Can I get a refund if a game doesn't run well but it's past the hour and days refund limit?

[WinterJax]

So I bought a game in April of 2020. Played it for about 30 hours. Stopped playing on December 1 2020. Haven't touched it since because it isn't optimized to my system well with the (at the time) recent updates that I played in 2020, even with the lowest settings. I'm pretty sure my pc didn't meet the minimum requirements back then, but it had been playable for a while before getting unbearable with the lag spikes. So would I be able to get a refund since I clearly am not able to enjoy a game that I paid for? I haven't played in a long time and haven't logged many hours compared to a game I can actually run smoothly on low settings (for comparison the first game I purchased in 2019 I still play today and have logged 260 hours into it).

I tried to request a refund through the "request a refund" option but it seems it got auto-closed by the bot. I read stories of people getting refunds for game past the hour and days limit, but is that still possible now? Do I just have to get lucky?

[Ubiquiti]

No

[WinterJax]

Originally posted by Dume:

No

Have you tried it?

[rawWwRrr]

Originally posted by WinterJax:

So I bought a game in April of 2020. Played it for about 30 hours.

Originally posted by WinterJax:

I read stories of people getting refunds for game past the hour and days limit, but is that still possible now?

Exceptions are made on a case by case basis. Most successful exceptions are made when someone is just beyond the limits, not when they are 2 years past the purchase and several dozen hours or more into a game.

[Ogami]

There is zero chance to get a refund for a game you bought 2 years ago.
Absolutely none. The money has long gone to the developer and Steam wont refund you out of their own pocket.
Steam may make exceptions outside the rules if you are a few days over the limit or a few minutes over the playtime. Not 2 years or 30 hours.

[WinterJax]

Originally posted by rawWwRrr:

Originally posted by WinterJax:

So I bought a game in April of 2020. Played it for about 30 hours.

Originally posted by WinterJax:

I read stories of people getting refunds for game past the hour and days limit, but is that still possible now?

Exceptions are made on a case by case basis. Most successful exceptions are made when someone is just beyond the limits, not when they are 2 years past the purchase and several dozen hours or more into a game.

Yeah except I haven't played the game in two years because it wouldn't run properly. It's like having a broken phone and finding it in a drawer years later because you forgot about it... since it's broken.

Originally posted by Ogami:

There is zero chance to get a refund for a game you bought 2 years ago.
Absolutely none. The money has long gone to the developer and Steam wont refund you out of their own pocket.

Isn't steam wallet more like a gift card at this point? Like, I already spent the money. Refunding it would just give me fake money to get games for "free."

[The Giving One]

Answered in the FAQ :

https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/5FDE-BA65-ACCE-A411

"I tried to refund an older purchase of mine, but it looks like I can't. What can I do?"

Purchases made significantly outside of the 14 day refund window are not eligible for a refund request.

2+ years = "significantly outside the refund window"

[WinterJax]

Originally posted by The Giving One:

Answered in the FAQ :

https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/5FDE-BA65-ACCE-A411

"I tried to refund an older purchase of mine, but it looks like I can't. What can I do?"

Purchases made significantly outside of the 14 day refund window are not eligible for a refund request.

2+ years = "significantly outside the refund window"

But I only actually played the game for a few months.

[Fake]

Originally posted by WinterJax:

Originally posted by The Giving One:

Answered in the FAQ :

https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/5FDE-BA65-ACCE-A411

"I tried to refund an older purchase of mine, but it looks like I can't. What can I do?"

Purchases made significantly outside of the 14 day refund window are not eligible for a refund request.

2+ years = "significantly outside the refund window"

But I only actually played the game for a few months.

Looks like you got your money's worth.

[The Giving One]

Originally posted by WinterJax:

But I only actually played the game for a few months.

With all due respect, the FAQ is clear. Your ownership of the game is significantly outside the refund window.

Not only does it say (to me when I read it) that the purchase is not eligible for a refund......it also says to me that it is not eligible for a "request".

In other words, what it says to me when I read it is, don't even bother asking. It's not eligible for the request, as well as the refund itself.

EDIT..........................

By the way, and sorry for the double post but I figured you needed this to be addressed to be fair in our replies :

Originally posted by WinterJax:

I read stories of people getting refunds for game past the hour and days limit, but is that still possible now?

