in context but still thought t
You was a whiney entitled pos.
Make another account, buy a psn card, stop been cheap and using dodgy 3rd party sites on psn cards...solution to all your issues.

"I always pay via PayPal, but since the start of this year I've had six codes not work for me, and I've received zero refunds, resulting in a total loss of £150 (I tend to buy my codes in £10 or £25 denominations). That's not Sony's fault, sure, but they're not getting completely off the hook."

So you have a working solution (paypal) but choose to buy from shit vendors and have been ripped off 6 times this year. And this is sonys fault?
They have provided you with a means of payment (even though your whole argument is that they havent) and it's their fault you got ripped off because YOU chose to try undercut sony and buy from a dodgy site. You then went back for a further five of these codes, this year, and this is all sonys fault.

Why should sony invest millions Into psn to make these changes when you refuse to give them your money by going to unlicensed 3rd party sites to under cut sony?

Guessing you then turned to sony for the refund too?

Whatever your on the wrong side of the click man.

Ur article is pathetic man.

[Silly gameAr]

@milo

I read it too, and he does sound like a whiny brat. I don't care who disagrees, get on your high horses and call it defending Sony just for the sake of defending Sony, I don't care. He sounds like a spoiled child complaining about something that hardly matters.

[chrish1990]

"People always expecting everything and not the context of why things are the way they are. And he already said it wasn't Sony's fault but wants to complain."

Speaking of context, you obviously have no idea what the word means. I said it wasn't Sony's fault that I lost money buying PSN cards elsewhere, not that it wasn't their fault their storefront policies are rubbish compared to the competition.

"Would it be nice to buy any game and play any game from any market worldwide on any PlayStation? Sure. But stop being overly dramatic. There's a reason why there's different game stores for different customers. But no one cares about your first world problems and trash of an article."

You still don't see the problem. The problem isn't that I want to buy from any market in the world, just the one I live in with the account I've had for over a decade. I will say that you're right on one thing: my first-world problem is not important, in the grand scheme of things, but on a gaming-centric website? I think it has a place and there will be others like me who will appreciate that somebody is calling out Sony on their poor practices. I can guarantee you one thing: fewer will care for your trash of a comment.

[SpineSaw]

When in Rome be a Roman not a whiny little Brit. Help yourself out and make a German Account or move on to another platform no one cares and no one will miss you.

[milohighclub]

On a gaming centric website it's still pathetic.

You're literally whining about not having additional ways to pay because YOU'VE decided you dont want to pay with the 2 simple and secure ways already provided to you.

[ApocalypseShadow]

You're whining and complaining. Simple as that. The point I made is that it would be nice to buy any product from any source using the same currency I use without changing it or needing another account made. But Sony Set it up this way for a reason. You just want them to make things easier for you like an entitled brat.

You got ripped off 6 times because you chose a poor way of spending your money. That shows stupidity. After the second ripoff, it shows the level of intelligence when you kept doing it 6 times. There is a way for you to purchase games and it will work. You choose to not do that. You Then, want to write an article that you're not buying PlayStation games anymore. I don't care. Set the PS4 on fire. Throw it in the trash. Like this article.

You get no sympathies from me.

[RememberThe357]

You can type as many words as you want. We all understand the issue, "accounts should be transferable across regoins." We get it. You're still whining and still making shit decisions.

[rainslacker]

The problem, as I see you perceive it, is that you feel Sony should change their policies because their current set up is an inconvenience for your situation.

While I could see this being an issue that makes it a "sony problem", the problems that arise from international credit card use far outweigh what they'd gain from supporting the small percentage if random anecdotal instances that come up like this.

I know that nowadays a lot of companies will take a loss to please the customer, which has made customers more annoying or entitled than ever...to the point there are actual youtube video channels that explain how to rip off companies, but sony generally isnt one of those conpanies.

Sony isnt obligated or required to cater to your situation. You are free to ask them to, but them not doing so is not a Sony problem. Doesn't matter what the competition does. If the competition is doing something that works for you, and Sony doesn't, then what a smart consumer would do is go to the other companies.

