Steam Refund: Time Limit includes Family Sharing play time on different purchases of the same game.

[DuncanGyr]

* Half gripe, half FYI post *
Apparently the time limit for a refund includes playtime by other family members on their own unique version of the game and not just the new purchased game license.

Scenario:
New purchase(license) of game X on account A(new game purchaser)
Game X had been PREVIOUSLY purchased and played (hundreds of hours) by account B (initial game purchaser) and C (freeloading family member)
Account A can't get a refund for their specific purchase even though account A never played Game X under any license because:
"We are unable to refund this purchase to your Steam Wallet at this time. Your playtime of an included product exceeds 2 hours (our refund policy maximum).

Game X - Playtime: More than 2 hours (including family sharing) "

No where in the refund policy is Family Sharing playtime mentioned as having an effect on accrued playtime. So this becomes just a secret downside to Family Sharing and a hidden method to deny a refund.

[Crazy Tiger]

Actually, the refund policy doesn't state that it has to be 2 hours of playtime since the purchase, it simply states 2 hours of playtime. https://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds/

Valve will, upon request via help.steampowered.com, issue a refund for any reason, if the request is made within the required return period, and, in the case of games, if the title has been played for less than two hours.

Where Refunds Apply
The Steam refund offer, within two weeks of purchase and with less than two hours of playtime, applies to games and software applications on the Steam store. Here is an overview of how refunds work with other types of purchases.

All playtime counts, including family sharing and free weekends before purchase.

Do a manual ticket. Find the purchase, choose the "I have a question about this purchase" option and explain politely.

[DuncanGyr]

*Lets hope I don't butcher the formatting here *

İlk olarak Crazy Tiger tarafından gönderildi:

Actually, the refund policy doesn't state that it has to be 2 hours of playtime since the purchase, it simply states 2 hours of playtime. https://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds/

Correct, I'm pointing out that Valve's interpretation of "playtime" includes time played for all members involved in Family Sharing regardless of the specific license of the game.
So if a family member buys a game and loves it, you won't be able to get a refund if you buy your own license and don't like it(ask for a refund) after less than 2 hours of your unique playtime.

All playtime counts, including family sharing and free weekends before purchase.

Do you know where this definition for "playtime" publicly stated or defined? I would think the majority of us would agree that a common sense definition of "playtime" shouldn't include time played by a family member on a separate game license within your "family" unless specifically mentioned elsewhere.

Do a manual ticket. Find the purchase, choose the "I have a question about this purchase" option and explain politely.

How do you do a "manual ticket", the only option we could find was within the Help functions of the Steam client which allowed you to enter an explanation/provide details(which we did twice while addressing the denial criteria of a playtime limit. Based on the identical canned responses, I can't imagine any additional attempts would yield a different result.

To be clear the $9 loss isn't a issue. For me the issue is Valve's hidden interpretation, how that effects Family Sharing considerations.
For my family, we'll just be abit more careful in our purchases and likely make more use of the Family Sharing to avoid duplicate purchases where reasonable.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Playtime is cumulative, period. That is self explanatory.

The automated system looks for 2 things only, time owned and time played.

Manual ticket is necessary.

Find the purchase... https://help.steampowered.com/en/wizard/HelpWithPurchase

Choose "I still have a question..."

Explain the entire issue carefully.

"Hope" for approval but don't be surprised if you are denied.

[Gilga ™ |Yonaguni|]

Crazy Tiger is right, all playtime matters, we see this kind of discussions often here.

[DuncanGyr]

İlk olarak cSg|mc-Hotsauce tarafından gönderildi:

Playtime is cumulative, period. That is self explanatory.

The automated system looks for 2 things only, time owned and time played.

Manual ticket is necessary.

Find the purchase... https://help.steampowered.com/en/wizard/HelpWithPurchase

Choose "I still have a question..."

Explain the entire issue carefully.

"Hope" for approval but don't be surprised if you are denied.

:qr:

Thank you, we'll give this a try. Good learning experience regardless of the outcome.

[Brian9824]

İlk olarak rtm98682 tarafından gönderildi:

* Half gripe, half FYI post *
Apparently the time limit for a refund includes playtime by other family members on their own unique version of the game and not just the new purchased game license.

Scenario:
New purchase(license) of game X on account A(new game purchaser)
Game X had been PREVIOUSLY purchased and played (hundreds of hours) by account B (initial game purchaser) and C (freeloading family member)
Account A can't get a refund for their specific purchase even though account A never played Game X under any license because:
"We are unable to refund this purchase to your Steam Wallet at this time. Your playtime of an included product exceeds 2 hours (our refund policy maximum).