As far as reading examples of exceptions to the time limit on ownership (now 14 days), way back when Valve first introduced the refund policy, they were very lenient for a short time on ownership limits. Some reported getting refunds after 6 months, which even that was being quite generous, with no questions asked.

But that was only for a short time so Valve could be fair in implementing the policy to current purchases and issues with games. Now, they will make exceptions as others have said, but not in the most extreme cases, such as your's here. You have just too much of both, time played and time owned.

[WinterJax]

Originally posted by Fake:

Originally posted by WinterJax:

But I only actually played the game for a few months.

Looks like you got your money's worth.

Not really, I only played for 30 hours. A few months is a general timeframe, not like I was playing consistently for that time. Getting screwed over by an update and being unable to play (which would ALSO have been over Steam's limits had I tried requesting a refund at that point and known how to do so) isn't really getting my money's worth.

Originally posted by The Giving One:

Originally posted by WinterJax:

But I only actually played the game for a few months.

With all due respect, the FAQ is clear. Your ownership of the game is significantly outside the refund window.

Not only does it say (to me when I read it) that the purchase is not eligible for a refund......it also says to me that it is not eligible for a "request".

In other words, what it says to me when I read it is, don't even bother asking. It's not eligible for the request, as well as the refund itself.

Then why are there multiple reddit threads about people possibly getting refunds if they're polite about it and actually loophole a way to speak to the support staff (see here one and here two)? Like, there's no harm in asking. You wrote this like it offends you or something that I have the audacity to want to get my money's worth out of something I can't play lmao.

[The Giving One]

Originally posted by WinterJax:

Then why are there multiple reddit threads about people possibly getting refunds if they're polite about it and actually loophole a way to speak to the support staff (see here one and here two? Like, there's no harm in asking. You wrote this like it offends you or something that I have the audacity to want to get my money's worth out of something I can't play lmao.

I made another post while you were replying and so sorry about that, but it addresses some of what you are asking.

You would have to link to these claims on reddit, and show us the examples of what you are talking about. If the examples are years old, then they might have fit what I explained when I posted the second reply just now.........they could have been refunds when Valve first implemented the refund policy, and they allowed ownerships to be longer than the 14 day current limit and still granted refunds.

You can feel free to ask all you like. No one is stopping you, but if (when) they say no, we would hope you would accept that answer and move on.

If you keep asking Support questions that they previously have answered, just to try to get a different answer than what you have been given, we have seen people report here that Support eventually blocked them from being able to use the ticket system and contact Support about anything.

Feel free to use the forum search if you would like and you can see for yourself. In short, ask if you wish, but when they say no, I highly suggest you accept that as "no" and move on. Fair warning.

[Judgmental Amaterasu]

Originally posted by WinterJax:

Originally posted by rawWwRrr:

Exceptions are made on a case by case basis. Most successful exceptions are made when someone is just beyond the limits, not when they are 2 years past the purchase and several dozen hours or more into a game.

Yeah except I haven't played the game in two years because it wouldn't run properly. It's like having a broken phone and finding it in a drawer years later because you forgot about it... since it's broken.

Originally posted by Ogami:

There is zero chance to get a refund for a game you bought 2 years ago.
Absolutely none. The money has long gone to the developer and Steam wont refund you out of their own pocket.

Isn't steam wallet more like a gift card at this point? Like, I already spent the money. Refunding it would just give me fake money to get games for "free."

What? No. It may only be usable on Steam but it is still money.

[The Giving One]

Yes, this is from one of your examples :

"I tried to refund it multiple times since Steam started their refund system back in June. I tried again yesterday after the game split, if only just to see what would happen. I was happily surprised when Steam actually refunded it. "

https://www.reddit.com/r/h1z1/comments/46l33b/steam_refunded_my_13_month_old_purchase_of_h1z1/

So as I said, way back when they first implemented the policy, they allowed extreme exceptions going back months for some cases, according to what people posted here on these forums. I saw people say they went back like 6 months (now 14 days).

Now, the policy is more strict. They will allow some time to go over, but not "significantly".

As many refund cases that you can find on reddit saying they gave an exception, we can also find the same number here where the user asked and was denied.

You can't just cherry pick one or two examples and then ask "why not my refund, they got their's ?", because the examples you find might have had very specific circumstances that you can't know about, and details that the original poster left out.

You agreed to the refund policy when you purchased the game. You agreed to the terms when you clicked on "I agree" at the checkout page on your Steam account. We all have to. You cannot continue with your purchase unless you check the "I agree" box.

