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and played the game for four hours. Any representation, from the statement as a whole, was that Mr Phillips was not entitled to a refund because Steam did not offer refunds and Mr Phillips had been able to play the game for four hours. The possibility was plainly open that a refund might be offered if Mr Phillips had not played the game. Mr Phillips appreciated this and responded to explain that the four hours was spent trying to troubleshoot the game. Then the Steam Support representative repeated the four hour statement as the sole reason for denying a refund. Subsequently a refund was given.
331 As to the Non-Applicability of Statutory Guarantee Representation, the ACCC alleged that this representation was made in statements to Mr Miller that "[t]he regulations you are citing do not apply to … downloadable content" and similar statements to Mr Miles. The ACCC also relied upon the statements to Mr Phillips which I have already addressed in the paragraph immediately above.
332 As to the statement to Mr Miller, this was not a representation that Australian consumer protection statutory guarantees did not apply. The statement that the regulations relied upon by Mr Miller do not apply to downloadable content was a response to a statement by Mr Miller that as "an American company based company" Valve had "breached the Fair Credit Billing Act & Consumer Protection Act". It is apparent that he was referring to United States legislation. He concluded by saying that he had "made complaints to the Federal Trade Commission".
333 As to the statement to Mr Miles from the Steam Support representative, this was in response to Mr Miles' statement that "I do know there are laws regarding this sort of thing". Mr Miles did not actually "cite any regulations". The statement by the Steam Support representative would be capable of giving rise to confusion about the regulations to which he was referring but it is not a representation that Australian consumer protection laws do not apply. Indeed, when Mr Miles later referred to "consumer law here in Australia", the Steam Support representative simply responded that he was unable to assist any further.
334 As to the No Remedy where Goods Used Representation, the ACCC relied upon the statements by the Steam Support representative to each of Mr Miller, Mr Miles, and Mr Phillips that referred to the time that each had spent allegedly playing the games as a reason for refusing a refund.
