Why is Steam Support so unhelpful?

[ImJustAGuestHere]

I have found many folks over the years at Steam support to be very biased & unhelpful,, just saying. Does Valve just employ angry teenagers with no customer service skills for their support system or what? When someone reaches out to Steam support they are looking for help so why not help then instead of just sweeping the ticket under the rug with a scripted answer all the time?

[Elucidator]

The first answer is always scripted.
The second answer is an actual personally written one but it could close the ticket.

Steam Support is handled by Steam Moderators. Depending on who specifically answers your ticket the answer you get maybe different. Also you cannot switch Moderator per case, if you got an answer from a Moderator at first and it wasn't one you like, then that same person will answer your case again.

Some moderators are better at thinking about, empathizing and handling your case and will give you a correct answer, while other moderators are basically tired of people and assume loads of biasses and just answer to quickly get things over with. (they don't even try to see it from your point of view)

A lot of moderators are basically tired. They judge all day and they due to this think less of people; at least less intelligent.

Keep in mind that most of the time Support is contacted by angry customers that lost something or got upset otherwise and immediately insults the staff and pretend that they're not doing anything. A lot of people act like children like that or and so, its partly due to a behavior problem that exists within most people.

In my case I tend to type out elaborate posts. Giant messages, but--
I noticed most of what I type is skipped and skimmed through and so I get an answer I already answered. (I don't normally contact steam support unless the case is complicated.)

For example, I once had a case that was extremely difficult to get from a biassed point of view, so it required a lot of explaining and it also affected multiple departments of Steam. It wasn't just one thing. It did involve banning or ban risks and such and the terms as well, so a lot of moderators were acting as if it was 'yet another post with anger issues concerning a ban', but it wasn't. It was a genuine question, but I couldn't get my point across, because a lot of my message was skipped and perhaps I am bad at explaining.
Since it involved multiple departments I could reopen it using a slightly different way to open the message. At some point, there was one moderator who ended up explaining how it worked and all that, but yes, it took a while.

At least not all of them are like that, taking every case and bias about it or try to answer them with the goal of getting it answered as quick as possible instead of answering the case. I can tell that much at least.

The point is, yeah-- you're correct that it sometimes indeed seems that way.
If you state "I already tried and this is what I got out of it" somewhere in your message, then you may still get an answer "Try that and see what happens", because like I said, they're not really reading.

Unless the message is very small and simple they will pretend its some kind of hocus pocus anger vent talk or idk ... they look at the top line and nothing more it seems indeed sometimes basically.

[knight_dm]

Valve needs a major overhaul of support system with things like buttons for whether support was helpful or not. Rest better quality agents are also needed.

[nullable]

引用自 ImJustAGuestHere：

I have found many folks over the years at Steam support to be very biased & unhelpful,, just saying. Does Valve just employ angry teenagers with no customer service skills for their support system or what? When someone reaches out to Steam support they are looking for help so why not help then instead of just sweeping the ticket under the rug with a scripted answer all the time?

Well what kinda help are you looking for exactly? I mean this complaint is extremely ambiguous.

And scripted answers are fine. The reality is users are often asking the same questions repeatedly and the answer is the same regardless of the details. Why each response needs to be unique in that case would have to be explained to me.

It often seems like the complaint is, "I'm still unhappy for whatever reason, and now I have this to complain about too." It seems like users want a certain level of theater in their interactions to feel like they're an important individual. And anything that doesn't accomplish that is an opportunity to criticize.

Well if Steam Support massaging your consumer ego is what you need, would you be happier about support being twice as slow? Because what you're asking is bound to be a rather large time sink.

[MoonC A T]

Conjectures on my part:
Higher than normal turnover
Lack of product knowledge
Lack of/poor training
Lack of experienced personnel

[Judgmental Amaterasu]

引用自 youGotsh0t：

I thought that support here is simply outsourced (to some 'consumer care' / contact center company, which often also have callcenters - besides in India, there's a bunch of them in EU and USA as well).. because a lot of big companies do that, so they can become a faceless corporation, that doesn't need to have their "real" employees bother with any users. It ends in so-called Tier 1 support, where the support agent only has "their resources" from which to copy and paste, with little edits, template replies, and barely have any room for escalating the issue accordingly if it turns out to be an elaborate report of something not otherwise solvable.

