Cancelling a digital pre-order: I have to wait 10 business days???

HewTheLion · Aug 17, 2016

I pre-ordered a game expansion (Destiny: Rise of Iron) on the Xbox One store and wanted to cancel it. This is a digital download and has not been released yet.

The pre-order FAQ page (Pre-Order Games | Xbox One Games) makes cancelling sound simple enough:

Q) Can I cancel a pre-order?

A) Yes, before we release the game, you can cancel your pre-order by contacting Xbox Support.

I just contacted Xbox Support via chat to do this, and was told that I have to wait 10 business days after the date of purchase before I can cancel. The FAQ says nothing about this and neither does the confirmation email that I received. The email does say
that I will not be charged until it is available to download, so I know it is not a question of refunding any money.

Why do I have to wait 10 business days to cancel a digital download that has not been released or charged to me yet? And why is this not mentioned in the FAQ?

:)

xFTBx GUNTHER · Aug 17, 2016

Dark souls 1 code

I have a digital pre-order for dark souls 3 and I have not received my dark souls 1 code. 7 to 10 business days have already passed.

ClNTRoN · Aug 17, 2016

buy exclusive games digitally get discount

ClNTRoN said: L: ↑

Can't get the $5 credit even if you pre-ordered one of these digitally? Kinda messed up. Could I cancel my Tomb Raider pre-order and re-purchase it?Click to expand...
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And this is why I hate digital pre orders....your locked it but not at Best Buy

Besides pre loading I have no clue why anyone would pre order games over a week before a game comes out...no advantage or reason what so everClick to expand... I also have GCU for Best Buy but I want RotTR digitally. I don't think it's locked. I'm sure I read on here you can cancel digital pre-orders with MS.
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Internet Expert · Aug 17, 2016

That's just how the system is set up. There's really nothing you can do other than wait until 10 business days has passed so you can cancel the pre-order. Mark it on your calendar so you don't forget!

Many other companies that offer pre-orders handle cancellations in similar ways, and there's usually a time restriction or wait involved.

If I had to guess, it's probably a preventative measure set in place to keep people from continually pre-ordering and immediately cancelling, possibly for obtaining (and reselling) extra content bonus codes that publishers tend to include with pre-orders.
There's probably other reasons involving unnecessarily added processing times, legal stuff, and book-keeping.

In short: reasons.

Also, I have no idea why the wait time is not in a FAQ. Maybe it was overlooked. Maybe Microsoft isn't obligated to tell you a cancellation time. Maybe it's a very volatile policy that varies between products.

That's my two cents. It was nice to talk about stuff today.

HewTheLion · Sep 12, 2016

Thanks for the reply. Sorry it took so long to acknowledge but I was not notified and I only saw it today.

BrattishInk · Jun 14, 2017

That's just how the system is set up. There's really nothing you can do other than wait until 10 business days has passed so you can cancel the pre-order. Mark it on your calendar so you don't forget!

Many other companies that offer pre-orders handle cancellations in similar ways, and there's usually a time restriction or wait involved.

If I had to guess, it's probably a preventative measure set in place to keep people from continually pre-ordering and immediately cancelling, possibly for obtaining (and reselling) extra content bonus codes that publishers tend to include with pre-orders.
There's probably other reasons involving unnecessarily added processing times, legal stuff, and book-keeping.

In short: reasons.

Also, I have no idea why the wait time is not in a FAQ. Maybe it was overlooked. Maybe Microsoft isn't obligated to tell you a cancellation time. Maybe it's a very volatile policy that varies between products.

That's my two cents. It was nice to talk about stuff today.
Click to expand...

So you have to wait 10 days before the game comes out and then you can cancel it?

onyxishere · Nov 2, 2018

I don't think you need to wait 10 days. Give phone support a call and see what they say. Click this link to get the number for your region Customer Support

onyxishere

I don't think you need to wait 10 days. Give phone support a call and see what they say. Click this link to get the number for your region http://support.xbox.com/contact-us?isChatCallAvailable=false

HewTheLion

Thanks for the reply. Sorry it took so long to acknowledge but I was not notified and I only saw it today.

Internet Expert

That's just how the system is set up. There's really nothing you can do other than wait until 10 business days has passed so you can cancel the pre-order. Mark it on your calendar so you don't forget!

Many other companies that offer pre-orders handle cancellations in similar ways, and there's usually a time restriction or wait involved.

If I had to guess, it's probably a preventative measure set in place to keep people from continually pre-ordering and immediately cancelling, possibly for obtaining (and reselling) extra content bonus codes that publishers tend to include with pre-orders.
There's probably other reasons involving unnecessarily added processing times, legal stuff, and book-keeping.

In short: reasons.

Also, I have no idea why the wait time is not in a FAQ. Maybe it was overlooked. Maybe Microsoft isn't obligated to tell you a cancellation time. Maybe it's a very volatile policy that varies between products.

That's my two cents. It was nice to talk about stuff today.

BrattishInk

That's just how the system is set up. There's really nothing you can do other than wait until 10 business days has passed so you can cancel the pre-order. Mark it on your calendar so you don't forget!

Many other companies that offer pre-orders handle cancellations in similar ways, and there's usually a time restriction or wait involved.

If I had to guess, it's probably a preventative measure set in place to keep people from continually pre-ordering and immediately cancelling, possibly for obtaining (and reselling) extra content bonus codes that publishers tend to include with pre-orders.
There's probably other reasons involving unnecessarily added processing times, legal stuff, and book-keeping.

In short: reasons.

Also, I have no idea why the wait time is not in a FAQ. Maybe it was overlooked. Maybe Microsoft isn't obligated to tell you a cancellation time. Maybe it's a very volatile policy that varies between products.

That's my two cents. It was nice to talk about stuff today.

So you have to wait 10 days before the game comes out and then you can cancel it?

Rostom L

If you canceled your Standard Edition and pre-ordered the Digital Deluxe Edition, you may get charged right away since the game is going to be released on the 10th February for Xbox Series X/S edition. The pre-order payment will start 10 days before the release date.

If you already got charged for the Standard Edition, generally, refunds take 3 to 5 business days.

Cancelling a digital pre-order: I have to wait 10 business days???