PROBLEMS WITH STEAM

[daniel.harris702]

I know I'm not the only one... but I have a number of problems with Steam and how they operate. Part of it is simply due to me being older (in my 40's) and I am not a "gamer" or "coder". Since 2013, there has been one game that I like to play. I buy it as a CD every time a new one comes out. I just want to log in and play it. I wish it was that easy.

Steam is too complicated for me. There have been too many technical issues and not enough support to get through them. I see a lot of discussions for all sorts of reasons. How about simply getting to play the game I bought and paid for? After doing research, I have discovered a history of deceitful practices from Steam and the Valve Corporation. Visit their Better Business Bureau page for context.

I understand we live in a world where everything is in the "cloud" and can see the benefits of that. But that doesn't mean consumers should be forced to agree to terms and conditions that gives the company the right to extort their costumers.

Steam and the Valve Corporation do not respond to the complaints reported to the BBB. And there is no phone number or contact for for customer support. They used to. I guess their solution to having too many complaints and concerns is to simply shut down all means of communication. I feel that is a demonstration of how irresponsible Steam is as an organization.

I have filed a consumer complaint to the Attorney General of my State and the State of Washington (where they are headquartered). I encourage anyone who feels Steam has been irresponsible to their customers to do the same.

[KillahInstinct]

I am unsure what your actual issue is, what do you need help with? You can post here or contact support on the link at the top.

PS The BBB is a bit of a sham. You pay for a good rating.

[Judgmental Amaterasu]

What even is this directionless rant?

[rawWwRrr]

daniel.harris702님이 먼저 게시:

Part of it is simply due to me being older (in my 40's) and I am not a "gamer" or "coder".

I don't see how these facts about you quantify there possibly being widespread problematic issues with Steam. I won't get more detailed than to say that I have few gray hairs but for the nearly 16 years that I have been a user of Steam there have been very few bumps in their service along the way that prevented me from playing a game that I purchased through them. That's not to say that I'm happy with everything they've done but it's a far cry from what you're proposing.

daniel.harris702님이 먼저 게시:

I have discovered a history of deceitful practices from Steam and the Valve Corporation. Visit their Better Business Bureau page for context.

Unhappy people are most likely to post unhappy comments than happy people. BBB is as bad as Yelp these days. It's lost its respect as a true reflection of business quality.

daniel.harris702님이 먼저 게시:

I have filed a consumer complaint to the Attorney General of my State and the State of Washington (where they are headquartered). I encourage anyone who feels Steam has been irresponsible to their customers to do the same.

I'm sure you're not the first. Good luck with your crusade, though. I'd much rather spend my time and energy towards something more life fulling.

[Mad Scientist]

-Steam is one of the easiest things on the internet to use
-You CAN download all the games you bought on steam.
-bbb reviews are a joke, anyone angry enough can make a rating and steam is unlikely to respond. There is nothing deceitful about steam. You can look at a product, research it, lists minimum and recommended specs. But purchases aren't to be used as demos.
-Not all business's need a direct contact, if you saw the ticket volume you'd know this is entirely unreasonable to expect a call center to handle.
-Cloud feature is usually in case you lose the files, you can download them or upload a copy if it's newer than the one on the cloud. IT'S OPTIONAL.
-Frivolous claims can result in a lawsuit, your choice and your risk. Don't poke the bear if you're in the wrong or refuse to learn or understand anything about the service.

[Muppet among Puppets]

The internet is a source of knowledge.
Just ask the right questions.

[nextgengranny]

I took a minute to look at some of the complaints. Some of them are the usual, "They wouldn't refund me, SCAM!!!" sort one comes across on the forums here; some are legitimate criticisms of the customer service users received (or the lack of).

As for criticisms about the BBB, I'm not going to claim to have knowledge about that one way or the other. But their legitimacy or lack of doesn't void the legitimacy of valid customer complaints registered w/ them.

[Crazy Tiger]

daniel.harris702님이 먼저 게시:

I just want to log in and play it. I wish it was that easy.

It is for me, actually. I do this every day, without issue.

daniel.harris702님이 먼저 게시:

Visit their Better Business Bureau page for context.

What, that page where people leave a message behind because they didn't get a refund when they played a game for over 25+ hours?

daniel.harris702님이 먼저 게시:

But that doesn't mean consumers should be forced to agree to terms and conditions that gives the company the right to extort their costumers.

How exactly are they extorting customers? Stop using vague terms and provide facts and examples.

[About47Pandas]

KillahInstinct님이 먼저 게시:

I am unsure what your actual issue is, what do you need help with? You can post here or contact support on the link at the top.

PS The BBB is a bit of a sham. You pay for a good rating.

You don't pay the BBB for a good rating. You pay them an annual fee to be a member, but you don't have to join, the only thing joining does is it allows someone to accredit a business's practices in their relation to consumers. It also gives consumers more options when you have a dispute.

Source: my in-laws use the BBB but are not accredited*

Edit-- Local BBB's is where BBB shines-

[KillahInstinct]

https://estound.com/blog/business-doesnt-need-better-business-bureau/

[Muppet among Puppets]

KillahInstinct님이 먼저 게시:

https://estound.com/blog/business-doesnt-need-better-business-bureau/

That rather shows what the "customerbase" of that bureau is. Not what happens if you pay. Is there a source of what happens then?
And how would the price differ, is it based on something?