Because they know they can't do much (and don't have many tools - maybe escalate at most to a supervisor that won't send it to the actual company or devs, but they rarely do it) they will often not bother beyond reading 10% of your words and just keep giving template replies like a robot, even when you confront them with it. You know this usual "We are very sorry that you had this experience" .. and "Hi, my name is * and I will do my best to assist you".. all so fake.

Bottom line, the bad Tier 1 support systems come in all shapes and forms, but they share in common a set of goals:
- To be cheap
- For the company not to have to deal with its users by themselves (it will often be hard to reach them, even for the support desk supervisors.. anything important or constructive you say isn't likely to end up anywhere good).

Their idea that their existing systems & policies, procedures are always sufficient for users to help themselves, so the big assumption is that anyone who contacts support didn't read the "help resources" or support articles pages well enough.. so they'll make pointing users there, or containing that information within template support ticket replies, to cut it.

- For the company to be faceless (they can do as they please, work using their own system, and any small thing, mistake, or change that can upset or negatively affect a hopefully small group of users won't come back to haunt them). I think this is a better way to put it: in today's hardened society, people and businesses don't want genuine interactions no more. Businesses want to deliver, and as long it works out for the masses they love it the most to have their core teams and anyone at the office isolated and not in touch with practise.. just, really, doing their thing as they know best.

It is also good to see that businesses want to be faceless to not have to deal with backlash from anything, while doing as they please.. besides something they changed or did that upsets a bunch of users, specific harmful and malicious users who would take abuse/spamming in places or at a support desk really seriously.. and will not realize they are talking to a wall & give up unless you actually have a Tier-1 support desk, which has its own ways of stonewalling and making these people give up, as they just notice they aren't advancing. So, people that come writing long essays about the big injustice they feel has been upon them, and won't give up.. they are shoved under the carpet, and yes, crucially to your understanding as in your own post - a lot of support inquests are assumed and judged because of the large volume of that kind of people they have to deal with. They find their opening in any place/game that also has a public-facing community with places you can post trash talk somewhere, or contact support desk, that is what they see as the vulnerability to their no-life/cringy activities.
I am talking here from personal experience, of being in the team of multiple really large web communities and even a game publisher. It is another real motivation for corporations to be faceless and design support desks like this, but im not sure if i put this paragraph into the right words.

I don't know how to better explain it, but all combined it comes down to the global attitude in support desks: "This is a problem on your side/your PC, and here are some help resources to help you troubleshoot and fix your problem". So what i'm trying to say, that they make unfair assumptions and judge too fast is a result of today's climate when it comes to tech companies' support desks reality, as in: corporate goals.

About the way i opened this post: i dont know exactly how Valve did it, if they hired people from India or another European service-customer contact center, or made an internal or offshore support team that however just doesn't get sufficient tools (to actually make a difference for someone) and individual training to personalize the approach and read, do more than go far to suit every ticket with pre-cooked replies.

But either way, im pretty sure that Valve/Steam is no different when it comes to big and tech companies' efforts to become faceless corporations. Do note that when people learn a support desk isn't useful at all, they will be less inclined to submit a ticket and would rather do more effort researching their issue and finding workarounds, effectively finding help articles that the support agent would otherwise offer in a ticket. In this last line, i mean that this reality (of hardened support) may as well be shaped by the large amount of people that are definately asking things they should be able to help themselves with.. so they get used to that, and when they eventually find someone with a non-standard inquiry that requires reading and a custom solution using their way too limited tools (possibly as non-real employees) they just say "can't be bothered" and that is why they find a way to close those tickets as fast they can.

All support desk problems are corporate's fault. The support desk manager that designed a system, and the manager above them.. and everyone below responsible for support agent education & which tools they can use, how things should be handled, scenario's for escalating issues, etc. If the company wants to have what is nowadays considered a "balanced customer service experience & costs of the support desk" this is what the current generation of corporate managers would go for. This kind of "not very helpful, only soothing" support desk. It's sad, yes, but as users we cannot change this reality. To a certain degree you can even argue that it's important for big companies to do it like this, as they have specific needs to be faceless.. and that they can't come close to high-quality support without using their own headquarter employees (allrounders) which just isn't realistic for bigger companies.

Anyways sorry for this long story/essay but as you can see, the reasons why so many big companies have bad and sub-par support desks isn't simple. I don't think you can convince Valve to spend more money & improve the support quality experience.

