When a Steam Gift Card is really activated

[rapt00r4]

Hello everyone. I want to buy a Steam Gift Card from Tesco , but i'm not sure about it. I mean i heard alot of people complaining that the card wasn't activated after they paid it and tried to reedem it at home.
Usually you have to pick the card , go to the checkout , pay for it and then it should automatically activate no ? When does it really activate ?
Can someone help me with this , i don't want to waste my money on it...

[Sharkquisha]

its activated when they scan it.

[rapt00r4]

Oprindeligt skrevet af Kung Fury:

its activated when they scan it.

so they don't need to do anything special ? just scan it ... I thought they have to go customer service manager to confrim the payment and so on :D

[Forcen]

You should ask the store if they know how it works and all that, they probably do.

[rapt00r4]

Oprindeligt skrevet af Forcen:

You should ask the store if they know how it works and all that, they probably do.

You mean to ask the checkout guy ?
" Hey sir do you know how to activate the steam gift card ? "

[Forcen]

Oprindeligt skrevet af rapt00r4:

Oprindeligt skrevet af Forcen:

You should ask the store if they know how it works and all that, they probably do.

You mean to ask the checkout guy ?
" Hey sir do you know how to activate the steam gift card ? "

Or "How does these work? Do they get activated automatically or is it a special step? I just want to be sure that the codes work when I get home."

In my experience the codes is actually printed on the reciept, the cardboard thing is just so they have something to scan and something cool to giftwrap. But who knows, maybe it's all different where you are.

[rapt00r4]

I'm living in UK and it's a plastic card on a shelf ... idk if he will print it too on receipt.
I ordered once a Gift Card online and arrived as a plastic card as i said , i just scrathed the area with the code and redeemed it normally without any problems , but now as i buy it directly from shop maybe it's a difference but i will try to ask , hope he will know the answer..

[AlphaPidgeon]

The steam card has to be scanned in order to be activated, this is to prevent theft and fraud. If the card is not scanned the card will never be validated and redeemable thus will never work. If in some small tiny case the card does not work after purchase "and this is very small circumstances" you should call customer support, with proof of order in hand. And you should hope they can validate your purchase, because steam will require proof of purchase before dispensing money.

So to answer your question the card does not work until it is scanned and payment to the store has been confirmed.

[rapt00r4]

I got it and it work ! I had some problems , first of all i was at a normal checkout. They guy had no ideea how to use it and called for some help then someone came and took me to a special checkout for bills i guess. It redeemed and they gave me a recepit with confirmation of payment , but there wasn't the code on it . I scratched the gift card and it worked !
If anyone find this post and have question can find my answer ! Thanks