Steam blocking my paypal payments after a dispute from 2018 resolved in my favor

[sadboykrys]

So, i haven't been able to purchase steam games no matter what i tried so i contacted support.

steam eredeti hozzászólása:

The payment method you are attempting to use has been restricted from use in our system.
This indicates that the payment method has been involved in a payment dispute or unauthorized purchasing activity on Steam.
You will need to use an alternate payment method to complete future purchases on Steam.

Apparently the problem traces back to 2018 when i purchased a game bundle with steam controller that i then returned because it was faulty.

• return game, ship back controller
  
• controller arrived back at steam
  
• weeks passed, got no money returned
  
• contact steam via mail, support ticket - no answer
  
• contact paypal as weeks already passed
  
• provide all information, conversations, shipping tracking for the controller
  
• paypal opens dispute, contacts steam for more information
  
• no answer
  
• paypal closes dispute in my favor
  
• steam account automatically gets suspended for reverted payment for owned products
  
• contact steam, provide all information - the products are already returned for what, 2 months?
  
• due to blah,blah somehow the return payment thingy got lost in the system
  
• got unsuspended, case closed, no problem
  
• mkay

Since then i haven't been able to pay for any purchases as this comes up:

steam eredeti hozzászólása:

An unexpected error has occurred. Your purchase has not been completed.
Please wait a few minutes and try again.
If you encounter this error repeatedly, please contact Steam Support.

So, how do i go on about having my payment methods unblocked again, after a dispute in 2018, where due to some error steam didn't return my money up to the point paypal had to be involved?

[Jaunitta 🌸]

You could simply use your credit card without PayPal
Maybe others can offer more but the real people to contact is Pay Pal in my opinion.
Resolve whetever the problem is there.
As the message says for Steam contact Steam Support..

[󠀡󠀡󠀡⁧⁧the.jester]

All you can do is work with Steam Support to resolve it, they are the only ones who can remove the payment method block.

[sadboykrys]

Jaunitta 🌸 eredeti hozzászólása:

You could simply use your credit card without PayPal
Maybe others can offer more but the real people to contact is Pay Pal in my opinion.
Resolve whetever the problem is there.
As the message says for Steam contact Steam Support..

The quote at the end of my post is what shows up whenever i try to purchase anything.
I already contacted steam support.
The answer from steam is the quote at the start saying my payment is blocked.

I've called paypal after i got that message from steam, paypal people said my individual paypal id can be blocked by a merchant. To go on about unblocking it, im supposed to contact that merchant/steam.
I contacted steam again after that call, but so far no answer back.

So now wondering if it is even possible to get that unblocked - as it's been blocked since 2018 apparently & the first message from steam said to use a different payment method.
And i mean, isn't paypal pretty much the default for hmm, everyone?

I mean, sure, i can use my credit card - but it's bothersome.
I keep money on paypal for certain purchases, that includes games, and well, paypal buyer protection is a huge help when it comes to unresolved disputes.
My CC isn't really thought to be for purchasing games, i mean i sometimes use it when a merchant needs a credit card to be used via paypal. But it's a separate account so for every purchase i need to transfer money between accounts.


Anyone ever got their payment methods locked and unlocked by steam?

[Brian9824]

Usually you can't. If you file a charge back against steam that payment method is permanently blocked until the chargeback is reversed.

[nullable]

Disputing a payment doesn't just get your money back, it costs Valve quite a bit in fees. Regardless of the circumstances, Valve can elect to cease doing business with your account and/or with that particular form of payment. Regardless if you were wrong or right in the dispute. You're free to dispute whatever you want, but it's not an magic process that insulates you from any and all consequences.

No paypal is not the default for everyone. And it doesn't matter if it is. That detail won't insulate you from the cause and effect and Valve's business decision to not absorb dispute fees more than once from any particular form of payment.

The only way the fop gets unsuspended is if you reverse the dispute but it's been so long I doubt that's an option. I suppose it's not impossible that you reimburse Steam for the dispute fees, but that might be more than you're willing to spend seeing as how you were so keen on doing this in the first place.

You're free to dispute things of course, but actions have consequences and some businesses have a pretty low tolerance for certain customer behaviors.