Support DOES NOT have anything to do with troubleshooting games etc. They ONLY handle account and billing issues.

[Brian9824]

What do you consider not helpful? Not doing exactly what you want?

I mean most of the time people say they aren't helpful its because that person didn't get their way and not liking the answer means its "not helpful"

So a little context would help

[Mad Scientist]

引用自 brian9824：

What do you consider not helpful? Not doing exactly what you want?

I mean most of the time people say they aren't helpful its because that person didn't get their way and not liking the answer means its "not helpful"

So a little context would help

OP didn't even mention what the issue is, and people are making assumptions based upon likely their own negative experience stemming from "Not something Support does".

Some context please, OP.

[Tito Shivan]

引用自 ImJustAGuestHere：

When someone reaches out to Steam support they are looking for help so why not help then instead of just sweeping the ticket under the rug with a scripted answer all the time?

Steam support is for account and billing issues or for technical support with Valve games. Not every support-related incident can be solved by Steam Support.

Also take into account not receiving the answer you'd like doesn't mean Support wasn't helping.

[76561198407601200]

引用自 ImJustAGuestHere：

I have found many folks over the years at Steam support to be very biased & unhelpful,, just saying. Does Valve just employ angry teenagers with no customer service skills for their support system or what? When someone reaches out to Steam support they are looking for help so why not help then instead of just sweeping the ticket under the rug with a scripted answer all the time?

I've seen those in the vac sub-forum state that support was unhelpful which is their reason for posting in the vac forum asking to have their ban removed. Support told them that they can't, Users tell them that they can't, so the op will consider the advice "not helpful". So you could see why it would be rather pointless to have that feedback if the user isn't going to accept what is or is not.

[Judgmental Amaterasu]

引用自 youGotsh0t：

引用自 Damp Wizard Sleeve：

Support DOES NOT have anything to do with troubleshooting games etc. They ONLY handle account and billing issues.

That's from the part of my text which applies to support desks (and big corporations implementing a subpar support desk) in general. Not even to speak about that here, they do help you troubleshoot Valve games.

Anyways, my original post was in order to put what's happening here into perspective, you're well off to have a broader understanding of what happens everywhere in society regarding corporations cutting down expenses on support desks, causing lower training of staff and may lead to them being less helpful or not usually reading your posts.. and being trusted with proper tools to a lesser extent (which furthermore forces them to remain superficial in their support dealings). Corporate really does a lot of things that end up producing subpar support desks.

Also i can imagine this reflex of people assuming that the TS must be asking stupid questions for them to have this experience.. but the first reply from @Elucidator was already on point. Don't just assume things about people who agree with eachother here, in an attempt to invalidate their words. It is clear to many people that the Steam support desk isn't of a very good quality.. but for other reasons that were mentioned, it's not nessecarily the fault of the support agents themselves. This has a lot to do with how corporate managers build up and maintain a support desk.

You just rambled off 3 paragraph that wound up saying absolutely nothing.

[Crazy Tiger]

I have found Support to always be kind and helpful. I haven't needed them often, but every time things were resolved politely.

[AustrAlien2010]

If you have problem with your games try and post it on the forum first, because then it can be looked into.

[knight_dm]

引用自 Tito Shivan：

引用自 ImJustAGuestHere：

When someone reaches out to Steam support they are looking for help so why not help then instead of just sweeping the ticket under the rug with a scripted answer all the time?

Steam support is for account and billing issues or for technical support with Valve games. Not every support-related incident can be solved by Steam Support.

Also take into account not receiving the answer you'd like doesn't mean Support wasn't helping.

What @yougotshot said is true. I have talked to many people off steam and they all agree that steam support is generally terrible for any technical issues arising in any steam service. Who will help the users for any issue arising in steam services? Or are they there for money only as you said acc, billing and valve games. I have seen support helping users in issues related to steam also so your statement is not correct. Not receiving an answer you like is a very often used phrase used to whitewash quality issues in steam and support.

[Zekiran]

引用自 knight_dm：

What @yougotshot said is true. I have talked to many people off steam

So have I, and we all agree that Steam support does great for what it can do. Billing and Account issues.

and they all agree that steam support is generally terrible for any technical issues arising in any steam service.