[Brian9824]

About47Pandas님이 먼저 게시:

KillahInstinct님이 먼저 게시:

I am unsure what your actual issue is, what do you need help with? You can post here or contact support on the link at the top.

PS The BBB is a bit of a sham. You pay for a good rating.

You don't pay the BBB for a good rating. You pay them an annual fee to be a member, but you don't have to join, the only thing joining does is it allows someone to accredit a business's practices in their relation to consumers. It also gives consumers more options when you have a dispute.

Source: my in-laws use the BBB but are not accredited*

Edit-- Local BBB's is where BBB shines-

It's well documented
https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/business-bureau-best-ratings-money-buy/story?id=12123843

To prove the point, a group of Los Angeles business owners paid $425 to the Better Business Bureau and were able to obtain an A minus grade for a non-existent company called Hamas, named after the Middle Eastern terror group.

and
https://www.dealnews.com/features/What-Happens-When-You-Submit-a-Complaint-to-the-Better-Business-Bureau/1946621.html

The CNNMoney report found that members of the BBB were able to close complaints with "generic letters and responses that consumers say clearly don't address their problem." However, nonmembers — especially small businesses — with decent grades were sometimes left with drastic drops in their ratings after complaints went unnoticed. Even more telling, the report found that official complaints filed with the BBB had little to no effect on an accredited company's grade.

[Brian9824]

daniel.harris702님이 먼저 게시:

I just want to log in and play it. I wish it was that easy.

It is, login to steam, click library, select your game and click play.

daniel.harris702님이 먼저 게시:

Steam is too complicated for me. There have been too many technical issues and not enough support to get through them.

Again what exactly is too complicated?

daniel.harris702님이 먼저 게시:

I understand we live in a world where everything is in the "cloud" and can see the benefits of that. But that doesn't mean consumers should be forced to agree to terms and conditions that gives the company the right to extort their costumers.

Umm the cloud has nothing to do with steam except for your saves if you want them backed up there. Everything on steam is installed on your computer, not the cloud

daniel.harris702님이 먼저 게시:

Steam and the Valve Corporation do not respond to the complaints reported to the BBB.

Nor should they, most of the BBB complaints are people wanting refunds when they don't qualify. I could file a BBB report that steam won't refund a game I bought 10 years ago, that doesn't mean steam should refund it.

daniel.harris702님이 먼저 게시:

And there is no phone number or contact for for customer support.

Sure there is - https://help.steampowered.com/en/

With over a billion accounts if they offered phone support people would be waiting on the phone for hours at minimum. A ticket system is how most high traffic sites operate.

daniel.harris702님이 먼저 게시:

They used to. I guess their solution to having too many complaints and concerns is to simply shut down all means of communication. I feel that is a demonstration of how irresponsible Steam is as an organization.

Steam support hasn't changed in quite a while, its been a ticket system for years upon years.

[AmsterdamHeavy]

daniel.harris702님이 먼저 게시:

I know I'm not the only one... but I have a number of problems with Steam and how they operate. Part of it is simply due to me being older (in my 40's) and I am not a "gamer" or "coder". Since 2013, there has been one game that I like to play. I buy it as a CD every time a new one comes out. I just want to log in and play it. I wish it was that easy.

Steam is too complicated for me. There have been too many technical issues and not enough support to get through them. I see a lot of discussions for all sorts of reasons. How about simply getting to play the game I bought and paid for? After doing research, I have discovered a history of deceitful practices from Steam and the Valve Corporation. Visit their Better Business Bureau page for context.

I understand we live in a world where everything is in the "cloud" and can see the benefits of that. But that doesn't mean consumers should be forced to agree to terms and conditions that gives the company the right to extort their costumers.

Steam and the Valve Corporation do not respond to the complaints reported to the BBB. And there is no phone number or contact for for customer support. They used to. I guess their solution to having too many complaints and concerns is to simply shut down all means of communication. I feel that is a demonstration of how irresponsible Steam is as an organization.

I have filed a consumer complaint to the Attorney General of my State and the State of Washington (where they are headquartered). I encourage anyone who feels Steam has been irresponsible to their customers to do the same.

Dude. Im 50.

What are you on about?

If you need help with STEAM, you go to Steam Support. https://help.steampowered.com/en/

If it isnt a Valve game, you go to the people who made the game.

[ElvisDeadly]

daniel.harris702님이 먼저 게시:

snip

This big wall of text rant ^^^^
That was pointless and a waste of your time, If you want help to run your game... ask for help

Explain what the game is, what your issue is etc If you are polite and explain clearly then there are people who will guide you step by step if needs be.

PS plenty of us are over 40

[nullable]

The BBB is Yelp for old people, plain and simple.

OP just doesn't seem to be in the target demographic and doesn't understand that not every issue they have is Steam's problem to solve. And them being unable to use Steam because it's too complicated might just be their personal problem as there's evidence that millions of users and billions in revenue suggest that most users don't have issues using Steam.

IE I bet twitter is pretty hard to use if you're illiterate. That's not twitter's problem to solve.