Steam Refund Policy and 2+ hour games

[Orange Madness]

I'm generally curious as to why it has to be 2 hours of play time for all titles. Why can't this time be extended out further into longer time stamps depending on what the game is.

My example of a game I want to get, but due to its nature of being drastically long to play just one mission, GTFO.

From sources in reviews, playthroughs, and articles about the game, the main point the developers drive home with this title is to have an extremely difficult time completing the game. This leads, from sources listed above, to games becoming two or more hours just to complete. What if I'm trying to learn how this game works, I'm not fully aware if it is a keep or not, and I'm still in one mission?

Is there a way to be given a refund for a game such as this? I don't understand why the game has to be not only 2 hours or less play time, but also has been bought within a week; makes no sense due to it only taking one day to do 2 hour test.

[Start_Running]

Origineel geplaatst door DCLXVI:

Origineel geplaatst door ShelLuser:

See also the next section of the page you linked to:

and then scroll back up just a little more...

" issue a refund for any reason"

"It doesn't matter. 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."


ill tell you what though, they dont really care. ive refunded over 10 games from 3 accounts before and never got a warning.

i even refunded 7 days to die after owning it for longer than 2 weeks on multiple accounts, and the reason i stated was because they are trying to ruin the pc gaming industry with their garbage. ;)

14 May, 2021
7 Days to Die
Refund
Refund
CDN$ 8.39

23 Apr, 2021
7 Days to Die
Purchase
CDN$ 8.39



if your first attempt fails, keep asking until a more lenient support staff member see's it

And yet there are more than a few people who have already hit and been tossed over that wall. . Also fair note it's not about Leniency. The support dealing with it has no real power there. At best what'll you gget is your support request forwarded to the devs for their decision, and if not it goes to the circular filing cabinet.

[76561198407601200]

Origineel geplaatst door Substitute:

Origineel geplaatst door Fake:

The refund policy wasn't meant for you to demo games.

It's for you to see if you can run the game or not.

That can't be the reason. It takes less than 10 minutes to figure out if a game can run or not; sometimes less. I don't see any reason for this being the answer.

That is the answer, weather you want to accept that or not.

[Dr.Shadowds 🐉]

The refund policy is a "No question asked" refund. Now when you're outside the refund policy you have to manually submit a ticket, and ask for a refund, this is up to support when they reply, either to approve, or deny request when you're outside the refund policy. Games that has issues that has launchers well that the point of manual ticket. Normally this relate to people having poor systems that not capable running the game in the first place.

Origineel geplaatst door Substitute:

Origineel geplaatst door Fake:

The refund policy wasn't meant for you to demo games.

It's for you to see if you can run the game or not.

That can't be the reason. It takes less than 10 minutes to figure out if a game can run or not; sometimes less. I don't see any reason for this being the answer.

You be shock it take some people that long to "think" about it, and figure it out.

Origineel geplaatst door Substitute:

Origineel geplaatst door rawWwRrr:

It also shouldn't take over 2 hours to decide if you like a game enough to keep it.

If a game takes longer than two hours to complete one mission, and there are a ton of missions to do, how are you to even know if the game is right to play?

You use your two cents, research the game before you buy there YouTube, twitch, etc, and if you can't figure out on your own, how do you expect someone to think for you?

Refund system not meant for demo, abusing it can only lead to possibly getting black listed.

[Crazy Tiger]

Origineel geplaatst door DCLXVI:

Origineel geplaatst door Fake:

The refund policy wasn't meant for you to demo games.

It's for you to see if you can run the game or not.

Origineel geplaatst door Damp Wizard Sleeve:

Refund systems aren't designed for you to demo games. It exists so you can ensure you can even actually run it.

this is something no one on this forum seems to get, its not that hard to read is it?

"You can request a refund for nearly any purchase on Steam—for any reason. Maybe your PC doesn't meet the hardware requirements; maybe you bought a game by mistake; maybe you played the title for an hour and just didn't like it."

https://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds/

Yes, cause it doesn't matter what your reason is when you are within the 14 days and 2 hours. But outside that "I don't like it" isn't a valid refund reason.

Which is a good thing, since there has to be a limit. And dynamic limits like OP wants are a mess, both for consumers and the support staff.

Refunds aren't designed to be used to "make up your mind". That's not their purpose.

[Overseer]

I mean you always take a risk when buying a game, especially on PC. That never changed. And if you don't like it in the end you can write a negative review. The refund system is not a payed demo offeror. And if you are that sceptical wait for a sale. We have those around here from time to time.

[JVC]

Origineel geplaatst door Substitute:

Origineel geplaatst door Fake:

The refund policy wasn't meant for you to demo games.

It's for you to see if you can run the game or not.

That can't be the reason. It takes less than 10 minutes to figure out if a game can run or not; sometimes less. I don't see any reason for this being the answer.

