Steam support refusing to refund a game that's unplayable

[Sterling]

Basically, I spent too long troubleshooting Battlefront 2 on issues that would be coming back and forth, which meant I had some playtime of actually playing the game (totaling 16,5 hours at the moment), but way after the minimum time those issues came back and I managed to not solve them this time. I contacted Steam support and explained the situation to them, detailing what I have done and stressing that I simply cannot even play the game I spent 12 dollars on.

How do I proceed in cases of sheer lack of ♥♥♥♥♥ given by the only people capable of actually doing something for me? It's clear they haven't even read the fact I spent 12 dollars on something I cannot play and just went with "oh, he spent more than 2 hours trying to make the game work, sucks to be him". I lost sleep spending hours looking in several websites, trying different methods to fix the issues and making a list of each of them to ask for help on the EA forums and Reddit in case it didn't work, which it unfortunately didn't. I spent a whole night redownloading the game, only for the issues to still be there and nothing changed in the end. By all I've done, this game is simply unplayable to me, yet they refuse me a refund because I dared trying to make the game work for too long before giving up.

[Sterling]

Messaggio originale di kitt:

Messaggio originale di Sterling:

These registry entries affect the EXE files of those games in specific and nothing else. I've done it several times before, the process has always been the same and this is the first time it was suggested that it could cause issues. It's not unusual to want a high CPU priority on a game to get a better framerate or stability; there are several threads and posts that suggest a variation of such a thing, with one of them being setting the affinity to high on the task manager itself. All it does is make the game always launch with high priority instead of it manually needing to be set every single time it's launched. I'm confident it's not an issue. I'm also not going to start adding and readding registry entries just to alternate between playing specific games; what I believe you're implying here just replaces a very unlikely problem for a massive and unnecessary inconvenience.

But why do you use the registry edit if you can do it through the task manager?

I'm so glad you asked instead of being pretentious and snarky; we need more people like you. It says I need admin permissions on my admin account and I have already recreated it to try to fix it, which has done nothing. What I have found online so far on it didn't do anything for me, which led me to the registry edit to force the change outside task manager, which has the added benefit of doing so whenever the game launches.

[crunchyfrog]

Well then, you've just proved my point that I answered earlier.

IT DID work for you earlier then. THat's still on YOU.

Because it demonstrates it CAN work on your system, and therefore is NOT a fault of the game nor Steam.

That's the point.

You can't have it both ways.
It either didn't work for you and you CHOSE to keep racking up hours, which is on you.
Or it did work beforehand showing that the game can't be at fault because it DID work and is on you.


And do note, my answer was not wrong. It was law that I was advising you of and how the rules are based on that. I specialized in consumer and disability law, and was only advising you of thus.

[Sterling]

Messaggio originale di crunchyfrog:

Well then, you've just proved my point that I answered earlier.

IT DID work for you earlier then. THat's still on YOU.

Because it demonstrates it CAN work on your system, and therefore is NOT a fault of the game nor Steam.

That's the point.

You can't have it both ways.

And do note, my answer was not wrong. It was law that I was advising you of and how the rules are based on that. I specialized in consumer and disability law, and was only advising you of thus.

Yes, it can work on my system and stopped doing so at some point, with every attempt to fix it resulting in nothing. That's where case-by-case bases enter, since it's different than someone simply saying "oh, it doesn't launch after 7857 hours, I will attempt nothing and request a refund". Again, do you seriously ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ expect that I saw the rubberbanding within the first hour, made literally not attempts to fix it, refunded the game and never laids eyes upon it again for the rest of my life? It's ridiculous.

[crunchyfrog]

Messaggio originale di Sterling:

Messaggio originale di crunchyfrog:

Well then, you've just proved my point that I answered earlier.

IT DID work for you earlier then. THat's still on YOU.

Because it demonstrates it CAN work on your system, and therefore is NOT a fault of the game nor Steam.

That's the point.

You can't have it both ways.

And do note, my answer was not wrong. It was law that I was advising you of and how the rules are based on that. I specialized in consumer and disability law, and was only advising you of thus.

Yes, it can work on my system and stopped doing so at some point, with every attempt to fix it resulting in nothing. That's where case-by-case bases enter, since it's different than someone simply saying "oh, it doesn't launch after 7857 hours, I will attempt nothing and request a refund". Again, do you seriously ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ expect that I saw the rubberbanding within the first hour, made literally not attempts to fix it, refunded the game and never laids eyes upon it again for the rest of my life? It's ridiculous.

