cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

What Can I Do if I Purchased A Rift Before the Promo Sale?

Shadowmask72
Honored Visionary
A number of people will no doubt be feeling a little annoyed having previously paid $600 for the Oculus Rift+Touch combo before the price dropped to $399 in the Summer Promo.  There are several posts/discussions regarding this very topic (some more serious than others). Firstly, I think it's wrong to dismiss these concerns especially from those who purchased the Rift more recently. To be frank, it sucks. Why? Well although it's fair to suggest you can still enjoy the product you paid for, at the price you agreed at the time, the $200 difference isn't small change for a lot of people. Now obviously, if you purchased your Rift months ago then really you've got no real right to complain as you've had months of usage. However, if you have purchased more recently then it must be quite hard to take in. I think anyone with an ounce of compassion  can empathize with that especially as the sale came out of the blue (unlike Black Friday sales which are predetermined dates consumers can prepare for).  The amount of the price drop is also what is making it hard to take in no doubt (if it was only $50 then it wouldn't be so bad right?).

This is a general what to do post, but the reality is there are two types of consumer situations here.

1) You are happy with your Rift for the price you initially paid, have used it and want to keep it but feel disappointed the sale price came just after your purchase so are looking for some form of rebate as a good will gesture. 

2) You were happy with your Rift for the price you paid initially which you may or may not have used, but after seeing a new lower sale price rather than keep it, prefer to take advantage of a loophole in consumer law, send it back to the retailer (even though there is nothing wrong with the item), be refunded so you can repurchase the exact same item again at the new lower price and pocket the difference.

So, what can you do?

Firstly, if you purchased your Rift directly from Oculus, then be aware they are under no obligation to offer you anything if 30 days have passed since purchase. They are under no obligation to refund you difference either if you plan on keeping the item.  Now you could decide to return your Rift, if you are within the 30 day period from purchase and get a refund then buy it again from another retailer (or even Oculus if they allow) although you will incur shipping costs which are non refundable. You have the choice to do that even if it could be seen as taking advantage of your rights. However, if it has been extensively used or beyond 30 days since purchased then unless it's faulty, it's not so easy being able to just return it and hope for a full refund. Here is the Oculus returns policy. With regards to used items it's a bit of a grey area depending on what country you are from. In the EU for example for online sales only you can return items within 14 days from receipt used or otherwise. Up to 30 days you can return unused items for a full refund. After that period you have no return rights unless the item is faulty. If you have purchased from a store, then usually there is lesser time window for returns and they will not accept used returns although this will vary from each store.

How do I cancel or return my unused Oculus device for a refund?

Your Order Hasn’t Shipped:

If you pre-order an Oculus device that hasn’t been released yet or your order hasn’t shipped due to a payment problem, you can contact Oculus Support to cancel your order.

Your Order Has Shipped:

If you buy an Oculus device that’s currently available from the Oculus Store, you won’t be able to cancel your order once it ships. If you still don’t want your Oculus device after you receive it, you can contact Oculus Support to return it unused for a refund.

Keep the following things in mind if you return your unused Oculus device for a refund:

  • We’ll issue a refund for unused Oculus devices returned within 30 days from when your order shipped
  • You’ll receive a refund to your payment method once your Oculus device has been returned and inspected
  • Shipping fees are non-refundable
Note: If you bought your Oculus device from a retail store, you’ll need to visit the store you bought it from to request a refund.


What else can you do?

Well,customers being annoyed at price drops or sales after they have purchased an item is actually quite a common occurrence  in retail and companies are usually fully aware that customers feel a little upset, so it's not unusual for them to offer some form of compensation, especially if you want to keep the product. In this instance, what you should do is contact  Oculus support and raise a ticket or if you purchased from another retailer, email or contact them and ask (politely) if they would be willing to offer a refund of the difference. Depending on how much time has passed since purchase, some stores will be legally obliged to refund you if you are returning the product, if a longer period has passed or you're keeping the item then they might offer the difference or part of as a goodwill gesture. Others might refuse point blank if there is no legal obligation (but at least you tried). Oculus might possibly offer store credit (on a case-by-case basis) which is great for any future purchases, that more often than not you're likely to have spent cash on anyway.  For those asking after 30 days have passed if you don't ask, then you don't get and if you're refused then at least you have tried something. 

