Steam getting Mad at me for refunding?

[RTX 5080 FE(Mr Happy)]

Hello Toothless Raider
Your purchase has been refunded by Steam.
We’ve issued the refund. You paid both via Steam wallet and another payment provider. Your Steam wallet funds will be shown now as pending and will become available to spend within 7 days. For the remaining balance you should see a credit or see the original charge removed from your payment providers records within 14 days.
You’ve requested a significant number of refunds recently. If you’re unsure about a product, make sure to check out the customer reviews before purchasing.


I have bought like 300 or more games on steam in the past 10 years. I have refunded maybe 6 or 7 in those 10 years, 5 of which are in the last 5 month.

I dont read reviews of users, because what one guy or girl likes doesnt mean I will. And I dont see anybody running my exact hardware specs and offering a review with it.


So what gives? I am always told if I dont like a game, refund it, and now that I do, steam is getting upset in a passive aggressive manner?

[Judgmental Amaterasu]

There's nothing passive aggressive about it. If you continue to abuse the refund system you'll lose the ability to use it period. That's pretty straight forward and in your face.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

There is no set limit. It is just too many in a short period of time. If there was a limit, users would find ways to abuse it indefinitely.

They'll warn you a few times before they revoke your rights to refunds.

[ReBoot]

Originally posted by Toothless Raider:

So what gives? I am always told if I dont like a game, refund it, and now that I do, steam is getting upset in a passive aggressive manner?

It's not passive aggressive, it's a clear and straightforward warning. It's also not "always". See refunds as a goodwill gesture. It's cool and really forthcoming but, as with all goodwill gestures, if you abuse them, you may stop getting them. I remember a dude who slept on my couch every now and then during university time. That was all right, really. But then he started kinda living in my place, rent-free. That wasn't cool.

The way you talk about reviews & hardware implies that you're indeed treating the refund system as a way to demo games. You need to change the way you research before buying. Or start researching in the first place.

As for hardware, why do you insist on reviews with the exact same hardware? Why don't you check your rig vs the recommended/required specs?

As for reviews from different tastes, you need to read/watch the GOOD reviews. Good reviews don't just say "good" or "bad", they go into detail explaining why exactly they like the game, or don't like it. I remember a couple revies where the person really REALLY liked the game, but went into enough detail for me to know that I sure as hell won't like the game. There's also the possibility that someone dislikes the game for reasons, explains those reasons and you know you don't care.

You need to start research before buying or you'll end up losing your refund privileges entirely (on this account anyway, you could, in theory, keep on demoing games on another account).

[RTX 5080 FE(Mr Happy)]

Originally posted by Fiddle:

There's nothing passive aggressive about it. If you continue to abuse the refund system you'll lose the ability to use it period. That's pretty straight forward and in your face.

And how exactly am I abusing it? If a game is broken, buggy, or doesnt support my resolution, or crashes alot, I refund it. 2.2 % of the games I own I refunded. 7 out of 316 is 2.2% Over the time period of 10 years.

Doesnt seem like abuse to me, but ok.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Recent purchases to refund ratio. Not lifetime purchases to refunds.

[RTX 5080 FE(Mr Happy)]

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

There is no set limit. It is just too many in a short period of time. If there was a limit, users would find ways to abuse it indefinitely.

They'll warn you a few times before they revoke your rights to refunds.

:qr:

Makes sense. I have recently bought more games than normal(have more free time as of late due to lock downs) so I have refunded a few that were not working properly.

Thank you for a better explanation.

[ReBoot]

Originally posted by Toothless Raider:

Originally posted by Fiddle:

There's nothing passive aggressive about it. If you continue to abuse the refund system you'll lose the ability to use it period. That's pretty straight forward and in your face.

And how exactly am I abusing it? If a game is broken, buggy, or doesnt support my resolution, or crashes alot, I refund it. 2.2 % of the games I own I refunded. 7 out of 316 is 2.2% Over the time period of 10 years.

Doesnt seem like abuse to me, but ok.

Too many refunds in a short time count as abuse.