"Any"? "Technical" issues? No, if you're asking them for help with something it best be about billing or your account security, or refunds for games you can get returned. That's it.

Who will help the users for any issue arising in steam services?

Again, you're not understanding here. Steam Support does exactly what it does, in a narrow scope, because *they are not the ones coding the forum, they are not the ones publishing games, they are not the ones hosting server space, they are not the ones handling vac and game bans*.... the list of what they do not and can not do is much longer than you might want to believe.

Or are they there for money only as you said acc, billing and valve games.

That is all they are there for.

I have seen support helping users in issues related to steam

Yes, billing, account issues, and refunds. That's what they do. You have perhaps seen mods, or other people 'helping with issues related to steam' - but since you neglect to say WHAT it is that they've 'helped' with, I have to take this with a massive grain of salt, because they do NOT. do more than that.

also so your statement is not correct.

false, they're very much correct. And it cycles back to: you don't like the answer, and proclaiming it 'wrong' doesn't make it wrong. It just means you don't understand the scope of steam support's abilities.

Not receiving an answer you like is a very often used phrase used to whitewash quality issues in steam and support.

.... No, quality issues have nothing at all to do with you being told, say, "we do not remove vac bans," or "we cannot return your stolen items, keep better control over your account next time" or "no, we don't do that service for some other game that we didn't publish."

Steam support is overworked, but it does work. And whenever we see this kind of 'complaint' about how 'bad' they are, it's 100% invariably one of the above issues that support cannot and will not be able to help you with.

[knight_dm]

@Zekiran I know how many people praise Valve on steam forums including you and also you being possibly associated with them hence praising them.

"So have I, and we all agree that Steam support does great for what it can do. Billing and Account issues."
You are just trying to disagree with me, you could have made a separate post explaining your theories and opinions but no you have to target me and prove me wrong. "We" who is we? The sheep which follows the herd(popular mentality)? Just beacuse majority agrees with you doesn't mean "we all agree". There are going to be those who don't agree with you as well. Ok let me try to explain.

First of all not everybody is Valve's white knight etc that they will praise them, you can praise them however you want but that doesn't mean everybody will.
Steam support not only offers support in billing,acc and valve games. They offer support on steam hardware and steam client too as can be seen in their support page so your statement is wrong.

"No, quality issues have nothing at all to do with you being told, say, "we do not remove vac bans," or "we cannot return your stolen items, keep better control over your account next time" or "no, we don't do that service for some other game that we didn't publish."

Steam support is overworked, but it does work. And whenever we see this kind of 'complaint' about how 'bad' they are, it's 100% invariably one of the above issues that support cannot and will not be able to help you with."

Quite the assuming one aren't you? When did i say my opinion and finding of support is regarding acc and bans? Did you see any bans on my profile? Do not assume for others and use that in your response.

By technical complaints regarding steam I mean, steam client not working,steam client crashing, website issues,steam cloud issues,login and in general things not working on steam the way they should. You are misinterpreting my words and not even bothering to read just because you like Valve and will want to disagree and shut down all criticisms of it. I never said support is always bad but for technical problems it is not good at all.
Any company offering services like game stores offers basic tech support as well to users if any technical issues arise in using their own gamestore. They don't code the software,website etc as well but still they offer support, why? Because it comes under something very basic and necessary for maintaining your services and allowing everybody to use it. It's nothing regarding changing any code, but to offer support on how to fix stuff which each and every company does except for Valve. Steam support always gives template answers and rarely if a good agent comes, technical answer to such problems.

If one cannot use steam due to steam's own internal server faults and support even refuses to help let alone acknowledge the problem then can you blame the user for that? Support staff is usually very less knowledgeable about technical problems and many a times even refuses to acknowledge or pass on the problem to the devs. And forums don't always help either.

Read @yougotshot answer carefully and in detail. He gives an unbiased and honest opinion about the reality of today's support environment(including steam). Just because I disagree don't start generalising, assuming and targeting me. I have the right to disagree and share my opinions regarding it. I didn't even mention you in my earlier comment.
Everybody's experience regarding support will not be the same so stop generalising. Some users experience will be good some will be bad. Saying "whenever we see this kind of 'complaint' about how 'bad' they are, it's 100% invariably one of the above issues that support cannot and will not be able to help you with." is a massive generalisation which doesn't speak very good of you.