The Fallout 76 Collector’s Edition bag isn’t exactly what buyers expected it to be and Bethesda’s reported response to a customer’s concerns has been less than ideal to say the least.
As with most AAA companies, Bethesda created a Collector’s Edition. Unfortunately, it seems the Fallout 76 Collector’s Edition bag hasn’t been delivered as advertised.
A Reddit post on /r/PCGaming gives us the details. Users who spent $200 on some neat extras had found that the Fallout 76 Collector’s Edition Bag was reportedly very different from what it looked like in the advertisements. The one shown in marketing materials looks like it was made from nice canvas material, but the bag as delivered appears to be made out of some kind of vinyl. The difference in quality is pretty obvious when they’re compared side-by-side.
On the left in the image above you can see the Fallout 76 Collector’s Edition Bag as shown in advertising. On the right is a photograph of the actual bag from a customer.
Understandably, some of the people who spent $200 or more on these goodies are less than happy and took the time to contact customer service. One alleged response includes a non-answer from Bethesda support stating that a lack of materials caused them to change the material of the bag – and it doesn’t offer any sort of solution or compensation.
Customer service appearing to stonewall an upset person is nothing new, but a second response allegedly from Bethesda to a different customer shows a new level of incivility entirely. An image from @krcm0209 on Twitter purports to show a response from customer support regarding the Fallout 76 Collector’s Edition bag. Here’s what it says:
“Hello,
We are sorry that you aren’t happy with the bag. The bag shown in the media was a prototype and was too expensive to make.
We aren’t planning on doing anything about it.
Bethesda Gear Store Support – North America”
Considering the two different reported responses from Bethesda customer support, we can’t be certain if the change in a bag was due to a lack of materials, a less than viable cost, or both. In any case, the bag is still being advertised as canvas in imagery on Amazon, GameStop, and other stores.
These problems are far from the first issues customers have had with the game. A lawsuit alleging deceptive practices by Bethesda is currently underway and the company has reportedly backpedaled on a promised refund after a player had issues playing Fallout 76 on the PC.
What remains to be seen is how irate customers will handle this issue. Several Redditors in the thread recommend that the aggrieved parties get a chargeback from their credit card company if customer support doesn’t solve the problem. That will certainly get you a refund, but odds are you’ll also lose access to your Bethesda.net account. Whatever the reasons are for this situation, it seems like nobody is going to come out a winner.
We reached out about this issue, and in response to our inquiry, Bethesda PR had the following to say:
“We’re investigating the response from the Bethesda Gear Store Support team and we apologize to the customer who took the time to reach out. The support response was incorrect and not in accordance with our conduct policy. Unfortunately, due to unavailability of materials, we had to switch to a nylon carrying case in the Fallout 76: Power Armor Edition. We hope this doesn’t prevent anyone from enjoying what we feel is one of our best collector’s editions.”
Image Credit: Amazon Product Listing (header & inline image composite), /u/AlexanderDLarge on Reddit (inline image composite)
