Refunds no longer being honored by Steam

dixiedragon · 11-02-2011, 04:35 PM

Hi folks. I attempted to get a refund for SotS2 because it is still not working on my machine.

Here is the email correspondence thread.

--------------------------
(Ping)

Hello,

A staff member has replied to your question:

Hello Jason,

Thank you for contacting Steam Support.

As with most software products, we do not offer refunds or exchanges on games, DLC or in-game items purchased on our website or through the Steam Client.

Please review Section 4 of the Steam Subscriber Agreement for more information.
http://www.steampowered.com/index.ph...iber_agreement

We will make an exception and refund preorders as long as the request is received prior to the release of the game. This only applies to preorders purchased from your account, preordered titles received or sent through the Steam Trading system cannot be refunded.

The developers are working hard to address any issues and to add enhancements to this title.

(pong)

Thanks for the reply. Steam support is indeed giving refunds in the form of steam credit, as this title is known to be completely broken. Here is a copy of a reply sent to a person who did get a refund for the same reason I am requesting one and I would appreciate the same treatment. (taken from http://forums.steampowered.com/forum....php?t=2211581 ) Thank you for your consideration.

--Jason XXXX

---------------------------------
(here i posted a reply to them showing a convo thread on this forum by someone who did get a refund from them)
Hello,

A staff member has replied to your question:

Thank you for contacting Steam Support.

As requested, the title has been removed from your account and a credit has been
applied to your Steam Wallet. The credit can be used for future Steam purchases.

Please note in the future that Steam purchases, per the Steam Subscriber
Agreement, are not refundable - this store credit was issued as a one-time
customer service gesture.

If you have any further questions, please let us know - we will be happy to
assist you.

(ping)

Hello,

A staff member has replied to your question:

Hello Jason,

A patch for the game has been released this morning which addresses the majority of the issues that have been raised.

We would be happy to continue to troubleshoot the issues with you. Please provide a description of the problem you are encountering with this title.

------------------------------------

So apparently a refund is not possible through this venue any longer. What options are open to me? I can not run the game without it crashing within 3 turns.

--Dixie

pager4506 · 11-02-2011, 04:49 PM

have you been updating your game its pretty stable now

s1234567890m · 11-02-2011, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dixiedragon

Hi folks. I attempted to get a refund for SotS2 because it is still not working on my machine.

Here is the email correspondence thread.

--------------------------
(Ping)

Hello,

A staff member has replied to your question:

Hello Jason,

Thank you for contacting Steam Support.

As with most software products, we do not offer refunds or exchanges on games, DLC or in-game items purchased on our website or through the Steam Client.

Please review Section 4 of the Steam Subscriber Agreement for more information.
http://www.steampowered.com/index.ph...iber_agreement

We will make an exception and refund preorders as long as the request is received prior to the release of the game. This only applies to preorders purchased from your account, preordered titles received or sent through the Steam Trading system cannot be refunded.

The developers are working hard to address any issues and to add enhancements to this title.

(pong)

Thanks for the reply. Steam support is indeed giving refunds in the form of steam credit, as this title is known to be completely broken. Here is a copy of a reply sent to a person who did get a refund for the same reason I am requesting one and I would appreciate the same treatment. (taken from http://forums.steampowered.com/forum....php?t=2211581 ) Thank you for your consideration.

--Jason XXXX

---------------------------------
(here i posted a reply to them showing a convo thread on this forum by someone who did get a refund from them)
Hello,

A staff member has replied to your question:

Thank you for contacting Steam Support.

As requested, the title has been removed from your account and a credit has been
applied to your Steam Wallet. The credit can be used for future Steam purchases.

Please note in the future that Steam purchases, per the Steam Subscriber
Agreement, are not refundable - this store credit was issued as a one-time
customer service gesture.

If you have any further questions, please let us know - we will be happy to
assist you.

(ping)

Hello,

A staff member has replied to your question:

Hello Jason,

A patch for the game has been released this morning which addresses the majority of the issues that have been raised.

We would be happy to continue to troubleshoot the issues with you. Please provide a description of the problem you are encountering with this title.

------------------------------------

So apparently a refund is not possible through this venue any longer. What options are open to me? I can not run the game without it crashing within 3 turns.

--Dixie

message paradox

vohk · 11-02-2011, 04:55 PM

1. Steam does not issue refunds, as per the subscriber agreement.

2. Steam occasionally will grant you a 'one time only' refund/credit as a customer retention policy.

3. The publisher must first authorize Steam to give refunds under any other circumstances, as they must first agree to refund Steam in turn. Paradox claims they are working on getting something sorted out in the near future. Open a ticket with them.

