Unethical business practice
Steam / Valve Software is an online software delivery service.
Those who are into online gaming will be familiar with Steam.
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_(content_delivery)
I purchased a software title from Steam. The software did not work and required a patch from the company that wrote the software. I downloaded the patch but could not run it because all software from Steam runs on the "Steam Cloud", cloud computing where your files are stored on a server and not on your physical computer.
Steam does not have a technical support phone number so I contacted them via email.
After one week Steam replied that this was not their fault but the fault of the company that wrote the software.
I informed Steam that they sold me this software, regardless of its faults.
Steam insisted that the software should work but if it doesn't then I must contact the support of the company that created the software.
Steam took it upon themselves to state that NO REFUNDS will be given.
So, I am out $39.99
There are a few lessons to be learned here.
1. Think twice about doing business with a company that does not offer a tech support phone number.
2. Always do a search to see what other consumers have experienced.
3. Never underestimate the greed or stupidity of any company when it comes to bottom line profit.
I am stuck with a product that will never work and Steam knows this. They seem okay and have defended their business practices as being completely above-board.
Be warned that what you buy from Steam will not be yours to own but yours to use, if it works.
Always conduct due diligence on any company online.
If I had done so, I would have seen the scores of complaints, and I would have declined to do business with them.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
steam bugs/poor suppport
Valve's Steam is very poor. Playing games have many bugs and problems. The problem is that there is literally no way to get in touch with them once there is a problem. There are NO WAY to resolve billing or technical issues. There are many people upset about this issue. Simply google "Steam Support" and you see many post by many many people. There is no...
Read full complaint and 10 commentsripped off for team fortress 2
I went to my nearby Circuit City in the company's final days in hopes of scoring some good prices on whatever electronics they had left. Imagine my joy and surprise upon finding copies of Half-Life 2 AND Team Fortress 2 for $5 each. I went home and eagerly installed Half-Life 2. No problems. Great game. However, as I opened the box for TF2, I noticed the card with the game's activation code was missing. Let me clarify one important detail: both games were still in the original factory shrink wrapping and stickers, which was quite an adventure in itself trying to remove. HL2 contained its' activation card, and I was able to install the game without a hitch. TF2's box contained only the game disc. But, without the magic activation code, I could not install it.
So, I sent an inquiry into Valve's customer support, as well as posting the same on their message boards asking for help (Their irritating lack of phone support notwithstanding). Within days, I'd received a response from the CS department, which thanked me for my purchase, suggested I return the game to the store I'd bought it from, and hoped I would enjoy future titles from Valve. Way to not answer my problem. At. All. Not to mention the fact that the store (and the entire company) had CLOSED, a detail I made explicitly clear in both of my posted requests. Sure, I could return to the empty building, but I can't see it being a very productive part of my day. I even scanned the receipt from the day I bought it and offered it up, but to no avail.
The responses on the message board weren't much better, most people telling me "S.O.L." and to just purchase the game online.
So no, Valve, I will not buy it online. I've already spent money on the game, I don't need to do it twice. How hard is it to send me a new activation code?
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
On 12/28 my daughters steam account was stolen and I’m not able to get anyone from steam to contact me and they have no customer support email or phone number. My email is chaugen84@aol.com
My bank card was charged 12.99 for something I hadn't authorized. I want my money returned. It will be reported to the state attorney general. This is thrift and fraud
My credit card was charged without my authorization.
How do I prevent this and how do I unsubscribe?
I want to block it completely this so that it will never happened again, thank you
Can someone help me find out why money was stolen from my acct. An amount of $175.20 was taken from my card. Can someone help me get my money back
Tryforchange@yahoo.com
I've just woken up to numerous transactions charged to my account and they only stopped when funds on my account ended.
I have never heard of steam games until today
Steamgames.com hacked my debit card ran charges every 2 minutes until my bank's fraud department caught them.
Yeah... last week i bought team fortress 2 as a stand alone game just because i had received a free copy of team fortresss classic with a bundle of games i got once. All went well for that week and i began to thoroughly enjoy the game. NOW!1... 1 week later tha game is given out for free. Fair enough i guess because they gave me a free hat to make my enemies get easier head shots off on me... But thats not all i got no! I also got my favorite list of servers extremely over populated with horrible players! Not just newbs either old schoolers even; idling their characters on end to try and get free in game items for being logged on. I did like the look of the new title screen setup. On first glance the new button they added that will automatically join to you to the i'm guessing lowest ping server for the game type of choice looked like an amazing idea that would make it quick and easy for me join in the online fun! So far it has worked once for me. Usually it bugs out and i have to task manager out of it. Other times it says the that the server is full as if it so stupid that it cant tell what server has people on it.. when that doesnt happen it just says "Disconnected" So yeah when i finally get on the server is filled with people with 300+ pings with a score of 0 or 1 or 2 or something extremely crappy. Thanks vavle... For the uber spit directly in the customer eyesocket update. oh yeah, f2p games can burn IN HELL!1
team fortress 2 is free...
That site truly is a headache and they do jerk the people around A LOT.
One day I could not log into my account and was told I had no account with them etc.
Took me two weeks of going back and forth with them to get my account back and never got an answer to why the account was lost in the first place.