If sony is the only one that has the actual product you want, and you still buy from them despite their problem...then how exactly does Sony have a problem?

What it comes down to is that you are the one with the problem, and you expect sony to fix it. Again, you can ask sony, but I wouldn't expect appreciable results as I'm sure you arent the first person to have this problem.

[conanlifts]

To be fair you can do this on Xbox, is one of the few things Xbox does better.

[SpineSaw]

This is not about what you can do on Xbox. This has nothing to do with Xbox at all. He has a work around that has work well for her but i guess now the work around is longer good enough for her. But wait there's this in his own words.....
"It's now becoming a rarity for me to buy games from the PlayStation Store."
"Honestly, my PS4 is just being used to play PSVR and to review games as part of my work."
Not even using the thing yet it's so much of a problem she has to make this whole big deal about it. I was right in my comment above, my first comment.

[milohighclub]

Innit he blames sony because he went to online vendors and got ripped off for his purchase through said vendors.

Sounds like he just needs to quit the internet.

[rainslacker]

Sites selling fraudulent goods with the Sony name are actually a problem for sony, as they often will be the ones paying for the customer service for such things, not to mention the legal costs in shutting them down.

That is a problem, but its not sonys problem this guy decided not to use the in place methods Sony has for international sales. Sony likely doesn't do international credit cards because of that being a bigger risk for fraud...and we all know how stringent is on even the remote chance something is fraud. There are other reasons that may involve credit processors or just logistics they never cared to implement, and realistically, they are supposed to not sell products from one region in another. Not something they enforce, but technically, that's the usual expectation for any company selling a publishers games. Just because some still do it doesn't mean they should, they just turn a blind eye to it because most in the industry dont really care.

[rainslacker]

I kind of feel the same. It's an inconvenience for some people who want to buy from a different locale, but I wouldn't really call it a problem that Sony has, or needs to rectify.

Not using international cards is usually more about preventing fraud, and some people dont understand currency conversion. Plus, not all games are allowed to be sold in different locales, so managing all the details is just easier to restrict it, even if there is a workaround.

Then there are price differences between regions, like say Canadian players.may just easily buy from the us store...this no taxes assessed for either locale. Or, different regions have different publishers. Restricting the payment means that in all the finer legal licensing details, its technically being sold where its allowed to be sold, at a price it's supposed to be sold at, and covers most inconsistencies between regions, because most people dont put forward the extra effort.

For the most part, I doubt sony really cares about region locking anything. They make their money either way. But there is a lot more that has to go on with officially supporting international sales.

[SpineSaw]

Wow...no Sony don't "sort it out" let this whiny little bitch move on. What a joke of a pretend gamer to have such unimportant issues to cry about.

[TheColbertinator]

How can a company like Sony get away with this? Usually I don't find myself craving government intervention but those practices of Sony must be put to an end. The EU and the US must begin legal action against Sony and punish them to the fullest extent of the law.

[rainslacker]

Go after amazon as well. I cant buy things in their japanese store and have it sent to a non japanese territory.

[Mr_Writer85]

"I’m aware I could just make a German PSN and buy the games in my local currency and then play them on my main account. I’m aware that option exists, but I’m not doing it."

So... You have a work around, one that granted shouldn't be needed, but it is what it is,.. And yet you won't do it because you shouldn't have to?

What's the saying?

Cutting off your nose to spite your face.

" Should it be that complicated?"

How's it complicated? Making a new PSN account is a doddle...If you think having to create a new account for a different region is "complicated" then there is no hope.

A pain? Yeah sure..

Inconvenient? Definitely

But complicated?... No not even a little bit.

I'm curious as to why PayPal doesn't work though.

[milohighclub]

PayPal does work, again, he just doesnt want to use it. Same with psn cards.

[chrish1990]

PayPal doesn't work. That's the point. Can you even read?

[chrish1990]

"The problem is that I have a UK account but I live in Germany. This means I can’t use my German bank cards, my German credit cards, or even my PayPal account to make purchases."

Ask your mum to buy you this for Christmas.

https://www.amazon.com/Firs...