It is indeed the answer whether or not you like it. There has been a million posts here about people claiming the contrary that it's completely impossible to determine if a game can run on a system or not within two hours. Which is utter nonsense.

Regardless, since it's a digital product we do not have a legal right of return. So it's a voluntary service provided by Valve, not one we've got a legal claim to under US law (or EU consumer laws either. When we buy the game we sign off on the normal right of return and that's entirely within EU laws to have that provision).

[crunchyfrog]

Origineel geplaatst door Substitute:

Origineel geplaatst door rawWwRrr:

It also shouldn't take over 2 hours to decide if you like a game enough to keep it.

If a game takes longer than two hours to complete one mission, and there are a ton of missions to do, how are you to even know if the game is right to play?

Simple - because you are nvalidly thinking that you NEED to complete a mission to fully grasp whether the game works or you like it.

That is just nonsense.

[DramaKingKay]

I've requested quite a few games to be refunded. They've recently added a message saying that my future returns may be denied. For me it takes a MAX fifteen minutes to launch a game, load in, and see if the game can run.

Be thankful steam allows two hours.

[Sifer2]

Refund was never meant for Demo's. That's why when there are actual game demo's they advertise it. Refund was added to comply with consumer laws. But can be useful for people who buy the game, and realize they either can't install it or it wont run well. 2 hours should be plenty of time to figure that out.

[Tito Shivan]

1. Steam refunds aren't meant to demo games.
2. A variable refund timer could only cause customer confusion
3. The actual limit is a balance between allowing enough time to request a refund and not allowing people to abuse the feature by fully playing small games.
3. The actual system still allows for refunds over the limits, on a case-per-case scenario.

[RiO]

Origineel geplaatst door JVC:

Regardless, since it's a digital product we do not have a legal right of return. So it's a voluntary service provided by Valve, not one we've got a legal claim to under US law (or EU consumer laws either. When we buy the game we sign off on the normal right of return and that's entirely within EU laws to have that provision).

For completeness sake:
In the EU you can be asked to waive your right of withdrawal, which is the 14-day no-questions-asked window within which you can withdraw from any distance sale. Most digital services, including Steam, do this.

What you cannot waive is your right to a correctly working product. The seller is liable for all cases of such non-conformity (where the product does not conform to contract and what the consumer may reasonably expect) and is required to ensure conformity is maintained.

(Strange as it may sound to people from other parts of the world like the US, within the EU it's actually Valve which is liable and responsible to make sure the games you purchase are in working order. Not the developer; not the publisher. Those are deemed as part of the supply chain, and anything they do such as issuing an update is deemed as them acting as an agent of the seller.)

This period of liability may be no shorter than 2 years and during the first 6 months there is inverse burden of proof, i.e. the seller has to prove any defect is due to the consumer's own fault.

As of Jan 2022 this will change under influence of a new EU directive. Liability for digital content that is in continuous supply - as is the case on Steam - extends for as long as supply lasts, i.e. until you close your Steam account; Valve terminates your account; or Steam goes under. Burden of proof shall also be inversed for the entirety of that period.

(Also iirc, most of the legal rights and obligations from this new directive are grandfathered in to any prior purchases that are still in continuous supply at that point.)

[happy]

The Refund system doesnt exist to hold your hand and pat your head when youre incapable of learning a Game. In the Case of GTFO, i know how extremely hard it is, and it is that way from the Beginning. You find out early what youre setting yourself up for, if you suddenly lose interest in learning, too bad.

[ShelLuser]

Origineel geplaatst door RiO:

What you cannot waive is your right to a correctly working product. The seller is liable for all cases of such non-conformity (where the product does not conform to contract and what the consumer may reasonably expect) and is required to ensure conformity is maintained.

Uhm, are you aware that you're contradicting yourself here?

What if said contract involves a 'broken' product?

[RiO]

Origineel geplaatst door ShelLuser:

Uhm, are you aware that you're contradicting yourself here?

What if said contract involves a 'broken' product?

Do you regularly go about buying a product of which the seller explicitly tells you: "The thing I'm selling you is broken for any normal use," or can we agree that that scenario basically doesn't happen because it's not a viable sales strategy?

[ShelLuser]

Origineel geplaatst door RiO:

Do you regularly go about buying a product of which the seller explicitly tells you: "The thing I'm selling you is broken for any normal use," or can we agree that that scenario basically doesn't happen because it's not a viable sales strategy?

Never heard of second hand sales? Never heard of repair shops bulk buying "junk" in order to fix and then re-sell it? Never ever heard of refurbished electronics?

And you actually believe that the EU would set up a law which would prevent any of this from happening? In this time and age where they even promote using second hand items to "help save the environment" (sic)?

Sorry to say, but you really don't seem to understand what you're talking about with regards to the legal implementations of this whole thing. Needless to say: you're wrong.