You're so missing the point.

Let me make it as simple as possible.

What you have done is UNREASONABLE. That's the point.

You had it working before to a level that YOU deemed acceptable. As soon as that happened that IMMEDIATELY voids your claim for refund. Because it demonstrates it CAN work on your PC to a level you were happy with.

If it now doesn't work, whether due to update or whatever, then it's STILL on your end. Because you will always fall back to the fact that it HAS worked on your PC.

You cannot get around this. And that's why your extenuating circumstances ARE NOT sufficient.

I'm sorry but that's how the law and the rules work and rightly so. Could you imagine how pissed off the devs and publishers would be if Valve wanted to move the barrier to your situation? They'd earn no money.

Plus it would be too wide an ask to mitigate chancers and fraudsters.

So again, that's why the law is thus and these rules. I am telling you, you are on a hiding to nothing and never will have a valid line of reasoning here. Yes, I know it sucks, but that doesn't change whjat it is.

[crunchyfrog]

Messaggio originale di davidb11:

He's not expecting that at all.
Look, Crunchyfrog knows his stuff. He's well respected here. Yes, he can come across abrasive as steel wool, but he is a good person and he knows his stuff.

You can trust him.
Yes, he is very grumpy at times, but please look beyond that. :)
Also, he used to be a lawyer, so that's why he has no sense of humor. :P
I kid. I kid.

But the point is, he used to be a lawyer. He knows his stuff.

Ah slight correction - not a lawyer. A legal advisor.
Much the same in job, just I wasn't a qualified solicitor. I still presented cases and represented people in court, just without the qualificiation.

Sorry for the pedantry.

And nobody like a good laugh more than me, I'll have you know!
Except my wife......
And some of her friends.....
And some of my friends.....

In fact, alright everybody.

[Sterling]

Messaggio originale di crunchyfrog:

Messaggio originale di Sterling:

Yes, it can work on my system and stopped doing so at some point, with every attempt to fix it resulting in nothing. That's where case-by-case bases enter, since it's different than someone simply saying "oh, it doesn't launch after 7857 hours, I will attempt nothing and request a refund". Again, do you seriously ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ expect that I saw the rubberbanding within the first hour, made literally not attempts to fix it, refunded the game and never laids eyes upon it again for the rest of my life? It's ridiculous.

You're so missing the point.

Let me make it as simple as possible.

What you have done is UNREASONABLE. That's the point.

You had it working before to a level that YOU deemed acceptable. As soon as that happened that IMMEDIATELY voids your claim for refund. Because it demonstrates it CAN work on your PC to a level you were happy with.

If it now doesn't work, whether due to update or whatever, then it's STILL on your end. Because you will always fall back to the fact that it HAS worked on your PC.

You cannot get around this. And that's why your extenuating circumstances ARE NOT sufficient.

I'm sorry but that's how the law and the rules work and rightly so.

Is it unreasonable to try to get a product working instead of giving up within the first five minutes?
Is it unreasonable to assume the product is going to keep working after the initial issues are fixed?
Is it unreasonable to try to exhaust options fixing a product already outside the refund timer the user wants to use before bothering the company with the possibility of a refund?
Is it unreasonable to expect to talk to an actual human being in customer support that can review my situation and say something besides an automated message?
Is it unreasonable to feel like my money was basically burned by the fact that I could neither fix the issue, nor get a refund after the issue was not fixed?

Whip out technicalities all you want; it doesn't make this crap not immoral.

Messaggio originale di davidb11:

He's not expecting that at all.
Look, Crunchyfrog knows his stuff. He's well respected here. Yes, he can come across abrasive as steel wool, but he is a good person and he knows his stuff.

You can trust him.
Yes, he is very grumpy at times, but please look beyond that. :)
Also, he used to be a lawyer, so that's why he has no sense of humor. :P
I kid. I kid.

But the point is, he used to be a lawyer. He knows his stuff.

Good or not, knowledgeable or not, I'll never accept such a practice being standard on the industry. These laws only work to screw over honest people because of how much bad people abuse them when they don't have these details, yet whenever an honest person asks to talk to an honest person about it, they get derailed to an automated system of "no lol" and "it's how things are, stop complaining".