In that agreement instance, you are given the option to read the refund policy that you are agreeing to. It clearly covers the time limits of 2 hours and 14 days.

Yes, they will make exceptions when over the limits by a small amount. But not getting one just means you did not get an exception.

Originally posted by WinterJax:

I'm pretty sure my pc didn't meet the minimum requirements back then, but it had been playable for a while before getting unbearable with the lag spikes.

You even admitted here, to your credit, that your PC did not meet the minimum requirements. Those are on the store page for every game, and if you are unsure if your PC meets them, you can post here or in the game's own forum often enough or use other tools to compare hardware. Sounds like you went ahead with the purchase anyway, and the game struggled to run on your PC. That's not an issue with the game.

That's an issue with your PC.

[Supafly]

Originally posted by WinterJax:

even with the lowest settings. I'm pretty sure my pc didn't meet the minimum requirements back then, but......

but nothing, Your system was below requirements. Can't complain about that. You had time do a refund but played it anyway. For all you know the requirements is what the game was expected to require once it had been patched with future update/s.

Originally posted by WinterJax:

Originally posted by rawWwRrr:

Exceptions are made on a case by case basis. Most successful exceptions are made when someone is just beyond the limits, not when they are 2 years past the purchase and several dozen hours or more into a game.

Yeah except I haven't played the game in two years because it wouldn't run properly. It's like having a broken phone and finding it in a drawer years later because you forgot about it... since it's broken.

Valve has no idea why you stopped playing. You're also wqell outside the refund period

Originally posted by WinterJax:

Originally posted by Ogami:

There is zero chance to get a refund for a game you bought 2 years ago.
Absolutely none. The money has long gone to the developer and Steam wont refund you out of their own pocket.

Isn't steam wallet more like a gift card at this point? Like, I already spent the money. Refunding it would just give me fake money to get games for "free."

Valve already PAID the devs their money. If Valve gave you a refund now they can't get money back from the dev meaning it'd come out of their money and they'd have to cover the amount when you buy more stuff.

Originally posted by WinterJax:

Originally posted by Fake:

Looks like you got your money's worth.

Not really, I only played for 30 hours. A few months is a general timeframe, not like I was playing consistently for that time. Getting screwed over by an update and being unable to play (which would ALSO have been over Steam's limits had I tried requesting a refund at that point and known how to do so) isn't really getting my money's worth.

Then take it up with the Dev. You are well beyond the refund window.

Originally posted by WinterJax:

Then why are there multiple reddit threads about people possibly getting refunds if they're polite about it and actually loophole a way to speak to the support staff (see here one and here two)? Like, there's no harm in asking. You wrote this like it offends you or something that I have the audacity to want to get my money's worth out of something I can't play lmao.

Well you clearly aren't listening to what people are telling you.

post #1 say No and you respond with

Originally posted by WinterJax:

Originally posted by Dume:

No

Have you tried it?

Why ask on the forums if you're not going to listen. Everyone is telling you the same thing. Some times refund can be done slightly outside the 2 week/2 hours payed time frame. You're NOT slightly outside you are over 100 weeks past the 2 week and more than 10 times the hour limit.

There is no way you're getting a refund.

Play it again once you get a system that meets and/or exceeds requirements

[Crazy Tiger]

Originally posted by WinterJax:

Originally posted by rawWwRrr:

Exceptions are made on a case by case basis. Most successful exceptions are made when someone is just beyond the limits, not when they are 2 years past the purchase and several dozen hours or more into a game.

Yeah except I haven't played the game in two years because it wouldn't run properly. It's like having a broken phone and finding it in a drawer years later because you forgot about it... since it's broken.

And you won't get a refund for that phone either. You should have refunded the game back when you were eligible.

But you're free to try, of course.

Originally posted by WinterJax:

Then why are there multiple reddit threads about people possibly getting refunds if they're polite about it and actually loophole a way to speak to the support staff (see here one and here two)? Like, there's no harm in asking. You wrote this like it offends you or something that I have the audacity to want to get my money's worth out of something I can't play lmao.

Well, for starters it's Reddit so let's take it with a truckload of salt. But yes, there is no harm in asking. Why are you doing it here, though, and not via a manual ticket to support? that way you get your answer.

Exceptions are made, sure. But 2 years and 30 hours means both parameters have been significantly passed. So your chances are pretty slim. But sure, you can try.