Ok, here we go with the issues revolving around my fiasco of a purchase from Amazon.

On the 7th, (I think that is the date) I decided I wanted to purchase Uni...I had a little extra money so it was my treat to me! I browse the web to see if it's on sale anywhere in particular and read reviews on experiences others have had with digital downloads. Origin didn't have the limited edition hence my reason for looking outside the box.

Since I'm a long customer of Amazon I decided to go with them. Only one negative comment regarding the digital download of the game, and it really was on the part of the customer, and not Amazon so I thought I was in the right place.

I'm over in the game section and, there it is, a picture of the cover of the game with 'Limited Edition' in bold red strip across the top. I proceed with my purchase.

Now...here is where it gets a tad tricky. When you order from Amazon any digital Ea games you still have to download it through Origin. Like mentioned, Origin didn't not have the limited edition...hence my reason for going to Amazon, but I just assumed that since I was ordering the actual limited edition it would just go to Origin and I'd download it from there.

I go through the process and all seems to be working fine, accept something is nagging me, I'm NOT seeing the limited edition across the top of the cover like I saw on Amazon. I just continued on with my download and then flawlessly installed University into my game.

Well, when pdx started talking about the party statue I started looking around as to where to actually locate it in my game. Supposedly it was in the party area of buy mode. I looked there....nothing...I check everywhere feasibly possible and nothing. I then asked pdx where did he get it in his game and he confirmed it was in the party section of buy mode.

I check again....nothing. It's then that I realize I do not have the limited edition which is one of the main parts of the whole ep!

I couldn't decide who to contact since it is an Ea game, but I bought it through Amazon, but it downloaded via Origin.
I slept on it and decided to contact Amazon since that is where the actual purchase took place.

I got customer service and decided to tell the representative of my dilemma. He stated that they don't give refunds on games. That is a lie because they have been refunding SimCity customers because of that fiasco.

Dude tells me to hold on while he checks into it and see what he can do. He comes back to me and tells me that I have 2 options, they can give me a $10 credit at the Ea Sim 3 store or totally just remove the game and give me a credit at Amazon for the purchase price of the game.

I told them under no uncertain terms would I want a credit for the Ea store...I mean...you can't afford to buy anything of worth for $10 at the store. And I told him I had NO need for anything at this moment from Amazon. He asked me to hold on again while he spoke to someone else about what else he could offer me. He comes back to me and tells me that he could put in a complaint with the developers of the Uni ep and see if they could make it so I could get these items added to my game.

I just thought to myself...WTH...the developers...are you kidding me? He said, well it will probably take 3 to 4 weeks for them to even get back to him and it wasn't guaranteed that they would fix it.
I told him , NO...that was not an acceptable offer and that I would not do it. He then said that even though the package showed the game was limited edition, the game itself was not so it really wasn't their fault.

I told him that yes it was their fault because I see false advertising! I told him that if I went to Walmart or Game Stop, I would see the game, see it was limited edition and proceed to the cashier to make my purchase. I would not have to stand there and read the package to see if it was actually the limited edition copy because it is clearly stated on the outside package. I also told him that I would not ask the clerk to open the package so I could verify it was the limited edition, so I find that unacceptable as an excuse as to why he felt they were not at fault. He then agreed that maybe it was misleading and told me that he contacted the proper department to have the picture changed to the proper game, which is just the plain copy of the game.

He then said, he would make a one time offer of refunding my money to my back account so I could then repurchase the game. Now get this...they don't even sell the limited edition digital download of the game so I now have to reorder once the refund has cleared my bank and then reorder a disk copy of the University limited edition game.

I told him I was displeased and that if I had known I would have to go through all of this, I might as well have went to a store here that sells it and buy it and be able to play it problem free. I told him that if I had not received, what I thought was a reasonable solution...I would file a suit against Amazon for false and misleading advertising and if the picture displayed was NOT changed I would still file a complaint. He then assured me that he made it an urgent message to the department that handled that so it would be changed.

That is my story dealing with this game ep. I will, from now on...just go out and buy the disk from now on!

What a crock of BS.

