When will you be doing billing in Australian Dollars?

[Condygurl]

I am an american living in Australia. When I started playing I was automatically placed in the European monetary system. This is becoming a major issue. The cost is nearly double for us Aussies on just about anything.

What's worse is that I am an American playing on an American data center *crystal* and I plan on moving back to the USA in the near future. But I just found out when I do move back to the USA I have one option... Create an entirely new account, or continue to pay the Euro with the nice fee for converting.

I see zero reason why you can't let us change which store we use to purchase things. It makes zero sense in the modern age where people move around like the wind.

But really, as someone who is paying double for everything it may be the difference between me being able to continue to afford playing the game or leaving the game.

I don't want to leave but when my subscription for 6 months with my retainers cost me almost 200 dollars Australian....it just made me want to cry.

[VelKallor]

I don't want to leave but when my subscription for 6 months with my retainers cost me almost 200 dollars Australian....it just made me want to cry.

Its called the Australia tax, we have been putting up with it for years, thanks to the insane markups by US companies out to rip us off for not being American

I see zero reason why you can't let us change which store we use to purchase things. It makes zero sense in the modern age where people move around like the wind.

Tell that to Blizzard, to STEAM, to any US company who sees our location and then promptly adds on extra fees and charges, we have been saying this for years, or geoblocks us from purchasing or viewing content. Maybe when you get back, you can pass this on to all the US companies that treat us as second or or third class customers.

I am not happy to pay in Euros either, but as the game and company have delivered excellent service, I can live with it. SE at least treats us like we matter, pity the US based companies cant say the same.

Edit: HUGE shoutout to the UK GM staff, who took the time to walk me through setting up my onetime auth over the phone, and patiently explained an issue with adding more retainers. You rock.

[Raoabolic]

Its called the Australia tax, we have been putting up with it for years, thanks to the insane markups by US companies out to rip us off for not being American



Tell that to Blizzard, to STEAM, to any US company who sees our location and then promptly adds on extra fees and charges, we have been saying this for years, or geoblocks us from purchasing or viewing content. Maybe when you get back, you can pass this on to all the US companies that treat us as second or or third class customers.

I am not happy to pay in Euros either, but as the game and company have delivered excellent service, I can live with it. SE at least treats us like we matter, pity the US based companies cant say the same.

Edit: HUGE shoutout to the UK GM staff, who took the time to walk me through setting up my onetime auth over the phone, and patiently explained an issue with adding more retainers. You rock.

Bruh, the US companies treat US citizens as walking piggy banks, are you shocked that they extend that mentality to the rest of the world? At that point you should yell at your powers that be and tell them to push back. It would be funny to see Actiblizz and Steam get even more upset that the rest of the world has finally caught on to their BS. Seeing them throw a tantrum when the UK told them to eff off with their loot boxes was funny. lol

[Kes13a]

according to the exchange rate, the Aus dollar for sub and no retainers runs about $90 USD to about 145 AUD. given you are in Australia, like it or not, you are subject to any taxation they have.

I live in Canada, and doesnt matter how you slice it, usually the exchange sucks and taxation they are required to add for some things, isnt going to be as cheap as if you were still in the US.

OP, if they charged you AUD.. it would still work out to be likely around $200 AUD. welcome to the realities of a strong US dollar.

[Amelimie]

OP, if they charged you AUD.. it would still work out to be likely around $200 AUD. welcome to the realities of a strong US dollar.

That doesn't seem correct, can an aussie confirm?

[Risvertasashi]

Yeah, changing account regions (well, lack of ability to do so) has been a problem in such situations for a long time. Also cue the horror stories of being locked into steam forever, or being forced to abandon an account.

Unfortunately, SE hasn't ever indicated they intend to do anything to make things easier for those whose living circumstances have changed (or that just want to get away from steam).

[Shibi]

That doesn't seem correct, can an aussie confirm?

