USAC Banner 728x90

**sandyclaus** · 03-20-2013, 05:31 PM

Re: Can I sue an online company for fraud

Originally posted by Shiro View Post

I bought an item on a website a few months ago for an online game I play called Mabinogi. I bought it with real money and it was a cat whistle; You buy it on the website with points you pay for with real money and then you use the whistle in the game to summon a cat. It was all good for a while until after I think about a month, it wouldn't let me summon the cat anymore saying it's summoning time was us when I hadn't used any of it that day. It said nothing about being expired.
I sent them complaints but none of them were answered, being discarded or not even seen my their support staff. Then, just the other day, I asked a few other players , hoping to get a solution or at least see if I was alone in this problem and told me that the cat whistle was temporary. I was surprised because it never said anything about an expiration date on the page where they list information on the item OR where you buy the item. They never even mentioned that it was temporary AFTER I bought the item. This is all they had posted:

The page where you can chose a whistle:
Mabinogi - Mini Pets

Where you can see more information on the mini pet:
Mabinogi - Web Shop

I sent them a complaint explaining to them that if the item is in fact temporary, that they have committed fraud and I can legally sue but that I only want my in game cat back with an added ability to name him. I don't think that was too much to ask but still, they have not replied or even posted a "Work In Progress".
I want to know how I can sue them for fraud if it does come to that.

Your assumption that the item would work beyond a temporary 30-day period was just that - an assumption. While you ASSUMED it was a permanent use item, even researching the forums on your game reveal that it only works for 30 days. (Apparently, there is a PERMANENT item that can be found with the Gachapon, which remains active well beyond the 30-day window.)

While their documentation may be incomplete, that doesn't necessarily translate to fraud - especially there IS documentation out there since 2011 that supports the temporary nature of the game item.

If you WERE to try to sue them for fraud, I doubt that you'd win. If you chose to try to pursue it, you would need to sue them where the company is located in Los Angeles County, California, according to the Terms of Service (item 16).