...oh yeah...I wrote a review on my situation on Amazon...serves them right. I ALWAYS write reviews on products I purchase.

I'm so sorry, Cece! It honestly gets so confusing with how many different versions that are released for games these days - that compounded with the way Amazon displays listings and pictures makes for even more confusion.

Similar listings are often grouped under one major listing and share the same bank of images - that can actually be added to by users. Since this is the format, they should have it set so that when you select a new product under an umbrella listing, it should default to a relevant picture matching the product. Except it doesn't - making for false advertising that is basically because they didn't write the script correctly. For instance, say you're buying a pan, they'll actually have all the different options for that pan under one listing/link, but they share the same picture, so you have to double check that you've clicked on the correct little square and disregard the image.

I love Amazon, but I agree that some issues with the way products are displayed definitely need to be addressed.

In the case of games, I pretty much always prefer disk - that I then proceed to back up on an external drive in ISO format (ohmygodI'mcrazy! haha), just to avoid any weird hassle.

So, the Amazon download is now just the Origin download??? That's a bummer. See, that's another thing I wish they would state more clearly up front! I'm glad that I read this because I was unsure about whether it was an Amazon download or an Origin download. I have a couple of digital copies of older EPs from Amazon that I specifically purchased at the time because they weren't through Origin.

I'm sorry about your crappy experience, but thank you so much for writing a helpful review/warning.

Yeah I wouldn't be going through a second party. Origin/EA stopped selling the LE copy of the Uni ep around the 3rd of March I think. So the best way to go for that would be hard copy if you haven't pre-ordered. Or just pirate the extra stuff :3 I'd gladly give it to you lol.

I went nosing around Amazon and guess what? They still have it listed as Limited Edition. What a crock.

katink wrote:

I went nosing around Amazon and guess what? They still have it listed as Limited Edition. What a crock.

SUE THEIR PANTS OFF CECE!!

I NEVER buy digital games. I'm too impatient to wait for them to download and I like having the disk on hand. I've never had any bad experiences with Amazon but then all of the stuff I buy is usually non-digital so that may be why. It sucks that this happened to you but at least they are refunding your money.

Lol you still have to wait for them download into your computer once you put the disk in so for me its all the same. Plus digital downloads are ALWAYS there for you to get so if you damage or lose the disks there is no need to go out and buy a replacement :3

You just have to install it though - you don't have to download however many gigs it is when you put the disk in. That's a difference of a few minutes vs. several hours.

Don't get me wrong, I just have a crappy internet connection, partly because of the area I'm located in. X___x When I'm over at my parent's house, downloading is a breeeze, as they have Fios. If I had Fios, it wouldn't be as big of a deal, but I can't afford to upgrade for now.

The physical disks tend to drop in price much faster - you can usually save quite a bit if you wait a while. All of this is influenced by my broke ass.

It's funny because I actually preferred Amazon's digital downloads to Origin - because you got a complete download of the game. For whatever reason, Amazon's digital version didn't have SecuRom, just the key check (which is different from DRM). That's the major reason I won't touch Origin with a stick. Amazon and the physical disk also have no activation limit. But if Amazon now also just forwards you to Origin, then it's no better.

Yeah I think it all comes down to download speeds when purchasing digi downloads It doesn't take me very long to download an EP from Origin at all. I get it downloaded and installed in about half an hour.

That's awesome! Haha, my internet stutters loading five minute YouTube videos. X___X Ohman. Don't get me started with trying to watch the live broadcasts.

Ameenah wrote:

I'm so sorry, Cece! It honestly gets so confusing with how many different versions that are released for games these days - that compounded with the way Amazon displays listings and pictures makes for even more confusion.

Similar listings are often grouped under one major listing and share the same bank of images - that can actually be added to by users. Since this is the format, they should have it set so that when you select a new product under an umbrella listing, it should default to a relevant picture matching the product. Except it doesn't - making for false advertising that is basically because they didn't write the script correctly. For instance, say you're buying a pan, they'll actually have all the different options for that pan under one listing/link, but they share the same picture, so you have to double check that you've clicked on the correct little square and disregard the image.