Genk · 11-02-2011, 04:57 PM

If Paradox wants to be an honest sport they should authorize Steam to offer everyone a refund no questions asked for this title. It is far from finished and I feel we all got ripped off huge. Maybe I will re-purchase it in a couple months if it ever gets finished but right now it is fraud in the state it was released.

dixiedragon · 11-02-2011, 05:03 PM

No its still broken for me.

And yes I agree. They gave at least one person a refund via steam credit, so they should do the same for everyone.

11-02-2011, 05:11 PM

yep i got credit for this title, but they still closed my ticket down without answering my question lol

So nice of them.

benzidrine · 11-02-2011, 05:21 PM

If you buy the game again you will get a second chance at a refund. So that's an option.

Hertston · 11-03-2011, 02:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Genk

If Paradox wants to be an honest sport they should authorize Steam to offer everyone a refund no questions asked for this title.

I'm afraid it's rather more complex than Paradox just 'authorizing' them in the case of SotS2. If Steam set a precedent for giving a refund on one 'unfinished' game sold through them people would start demanding refunds on every such title they decide is 'unfinished'. Total chaos would then ensue for Steam and their customer service staff. The situation might be different if a particular issue literally prevented the game functioning at all on a significant number of systems (e.g it turned out to be totally incompatible with all ATI cards, say), but that isn't the case with SotS2. The great majority (but not all; noted) CAN run it and maybe even enjoy it.

It was never going to happen because they never were in a position to 'honor' refunds. Those who have actually read what the Kerberos and Paradox suits have written will know refunds were never actually promised by them, either.

YummyYam · 11-03-2011, 03:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hertston

I'm afraid it's rather more complex than Paradox just 'authorizing' them in the case of SotS2. If Steam set a precedent for giving a refund on one 'unfinished' game sold through them people would start demanding refunds on every such title they decide is 'unfinished'. Total chaos would then ensue for Steam and their customer service staff. The situation might be different if a particular issue literally prevented the game functioning at all on a significant number of systems (e.g it turned out to be totally incompatible with all ATI cards, say), but that isn't the case with SotS2. The great majority (but not all; noted) CAN run it and maybe even enjoy it.

Being able to run it dosen't mean that it is a complete game that is fit for purpose.Getting to the main menu is hardly the point of getting the game.At the point of purchase(release),the game was very unstable and unfinished(by admission of the developers themselves),missing out many key features.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hertston

It was never going to happen because they never were in a position to 'honor' refunds. Those who have actually read what the Kerberos and Paradox suits have written will know refunds were never actually promised by them, either.

Theu didn't promise but they did say that they will entertain refund requests and not just reject them outright.If no one actually receives a refund from them then it will reflect badly on them because it becomes just paying lip service and a PR stunt.

At the very least,their statements have provided me with reasonable proof required by my bank for a chargeback(should it come to that) to show that the product was not fit for purpose at the time of purchase.

Astasia · 11-03-2011, 03:08 AM

If you chargeback steam they will probably ban your account and prevent you from playing any of the games you previously purchased on it.

YummyYam · 11-03-2011, 03:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Astasia

If you chargeback steam they will probably ban your account and prevent you from playing any of the games you previously purchased on it.

Thanks for the warning,I'm aware of it as many others before you have pointed out.

Fortunately I have taken the precautionary measure of ensuring that each Steam based game I get is on a seperate account.So if I do a chargeback on SOTS 2,I only loose that,nothing else because it is the only game on that account.Yes it is a chore to juggle multiple accounts but at least it provides me with some sort of relief against Steam's strong arm tactic.

A chargeback is my last resort and I'll try to hold back as long as possible but there is a time limit imposed by the bank and I cannot wait forever for Kerb/Paradox to act on it.

Astasia · 11-03-2011, 03:28 AM

Did you use the same payment source for each account/game? Do you have an alternate payment source for the future? They will likely permanently block your card, possibly even your name/address linked to it.

Doesn't seem like it's worth it IMO, it's only a $40 game.

YummyYam · 11-03-2011, 03:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Astasia

Did you use the same payment source for each account/game? Do you have an alternate payment source for the future? They will likely permanently block your card, possibly even your name/address linked to it.

Doesn't seem like it's worth it IMO, it's only a $40 game.

This will be my first chargeback but based on the experiences of my friends who have done it before,they only lock the account the chargedback occured on.A quick scan of related posts in the Steam forum also indicate so too.

However,the credit card number will be blocked from being used in future steam payments.No biggie,since I can easily ask the bank to issue me another card with a different number,they are always willing to entertain requests since I end up having a longer expiry date(stay with them longer).Or I can just simply use a different card.My friends were able to continue buying games on steam subsequently with different cards.

