Steam Refunds - A How To Guide

[BobVila]

While I didn't buy X-Rebirth a lot of people did. Now, these angry, disappointed people are being told, by multiple sources, that there's no possibility of a refund since it's a Steam game.

As with most rumors, there is a seed of truth in there, since Steam does have a standing policy of no refunds. Well, technically, that's not quite true. I've heard they actually have a policy of one refund, but I've never gotten confirmation of that. Either way, as with all policies, it's entirely possible to work around that and get your money back. I've done it a few times, as have most of my friends.

So, without further ado lets see what you should not do.

Steam Refunds - What Not to Do

1. Avoid putting any more time into X-Rebirth
If you're in X-Rebirth right now, shut it off! The Steam support staff looks at time spent in game to make sure people aren't finishing games and then asking for refunds. If you put over 5 or so hours into a game (3 or under is preferred), it's going to become increasingly difficult to get a refund. Maybe not impossible, if you can justify it, but still, it's something to keep in mind.

2. Berate the Steam support staff
These people are the only ones who can actually help you, don't tick them off. And while I promise you they will first give you a "no", that's just because they're following a script. These people, initially, have no personal interest in seeing you lose money. They're not your enemy. Be professional here and don't needlessly berate them.

3. Take "no" for an answer
Keeping #2 in mind, don't take no for an answer. Be professional, be polite, but be firm. Steam has a standing policy of no refunds, so expect to hear no a lot. Contrary to popular belief, that's not the end of the line. Keep making appeals to the support person until they relent.

4. Do a credit/Paypal chargeback
Technically, this is fine to do, as long as you have absolutely nothing you care about on Steam, because the instant they see this they'll lock your Steam account until the matter is dealt with. And by dealt with, I mean you cancel the charge back or pay them the money they believe you owe them. If you buy a lot of games on Steam, obviously this isn't a solution since you'll end up losing far more than you gain.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way...

Steam Refunds - A How To Guide

You'll first need to open a support ticket through Steam support. This isn't actually something you do through Steam, as they keep the support section intentionally separate from Steam. Indeed, it even uses seperate accounts for "security purposes". So anyway, go to the following site and create an account if necessary.

https://support.steampowered.com

Once that's done, create a ticket under the "Purchases and Payments" -> "Pre-ordered Game" subcategory. Now, in this ticket, don't ask for a refund. Instead, ask for Steam store credit. From what I've found, they're a lot more likely to grant that over a true refund, since it assures them that they'll be getting your money again soon. For most people, this isn't a problem, since they'll likely be buying a game through Steam again in the future anyway. If that's not the case, try asking for a refund. Be sure to mention in this thread if you succeed.

In your initial ticket, be sure to point to the river of flames in the Steam forums as evidence of just how broken this game really is. If you can find any official discussion of game breaking bugs and or crashes, feel free to point those out too, though in this case, that's not likely since everything is going great according to Bernd.

Once that ticket is submitted, it's going to take some time for them to get back to you with a "no refunds" response. Again, remember, while this is their policy, you can convince them to "bend" it, just this once.

If you've been a Steam customer for awhile, remind them of that. Tell them how much you'd like to continue being able to buy games from Steam. Mention that, since you're asking for a Steam credit, rather than a refund, Steam will still have your money. Demonstrate how misleading the marketing for the game that prompted you to preorder was. Appeal to their humanity even. You're not actually talking to a bot here, so acknowledge that while it's probably not an easy thing for them to issue store credit, it's the right thing to do considering the state of the game.

Unless you're lucky, or exceptionally persuasive, they'll likely still give you a "no". Don't give up. Send another response, reiterating the above. Tell them this is the first time you've ever requested a refund on Steam. If it's not, then you already know this is possible, so what are you doing reading this? Let them know that you've heard of others getting store credit for this game and/or others, and that you would like the same consideration shown to you. Throw in any more arguments you can think of that apply to your specific situation. If you've had any contact with Egosoft support that shows them, or the game, in a negative light, feel free to throw that in too.

Finally, if they go more than 3 or 4 days without contacting you, send another response to your ticket urging them, politely, to take action.

I realize this doesn't look encouraging, but as long as you're persistent, you likely will eventually get your refund. Just never take no for an answer.