Game X - Playtime: More than 2 hours (including family sharing) "

No where in the refund policy is Family Sharing playtime mentioned as having an effect on accrued playtime. So this becomes just a secret downside to Family Sharing and a hidden method to deny a refund.

Of course it does, otherwise buy a game, family share it to another account, beat it within 2 weeks and refund it.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

İlk olarak rtm98682 tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak cSg|mc-Hotsauce tarafından gönderildi:

Playtime is cumulative, period. That is self explanatory.

The automated system looks for 2 things only, time owned and time played.

Manual ticket is necessary.

Find the purchase... https://help.steampowered.com/en/wizard/HelpWithPurchase

Choose "I still have a question..."

Explain the entire issue carefully.

"Hope" for approval but don't be surprised if you are denied.

Thank you, we'll give this a try. Good learning experience regardless of the outcome.

Future reference...

What can I request a refund for?

Valve will, upon request via help.steampowered.com, issue a refund for any title that is requested within 14 days of purchase and has been played for less than 2 hours - this includes online, offline and shared library playtime. Even if you fall outside of the refund rules we've described, you can submit a request and we'll take a look at it.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=4873-QOSK-5126#what

[DuncanGyr]

İlk olarak brian9824 tarafından gönderildi:

Of course it does, otherwise buy a game, family share it to another account, beat it within 2 weeks and refund it.

Your scenario isn't what i'm referring to. I'm referring to separate game license purchases sharing a 2 hr playtime limit when the accounts are linked via Family Sharing.

With your scenario having the play time be associated with a specific license purchase makes fair and reasonable sense.

[rawWwRrr]

İlk olarak rtm98682 tarafından gönderildi:

Correct, I'm pointing out that Valve's interpretation of "playtime" includes time played for all members involved in Family Sharing regardless of the specific license of the game.

Valve is not interpreting their own policy. They very clearly defined what constitutes playtime. Many users are the ones interpreting it a different way.

[DuncanGyr]

İlk olarak cSg|mc-Hotsauce tarafından gönderildi:

What can I request a refund for?

Valve will, upon request via help.steampowered.com, issue a refund for any title that is requested within 14 days of purchase and has been played for less than 2 hours - this includes online, offline and shared library playtime. Even if you fall outside of the refund rules we've described, you can submit a request and we'll take a look at it.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=4873-QOSK-5126#what

:qr:

Ah, I see. There is some variation in the wording on the policy depending on where you view it.

Good information.

[Brian9824]

İlk olarak rtm98682 tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak brian9824 tarafından gönderildi:

Of course it does, otherwise buy a game, family share it to another account, beat it within 2 weeks and refund it.

Your scenario isn't what i'm referring to. I'm referring to separate game license purchases sharing a 2 hr playtime limit when the accounts are linked via Family Sharing.

With your scenario having the play time be associated with a specific license purchase makes fair and reasonable sense.

A case like that is different, and again as previously mentioned that is what a manual ticket is for as that's not intended, but a side effect of family sharing and how it works.

[DuncanGyr]

İlk olarak rawWwRrr tarafından gönderildi:

Valve is not interpreting their own policy. They very clearly defined what constitutes playtime. Many users are the ones interpreting it a different way.

I didn't say that Valve is interpreting their own policy. I was pointing out Valve's interpretation of "playtime", which is a common phrase and not an unique creation of Valve.

[76561198407601200]

İlk olarak rtm98682 tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak rawWwRrr tarafından gönderildi:

Valve is not interpreting their own policy. They very clearly defined what constitutes playtime. Many users are the ones interpreting it a different way.

I didn't say that Valve is interpreting their own policy. I was pointing out Valve's interpretation of "playtime", which is a common phrase and not an unique creation of Valve.

Playtime is playtime. As soon as that software is ran, it is keeping track of time.

[Vantier]

Im so confused by your person A B C example lol.

Are you saying that if you family share your library, with someone that already owns and played a game you just bought, their playtime retroactively counts as your playtime even though you haven't launched the game yet?

In that case wouldn't the solution be to just temporarily remove that person from your family share and then request a refund?

[DuncanGyr]

İlk olarak Vantier tarafından gönderildi:

Im so confused by your person A B C example lol.

Are you saying that if you family share your library, with someone that already owns and played a game you just bought, their playtime retroactively counts as your playtime even though you haven't launched the game yet?

Yep. that is how Valve evaluates playtime with regards to asking for a refund.

In that case wouldn't the solution be to just temporarily remove that person from your family share and then request a refund?

No clue if that would work but it would seem to run counter to Valve's policies and not worth the risk to the various accounts associated via Family Sharing.