Steam Not Giving Support for Defective Gift Card

[The Ogrelord]

This recent Christmas I got a $100 gift card for Steam, but upon scratching it I found the last 3 digits were missing. Upon contacting Steam I was told the code was redeemed 2 days after it was purchased at the Walmart, even though it's missing letters and thus impossible for me or any of my family to have redeemed it. Going back to Walmart my father was told that Steam now has the money and that they can't help us, so we need to talk to Steam.

It has now been about a month since I contacted Steam with the fact that Walmart is refusing to help us and it's impossible for us to have redeemed the code, and all they've done is send a message saying "we're still working on it we promise LOL" about once a week. Steam can see your IP address so they know me and my family didn't simply redeem the card to a different account, which is impossible to begin with because it's missing the last 3 digits of the code. What the hell do I need to do to get a refund or credit for a defective gift card from a company that makes billions and billions of dollars re-selling games they don't even make?

[Winged One]

If you already sent the request and it was shown as already activated, it was already activated (and IP's are worthless here, even without VPN's an IP can only narrow you down to a city at best, but normally just the general part of the country)..

I have heard stories, mind you I can neither confirm or deny their validity that some holiday staff at walmarts have been known to use the currency examination light to read the code after scanning it so they can use it themselves.. if that is the case there, there would be nothing Steam could do as Steam has no way to know if you are a different person or not

[The Ogrelord]

So what you're saying is that there's the possibility someone at the Walmart was able to read the code after scanning the card, even though the card was defective, and used the code themselves? That's very good to know.

If Steam can't help me I could bring that up to the Walmart, in conjunction with the code being missing that means the only possibility would be someone working at the Walmart used the code, because the code is missing on the card itself and they know for a fact I'm not working at the Walmart.

[Winged One]

Originally posted by TheMLGReploid:

So what you're saying is that there's the possibility someone at the Walmart was able to read the code after scanning the card, even though the card was defective, and used the code themselves? That's very good to know.

If Steam can't help me I could bring that up to the Walmart, in conjunction with the code being missing that means the only possibility would be someone working at the Walmart used the code, because the code is missing on the card itself and they know for a fact I'm not working at the Walmart.

the code likely wasn't outright missing, some of those characters are printed off relatively poorly and will come off with the silver film (somewhat common thing, you will see posts on mass about it each christmas and in most cases they issue the damage request and Steam tells them what characters are missing

if the code has already been used though as their database would tell them (the reason they ask for a full picture of the card, and why they can't offer the service for codes printed on a reciept as some gamestops do is there are other numbers on the card that can be used internally by Valve to cross reference what the numbers are with the numbers left on the card), it tells us someone must have used it before you filed the request but after you bought it.. So either someone who had access to the card inbetween, or the cashier would be the most logical bets in such a situation

[The Ogrelord]

In my case there were no traces of the last 3 letters though, no little black streaks or faded areas indicating something used to be there. It looks as if the code wasn't printed at all. Either way the card was defective.

My father doesn't use Steam and nobody else touched the card from between when he bought it and when we found the digits missing on Christmas day, so the cashier using the code himself sounds likely, especially since both codes were redeemed on the same day within a single minute of each other. Hopefully using the reciept Wal-Mart can find out exactly who it was that scanned the cards out when my dad was buying them.

If we can get an e-mail and that e-mail matches the one used by the account that used the codes that will be undeniable proof that the cashier used the codes shortly after my dad bought the cards.

[Winged One]

Originally posted by TheMLGReploid:

In my case there were no traces of the last 3 letters though, no little black streaks or faded areas indicating something used to be there. It looks as if the code wasn't printed at all. Either way the card was defective.

My father doesn't use Steam and nobody else touched the card from between when he bought it and when we found the digits missing on Christmas day, so the cashier using the code himself sounds likely, especially since both codes were redeemed on the same day within a single minute of each other. Hopefully using the reciept Wal-Mart can find out exactly who it was that scanned the cards out when my dad was buying them.

If we can get an e-mail and that e-mail matches the one used by the account that used the codes that will be undeniable proof that the cashier used the codes shortly after my dad bought the cards.

first, that is normal for damaged cards.. when that letter peels off, its not uncommon for it to entirely peel off since it is being pulled off by the film.. misprinted codes do happen, but they are not the norm and your description can still happen with one that was damaged during reveal

and Walmart can not provide you such an E-mail, they can not provide confidential employee information without either a court order or direct involvement by law enforcement

[nullable]

Ah yes, pre-paid cards, people love them but they're like money, except worse in every way. Also no protections.