If a game is broken, buggy or crashes a lot, then the game is either broken and everybody is talking about that (including reviews, articles, everywhere) or it's only broken on your rig so you need to fix your rig.

If the game doesn't support your resolution, play on a different resolution.
Stop hammering the numbers. Treat refunds as a goodwill gesture, not a solid contract.

[RTX 5080 FE(Mr Happy)]

Originally posted by ReBoot:

Originally posted by Toothless Raider:

So what gives? I am always told if I dont like a game, refund it, and now that I do, steam is getting upset in a passive aggressive manner?

It's not passive aggressive, it's a clear and straightforward warning. It's also not "always". See refunds as a goodwill gesture. It's cool and really forthcoming but, as with all goodwill gestures, if you abuse them, you may stop getting them. I remember a dude who slept on my couch every now and then during university time. That was all right, really. But then he started kinda living in my place, rent-free. That wasn't cool.

The way you talk about reviews & hardware implies that you're indeed treating the refund system as a way to demo games. You need to change the way you research before buying. Or start researching in the first place.

As for hardware, why do you insist on reviews with the exact same hardware? Why don't you check your rig vs the recommended/required specs?

As for reviews from different tastes, you need to read/watch the GOOD reviews. Good reviews don't just say "good" or "bad", they go into detail explaining why exactly they like the game, or don't like it. I remember a couple revies where the person really REALLY liked the game, but went into enough detail for me to know that I sure as hell won't like the game. There's also the possibility that someone dislikes the game for reasons, explains those reasons and you know you don't care.

You need to start research before buying or you'll end up losing your refund privileges entirely (on this account anyway, you could, in theory, keep on demoing games on another account).

Because I play in 3440x1440 ultrawide. And when the developers refuse to post info on the forums, or lie and say yes, when in fact it doesnt, you can only find out by actually buying the game.

While more games do support 3440x1440 every day, many still dont, and when devs say they do, but in fact they have black bars on both sides, its not supported, its 2560x1440 with black bars.


No game on steam states on store page 21:9 supported. If they did that, it would help. Or when you ask, is something supported, and told yes, but its not, you have the wrong info.

But like I said, I admit, I refunded 4 or 5 of my 7 life long refunds in the last 2 or 3 month. Ill make sure I try to do better research, but if people developers dont properly give info, as a consumer, I will refund a product that doesnt work for me properly. But I got enough games to enjoy for the next 6 month, so Ill take a break from buying.


Thanks everybody for the info.

[RTX 5080 FE(Mr Happy)]

Originally posted by ReBoot:

Originally posted by Toothless Raider:

And how exactly am I abusing it? If a game is broken, buggy, or doesnt support my resolution, or crashes alot, I refund it. 2.2 % of the games I own I refunded. 7 out of 316 is 2.2% Over the time period of 10 years.

Doesnt seem like abuse to me, but ok.

Too many refunds in a short time count as abuse.

If a game is broken, buggy or crashes a lot, then the game is either broken and everybody is talking about that (including reviews, articles, everywhere) or it's only broken on your rig so you need to fix your rig.

If the game doesn't support your resolution, play on a different resolution.
Stop hammering the numbers. Treat refunds as a goodwill gesture, not a solid contract.

Every game forum has people complaining a game doesnt work. I dont pay 90% of them any mind, as many are running toasters. Also a few games that have negative reviews I utterly loved and some that have positive reviews I utterly disliked.

So opinions from people dont always help. What would help is if Valve/steam/developers made a tag saying 21:9 supported Because in 2020 there are still many games not supporting it, that you would think do.

[ReBoot]

Originally posted by Toothless Raider:

Originally posted by ReBoot:

It's not passive aggressive, it's a clear and straightforward warning. It's also not "always". See refunds as a goodwill gesture. It's cool and really forthcoming but, as with all goodwill gestures, if you abuse them, you may stop getting them. I remember a dude who slept on my couch every now and then during university time. That was all right, really. But then he started kinda living in my place, rent-free. That wasn't cool.