It's:

EU Sub for 6 months: 10.99 €/month = 65.94€ (US$64.45 / AUD$102.65 + 10% GST)
1 Retainer for 6 months: 1.40 € / 30 days = 8.40€ (US$8.21 / AUD$13.08 + 10% GST) --- multiply this out by retainers to AU$200 and add in a currency conversion fee of 5% charged by some banks. (Hint OP, get a westpac lite card while you are here, and there is no currency conversion fee)

Now -- importantly-- the main part of OPs complaint is not that she has to pay this now because we all do and meh (our minimum wage at $21.38 per hour including free healthcare is higher than the USA minimum wage of $7.25 per hour), but that when she returns to the USA soon she is bound to the EU store still, and (1) will have to keep paying this amount, (2) on an EU account won't be able to join in any USA promotions (like the scamhub pizza emote)

As she said:

I am an american living in Australia <snip> I just found out when I do move back to the USA I have one option... Create an entirely new account, or continue to pay the Euro with the nice fee for converting.

Right now, the EU is shockingly bad against the USD, so she will be saving money when she moves back - paying less than other Americans, but that won't remain the same forever. Currencies fluctuate and rise and fall all the time. The USD should crash against the Euro soon enough, and the cost will skyrocket then. Plus of course, there is always the currency conversion and bank fees.


Rather than this being about Australian Dollars being 0.67:1 it's more a question of: Why shouldn't an American who created their account while in Australia or Japan or Germany have the option of re-binding their account to the USA store when they return to that country?

[VelKallor]

It would be funny to see Actiblizz and Steam get even more upset that the rest of the world has finally caught on to their BS.

Oh but they DID get their comeuppance:

STEAM got a good swift kick in the afterburners when the Federal Court forcibly reminded them that they had to obey OUR laws on refunds. Talk about a rude awakening, they made this spurious claim they operated under US law so no refunds and claimed that Aus customers waived their rights...to which they were told in blunt terms follow our law or else.

“The Full Court found Valve carried on business in Australia, and was therefore bound by the Australian Consumer Law in its dealings with customers here,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said.

“The Full Court also upheld the finding that Valve made misleading representations about consumer guarantees and that certain terms and conditions in the Steam subscriber agreements and refund policies were false or misleading.”

“This case sets an important precedent that overseas-based companies that sell to Australians must abide by our law. All goods come with automatic consumer guarantees that they are of acceptable quality and fit for the purpose for which they were sold, even if the business is based overseas,” Mr Sims said.

Blizzard over Warcraft 3 Reforged, when they said "our games are run under US law hence you get no refunds"...then hurriedly backed down when the ACCC got involved.

During my working years, I knew one important lesson: dont get on their bad side, the ACCC are no one to mess with.

Lastly: when people wanted to delete their Blizzard accounts, Blizzard wanted them to FAX OVER a copy of their drivers licences...that also got a whack over the noggin, and when i asked them to wipe mine, they did so without a murmur.

Aint karma sweet?

[LianaThorne]

Bruh, the US companies treat US citizens as walking piggy banks, are you shocked that they extend that mentality to the rest of the world? At that point you should yell at your powers that be and tell them to push back. It would be funny to see Actiblizz and Steam get even more upset that the rest of the world has finally caught on to their BS. Seeing them throw a tantrum when the UK told them to eff off with their loot boxes was funny. lol

I love it when people act like everyone in the US isn't being run into the ground financially. Outside of the 1% that is considered extremely wealthy, it's pretty bad lol.

(Not saying you btw, just using your post to piggyback off of)

[Menriq]

Its called the Australia tax, we have been putting up with it for years, thanks to the insane markups by US companies out to rip us off for not being American



Tell that to Blizzard, to STEAM, to any US company who sees our location and then promptly adds on extra fees and charges, we have been saying this for years, or geoblocks us from purchasing or viewing content. Maybe when you get back, you can pass this on to all the US companies that treat us as second or or third class customers.

I am not happy to pay in Euros either, but as the game and company have delivered excellent service, I can live with it. SE at least treats us like we matter, pity the US based companies cant say the same.

Edit: HUGE shoutout to the UK GM staff, who took the time to walk me through setting up my onetime auth over the phone, and patiently explained an issue with adding more retainers. You rock.

I'm just curious what your whole post is about seeing as Square Enix is a Japanese company, not an American one.