Steam Account Chargeback, Account Restricted, Please Help

[Ratman]

There was a charge on my bank account that I did not make that was marked as a reoccuring charge. I disputed it and got a new card. Following this Steam notified me I had disputed my purchase of DS2:SotFS for $9.99 and have restricted purchases on my account until April 6th. I have intentions to purchase games before this time and need some advice. I put a claim in with Steam support and then I contacted my card company, to which I was told to contact my bank. Thus I contacted my bank and was told that they refunded the monthly charge and that everything was out of their hands. So I updated my support claim with Steam, letting them know I had contacted my bank and that there was nothing to be done there. I provided them with screenshots of the charge labelled "Valve" which went undisputed and another screenshot containing the disputed charge between initial account deduction and the point when credit was refunded. Steam support hasn't contacted me back yet and I would like this to be resolved quickly.

Tl;dr:
Steam is saying I charged back for a game purchase, which I didn't do. The card company and my bank said there is nothing they can do. Steam support is taking forever to get back to me via email, but I don't know any other means of contact.

[B-o-B]

If you've followed this then just wait. There's no other avenue.
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=6687-HJVM-8966#5

https://store.steampowered.com/stats/support

[BossGalaga]

Originally posted by MemorableSeven4:

There was a charge on my bank account that I did not make that was marked as a reoccuring charge. I disputed it and got a new card. Following this Steam notified me I had disputed my purchase of DS2:SotFS for $9.99 and have restricted purchases on my account until April 6th. I have intentions to purchase games before this time and need some advice. I put a claim in with Steam support and then I contacted my card company, to which I was told to contact my bank. Thus I contacted my bank and was told that they refunded the monthly charge and that everything was out of their hands. So I updated my support claim with Steam, letting them know I had contacted my bank and that there was nothing to be done there. I provided them with screenshots of the charge labelled "Valve" which went undisputed and another screenshot containing the disputed charge between initial account deduction and the point when credit was refunded. Steam support hasn't contacted me back yet and I would like this to be resolved quickly.

Tl;dr:
Steam is saying I charged back for a game purchase, which I didn't do. The card company and my bank said there is nothing they can do. Steam support is taking forever to get back to me via email, but I don't know any other means of contact.

You sound confused. You disputed the charge so yes, you charged back a game purchase.

What you can do is wait until April 6th.

[Ratman]

Originally posted by BossGalaga:

Originally posted by MemorableSeven4:

There was a charge on my bank account that I did not make that was marked as a reoccuring charge. I disputed it and got a new card. Following this Steam notified me I had disputed my purchase of DS2:SotFS for $9.99 and have restricted purchases on my account until April 6th. I have intentions to purchase games before this time and need some advice. I put a claim in with Steam support and then I contacted my card company, to which I was told to contact my bank. Thus I contacted my bank and was told that they refunded the monthly charge and that everything was out of their hands. So I updated my support claim with Steam, letting them know I had contacted my bank and that there was nothing to be done there. I provided them with screenshots of the charge labelled "Valve" which went undisputed and another screenshot containing the disputed charge between initial account deduction and the point when credit was refunded. Steam support hasn't contacted me back yet and I would like this to be resolved quickly.

Tl;dr:
Steam is saying I charged back for a game purchase, which I didn't do. The card company and my bank said there is nothing they can do. Steam support is taking forever to get back to me via email, but I don't know any other means of contact.

You sound confused. You disputed the charge so yes, you charged back a game purchase.

What you can do is wait until April 6th.

But I didn't dispute the Steam charge. The Steam charge for DS2 still is on my bank account. I disputed a different charge.

[8ullfrog]

Then your bank forked up, and you should contact them, fix this, then change banks. No one wants a bank that messes things up.

[AmsterdamHeavy]

Important note: You have until April 6th to fix this: thats what that date signifies.

If you do not, your account will become permanently restricted and you will not longer be able to buy games, or use other Steam features.

[Zekiran]

You have to make sure that Steam actually HAS their money for that purchase. Otherwise, your account WILL be restricted permanently.

Issuing ANY chargeback will cause this. You MUST repay them, in full, for that product - even if you don't want it, or think it's "wrong" that you got charged for it. You paid for it, you own the product, you cannot then take your money back.

[werhsre334]

Charge backs look really bad for businesses.

What you've essentially done is. You've made a claim to your bank that there is a fraud charge, now your card is most likely backed by Visa.

Visa then by force, takes the money back from valve and gives it back to you, plus it dings their credit standing with Visa. Then the bank issues you a new card, this is all mostly done automatically which is why you generally get a new card and account pretty darn fast.

They do this because the credit card companies will ALWAYS side with you, their customer.

They don't give a crap about steam or anything, this is what businesses have to accept in order to accept those cards. The reason why it is this way is if people started to see credit card companies favor the business instead of their customer, then people tend to start paying off their cards and cancelling their accounts. Even your debit card is a CREDIT card that is secured by visa, mastercard, so when you use your debit, Visa is essentially paying the business, and your bank pays visa.

Remember, credit card companies really don't give a rats butt about the businesses, their business is in keeping YOU spending on their cards and them racking interest.

Since online charges have no physical signature, the business i.e. valve has no real way of contesting. (Nothing you charge that you don't actually sign for has much standing in the eyes of the credit card companies) if you say it's fraud, the credit card companies won't GENERALLY go against their own customers unless you yourself have a long history of doing charge backs.

This tends to get the businesses, i.e. valve.......QUITE snippy, because every charge back means less money, plus a small tick on their reputation. For instance, if too many charge backs occur at a business, generally the credit card companies will start an investigation and pending the outcome the business could be forbidden from taking their cards, which can spell doom for many businesses, and while they can't get that money back from you, they can refuse your business which, is what steam is doing to you, no matter what other explanations they might have.


Businesses will generally BEND over backwards if they feel you might issue a charge back, so a good rule of thumb is to contact the business, ask for the charge to be removed, if they do not give you a refund on the fraudlent charge, THEN you tell them if they're unable to help you will issue a charge back.

This USUALLY will get businesses attention, because again, most companies will do ALOT to avoid charge backs.

However, do not bluff, because it's essentially a nuclear option, as the business will not want to risk taking your business again.

It might have been fraud against your card, but at the same time they don't want charge backs either.

Charge backs are VERY powerful, so use them wisely!

1. Contact company ask for a refund and cite an unauthorized charge, most will comply
2. If they remove the charge, thennnn call your bank and do not issue a charge back on the company but have a new card shipped.

Only charge back a business if you feel there was fraduelnt activity AND they're unwilling to work with you.

Then nuke them from orbit.

Source.

I'm very old

[Nec]

Sounds like you should have contacted steam support first instead of doing the chargeback first. Either way,

Originally posted by MemorableSeven4:

I disputed a different charge.

you disputed a charge none the less. And because of this your account is automatically restricted. Best you can do is wait till April, or wait for support to possibly unrestrict you due to your information provided.

But yeah, next time you might want to contact the company first instead of immediately cancelling your card and getting another one.