[milohighclub]

"I always pay via PayPal, but since the start of this year I’ve had six codes not work for me, and I’ve received zero refunds, resulting in a total loss of £150"

Haha it's cool man, I'll get her to send cash ur way, you clearly in need if all you can write is this pos article. That you submitted urself. And have the spent days since acting like a man child. Can only sit back and crease tbf

[Mr_Writer85]

@chrish1990

But WHY can't you use PayPal? Does PSN know its link to a German bank account?

[rainslacker]

Maybe his account was restricted because its attached to a German bank, and hes living in the UK. I know I cant link international accounts to my PayPal, although us banking regulations are different.

Either that, or if he kept making claims of fraud when making purchases at fraudulent sites, and PayPal will flag his account and eventually restrict it.

Or...he just doesn't have a paypal account on good standing because they couldn't withdraw money from his account.

Lots of reasons. Not a Sony issue though. Go to paypal and ask them, because millions of people have no problem using paypal on psn, and him making a willful choice to not use paypal isnt sonys problem

[SyntheticForm]

You should have just stopped after "A pain? Yeah sure.."

You're acknowledging that this is a negative issue and excusing it by reducing it.

[Mr_Writer85]

Because it is minor.

That's not excusing it, it's simply not making a mountain out of a mole hill.

Also you have failed to tell me why PayPal doesn't work.

Because as far as I'm aware using PayPal would irradicate this whole issue, but you and the author have failed to explain why PayPal doesn't work.

And I'm waiting for a valid reason as to why creating a German account to purchase his games is also not an option? And "because I don't want to" isn't a good enough reason.

[Stanjara]

Can someone explain to me cause i'm new to this. So you have your main acc on Psn. You can then create another (Japanese) acc and buy the game and install it on ps4. Then you switch to your main acc and play installed game? But if you go with your main acc to a psstore game is not owned on that acc?

[rainslacker]

Depends on the game. Some you can play on multiple accounts on the same system. In many cases, DLC or extra verified by psn that come with the game, may not work if you go to the account it want brought on, as it doesn't have the licenses attached to it. So say like a GOTY edition which bundles the season pass with the regular game, but has separate downloads for each. A lot of purchased dlc is account locked apparently

If it's a MP game you may, or very likely won't be able to access it with a foreign account.

I dont know if any game itself is actually locked to an account, and most seem to work like a local game would if you signed in under a different user. Like I could give in right now and play any digitally purchased game from PSN on the guest account no problem. Not ps+ games though that I'm aware.

I've seen conflicting reports on this, but that's my understanding. Going to a trophy hunting website may be more prudent if you need an absolute, as there are people that do this for trophy stacking, and they obviously play different regions games on a single account.

[SyntheticForm]

It's so hard for them - it's just so hard. This is in no way good and these hoops shouldn't have to be jumped through. They're all actually defending something that sucks just because it's their champion plastic.

Christ. When you can't admit that something bad is bad, at least resist the temptation to defend it.

[Mr_Writer85]

No one is saying this is fine.

What we're saying is that there are work arounds.

This isn't a new thing, so why only now make a big deal of it?

[milohighclub]

Not even workarounds, straight forward legit payment options that the author has just decided they don't want to use (even though, both are safer and one is just as convenient as a card and has buyer protection)

[SyntheticForm]

But you are saying it's fine. 'Hey guys, there's a workaround it'll be fine' is essentially what you're saying. Spin your way out of that one.

It's old and therefore not worthy of consideration? Alright.

You're misrepresenting the scale of this. It's confined to a fledgling website and being on N4G isn't exactly pushing it out in the open for a big deal to be made of it.

You're simply defending something that is not good. There's no other way to see it because that is all that you're doing.

[Mr_Writer85]

"You're simply defending something that is not good"

And? I for one still haven't said this is fine. And also I wish to have all the facts.

Neither you nor the author can answer me why paypal won't work.

I understand the German based credit/bank card issue, but unless Sony some how know your PayPal is linked to a German bank account, and also block that, I don't know why PayPal doesn't work.

