Slitherine

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ORIGINAL: Sonny

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ORIGINAL: denisonh

Well, I would have to say that it is not the problem that hurts a company's reputation, but how the company addresses them as they are identified.

The fundamental called "customer service".

Matrix has always seemed to do well in that regard.

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ORIGINAL: Panzerjaeger Hortlund

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ORIGINAL: denisonh
Like the saying goes, "If you want it bad, you get it bad".

Yes...Im not sure that this is the reputation Matrix would want though.

Instead of wasting your time arguing whey don't you send me a turn??

"Life is tough, it's even tougher when you're stupid" -SGT John M. Stryker, USMC

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ORIGINAL: Hartley

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ORIGINAL: Chuck B.
There is a new EU Directive for VAT on electronically supplied services (2002/38/EC). Under this directive, every non-EU supplier has to charge a PRIVATE customer the respective VAT rate of the country where the customer resides.

There is no way the EU can enforce such a directive over a business located on the other side of the Atlantic.

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The EU isn't forcing taxes on companies outside the EU. they're forcing taxes on the company's customers WITHIN the EU

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ORIGINAL: AlbA

As I had abortive attempts to purchase DD and on the phone to UK based DR I can confirm that *even* on the phone the DR staff will tell you, "the price for this is 39.99" - that's sterling, not euros or $ of any persuasion and does not include the 17.5% tax. Note, as previously stated, that we're used to paying a bottom line which includes tax or if prices are stated excluding this then it has to be prominently displayed usually EXCL VAT and certainly before you commit to purchase. My attempts to buy DD or over the phone were both foiled due to DR's setup - which I believe is flawed but nothing to do with this pricing argument, read in THIS THREAD if you're interested.

BUT, I will say that if anyone is feeling hard done to or misold then it's patently obvious that the people at Matrix are eons away from the common, faceless, prevalent, internet merchants with whom you can hope for no discussion and no review and no recourse. It seems to me, naive noob as I am, that these guys mean business and by that mean to do it in a proper fashion.

The exchange differences do sting so for that I feel MG3's pain. However, remember the tenet of three (sic) sure things in life: death; taxes and always leaving some squadrons mistakenly on "Training". Caveat emptor indeed but let the sellers beware that you shouldn't bite the hand that feeds you! And that's quite enough cliches, sayings and quotes from me!

Its also advertised as GB Pounds Sterling and then charged in Euro's! What gives???

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ORIGINAL: Chuck B.

Hi Pascal,

Sorry, but you are wrong about that.

The following text is taken from I post I did a while ago in the Korsun forum about this issue:

"Furthermore, the explanation "Information about VAT" doesn't really make sense. Digital River obviously tried to implement the new VAT regulation of the EU Directive 2002/38/EC.
Under this Directive, any B2C transaction of electronically supplied services (Annex L of the Directive list "Supply of software and updating thereof" inter alia) of a Non EU supplier is subject to VAT "at the rate of the country where the customer resides". That would ALWAYS be the country where the (private) customer has residency.
Any transaction of a EU based supplier to a (private) customer inside the EU is ALWAYS subject to the VAT of the country where the SUPPLIER resides.

So the only situation in which the "Information about VAT" would make sense is the one in which all sales to Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and UK are made by a business entity that is located in any EU member state while all the sales to the other EU countries are made by a different business entity that is located outside the EU."

So, since last year (July 1st), Non-Eu based suppliers ARE bound to charge VAT. If you talk about the question, if they can be ENFORCED to do so ... well, that's another question. Sorry to say that, but it seems that the thesis of your wife was beaten by the European legislator

Chuck

So much WitP and so little time to play.... :-(

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ORIGINAL: rawink

I made some new friends!!!

:)

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ORIGINAL: Oznoyng

You were not overcharged. You were not cheated.

You got:

Digital Download 69.99 USD
CD on Demand 9.99 USD

Those are prices *I* paid as a US customer. My total for the two items was $79.98. At the quoted exchange rate of 1.22 Euros to the dollar, I paid 65.56 Euros. You paid 64.99 Euros. In other words, you paid 0.57 Euros *less* than a US customer.

Now, let me deal with the issue of being charged taxes. It is common practice in the United States for prices *not* to include applicable taxes. Oftentimes, the calculation of those taxes cannot occur until specific informaiton about where the product is shipped are known. (And you *are* being shipped a product - the CD from CD on demand). As others have stated here, you ran afoul of differences in cultures and tax laws. The extra 17.5 percent charged to you is not money Matrix gets - it is money Matrix (via DR) will send to the appropriate EU tax authority. I can vouch that the tax is required for software downloads, since the same requirement exists for the cell phones games I work on.

American consumers are so accustomed to this that most of us are hearing the following when we read your posts: "whine whine whine whine". Matrix has been nothing but cordial and responsive to your complaints. They have already taken the issue and plan to investigate making changes to the store to accomodate EU customers. They are acting in good faith and with an eye towards pleasing their customers. However, understand that any new price will be what you already paid. Any change will be in the method of presentation - not in reducing the price you paid. Instead of a price plus taxes you will get a price with taxes. The added costs come from taxes imposed by your government. In the US, we prefer it seperated because it tells us just how much our government is adding on to the costs of things we buy. In other words, your politicians are pulling a bait and switch on you. And as they want you to, you are blaming us. If you don't like it, change your government.

Understand that Matrix is a small company that above all, produces great games. Running a company with a global customer base with a very small number of people means that you *have* to hire people to do some things for you - or you will have to charge so much for your product that you will never be able to sell it. Matrix uses a service (read another company) to handle distribution of their game both in the United States and abroad. Apparently, the service they chose (DR) does not conduct business in the EU in a manner consistent with common practice there. There was no way for a company like Matrix to predict your reaction. Based upon the efforts I have seen, they do everything they can to make their customers happy. Mistakes wiill happen, all you can ask for is for them to be acknowledged and rectified. IMO, I think Matrix is doing a marvelous job of that.

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ORIGINAL: Oznoyng

You were not overcharged. You were not cheated.

You got:

Digital Download 69.99 USD
CD on Demand 9.99 USD

Those are prices *I* paid as a US customer. My total for the two items was $79.98. At the quoted exchange rate of 1.22 Euros to the dollar, I paid 65.56 Euros. You paid 64.99 Euros. In other words, you paid 0.57 Euros *less* than a US customer.

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ORIGINAL: Oznoyng

Hmmm... I stand corrected. Sounds like the EU version *is* a bit more expensive. Using a straight conversion,

game should be 56.88 EUR
cd on demand should be 8.09 EUR

I wonder what costs they incur in EU that they don't incur in the US.

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We are required to add the VAT by the laws of the countries we sell to in Europe

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ORIGINAL: Feinder

Things are the way they are, and Matrix is correct (even in having a separate EU price, that is certainly their perrogative).

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MG3, if you do not like the game... bad luck. You paid and now you can throw it away (i suggest fdisk ) or play it. it is worth even 120 Euros...

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I would be P@$£ed off if I was to be charged EU-taxes when living in Norw

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ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

Gentlemen,

There's no need to attack or defend as there are no sides on this. We are always concerned to make sure our customers are fairly treated. We have a scheduled conference with DR over this. We will make sure that everything is by the book, that all conversions are fair and that any hidden taxes are displayed as obviously as possible, then get back to you all with the updated policy. Apologies for all the confusion caused to our overseas customers, the goal has always been and remains to serve you better, but it is a learning process.

Regards,

- Erik

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Bohr dir doch ein Loch ins Knie du hirnloser Groupie.