Niantic the developers behind Pokemon Go have finally issued a rather lengthy statement addressing user’s complaints after the removal of the ‘steps’ feature that allowed trainers to track nearby Pokemon, the closure of 3rd party sites like PokeVision that allowed players to see real time monster placement and the lack of availability in South America.

This particular Facebook post comes after a number of users on the r/PokemonGO subreddit gained notoriety for successfully requesting refunds for in-game purchases. Users have reported receiving partial or full refunds for every dollar spent on Pokemon Go by claiming that the most recent update, which removed the steps feature, damaged the game and does not fulfill the original vision promised by Niantic.

Here are the instructions provided to iphone users by [Insert username] from reddit to get a refund on itunes. This particular thread exploded with over 3,000+ replies – ranging from outraged, doubtful of both Nintendo & Niantic to straight up finding the lack of communication humorous.

How to get a refund using the web

1.Go to Apple’s problem reports page:

http://reportaproblem.apple.com/

2.Login with your Apple ID user name (typically your email address) and password.

3.Select the appropriate tab—all, music, movies, TV shows, apps, or books.

4.Find the purchase you want refunded

5.Select Open item but not functions as expected

6.Fill in the description,

Niantic’s statement probably doesn’t bring the kind of news that many trainers were expecting: The changes 3-step has helped ease load on the servers in the early days of the game, but the feature was not functioning to Niantic’s “product vision” and thus had to be removed. Their lack of communication is apparently due to the fact that Niantic’s staff are working around the clock to improve Pokemon Go and as of publication Niantic is still hiring for a dedicated community manager for Pokemon Go.

Here is their full statement from Facebook:

“Trainers,

As many of you know, we recently made some changes to Pokémon GO.

– We have removed the ‘3-step’ display in order to improve upon the underlying design. The original feature, although enjoyed by many, was also confusing and did not meet our underlying product goals. We will keep you posted as we strive to improve this feature.

– We have limited access by third-party services which were interfering with our ability to maintain quality of service for our users and to bring Pokémon GO to users around the world. The large number of users has made the roll-out of Pokémon GO around the world an… interesting… challenge. And we aren’t done yet! Yes, Brazil, we want to bring the game to you (and many other countries where it is not yet available).

We have read your posts and emails and we hear the frustration from folks in places where we haven’t launched yet, and from those of you who miss these features. We want you to know that we have been working crazy hours to keep the game running as we continue to launch globally. If you haven’t heard us Tweeting much it’s because we’ve been heads down working on the game. But we’ll do our best going forward to keep you posted on what’s going on.

Be safe, be nice to your fellow trainers, and keep on exploring.

The Pokémon GO team”

What do you think about Niantic’s statement? Do you have faith they will fix Pokemon Go before the player base leaves en mass?