Apparently if you dont use a gift - Steam will refund it without asking.

[Blakhart]

GOing to post this publicly because this just blows my mind.

I purchased a game for my wife while it was on special a while ago. Now she has been busy studying for a PhD and in her off-time she has been playing some MMOs; not through steam.

So the gifted game ahs gone unused for a bit.

No big deal - she would get to it eventually....


But apparently NOT!

I get a message today from steam that they have cancelled the gift and refunded my purchase.

My beef is this seems completely anti-consumer. And against consumer protections. If you buy a physical copy of software and dont use the CD key, the retailer doesnt suddenly cancel your CD key and purchase.

Bought the game on special for $10AUD and now the same game is no longe ron special so it is $30. It isnt a huge amount of money but the absolute daftness of STEAM to do that is beyond amazing.

I buy a game, used or not, it shouldnt just disappear and be refunded and then imt old to repurchase it again for 3 times what I paid to have it.

STEAM is going down the toilet and fast.

[Tev]

The refund happens if the gift's recipient doesn't accept or decline the gift within 30 days.

She could've accepted it, and then it wouldn't have done the automatic refund, but that's a little too late now.

Fortunately there's a new sale next month and you know better by then.

[CJ HUNTER]

This has been discussed before, use the search discussions feature. Next time gift games to someone who would actually play and enjoy them.

[StickyPawz]

What's the issue?

If a gift isn't claimed after 30 days, its auto-refunded. Until the game is registered, the game isn't claimed, the publishers/developers aren't paid, the money is in limbo (steam isn't a bank)

There's the BIG winter sale in a couple weeks. Buy it again and remind your wife to accepted it next time.

[Tev]

Also, it's written here - just if OP wants a source.
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?p_faqid=549#gifts-received

When your gift is sent to your friend, they'll have the option to accept or decline the gift. Once they do, we'll send you an email letting you know. If your friend takes no action on the gift, we'll automatically cancel the gift and issue you a refund after 30 days.

But as said, now you know.

[Kargor]

Also, you can always buy a key in another store. Those will be valid "forever", which means no 30-day limit.

[Tito Shivan]

You can also set gifts for delivery at a later date.

[sentri7]

Yeah I agree with the "buy it in another store" option. Someone said steam isn't a bank but I don't think buying a gift card would be percieved like that by a user that hasn't read the fine print. Who would expect a gift to be refunded after 30 days.

Not anyone I know. Did cash exchange hands? yes. Did steam create the system, policy and arbitrary way it works? yes.

Why? probably because lots of people bought "gifts" and on sold them later "out of sale".

P.S out of curiosity was the refund made to your steam wallet or to your bank account?

[Tev]

sentri7 eredeti hozzászólása:

Yeah I agree with the "buy it in another store" option. Someone said steam isn't a bank but I don't think buying a gift card would be percieved like that by a user that hasn't read the fine print. Who would expect a gift to be refunded after 30 days.

Not anyone I know. Did cash exchange hands? yes. Did steam create the system, policy and arbitrary way it works? yes.

Why? probably because lots of people bought "gifts" and on sold them later "out of sale".

P.S out of curiosity was the refund made to your steam wallet or to your bank account?

It's done to the payment method the purchase was made with. If said method is non-refundable, then Steam Wallet.

[Spawn of Totoro]

sentri7 eredeti hozzászólása:

Why? probably because lots of people bought "gifts" and on sold them later "out of sale".

That would be a seperate issue from the OP's.

sentri7 eredeti hozzászólása:

P.S out of curiosity was the refund made to your steam wallet or to your bank account?

They try to refund to the original payment method first and if that fails, Steam Wallet.

Kargor eredeti hozzászólása:

Also, you can always buy a key in another store. Those will be valid "forever", which means no 30-day limit.

Yes and no. Humble Bundle has some keys (may just be free ones?) that expire if not claimed It seems a shift in key selling may be starting to happen.

Blakhart eredeti hozzászólása:

My beef is this seems completely anti-consumer. And against consumer protections.

Either way, some consumer will see it as "anti-consumer".

If the game was gifted and never recived, wouldn't you want a refund at that point?

What if you ordered a game and it remained in shipping for 30 days, then the company said to keep waiting instead of offering a refund?

If an order from or at a store remains unclaimed for X days, even if paid for, they can cancel the order and refund the money. Most stores have a 3 day policy for this and you can't rebuy it at sale price after they cancel it either (if the sale is over).

"Anti-conumer", imho, has lost a lot of it original meaning, just like hacker, beta, scammer and many others "hot" words used today.