[rainslacker]

There's a workaround already, and sony doesn't want to deal with fraud which is why you can get around it with paypal, because paypal will deal with any fraud if it exists.

There are lots of companies which dont sell to international customers if they also have stores in those other regions. Some won't even sell internationally at all.

I dont see why Sony needs to be held to a higher standard, especially in this case where they dont completely restrict the customer from buying if they're in another region.

I understand it may be inconvienant to some, but is it really that big of a deal that it has to be made into some sort of anti consumer tirade?

Sony is 100% within their rights to decide what kind of currency they will.accept and from where. They are 100% within their rights to decide if they will allow cross region purchases at all. They are 100% within their rights to not have to try to cater to every single customer whim in any given scenario that may come up, just like many stores won't accept personal checks nowadays.

Sony doesn't need defending in this, and they dont have a problem.

[feenix-5]

Oh lord.......

[ramiuk1]

this is stupid,theres so many simple ways round it ffs.
maybe its to reduce fraud?
if someone used your card in another country same day you used it in UK for example folk would be angry they allowed it.
pathetic generation we live in.

[milohighclub]

Innit man. I know for a fact my bank would block the transaction everytime as fraud.

[rainslacker]

Fraud is the most likely reason. Sony is pretty hell bent on trying to prevent it, and international credit card fraud is fairly common...especially with digital goods. Honestly, I think their general policies on preventing fraud probably annoy more customers than the scenario presented here, as it often affects normal customers. This leads me to believe that Sony has had a high number of instances of fraud, and it was costing them a lot, because as a company, its not usually a good thing to annoy 99% of your customers, because 1% takes advantage of the system.

[PitbullMonster]

There are several reasons why accounts are looked to regions not only in psn but also in Netflix, Spotify, Prime and so on. We can be happy that there is a simple work around for the psn stores. For steam and Netflix for an example you need a VPN to buy from other regions.

[PhoenixUp]

I don’t see why Sony is so antiquated in this aspect. There’s been times I want to access things that were only offered through another region’s storefront but I couldn’t because I’m restricted to US.

Meanwhile Nintendo users of all people are easily able to do so with their Switch accounts

[Majin-vegeta]

>Take 5 minutes
>Create account for whatever country you want.
>Use CDkeys to buy whatever country currency card you need
>Profit

[PhoenixUp]

Why should a consumer have to inconvenience themselves for what should be a simple fix from Sony?

[ChristopherJack]

Because this is a Sony Safe Haven.

[PhoenixUp]

Yeah it’s appalling how so many people are so vehemently willing to defend Sony for any of their shortcomings yet are quick to jump onto whatever bandwagon where the competition has a mishap

[ILostMyMind]

I have similar problems. I will have to renew my PS+ for double the price as my primary account is not in my country. There was no PSN in my country when I created the account.

PlayStation is the best console but danm, Sony is really trash.

[Mr_Luke]

I never had problem, since i bought the PS3. Never. I choose, i go to the cart/payment page, i pay with Paypal. And for other account not of my region? Some with Paypal, others with PS cards (you can buy them everywhere on internet in these days). It seems sooooo simple...

[nucky64]

i read the article. this guy gets my vote for "crybaby of the year".

[xX1NORM1Xx]

nintendo does the same thing its dumb, i wish i could just use paypal cause that handles conversion for me on websites. i guess they want to make it as hard as possible so you can't buy from a low income country all the time and save yourself a lot of money. hopefully they start grouping countries in different income brackets so we can buy from countries that are around the same bracket.

[r2oB]

Sony's commitment to quality games is sending my cash to them. But I guess it's silly of me to use games as a means to gauge where to spend money.

[ChristopherJack]

Users here dictate that you either create a new account, or that you STFU, completely neglecting the fact that this person has invested into their account and merely wishes to continue investing, and that both primary competitors offer a solution.

N4G is a cesspool. Sony can do no wrong. Why these fools take it as a personal attack & shout down any legitimate discussions is beyond my comprehension, I can only assume an immeasurable stupidity.