Steam's not at fault for this loss, so they're not going to be responsible for fixing it. Wal*Mart only has your word and if their refund/exchange policy doesn't cover pre-paid cards they don't really want to be on the hook for it either. And you don't really know when the cards were compromised, guesses and theories will only get you so far.

But the lesson is, pre-paid cards aren't very good for consumers, even if they can sometimes be convenient. Sorry, it sucks.

[Winged One]

Originally posted by Brockenstein:

Ah yes, pre-paid cards, people love them but they're like money, except worse in every way. Also no protections.

Steam's not at fault for this loss, so they're not going to be responsible for fixing it. Wal*Mart only has your word and if their refund/exchange policy doesn't cover pre-paid cards they don't really want to be on the hook for it either. And you don't really know when the cards were compromised, guesses and theories will only get you so far.

But the lesson is, pre-paid cards aren't very good for consumers, even if they can sometimes be convenient. Sorry, it sucks.

honestly, yeah.. at least with Credit cards or paypal their is a paper trail you can use to show proof of your claims.. with pre-paid gift cards? when you are in the OP's situation, it is lost to the ether

[The Ogrelord]

I see. I somewhat mentioned it before without clarifying, but the exact same thing has happened with my younger brother, and according to Steam's responses both codes were redeemed at basically the same time. That happening just two days after my dad purchased the gift cards seems like pretty solid evidence to me that one of the employees at Walmart read the codes and used them him/herself. If the employee's e-mail is confidential information then I guess we won't be able to check ourselves, but regardless we have pretty solid evidence that we weren't the ones that used the gift cards so hopefully Walmart will give us replacements.

To clarify, that currency examination light is something at the cash register? I want to be sure it was the cashier that would have read the code and not someone who was putting the gift cards out on the display.

[Winged One]

Originally posted by TheMLGReploid:

I see. I somewhat mentioned it before without clarifying, but the exact same thing has happened with my younger brother, and according to Steam's responses both codes were redeemed at basically the same time. That happening just two days after my dad purchased the gift cards seems like pretty solid evidence to me that one of the employees at Walmart read the codes and used them him/herself. If the employee's e-mail is confidential information then I guess we won't be able to check ourselves, but regardless we have pretty solid evidence that we weren't the ones that used the gift cards so hopefully Walmart will give us replacements.

To clarify, that currency examination light is something at the cash register? I want to be sure it was the cashier that would have read the code and not someone who was putting the gift cards out on the display.

It would have to be the Cashier, since the code will not be seen as Valid by Steam until it is scanned at the cash..

The examination light is only one story I heard about such things, although as said I can neither confirm or deny it but it would be the least noticible of methods one could use to see through the film to get at the code.. it is a specialized light many retailers have they use to shine on large bills to try and see any signs of them possibly being counterfeits..

[Silicon Vampire]

I would contact thier loss prevention division

While they would not be able to give you any information, but may be able to find out if an employee is responsible

They have security that rivals the NSA and it would not work out very well for the employee if that is the case

[Teksura]

You know, in retrospect it is prolly a really bad idea to explain on the public forums exactly how to pull off this kind of crime. We should prolly... Remove that from the discussion.

[Winged One]

Valid point, posts deleted

[Muppet among Puppets]

Who redeemed the card leaves traces.
If nothing helps, inform the seller that you would involve the police if they dont fix your problem.

[Winged One]

Originally posted by Muppet among Puppets:

Who redeemed the card leaves traces.
If nothing helps, inform the seller that you would involve the police if they dont fix your problem.

Walmart in theory could place a stolen items claim with the card issuer, have the card revoked which could potentially invoke restrictions on the account that used it.. sorta unlikely in this situation though given associated costs

[Satoru]

Note the “scan and scam” with gift cards I think is almost impossible to do now

The old scam was that you’d look at the gift card in the store, and then wait for someone to buy it. Once they did youd immediately go online to redeem the card.

The thing is most cards now have at a bare minimum the silver scratch surface so no one can read the relevant stuff. You’d have immediately noticed that as they’d have already scratched off the silver to “read” the code

The cashiers can’t “read” anything because the card itself doesn’t have anything useful to use without scratching the silver off.