Civ 3 conquests CD just broke in half

[davewallace41]

Not much one can do to 'force' them to replace anything. They claimed htat by using their product, I agreed to their EULA (End User Liscense Agreement) which lets them off the hook. Could fight it, but who has the $$?

[notyoueither]

If you are ever unfortunate enough to have this happen to you, take the CD ROM drive apart. The least you can do is get some pleasure by seeing what happens to the drive when a CD explodes.

Often, the guts of the drive will be shredded. It's quite impressive.

[bongo]

davewallace41 , yeah, the EULAs suck....Good thing they don't mean diddely-squat where I live

Send them a mail which start with 'By opening and reading this e-mail you agree to replace my broken drives..'

[vmxa1]

I would think the ELUA will not stand up to a court battle. It looks a lot like the crap the business tried on customers at skate parks and the like. Forcing you to give up rights with out any representation. I doubt it is worth the paper it is written on.

[Barinthus]

Snoochems, hope you will let us know how that goes.

You mentioned you wrote them, was that an email or a letter. Many people today don't realize the power a letter has. Naturally, be polite and include a picture of your disc. If you already did that, ignore me .

Hopefully you were or will be successful in getting it replaced.

[Dis]

this game requires a cd to play

[snoochems]

I did email them. I got the run around. So i've given up.

Anyways, i still have the game installed on my computer, so i just put a no-cd crack on it.

I start uni' again (tomorrow), so i probably wont be playing civ for a while (takes up too much time ).

THe game costs $30 over here, so maybe when i do want to play it again, i'll just buy it again. But you can be garuanteed that i'll be making a back up copy. I've never seen a CD just break like that, and i wasn't impressed. What did they do, go cheapo on us and get the poxy media to put there games on.

Maybe by then, there will be an official patch released to.

[Kull]

Originally posted by davewallace41
As far as exploding CDs, I had it occur TWICE on me, both times THE SAME GAME! (Not a Civ game.) First time, I figured it was a fluke, went out and got another copy. It also trashed the CD ROM drive. No problem, I also had DVD drive that I could use. Less then 2 days later, the SECOND Cd exploded. (Sounds like a plate being dropped.) The game manufacturer told me, to paraphrase, Tuff Sh**. They would replace ONE copy of the game for shipping and handling (almost the cost of the game btw), but refused to replace either drive. Sounds like low quality CDs to me...

If you are still interested in getting your money back, there is a way. Do an internet search for free legal advice sites, and do some research on product liability. Make notes, being certain to record the EXACT legal phraseology that covers your situation (i.e. damage to your personal property caused by their defective product). Once you've established the parameters of your case, find out which court in your area has jurisdiction and contact them for information on the basic requirements for kicking off a do-it-yourself lawsuit (some clerks are helpful, others are not - be persistent).

Now you are ready. Draft up a short, legally worded document and send this to the Game Company. Outline the specifics of the case and close with two items:

1) The amount required to "make you whole" (should be limited to the cost of the two games and the two drives - don't fool around with pain and suffering or any other baloney, it just marks you as a lightweight)

2) The date by which you expect a response, after which you'll begin legal proceedings (be certain to mention the specific court and the basis of the lawsuit so they take you seriously)

Having been in business forever, I can assure you that nothing gets a response as quickly as a lawsuit - especially in this case, where it's almost certain that even talking to their lawyer for 30 minutes will cost more than sending you a check. And even if they ignore your letter, by now you'll know exactly what's required to actually launch the lawsuit. It won't cost that much, and you'll get the added satisfaction of tacking on court costs and other sundries (once the game is on, now you can press for this stuff) when you win the case - as inevitably you will since they simply can't justify the expense of defending themselves when all you are asking for is relative peanuts.