[crunchyfrog]

Then I'm sorry but you don't understand and never will.

You CANNOT get past the problem that you ACCEPTED it;s state originally. That will ALWAYS be on you.

I took the trouble to explain to you the basis of why this is so in law, and I took the trouble to explain why Steam rules were influenced by recent law changes.

NOTHING can change that. You can cry immoral all you want, but it IS the rules and you agreed to them. Bottom line.



And if you#ll never accept these rules, then sorry but you already have.
But if you wish to change the law, go lobby your local politicians. I did when I wanted changes to certain disability laws.

[Sterling]

Messaggio originale di crunchyfrog:

Then I'm sorry but you don't understand and never will.

You CANNOT get past the problem that you ACCEPTED it;s state originally. That will ALWAYS be on you.

I took the trouble to explain to you the basis of why this is so in law, and I took the trouble to explain why Steam rules were influenced by recent law changes.

NOTHING can change that. You can cry immoral all you want, but it IS the rules and you agreed to them. Bottom line.



And if you#ll never accept these rules, then sorry but you already have.
But if you wish to change the law, go lobby your local politicians. I did when I wanted changes to certain disability laws.

Yeah, it's a binary world in which you either agree to get ♥♥♥♥♥♥ in the ass or not get any service whatsoever. The ones who do the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ don't care and the ones who get ♥♥♥♥♥♥ get told to suck it up.

[crunchyfrog]

Messaggio originale di Sterling:

Messaggio originale di crunchyfrog:

Then I'm sorry but you don't understand and never will.

You CANNOT get past the problem that you ACCEPTED it;s state originally. That will ALWAYS be on you.

I took the trouble to explain to you the basis of why this is so in law, and I took the trouble to explain why Steam rules were influenced by recent law changes.

NOTHING can change that. You can cry immoral all you want, but it IS the rules and you agreed to them. Bottom line.



And if you#ll never accept these rules, then sorry but you already have.
But if you wish to change the law, go lobby your local politicians. I did when I wanted changes to certain disability laws.

Yeah, it's a binary world in which you either agree to get ♥♥♥♥♥♥ in the ass or not get any service whatsoever. The ones who do the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ don't care and the ones who get ♥♥♥♥♥♥ get told to suck it up.

Sadly, though, that's how it's got to be in cases like this, because you have to have common ground between ALL parties.

As I said, if you moved the leeway as far as you're suggesting then it'd be a free for all than devs and publishers would leave Steam in droves for.

Don't get me wrong here - I despise almost every major company with a passion. But rules are rules and laws are laws too.

[Sterling]

Messaggio originale di crunchyfrog:

Messaggio originale di Sterling:

Yeah, it's a binary world in which you either agree to get ♥♥♥♥♥♥ in the ass or not get any service whatsoever. The ones who do the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ don't care and the ones who get ♥♥♥♥♥♥ get told to suck it up.

Sadly, though, that's how it's got to be in cases like this, because you have to have common ground between ALL parties.

As I said, if you moved the leeway as far as you're suggesting then it'd be a free for all than devs and publishers would leave Steam in droves for.

Don't get me wrong here - I despise almost every major company with a passion. But rules are rules and laws are laws too.

Which is why case-by-case exists. If refunds were invariably according to the specified policy, manual refunds would never be allowed and people would be denied them for going a second above two hours. They care so little about their manual refunds, however, that both automatic and manual just generate the exact same response anyway.

[crunchyfrog]

Messaggio originale di Sterling:

Messaggio originale di crunchyfrog:

Sadly, though, that's how it's got to be in cases like this, because you have to have common ground between ALL parties.

As I said, if you moved the leeway as far as you're suggesting then it'd be a free for all than devs and publishers would leave Steam in droves for.

Don't get me wrong here - I despise almost every major company with a passion. But rules are rules and laws are laws too.

Which is why case-by-case exists. If refunds were invariably according to the specified policy, manual refunds would never be allowed and people would be denied them for going a second above two hours. They care so little about their manual refunds, however, that both automatic and manual just generate the exact same response anyway.

Yes, I never said they don't exist. I merely pointed out that you'd NEVER get anywhere near it with your case.

Because you CANNOT get past the point that you deemed it acceptable originally. By then you'd gone past what is reasonable.