[Spawn of Totoro]

You don't. If the payment method has been black listed due to a chargeback, all you can do is use another payment method.

If it happened on the account you are currently on, then you are lucky the account has not been locked from adding games, due to the same chargeback.

sadboykrys eredeti hozzászólása:

Anyone ever got their payment methods locked and unlocked by steam?

Nope. I have never heard of Valve unlocking a payment method. Unlocking an account, after the chargeback has been reversed, yes, but not the payment method.

[sadboykrys]

Thanks for the replies, i guess nothing can be done for paypal payments.

Brockenstein eredeti hozzászólása:

I suppose it's not impossible that you reimburse Steam for the dispute fees, but that might be more than you're willing to spend seeing as how you were so keen on doing this in the first place.

You're free to dispute things of course, but actions have consequences and some businesses have a pretty low tolerance for certain customer behaviors.

Fees are one thing, not paying your customer back after months is another thing.
Yes, i was keen on getting my money back for a faulty controller that has been returned months ago. Wouldn't you be? Be it 50$ for a game or controller or more, it's still your money, suspended somewhere in the abyss. Especially annoying if it was for a product you returned, because it was faulty in the first place.
So tell me, after months of waiting and contact tries would you just be like, meh - or would you use buyer protection and have paypal/third party try to contact the merchant, before deciding the disputes outcome?

Steam didn't respond to any contact at that time, be it email, support tickets or whatever.
I kinda don't get what you're implying here.
If paying the fees would actually allow me to use paypal, the most used internet payment service, then yes - i would do it because guess what, it's my most used form of payment online.
But why would i actually have to pay those fees?

Sorry but if a business somehow fails to reimburse a customer, for a faulty product that's been returned months ago, and then ignores all your contact - you're free to dispute it, and the fault isn't on the customers side.
Especially when afterwards the steam people said that the return payment got lost in their system - but somehow they failed to reply to numerous tries on my side, using any form of contact possible, before i turned to paypal to resolve the issue.


guess the topic can be closed

[nullable]

sadboykrys eredeti hozzászólása:

Thanks for the replies, i guess nothing can be done for paypal payments.

Brockenstein eredeti hozzászólása:

I suppose it's not impossible that you reimburse Steam for the dispute fees, but that might be more than you're willing to spend seeing as how you were so keen on doing this in the first place.

You're free to dispute things of course, but actions have consequences and some businesses have a pretty low tolerance for certain customer behaviors.

Fees are one thing, not paying your customer back after months is another thing.

I'm not saying you were wrong or right. Or that support and customer service can't be annoying and slow. You gotta do you. All I'm saying is the way Steam operates if a FOP is used in a dispute that FOP is suspended. The whole story behind the dispute typically doesn't matter at that point.

sadboykrys eredeti hozzászólása:

Yes, i was keen on getting my money back for a faulty controller that has been returned months ago. Wouldn't you be?
Steam didn't respond to any contact at that time, be it email, support tickets or whatever.
I kinda don't get what you're implying here.
If paying the fees would actually allow me to use paypal, the most used internet payment service, then yes - i would do it because guess what, it's my most used form of payment online.
But why would i actually have to pay those fees?

Sorry but if a business somehow fails to reimburse a customer, for a faulty product that's been returned months ago, and then ignores all your contact - you're free to dispute it, and the fault isn't on the customers side.
Especially when afterwards the steam people said that the return payment got lost in their system - but somehow they failed to reply to numerous tries on my side, using any form of contact possible, before i turned to paypal to resolve the issue.


guess the topic can be closed

Well I can't address your feelings and how you want to rationalize the situation. It doesn't change anything, regardless of the circumstances Valve doesn't have to do business with you or accept your preferred form of payment. They have clearly stated policies regarding disputes, and they follow those pretty consistently.

As far you paying for those fees, that's purely hypothetical, "not impossible". But probably not an option you have. So I probably shouldn't have speculated.

Knowing what I know about disputes and the relationships between customers, businesses and payment processors colors my decision making a bit more. Disputes in general are a last option and customers tend to want to use them as an easy solution to get their way. It's fine if you're never going to do business with that entity again, or the business elects to absorb that cost. You're insulated from the realities in those scenarios. But in this case you've run smack into the reality. That's all. You do with that knowledge what you see fit.