Anyway, good luck. If this thread results in even one person getting their money back, then I'll consider this a complete success.

**NOTE**

Once you get your refund from Steam, please post in this thread. That way others can point to this thread to hopefully strengthen their case for refunds.

[elitephpcoder]

I did a chargeback via paypal and did not lose my account so far!

I did get an alert in steam.

Here is a screenshot of the alert:
http://www.1800banners.com/images/steamalert.jpg
{Giganto image linkified. Really, check the rules on posting images - esd}

It basically disabled the game, but not my account. So it seems that steam disabling your account for a paypal chargeback is just a rumor. The automated system automatically disabled the game only.

As you may notice in the screenshot, I have alot of games and the fact that I was even willing to risk my steam account to force the issue of a refund says alot about how bad this game is, and how much it literally pissed me off when I made an attempt to play it for 2 hours...[/img]

[Hob Anagerik]

I opened a number of threads on Steam forums explaining how to do this and "nudge" the support staff. All those threads got removed, not just locked, but removed. I guess they don't want educated people on there telling you how to do this.

My experience was because of Prototype 2. In the end I had to complain to Valve staff directly, and once one of them got involved they not only gave me a refund but they allowed me to keep the game as well.

Sometimes the system works, and better than you hoped to.

[BobVila]

I did a chargeback via paypal and did not lose my account so far!

You're playing the most dangerous game there.

While I hope this works out for you, I'd highly suggest going through the official channels before doing a charge back. I've obviously never tried it myself, but I have heard of people having their accounts locked due to charge backs and I've never failed to get a refund through Steam, as long as I'm patient enough.

[Badmagic]

I've already politely requested a refund through steam support but I have no illusions that they will actually agree to it as they are woefully anti-consumer in this regard.

I simply stated I had been waiting the last few days to see what information would be forthcoming from either steam/valve and or the dev's but looking at the "official" developer posts both on the steam games forums itself and also the developers official board its painfully clear this product was simply not ready to be released at this time and given the slew of issues I was left with no option but to make the request for a refund.

With any luck at all these issues will be taken into consideration in regards to refunds but valve does not have a good track record in this regard. I'll remain expecting the worst until its confirmed that steam/valve has no intention of supplying a more than partially functional product, with any luck the more people to request a refund may make them take note of the volume of issues.

[BobVila]

I've already politely requested a refund through steam support but I have no illusions that they will actually agree to it as they are woefully anti-consumer in this regard.

And they're going to tell you they don't offer refunds. If you simply drop it there, then you won't see your money again.

Like I pointed out in my original post, if you really want a refund/store credit, then keep pushing them after you get their negative response. I've never seen them offer refunds in response to the initial ticket. Ever.

With Steam "no" means "try again". It's irritating, I know, but you're going to have to go a few rounds with customer support here. That said, if you're persistent, you will (eventually) get that money back, at least in the form of store credit.

[Xiombargdei]

thanks for your Very Valuable Post, Bobvila

here is the message i sent Steam :

**********************************

Hello !

I'm a French customer and i did pre-ordered the game X-Rebirth. The marketing campaign promised me a wonderful space-sim with a gigantic universe, stuning graphics and so on. But the game state is really bad, and even worse than that. More than half of the so-called "cool features" are either missing or terribly implemented. The "universe" feels tiny, the graphics inside the stations remind me of Doom 2, controling your ship or a fleet of ship is simply not possible at the moment.

Egosoft's forum is filled with rants and bug reports. The critics are bad. Youtube video reviewers are all crying over their keyboard. Some old fans, overwhelmed by so much shame, almost commited Seppuku...

As a long term Steam customer, owning more than 10 games, all paid with my hard-earned money, i feel fooled and laughed at. This puts a real shame over the very concept of pre-ordering games.

What I am asking here is a Steam Credit to spend those 50 euros on some other game(s). I want to continue using Steam but I dont want to be a pigeon or treated like an idiot by broken games and lies.

I really hope this will fall in the good ear.

Best regards

Xiombargdei

***************************

i'll give news

[dzhedzho]

4. Do a credit/Paypal chargeback
Technically, this is fine to do, as long as you have absolutely nothing you care about on Steam, because the instant they see this they'll lock your Steam account until the matter is dealt with. And by dealt with, I mean you cancel the charge back or pay them the money they believe you owe them. If you buy a lot of games on Steam, obviously this isn't a solution since you'll end up losing far more than you gain.