I've often advised people on here about that very thing - people who may have been in hospital for a while, people who lost internet and were out of action for days, or someone who's play time showed up slightly out the window.

You can ask in those cases, but you can NEVER get anywhere near it with your case. You ACCEPTED the game so you can't change it when you've already shown it no longer applies. That's pretty basic stuff.

I'm sorry but you will never get this argument to work the way you want ANYWHERE.

[Nx Machina]

Messaggio originale di Sterling:

Is it unreasonable to try to get a product working instead of giving up within the first five minutes?
Is it unreasonable to assume the product is going to keep working after the initial issues are fixed?
Is it unreasonable to try to exhaust options fixing a product already outside the refund timer the user wants to use before bothering the company with the possibility of a refund?
Is it unreasonable to expect to talk to an actual human being in customer support that can review my situation and say something besides an automated message?
Is it unreasonable to feel like my money was basically burned by the fact that I could neither fix the issue, nor get a refund after the issue was fixed?

Whip out technicalities all you want; it doesn't make this crap not immoral.

It is unreasonable to expect a refund after 16 hours, some would say immoral.

Lets be honest you messed up, you want to blame others, shift the blame, rather that accept your automatic and manual refunds were rejected and you have nowhere else left to go.

By the way you never clarified whether it is Battlefront 2 (classic) or Battlefront II.

Messaggio originale di Sterling:

Which is why case-by-case exists. If refunds were invariably according to the specified policy, manual refunds would never be allowed and people would be denied them for going a second above two hours. They care so little about their manual refunds, however, that both automatic and manual just generate the exact same response anyway.

"case by case" is discretionary not mandatory and you were refused.

[Sterling]

Messaggio originale di crunchyfrog:

Messaggio originale di Sterling:

Which is why case-by-case exists. If refunds were invariably according to the specified policy, manual refunds would never be allowed and people would be denied them for going a second above two hours. They care so little about their manual refunds, however, that both automatic and manual just generate the exact same response anyway.

Yes, I never said they don't exist. I merely pointed out that you'd NEVER get anywhere near it with your case.

Because you CANNOT get past the point that you deemed it acceptable originally. By then you'd gone past what is reasonable.

I've often advised people on here about that very thing - people who may have been in hospital for a while, people who lost internet and were out of action for days, or someone who's play time showed up slightly out the window.

You can ask in those cases, but you can NEVER get anywhere near it with your case. You ACCEPTED the game so you can't change it when you've already shown it no longer applies. That's pretty basic stuff.

I'm sorry but you will never get this argument to work the way you want ANYWHERE.

Again, I could not have ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ predicted that it would become unplayable after over a dozen hours and nobody can be expected to have such a standard. I didn't instantly refund a game the moment I spotted an issue that someone likely fixed, fixed the issue, played, another entirely different issue popped up and all of a sudden I'm denied everything on the basis that not the second issue, but the first one was solved and I ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ dared to think the game was going to work? This is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and nobody should be defending it, except people who probably are stupid beyond all human reason.

[The Giving One]

I never can understand why it seems to be needing to be explained in these refund threads that there is no way they can tell if you are making up the reason for refunding the game.

Not saying you are, but people would and in fact, do. We have seen so many stories here in refund threads, and most of them were "accumulated playtime while trying to get the game to work", and in many of those, the user never even posted in the game's own forum for any help.

Now look at that from a business standpoint and realize that many would just buy games, play them until they were finished or bored of them, then refund them 16 hours later to do it all over again with another game. Do this sound like someone that really tried to get the game to work ?

People seem to put so much faith in the "but I explained myself in the refund request. Why are they not refunding my game ?"

I just don't get why people seem to not understand how abused this system is, or is attempted to be by many that just want free stuff.

There is nothing wrong with asking permission for something, and yes, a refund is in fact a "request" as that word is clearly used in the policy page for refunds.

We all agree to the policy at checkout when making purchases on Steam. The clause "we will take a look" does not magically translate into "your refund request will be granted".

[Muppet among Puppets]

Messaggio originale di iTz12ossCo:

i was just refused a refund , spent 5 hours in the game but had only left V's apartment , i wanted the Refund to my steam wallet and still got refused , lesson learned tho never agin will i pre-order from anywhere especially Steam

Manual have a question refund request,
or standard?