• News

Star Citizen Backer Loses Long-Running Court Case Over $4500 Refund

After all was said and done, the refund wasn't granted. 

Brittany Vincent

July 18, 2018 5:15 PM

5

One Star Citizen backer took developer Roberts Space Industries to court over a nearly $4,500 refund, and it looks like after fighting the law, the law won. Due to an arbitration clause in the end-user license agreement, data scientist Ken Lord ended up losing the case, keeping Roberts Space Industries in the clear on this one.

As the case appeared before a California small claims court judge just last week, Lord ran down the details of the suit, including his communication records, a list of 77 different promises RSI didn't end up fulfilling, and a ton of other small details that you might assume helped him to have his case in the bag. Unfortunately, due to the end-user license agreement's arbitration clause, his argument was never heard. RSI also opted to turn down the option to settle out of court for $3,800.

Lord suffers from multiple sclerosis, and is unable to play game modes like Squadron 42, which he would be unable to take part in due to his hand tremors. RSI told Motherboard in a recent interview that it only considers refunds outside of its 30-day policy for "exceptional" cases, and obviously it doesn't find Lord's case one of them.

"They just recently confirmed that you have to do the first-person shooter thing to get through Squadron 42. I can't do that, I just can't do that. So my money's stuck in a game I can't possibly play," said Lord. He intends to continue exploring his legal options surrounding the case, though it's likely he's probably not going to see that money back in his pocket any time in the near future. 

Brittany Vincent

Senior Editor

Fueled by horror, rainbow-sugar-pixel-rushes, and video games, Brittany is a Senior Editor at Shacknews who thrives on surrealism and ultraviolence. Follow her on Twitter @MolotovCupcake and check out her portfolio for more. Like a fabulous shooter once said, get psyched!