Actually you cannot lodge a claim for refund and do a chargeback in the same time. Not only on stream, but anywhere. You cannot have two outstanding claims for the same refund.

If you are in EU and you never played the game, you should be able to "quite easily" convince them to give you a refund, as there is a law which compels them to, there isn't even a need to prove anything. (though most people obviously did play the game)

[Morrovarine]

Steam is not obliged to give you a refund. Origin actually provide this.

To my understanding though they usually issue one refund per account.

[Skillionaire]

I think the best chance of success is lots of people will have to ask for refunds of the same time. And Everyone explain the situation at hand..direct them at the forums review etc..so they get an understanding of how the product delivered was faulty and incomplete. They wont risk losing hundreds of accounts and loyal steam users over this.

Since 2004 out of 100+ games i've bought this is only the second game i've asked a refund for (and quite rightly so) the first was from SOTS2. Fortunately kerberos had the decency to offer refunds to whomever wanted them.

Egosoft take note..

ty op for the post. I've currently submitted a refund request lets see how it goes.

[struferga]

I just broke down myself and requested a refund on steam, having waited until today and seeing no further statements from Egosoft about the state their game is in, I lost hope.

Nevertheless, I wish them that they survive this, who knows, maybe one morning Ill read about an X4 being released...

[BobVila]

Actually you cannot lodge a claim for refund and do a chargeback in the same time. Not only on stream, but anywhere. You cannot have two outstanding claims for the same refund.

Agreed. Though if you look, you'll notice I actually have the "Do a charge back" under the "What Not To Do" list.

Anyway, good luck on getting your refunds.

Remember, don't be discouraged if they first say no. Just keep it up and they'll come around. They almost always do if you have a solid case, and with X-Rebirth, you definitely do.

[bucky699]

Steam have given me several refunds, their policy has loopholes like all policies.

For example, if you pre-order a game then the game comes out and has a feature missing, they will refund you with steam credit if you ask nicely and explain that the game was not as advertised.

If you ask for a refund before the pre-order is released in yoru area, so if your and aussie and 2 hours before release you get wind from American players a game is in shit condition then you can request a refund on your pre-order, as long as the game is not released yet in your area theres a 70% chance you'll get steam credit.

NEVER ask for a full money refund, they wil say no straight away, always ask for steam credit and your almost gauranteed to get it.

I got a refund on Hawks 2, Sword of the Stars 2 (and ended up getting it again when it was cheaper, still broken) and several other games i cant remember off the top of my head....but it does work, just be polite ask for credit and dont take no for an answer like the OP says.

[Norsk]

Dear god, why do you preorder/release day purchase games when you clearly never end up liking them? if you have been burned several times I would think you would have learned and stopped preordering/release day purchasing the game and waited until reviews are out.

My advice stop buying games until they have been reviewed....

[g04tn4d0]

I think Steam should have an option where you pay $5 (or whatever) and they give you access to a game for 48 hours. If you want to keep it, you can buy it per the difference.

[BobVila]

I think Steam should have an option where you pay $5 (or whatever) and they give you access to a game for 48 hours. If you want to keep it, you can buy it per the difference.

That's actually an interesting idea. Though 48 hours would probably be too long. Consider this, plot/story based games like Mass Effect could be completely finished in 48 hours.

[kororas]

How long does it take to get first reply on refund request? Ive had my ticket in since Sunday. Admittedly it was under the wrong sub-category initially but I corrected that.

[SteveMill]

Refused my request. Guess they dont want my money any more.

[BobVila]

Refused my request. Guess they dont want my money any more.

Of course they refused your initial request. Like I said in the original post.

However, as long as you're willing to be persistent and patient, they will relent and give you your money back unless you have a massive number of hours in game.

How long does it take to get first reply on refund request? Ive had my ticket in since Sunday.

Kororas, it shouldn't take more than 1 to 2 business days for them to get back to your initial request. Though having it in the wrong section might have delayed them. I expect they're getting a lot of refund requests right now.

[SteveMill]

I have appealed and have just 2 hours in the game.