I love Amazon, but I agree that some issues with the way products are displayed definitely need to be addressed.

In the case of games, I pretty much always prefer disk - that I then proceed to back up on an external drive in ISO format (ohmygodI'mcrazy! haha), just to avoid any weird hassle.

So, the Amazon download is now just the Origin download??? That's a bummer. See, that's another thing I wish they would state more clearly up front! I'm glad that I read this because I was unsure about whether it was an Amazon download or an Origin download. I have a couple of digital copies of older EPs from Amazon that I specifically purchased at the time because they weren't through Origin.

I'm sorry about your crappy experience, but thank you so much for writing a helpful review/warning.

You are more than welcome Ameenah...my primary reason for this major write up. And you are so right...I was so pissed because it is falsely displayed and misleading. You know the even funnier part...he tells me that, of course they purchase from Ea, they (amazon) sell the product but then you have to go to Origin to actually download it. Amazon is the one who actually sends you the product code to enter into Origin when you go to download it. It's a major bunch of mess, and I, will never ever do that again. I love Amazon also, have shopped with them for YEARS, and probably will continue...but it won't be any games!

KosmoKhaos wrote:

Yeah I wouldn't be going through a second party. Origin/EA stopped selling the LE copy of the Uni ep around the 3rd of March I think. So the best way to go for that would be hard copy if you haven't pre-ordered. Or just pirate the extra stuff :3 I'd gladly give it to you lol.

Well Kosmo had I known I could have just gotten the extra's from you, I might not have fought so hard!! It would have been much easier! Lol! Now I'm stuck with the basic edition of the game and have already ordered the disk copy of the game. So what the heck do I do with the basic edition? Uninstall and it sits there. Next time...next ep...will do this totally different.

katink wrote:

I went nosing around Amazon and guess what? They still have it listed as Limited Edition. What a crock.

I told dude I would be checking back to make sure the proper display was put up...I will give it a couple of days and then I sending them a reminder. I'd hate for someone else to go through this. I'm not going to pre order any game by Ea or any other company for that matter. Why...? It's going to be loaded with bugs and glitches so I don't usually even buy games this early.

You know, if it weren't for Cstyles, I'd probably would have given up on the game altogether. With the main forum being so ass backwards, and the game always glitched, constant updates and patches...I would have just finally tossed it. That is what I did with Sims 2. When they added that stupid piracy protection thing that totally invaded your computer privacy, I stopped buying and playing the game.

At least here, I can go through this and NOT feel alone, see what is going on with other people's games, enjoy not only my game but so many others with their stories and pictures and lookie at all the great friends I've made and people I've met!! I've learned so much also from the members here!! So Cstyles has kept me an Ea customer!!

Well you don't have to uninstall the regular edition that you bought digitally. It'd be a waste if you did. The LE version of sims 3 expansions is just the normal EP download with extra codes for you to get the LE content from TS3 store.

I don't have any problem with speed on downloading. It's pretty zippy...but as mentioned...I also liked that Amazon stated that you had unlimited registrations on various computers. For the whole experience I could have just went directly through Origin and been done with it. I've got most of my eps and sps via Origin with no problem. The ep's that I have got disk version, they are now stored on my Origin account so I can easily reload if I have to do a uninstall/reinstall. And...I love that they are all in one place. Amazon offers this for their games and movies, but as mentioned...it's worth squat if you have to go through Origin to download it. That was the beginning of my problem...I couldn't decide who I needed to actually complain to!

KosmoKhaos wrote:

Well you don't have to uninstall the regular edition that you bought digitally. It'd be a waste if you did. The LE version of sims 3 expansions is just the normal EP download with extra codes for you to get the LE content from TS3 store.

I would LOVE to be able to uninstall it and gift it to someone. I truly don't need both eps. Any one know if/how I can do this? ;)

Well in order for you to gift the digi download, you'd have to give the person access to your origin account so that they can download it. It can only be downloaded on five different computers at once though.

I'm cool with that! Of course, then...I'd have to know you to share it. But I truly wouldn't mind!!

Yup seems that'll be the only way. That is unless you want to mail someone the hard copy XDD