The way you talk about reviews & hardware implies that you're indeed treating the refund system as a way to demo games. You need to change the way you research before buying. Or start researching in the first place.

As for hardware, why do you insist on reviews with the exact same hardware? Why don't you check your rig vs the recommended/required specs?

As for reviews from different tastes, you need to read/watch the GOOD reviews. Good reviews don't just say "good" or "bad", they go into detail explaining why exactly they like the game, or don't like it. I remember a couple revies where the person really REALLY liked the game, but went into enough detail for me to know that I sure as hell won't like the game. There's also the possibility that someone dislikes the game for reasons, explains those reasons and you know you don't care.

You need to start research before buying or you'll end up losing your refund privileges entirely (on this account anyway, you could, in theory, keep on demoing games on another account).

Because I play in 3440x1440 ultrawide. And when the developers refuse to post info on the forums, or lie and say yes, when in fact it doesnt, you can only find out by actually buying the game.

While more games do support 3440x1440 every day, many still dont, and when devs say they do, but in fact they have black bars on both sides, its not supported, its 2560x1440 with black bars.


No game on steam states on store page 21:9 supported. If they did that, it would help. Or when you ask, is something supported, and told yes, but its not, you have the wrong info.

But like I said, I admit, I refunded 4 or 5 of my 7 life long refunds in the last 2 or 3 month. Ill make sure I try to do better research, but if people developers dont properly give info, as a consumer, I will refund a product that doesnt work for me properly. But I got enough games to enjoy for the next 6 month, so Ill take a break from buying.


Thanks everybody for the info.

It's still possible to play the game in non-ultrawidescreen. Heck, I have a plain ordinary FHD monitor, 19:9, and yet I play some games with black bars (mostly old classics which are fantastic games nonetheless).
Then there's web sites like https://www.wsgf.org/ where like-minded folks meet so you don't need to try a game to find out if you absolutely in no way want to play a game on anything else than ultrawidescreen. Why do you keep hammering on developer info? What's wrong with meeting up with like-minded folks occupying the same niche? Then there's www.pcgamingwiki.com providing information on supported resolutions/aspect ratios as well.

And finally, playing with black bars isn't that bad.

[RTX 5080 FE(Mr Happy)]

Originally posted by ReBoot:

Originally posted by Toothless Raider:

Because I play in 3440x1440 ultrawide. And when the developers refuse to post info on the forums, or lie and say yes, when in fact it doesnt, you can only find out by actually buying the game.

While more games do support 3440x1440 every day, many still dont, and when devs say they do, but in fact they have black bars on both sides, its not supported, its 2560x1440 with black bars.


No game on steam states on store page 21:9 supported. If they did that, it would help. Or when you ask, is something supported, and told yes, but its not, you have the wrong info.

But like I said, I admit, I refunded 4 or 5 of my 7 life long refunds in the last 2 or 3 month. Ill make sure I try to do better research, but if people developers dont properly give info, as a consumer, I will refund a product that doesnt work for me properly. But I got enough games to enjoy for the next 6 month, so Ill take a break from buying.


Thanks everybody for the info.

It's still possible to play the game in non-ultrawidescreen. Heck, I have a plain ordinary FHD monitor, 19:9, and yet I play some games with black bars (mostly old classics which are fantastic games nonetheless).
Then there's web sites like https://www.wsgf.org/ where like-minded folks meet so you don't need to try a game to find out if you absolutely in no way want to play a game on anything else than ultrawidescreen. Why do you keep hammering on developer info? What's wrong with meeting up with like-minded folks occupying the same niche? Then there's www.pcgamingwiki.com providing information on supported resolutions/aspect ratios as well.

And finally, playing with black bars isn't that bad.

Ill check those links, but again, I dont buy my games from 3rd party sites, so I dont go surfing sites for info. I expect my info to be here.


You buy a car that is supposed to be black. But you get it delivered, and its hot pink. Do you keep it? It still takes you to work. But its not what you ordered. Not what you expected.

If I want to game in 16:9 I would get a 16:9 monitor. Anyway thanks for the info, Ill check those links out.