In the event that more than four weeks have passed prior to the Summer sale when you purchased the Rift it's highly unlikely you'll be offered anything. But, don't let that deter you, at least try as you have nothing to lose by asking. If you are persistent you could try escalating your case to a more senior member of staff by requesting to  have it looked at by a manager.  Some retailers might play ball or offer you something of lesser value depending on your circumstances.

The key point here though in any correspondence you have with a company in this scenario is to be polite and don't present yourself like they owe you (especially if you are outside any legal obligations).  As far as Oculus support is concerned, they are likely to be inundated with requests at the moment  which means their response times are slower than normal. So exercising some patience is key here.

Good Luck.


System Specs: MSI NVIDIA RTX 4090 , i5 13700K CPU, 32GB DDR 4 RAM, Win 11 64 Bit OS.
113 REPLIES 113

nalex66
MVP
MVP
Well said. In terms of how recent is recent enough to qualify for compensation, two weeks or 15 days seems to be typical for authorized resellers like Best Buy and Amazon. I know several people have already had success getting something from Best Buy in that time frame.

DK2, CV1, Go, Quest, Quest 2, Quest 3.


Try my game: Cyclops Island Demo

madamluck
Heroic Explorer
I do feel bad for people who bought very recently. Lucky from what I have seen a lot of people who purchased within the past couple of weeks have been reimbursed from who they purchased from. Unfortunately that won't/ isn't the case for everyone. Different websites are not all the same when it comes to refunds/ reimbursements. Buying anything is a gamble! And I agree with the OP that your attitude is extremely important when contacting about reimbursements/ refunds. And if the first person you talk to can't help you , then try again with talking to someone else. You may end up with someone who can possibly help. But if you bought your oculus awhile back then you are completely out of luck! And asking / demanding to be compensated with a game or 2 because you feel this sale is unfair is just as stupid. 

Shadowmask72
Honored Visionary
Good point Madamluck, sometimes politely escalating your concern to a higher up can help.


System Specs: MSI NVIDIA RTX 4090 , i5 13700K CPU, 32GB DDR 4 RAM, Win 11 64 Bit OS.

You can thank your lucky stars that tech is just so damn good these days, make some time for yourself and enjoy some amazing experiences and wish your life away because you just can't wait for the next generation of VR HMDs!
Big PC, all the headsets, now using Quest 3

cybereality
Grand Champion
Thanks for posting. If you have any questions or concerns about your recent order, it may be a good idea to reach out to us to see how we can assist. Thanks. 
https://tickets.oculus.com
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X | MSI X370 Titanium | G.Skill 16GB DDR4 3200 | EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 | Corsair Hydro H110i Gigabyte RX Vega 64 x2 | Samsung 960 Evo M.2 500GB | Seagate FireCuda SSHD 2TB | Phanteks ENTHOO EVOLV

Zenbane
MVP
MVP


what you should do is contact  Oculus support and raise a ticket or if you purchased from another retailer, email or contact them and ask (politely) if they would be willing to offer a refund of the difference.



This should just be a big 'ol STICKY atop the forum. If Oculus Support has enough Tickets in their queue asking for some sort of refund, then they will likely respond in a way that appeases folks.

Whining on a forum or complaining over Social Media probably won't accomplish much. And even if online whining did manage to get you what you want... it is the embarrassing route to take. It's kinda like crapping yourself in public just to get a free pair of pants, na' mean?


Zenbane said:



what you should do is contact  Oculus support and raise a ticket or if you purchased from another retailer, email or contact them and ask (politely) if they would be willing to offer a refund of the difference.



This should just be a big 'ol STICKY atop the forum. If Oculus Support has enough Tickets in their queue asking for some sort of refund, then they will likely respond in a way that appeases folks.

Whining on a forum or complaining over Social Media probably won't accomplish much. And even if online whining did manage to get you what you want... it is the embarrassing route to take. It's kinda like crapping yourself in public just to get a free pair of pants, na' mean?


Yep, and move all similar threads into 1 - i think this could go on for a while.
Big PC, all the headsets, now using Quest 3

Zenbane
MVP
MVP
^^
Agreed. Stuff like this needs a Megathread. The last time we had a discount this place was flooded.

cybereality
Grand Champion
OK, I made the thread an announcement. Hope that helps.
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X | MSI X370 Titanium | G.Skill 16GB DDR4 3200 | EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 | Corsair Hydro H110i Gigabyte RX Vega 64 x2 | Samsung 960 Evo M.2 500GB | Seagate FireCuda SSHD 2TB | Phanteks ENTHOO EVOLV