G2A under fire for charging users for not logging in

G2A has come under fire for charging users for not logging in to their accounts.

The controversial digital marketplace faced a backlash after a user took to Reddit to complain about receiving a message from G2A Pay warning about an impending one euro charge for not logging into their account for 180 days.

G2A Pay is G2A's online payment gateway designed for business and personal users. It's separate to the main G2A marketplace but is operated by the same company.

According to the message, the user would continue to be charged one euro a month for each additional month they didn't log in to their account. This is verified by G2A Pay's terms and conditions page, which details the provision under the G2A Coins and G2A Wallet section:

"If User does not log in through the Website to User's accont [sic] for over 180 (one hundred eighty) days, the Company is entitled to charge the User's G2A Wallet inactivity fee in amount of EUR 1 (one) per each month, or less, if there is no sufficient funds on the User's G2A Wallet to charge entire inactivity fee. The Company is also entitled to terminate User's G2A Wallet, if there is no sufficient funds on it which allows to charge the inactivity fee. Charged inactivity fee is not returnable. The User is to be informed about terminating his account."

The Reddit post has at the time of publication over 38,000 upvotes, and over 1000 comments, most of which are overwhelmingly negative.

A representative for G2A stepped in to the thread to explain the company's position, and to stress if there are no funds on the user's G2A Wallet, the company does not charge anything.

According to the post, G2A does this because "it costs money to upkeep accounts".

"It costs money to upkeep accounts (IT infrastructure, server maintenance, etc.) and if someone does not use the account, it doesn't make sense to upkeep it," G2A said.

"We don't require these users to buy anything, just log in at least once every six months, just so that we know they are still with us. As a financial institution we are also monitored, supervised, and audited and have to back up and explain all our accounts and the funds stored on these accounts. Once an account may be considered 'abandoned,' we take certain steps to make sure we are in line with all regulations, jurisdictions and laws."

Whatever the rights and wrongs of G2A's actions here, its explanation has certainly fallen on deaf ears, with most responses challenging the company's post.

This isn't the first time G2A has been collared for its business practises. Back in April 2017, Gearbox withdrew its partnership with G2A for the Collector's Edition of Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition after an online backlash.

G2A suffered multiple allegations of its website selling game keys obtained through stolen credit cards. In April 2017, Gearbox cut ties with G2A following an outcry over its partnership with G2A for the Collector's Edition of Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition. In June 2016, SpeedRunners publisher tinyBuild accused G2A of selling $450,000 worth of its game keys obtained through such nefarious means.

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