Software license agreements have always presented an odd conundrum. Most EULAs say that, if you do not agree with all the terms, you must return the software to where you purchased it for a refund. But most stores, online as well as brick-and-mortar, have a return policy to the effect that "Opened software will only be exchanged for the same title." So can you return opened software or can't you?
Well, at least sometimes you can. "I recently purchased a copy of Scansoft's PDF Converter from CompUSA," one reader recently wrote. "Opening the shrinkwrap at home, I found that it requires product activation, something not disclosed anywhere on the box but only on the installer click-thru window. I did not install the product but returned it to CompUSA, fully expecting to have a problem due to the CD envelope having been opened. After informing the clerk that I was returning the product due to an unacceptable license clause, I was pleasantly surprised to have the purchase price immediately refunded. Good for CompUSA, and a big fat raspberry to Scansoft!"
As indicated by that reader's pleasant surprise, such responses have not generally been the norm at CompUSA or elsewhere. "After reading some of the EULAs you find out that you have spent a small fortune and if it doesn't work, or doesn't deliver the results the sales people told you to expect, that they are not responsible," another reader wrote. "At a consumer level this is a real problem, since many places that sell software will not refund your purchase once the package is opened. I have had this happen several times and I no longer do business with Best Buy or CompUSA because of it. I had spent well over ten grand at CompUSA within the previous year and they refused to refund my money on a $75 piece of software. They would exchange it for the same software but would not refund it or offer any other kind of credit."
Even when the EULA specifically gives the customer the right to return the software for any reason, retailers will often stick by their own no-software-returns policy. "I didn't see your article until after I bought Quicken 2005," wrote one reader about Intuit dropping .QIF import support for on-line banking (see Intuit Pits Its Customers Against Its Partners). "When my bank said it is not supporting Quicken, I took the package back to the store the very next week. The Staples manager refused to give me a refund, even when I showed him the 60-day 'Satisfaction Guarantee' in the Quicken license agreement. The receipt says you can't return open software -- that's my 'license' with Staples, he said. Quicken has nothing to do with it!"
So can you return opened software, and whose rules apply? The software publisher's EULA? The return policy the retailer prints on the receipt or posts on its website? Or is it just possible that consumers are supposed to have a little protection under the law in these circumstances? Those are questions we'll be exploring in some upcoming stories, and I think you'll find the answers interesting.
In the meantime, let's hear about your experiences with trying to return opened software. Post your comments on my website and see what your fellow readers have to say, or write me directly at Foster@gripe2ed.com.
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