[rainslacker]

And that's the future of digital that everyone is saying is the future. You move, you will be restricted. The articles user wants to continue using their account in another country. They can. They just can't use a credit card in another country to pay for it. There are ways to still pay for it which Sony offers, and chances are, Sony has reasons for restricting CC use which go well beyond just them being anti-consumer.

The author has ways to remedy his situation. They want a more convienant solution. While that in itself is OK, saying that it's a problem for Sony that they aren't accomadating what it is he wants, is more entitlement than it is him just accepting the fact that sometimes when you make major changes in your life, there will be things that you end up having to leave behind if you aren't willing to do something extra.

The competition may make it easier for him to do what he wants to do...although I don't believe Nintendo offers a solution for him either. But just because the competition does it doesn't mean Sony needs to do it, or that its something that people have to turn into Sony being an evil corporation. I've run several businesses in my life, and outside my current one, I have never accepted international cards(excluding Canada), because you have to pay more for that, and there are additional charges for currency conversion that I'd have to pay as the retailer. On top of that, there are higher fees for international CC processing, and no recourse should a card be fraudulent. While it could be an ordeal to still get my money for a fraudulant transaction, so long as I did what was required with US or Canadian cards, I could still get my money. International, you're SOL.

So no, it's not a simple matter of Sony should just do it. There are business decisions involved, and when people sign up for these services, they actually do stipulate in the TOS that it is for the country for which you can play in. The fact they don't really hold the player to that is them being lenient on policing the policy, but they are within their rights to do so, and when you buy anything, or even sign up, that's what you agree to. Complaining about it means you don't even know what you've agreed to, and I don't really see how that's a Sony problem.

If the primary competitor has a solution, then they can go use the primary competitor. Sony won't feel the loss, and they would probably feel that they gain more by keeping their policies the way they are. Unless there is a large number of people that need accommodations for such things, Sony has no reason to change, as most people do use the available methods for accessing foreign content.

[ChristopherJack]

I never said that Sony should, rather that this community is trash the way they react to criticism. It is a legitimate complaint, you put forward your retort well enough, I don't necessarily agree but either way, this wasn't about you personally but this community as a whole.

Why shouldn't people be allowed to discuss these pros & cons publicly without getting insulted & downvoted to oblivion? What I hate perhaps the most, is those who dismiss entirely as 'unimportant' & that Sony should focus on something else(as if Sony is an individual that can't do more than one thing). I hear it in political discussions all the time as a nonsensical diversion tactic & it's just plain insulting to everyone. Also saying, 'just go elsewhere', isn't exactly helpful to a discussion either.

Ideally, we should be discussing the pros, cons & alternatives of such a transition. I can't think 3 years into the future but if I were to relocate to another nation. I'd like to be able to maintain and continue to expand my current library without jumping through hoops & paying premiums each time, especially in an increasingly digital future, perhaps there are secure ways Sony could consider to allow people to relocate their accounts or offer more security options allowing the individual to choose whether to region prevent purchases overseas.

[rainslacker]

I wouldn't call it a legitimate complaint in the way it's presented. I believe it's a reasonable request, but a request presented in a logical way is much different than positing that Sony somehow has a problem, going to write an article with the intent of solidifying one's argument, and presenting nothing but one's own anecdotal situation and their reluctance to work with what systems are in place to achieve exactly what they want to achieve.

People are free to discuss this stuff. They are. Some people will be more hostile towards those who are so self involved that they think what they want is what should be. Some people aren't as eloquent in expressing what they're trying to say. Some people are asses about it.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the way you generalize the community to make your point, is no different than others doing what you are criticizing them for.

People aren't good at being pragmatic about these things, and thinking of the variables that may go into the decision that Sony made here. One side says Sony is evil. The other won't bother to present reasonable arguments. Those that do on either side, don't get discussion, and it doesn't really help change things when you focus on the negative, instead of just discussing with those who are trying to be more practical.

[AK91]

I mean its the same for Ninty and Xbox though if there are games that I can't buy in my region (Australia) I use my US account and buy Xbox Store and Ninty Online cards to purchase said games.

Perhaps this is an Aussie only issue but I agree it is a complaint but not a PS Store exclusive one for me.