Legal Question in Business Law in Washington

question about paying for computer games / online

I bought a game from EA.com, (they've updated their site since I bought the game there) that charged 20$ for a game (w/ s&h), so I thought great deal! However I just learned it costs 120$ a year to play it online, and since the game is an ONLINE only game, is this legal? They did NOT state that they charged this 10$ a month fee until sometime within the last 2 to 3 days when they updated their website. Now it says they charge this fee, if I had known I never would have bought the game in the first place. My question is, is it legal to charge for something more than once? Cause isn't that essentially what their doing? I thought it wasn't legal, but is it? And isn't it false advertising (illegal???) to not say that they charge for something until you've already installed and tried registering for the game? I thought once I paid for the game I owned it at least to play for a year or something, but not for 30 days. Is it just me or is their something wrong with this picture? I'm not allowed to say much more according to your rules and prob said to much already, go ahead and edit what you want or rewrite it.


Asked on 12/05/03, 2:46 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Peter James Law Office of Peter James

Re: question about paying for computer games / online

ok, you have a lot of questions, but I'm not sure if I can answer most of them ... 1st ... if you were mislead by deceptive advertising, you may have a claim under a state statute under some class action standing ... otherwise, I'd suggest you contact the Washington State Attorney Generals office - department of consumer affairs ... they may be able to help you. I'm not aware of any specific statutes broken - assuming what you say is true - however that doesn't say one has not ... sometimes the truth is that you pay $20 & you learn a lesson ... caveat emptor applies today ...

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Answered on 12/05/03, 6:38 am


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