[ReBoot]

Originally posted by Toothless Raider:

You buy a car that is supposed to be black.

... and here's where the analogy breaks down: I didn't buy a car that's described as "black" in the purchase contract so if it arrives in bright pink, well, maybe I should have researched before signing that contract. I could have looked out of the salesman's window and have noticed how there's not a single black car out there. No idea why I should have expected a black car then.

If you're sitting in a niche, then being somewhat left out of the mainstream is the natural course of things. It's not like I don't get that you want your niche to be catered for, but what about all those other niches, that also exist? A friend of mine got a monitor wider than yours, should every single aspect ratio in existence be noted in tags? That would make the store page rather unwieldy.

I AM IN A NICHE AS WELL! No really, I am. If it were for me, then store pages would have tags for "no mouse acceleration" and "no mouse smoothing". But hardly anybody cares so I end up sifting through PCGamingWiki or the Steam guides page for a game to find out how to fix what was delivered, in my opinion, with broken controls. Purposefully broken, I might add, first-person mouse controls were solved in the 90s. The only reasons why devs break them nowaday is because they can.

It's not like I don't know your pain, it's just that I'm being more realistic than you.

[J4MESOX4D]

It's just a generic message but it can have serious consequences. The best thing to do if you have to refund a reasonable amount of games in a short space of time is ensure that the refund request are for a credible reason - make sure you select an option from the drop-down list and then leave a note for the developers explaining the reason for a refund in detail.

Valve will be less likely to revoke the refund feature if they see that the requests have merit. If you blindly refund without giving a reason, they may determine abuse and that the account is merely demoing games. Your previous purchase history and years on Steam is not taken into consideration either.

[Judgmental Amaterasu]

Originally posted by Toothless Raider:

Originally posted by ReBoot:

It's still possible to play the game in non-ultrawidescreen. Heck, I have a plain ordinary FHD monitor, 19:9, and yet I play some games with black bars (mostly old classics which are fantastic games nonetheless).
Then there's web sites like https://www.wsgf.org/ where like-minded folks meet so you don't need to try a game to find out if you absolutely in no way want to play a game on anything else than ultrawidescreen. Why do you keep hammering on developer info? What's wrong with meeting up with like-minded folks occupying the same niche? Then there's www.pcgamingwiki.com providing information on supported resolutions/aspect ratios as well.

And finally, playing with black bars isn't that bad.

Ill check those links, but again, I dont buy my games from 3rd party sites, so I dont go surfing sites for info. I expect my info to be here.


You buy a car that is supposed to be black. But you get it delivered, and its hot pink. Do you keep it? It still takes you to work. But its not what you ordered. Not what you expected.

If I want to game in 16:9 I would get a 16:9 monitor. Anyway thanks for the info, Ill check those links out.

Which is extremely short sighted as developers have their own sites or their specific game forums where the majority of information is shared. This is just being terrible at researching purchases.

[RTX 5080 FE(Mr Happy)]

Originally posted by Fiddle:

Originally posted by Toothless Raider:

Ill check those links, but again, I dont buy my games from 3rd party sites, so I dont go surfing sites for info. I expect my info to be here.


You buy a car that is supposed to be black. But you get it delivered, and its hot pink. Do you keep it? It still takes you to work. But its not what you ordered. Not what you expected.

If I want to game in 16:9 I would get a 16:9 monitor. Anyway thanks for the info, Ill check those links out.

Which is extremely short sighted as developers have their own sites or their specific game forums where the majority of information is shared. This is just being terrible at researching purchases.

If developers have their own sites, they can sell their game there. If they sell it here, provide the full info. Had they done that, I wouldnt need to get a refund. But I actually checked on 1 of the games I refunded, not only do they NOT have a website, there is no info at all about if its supported. Another game that has no info about it, actually DOES support it, and I kept that game. Not all games post if they support it, so you either need to wait for somebody to take a leap and post, or you have to take a leap and post.


Gonna unfollow now, I got my answers, and no point going in circles with our view points. Thanks all