It's the principle.I did not get what I paid for at the time of purchase and I would like my money back.

malkuth · 11-03-2011, 07:19 AM

Ah Steam does not give refunds. So the statement about them NO longer giving them is incorrect. They never gave them in the first place.

Next.

11-02-2011, 04:35 PM	#1
dixiedragon Join Date: Nov 2011 Reputation: 0 Posts: 8	Refunds no longer being honored by Steam Hi folks. I attempted to get a refund for SotS2 because it is still not working on my machine. Here is the email correspondence thread. -------------------------- (Ping) Hello, A staff member has replied to your question: Hello Jason, Thank you for contacting Steam Support. As with most software products, we do not offer refunds or exchanges on games, DLC or in-game items purchased on our website or through the Steam Client. Please review Section 4 of the Steam Subscriber Agreement for more information. http://www.steampowered.com/index.ph...iber_agreement We will make an exception and refund preorders as long as the request is received prior to the release of the game. This only applies to preorders purchased from your account, preordered titles received or sent through the Steam Trading system cannot be refunded. The developers are working hard to address any issues and to add enhancements to this title. (pong) Thanks for the reply. Steam support is indeed giving refunds in the form of steam credit, as this title is known to be completely broken. Here is a copy of a reply sent to a person who did get a refund for the same reason I am requesting one and I would appreciate the same treatment. (taken from http://forums.steampowered.com/forum....php?t=2211581 ) Thank you for your consideration. --Jason XXXX --------------------------------- (here i posted a reply to them showing a convo thread on this forum by someone who did get a refund from them) Hello, A staff member has replied to your question: Thank you for contacting Steam Support. As requested, the title has been removed from your account and a credit has been applied to your Steam Wallet. The credit can be used for future Steam purchases. Please note in the future that Steam purchases, per the Steam Subscriber Agreement, are not refundable - this store credit was issued as a one-time customer service gesture. If you have any further questions, please let us know - we will be happy to assist you. (ping) Hello, A staff member has replied to your question: Hello Jason, A patch for the game has been released this morning which addresses the majority of the issues that have been raised. We would be happy to continue to troubleshoot the issues with you. Please provide a description of the problem you are encountering with this title. ------------------------------------ So apparently a refund is not possible through this venue any longer. What options are open to me? I can not run the game without it crashing within 3 turns. --Dixie Last edited by dixiedragon: 11-02-2011 at 04:37 PM.

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11-02-2011, 04:49 PM	#2
pager4506 Join Date: Mar 2008 Reputation: 0 Posts: 50	have you been updating your game its pretty stable now

11-02-2011, 04:55 PM	#4
vohk Join Date: Dec 2009 Reputation: 107 Posts: 667	1. Steam does not issue refunds, as per the subscriber agreement. 2. Steam occasionally will grant you a 'one time only' refund/credit as a customer retention policy. 3. The publisher must first authorize Steam to give refunds under any other circumstances, as they must first agree to refund Steam in turn. Paradox claims they are working on getting something sorted out in the near future. Open a ticket with them.

11-02-2011, 04:57 PM	#5
Genk Join Date: Jun 2010 Reputation: 3 Posts: 252	If Paradox wants to be an honest sport they should authorize Steam to offer everyone a refund no questions asked for this title. It is far from finished and I feel we all got ripped off huge. Maybe I will re-purchase it in a couple months if it ever gets finished but right now it is fraud in the state it was released.

11-02-2011, 05:03 PM	#6
dixiedragon Join Date: Nov 2011 Reputation: 0 Posts: 8	No its still broken for me. And yes I agree. They gave at least one person a refund via steam credit, so they should do the same for everyone.

11-02-2011, 05:11 PM	#7
Keaira01 Guest Posts: n/a	yep i got credit for this title, but they still closed my ticket down without answering my question lol So nice of them.

11-02-2011, 05:21 PM	#8
benzidrine Join Date: Oct 2010 Reputation: 75 Posts: 261	If you buy the game again you will get a second chance at a refund. So that's an option.

11-03-2011, 03:08 AM	#11
Astasia Join Date: Oct 2011 Reputation: 23 Posts: 372	If you chargeback steam they will probably ban your account and prevent you from playing any of the games you previously purchased on it.

11-03-2011, 03:28 AM	#13
Astasia Join Date: Oct 2011 Reputation: 23 Posts: 372	Did you use the same payment source for each account/game? Do you have an alternate payment source for the future? They will likely permanently block your card, possibly even your name/address linked to it. Doesn't seem like it's worth it IMO, it's only a $40 game.

11-03-2011, 07:19 AM	#15
malkuth Join Date: Oct 2009 Reputation: 32 Posts: 425	Ah Steam does not give refunds. So the statement about them NO longer giving them is incorrect. They never gave them in the first place. Next.