If this happens again I will turn the problem to the general consumer complaint form, address below.
https://fortress.wa.gov/atg/formhandler/ago/ComplaintForm.aspx
If enough people report them they will have to answer for the mistreatment to the players.
[censored] stupid login i posted something on a differnt complaint sorry
uhhhh you do know that people have actually GOT some prizes from lockerz
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I too have had similar dealings with Steam. I preordered a game, Post Scriptum, and once it was released it has done nothing but freeze during the startup, or freeze once it gets to the menu selection screen. They give the excuse that I have exceeded the 2 week period for a refund. The preorder date was over 2 weeks before the game was even released. Every support ticket I fill out only gets the standard reply from Steam. I will never buy another game through them.
I agree with you totally Jonathan. STEAM SUCKS! I initially thought that Steam was an interestingly efficient no hassle idea, that is until the customer begins to understand how something called "cloud computing" really works. I purchased four video games two days ago and requested a refund IMMEDIATELY within four hours of the purchase when I began to realize that there was nothing to show for my hard-earned money spent, NO DOWNLOADED GAME FILE MY COMPUTER! I then quickly realized that I hadn't downloaded anything tangible at all that could be used INDEPENDENTLY of the Steam software. I mean this is crazy! My video game software should be mine irrespective of Steam. As you stated
Jonathan, cloud computing is where your files are stored on an outside server and not on your physical computer. This is very important for everyone who reads this to know! The purchased video game downloads are somehow integrated into the Steam software program that the customer has no choice about installing on his/her computer. As soon as I realized this and saw nothing (no file) that I could call MINE to substantiate or validate my four video game purchases, I requested a refund without hesitation. The refund for all four of my Steam video game purchases two days ago did come this morning just to let you know, which is the only good thing I have to say about Steam, the likes of which I will never do business with again. I don't want to buy anything that I don't "physically" own on my end, and if this trend is going to be what the future holds for online software purchases, I want NO PART OF IT! Good-bye and good luck!
I know that steam has made the new update for the hold on items needing to trade and I think that 72 hours to wait is enough but what I got was just ridiculous. I have to wait 15 days to wait for just trying to trade a few items with another player. I also cant use the items I offered while on the hold. I think that steam really needs to lower the time for the trades because 15 days is ridiculous.
Irecentlyreformattedmycomputer toinstallWindows 10 . Ibackedeverything upwithusernames and passwords so I KNOWtheinformationiscorrect . Ihad noproblemsaccessing mygamesthrough cBattlenet or OriginbutSteam justwon'tallowmeaccess to my account .I'vespenthundreds ofdollars ongamesthatrequire Steam account toplay . I've reset mypassword FIVEtimesandstillwon'tallow me toaccessmyaccount. NOSUPPORT ORcustomerservicewhatsoever. EXTREMELY PISSED RRIGHT NOW! HOWCANTHEYGETAWAYWITHSUCHOUTRIGHTTHUGGERy?
I bought Wolfenstein The New Order last July, and it installed okay. In December, I bought Skyrim II and added it to my Steam Library. Afterwards, I could no longer play Wolfenstein. After fighting with the software for several months, I uninstalled Wolfenstein and tried to reinstall it. I could not find the Product Key on the jewel case, or on any of the DVDs. Then I found out why. Apparently, Steam Product Keys are one-time use, only. You cannot reinstall any Steam game because it will not accept a Product Key that has already been used. That means that if your game software becomes damaged, or if you purchase a new computer, you have lost that game -- and your money. I decided to uninstall and reinstall Skyrim II. I successfully uninstalled it, but when I tried to reinstall it, the download folder was empty. Apparently, the game installer deletes the file after the game has been installed, so that it can never be installed again. This is taking anti-piracy a step too far, and I make this promise: I will never, EVER purchase another product that involves Steam.
I cannot get access to my games; I have asked for support on a number of occasions but get no reasonable replies.
After 3 months I still cannot get online to play games.
What can I do?
I had radeon rewards coupon to redeem and it took 3 days to download one game, I kid you not 3 FREAKING DAYS! Besides that they won't acknowledge the second game I tried. When I tried to download it, it didn't. Instead I got the download complete message when nothing happened. And now all they do when I inquire about it is nothing and nothing sucks. It seems that all Steam is, is a scam that does enough business to stay above obligations and thugging their way through theft and deceit of their customers. And that's not the least of it. Customer satisfaction appears to be a virtue they do not value, unfortunately too many games require their involvement freeing the manufacturers from responsibility of an unworkable or defective product. Ripping off the occasional customer outright just adds a little more for the bottom line.
they hacked my bank card and I tried to get a hold of them thru site and was sent to a site that does research on stem power. scam scam scam
I too am having trouble with Steam. They are impossible to reach anyone BUT use extension 101 to reach the founder Gabe Newell or the billing person Melissa at 592
If you have any problem with steam, it stands to reason you'd contact the support, right?
Well, after waiting a week for a reply, you will just get some automated response. Don't understand the relevance of that response? Their response is the exact same words again!
Don't like that? After four or five messages, you will eventually get forwarded to talk to the community... who will subsequently crucify you for your views.