Your wife would have recived an e-mail about the game as well (mine does, when I send her a game) so she could have logged in and claimed it at any point in time. Even using the mobile app, it could have been claimed.

You could also try letter her know you sent her a gift, so she can claim it in time.

As has been said, there is another sale around the corner, so you can purchase it for her again at the discounted price.

[8ullfrog]

Also, you can always buy a key in another store. Those will be valid "forever",

HAH! also... HAH! Those key selling sites are about as legitimate as all the diptendo's who keep whining about getting scammed over a freaking cosmetic skin on a knife! They totally shouldn't have entered the login credentials on that site, but they are so stupid!

This is totally valve's fault, and they demand instant compensation, ala JG Wentworth!


Realistically, yeah. This policy kinda sucks, but is probably not going to change. Maybe spring your gift before the month is out?


Even if your wife is busy cracking genomes, there's gotta be some Wednesday after dinner SOMEWHERE in that calendar where you can be all "Yo gurl, I hooked you up. Checkit, STEAM GIFT YO." And then you're wearing sunglasses. No one is sure why.

[Tev]

Spawn of Totoro eredeti hozzászólása:

Yes and no. Humble Bundle has some keys (may just be free ones?) that expire if not claimed It seems a shift in key selling may be starting to happen

I've only seen it with free games, with the exception of, I think, Overwatch, which would have expired had it not been redeemed within a year of purchase.

8ullfrog eredeti hozzászólása:

Also, you can always buy a key in another store. Those will be valid "forever",

HAH! also... HAH! Those key selling sites are about as legitimate as all the diptendo's who keep whining about getting scammed over a freaking cosmetic skin on a knife! They totally shouldn't have entered the login credentials on that site, but they are so stupid!

That's why it's smart to stick to sites that are on http://isthereanydeal.com and not the unauthorized resellers we often hear about

[Blakhart]

Lol at these comments.

The fact that the majority of you seem to thinkt his type of business transaction is "normal" or "okay" is literally amazing.

"Steam is not a bank".

You are right - they arent a bank. And there shouldnt be any "limbo" about the money.

I, as the customer, purchase a product and Steam, as the agent, takes that money from my bank account. As of 30 days ago, those funds were removed from my bank account. The money is no longer mine and I had a purchase of a game. WHat happens to the money fromt here is NOT my concern as the customer. If Steam chooses, as the agent, to NOT give the money to the developer then that is BETWEEN STEAM AND THE DEVELOPER. Take me out of the equation from that point once I have paid for a service/good.

There should be no if ands or buts about this. I purchased a product, while it was on special. It is up to myself as the purchaser and the person receiving the item to use it when we feel good and ready to do so. There should not be any arbitrary decision on this. At All.

IT would be as if I purchased something digital on Amazon during Black Friday and Amazon realised I had not sent the gift yet and went "oh im sorry it doent look like youre using that... let me refund it for you at the sale price. Im sure you can buy it again at full price if you really wanted it".

No. Just all kinds of no.

This is not how any of this should work I feel sorry for the future if you all cannot see a problemw ith this lol.

For the record I worked in retail - management - for a decade and still work in sales in the Finance sector.

I would lose my job if I pulled a stunt like this in my field.

[Zaskar]

Blakhart eredeti hozzászólása:

Lol at these comments.

The fact that the majority of you seem to thinkt his type of business transaction is "normal" or "okay" is literally amazing.

The fact that your wife, as busy as she can be, could not take 5 minutes of her time to login and accept the gift for an entire freaking month is even more amazing.

For my point of view, if I want to give a game to someone and that person doesn't even login to accept it for 30 days, I'll consider it a waste of money and will be happy to be refunded.

[8ullfrog]

It is up to myself as the purchaser and the person receiving the item to use it when we feel good and ready to do so. There should not be any arbitrary decision on this. At All.

Cool story bro, but we can't change this to your satisfaction.


Sounds like you already found your solution, and the answer is not to purchase from this market again. Retail managers are all about solutions, right?

[Tolkien Book Fan]

So if you try to send someone a gift but it turns out they are no longer active on Steam, the money will be refunded after a decent waiting period rather than lost. Sounds reasonable to me.

There seems to be a misconception that you have to play games in order to keep them in your Library. You don't have to play them or even install them, once they are in your Library they are yours. In the case of gifts, that means taking a minute to log on and hit accept. Given how glitchy Steam gets during the Tuesday update, I would definitely want a gift securely in my Library rather than trying to use the gift system as storage.