Are refund requests done by bots or actual human beings? It's getting denied after 3 valid requests

[dawei213]

So I'm making a request for a game I've purchased. I purchased it Nov 23rd, 2023. I've only spent 38 minutes. I've made a request for a refund on Nov 27th, 2023.

For my first request - it was denied and the message sent to me by the agent was "We will not be granting a refund at this time. The date of the purchase exceeds 2 weeks (our refund policy maximum)."

I figure ok, maybe the agent messed up, not doing their job. So I make a second request. Second request was denied with the following message - "We will not be granting a refund at this time.
Steam offers refunds to reduce customers' risk in purchasing titles on Steam. If it appears to us that you are abusing our refund policy or violating our terms of service, we may decline requests for refunds."

How am I abusing the refund policy or what ToS am I violating? They have not provided any information. This is my only refund request ever on this account.  It's disheartening to see agents make accusations such as abuse and ToS violation without any information to back it or provide a reason.

So fine, I made a 3rd request. 3rd request is denied...guess the reason...
" "We will not be granting a refund at this time. The date of the purchase exceeds 2 weeks (our refund policy maximum)."
A canned response again. WTF! Is anyone doing their job?

At this point, I made a 4th request but provided information related to the purchase. I've included invoice number, date and time of transaction, pointed out the purchase was made in 2023 and we're still in 2023.

Let's see what happens.  

Has this happened to anyone? Are these bots that review the requests? Who else can I reach out for help?

[ONe_mOMENT]

Originally posted by dawei213:

How am I abusing the refund policy or what ToS am I violating? They have not provided any information. This is my only refund request ever on this account.  It's disheartening to see agents make accusations such as abuse and ToS violation without any information to back it or provide a reason.

You're not using multiple accounts to try and avoid "to many refunds" are you? Or have you purchased the same game on multiple accounts and refunded?

There has to be more to it.

Edit:-

Try a manual refund, but if they say no take it as the final answer.

Have a think of what else could be going on.

[Kargor]

Well, since you're not even mentioning the game, it's likely you're trying to hide something fishy.

Yes, the standard request is automated, as far as I know. So, if they think they purchase is more than 14 days ago, it' more than 14 days ago.

Did you try it on a free weekend? Family share?

[Reaper]

This looks extremely like a bought account. 14 years old with only 11 games, low level, 4 friends who are all low level and half of them are not even fully set up profiles. If he really met the refund criteria, the automated system would've approved it so there's clearly something else going on

[dawei213]

Nothing to hide, the game is iRacing. I didn't know if the name of the game matters or not.

Not a bought account. I've been out of PC gaming for a while. Been console for the better part of the last 10 years. Just recently gotten back into PC gaming for sim racing. That's why it's an old account and low games. And I don't do the social aspect of gaming either.

So it is an automated system and not vetted by an agent? It is my first purchased in a long time. I purchased Assetto Corsa as well but will be keeping that.

[dawei213]

Originally posted by ONe_mOMENT:

Originally posted by dawei213:

How am I abusing the refund policy or what ToS am I violating? They have not provided any information. This is my only refund request ever on this account.  It's disheartening to see agents make accusations such as abuse and ToS violation without any information to back it or provide a reason.

You're not using multiple accounts to try and avoid "to many refunds" are you? Or have you purchased the same game on multiple accounts and refunded?

There has to be more to it.

Edit:-

Try a manual refund, but if they say no take it as the final answer.

Have a think of what else could be going on.

Not multiple accounts. My only account tied to my email.

How do I initiate a manual refund? I thought through the menu system it gets vetted by an agent, at least that's how the help page makes it seems like.

Appreciate your help.

[Reaper]

Originally posted by dawei213:

Nothing to hide, the game is iRacing. I didn't know if the name of the game matters or not.

Not a bought account. I've been out of PC gaming for a while. Been console for the better part of the last 10 years. Just recently gotten back into PC gaming for sim racing. That's why it's an old account and low games. And I don't do the social aspect of gaming either.

So it is an automated system and not vetted by an agent? It is my first purchased in a long time. I purchased Assetto Corsa as well but will be keeping that.

Ok, let's give you a little trust here. Game doesn't matter, only playtime and when it was bought (not installed, but actually when you paid for it). If the day you paid for it is under 2 weeks ago, and your playtime is under 2 hours, it will automatically approve a refund almost instantly. If you make your profile more public so we can see your playtime and when/if you first unlocked an achievement, that will tell people if what you are saying is accurate.

The only times the automatic system fails is if you don't meet one/both of the criteria or if you've refunded multiple games within a short time.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Originally posted by dawei213:

Nothing to hide, the game is iRacing. I didn't know if the name of the game matters or not.

Not a bought account. I've been out of PC gaming for a while. Been console for the better part of the last 10 years. Just recently gotten back into PC gaming for sim racing. That's why it's an old account and low games. And I don't do the social aspect of gaming either.

So it is an automated system and not vetted by an agent? It is my first purchased in a long time. I purchased Assetto Corsa as well but will be keeping that.

Read through this thread to the end...

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/1/4031346899450709793/#c4031347072447409069

[dawei213]

Ok, I've set it to public. Lmk if you can see it. You can see the past 2 weeks it's been all sim racing games. Recently picked up the Meta Quest 3 and building out a sim rig.

Well, it's good to know it's an automated system that's failing it (for whatever reason) and I do have a recourse with an actual live person reviewing it. Just need to figure out how.

[Reaper]

Originally posted by dawei213:

Nothing to hide, the game is iRacing. I didn't know if the name of the game matters or not.

Not a bought account. I've been out of PC gaming for a while. Been console for the better part of the last 10 years. Just recently gotten back into PC gaming for sim racing. That's why it's an old account and low games. And I don't do the social aspect of gaming either.

So it is an automated system and not vetted by an agent? It is my first purchased in a long time. I purchased Assetto Corsa as well but will be keeping that.

Ok, Iracing isn't a game, it's a recurring subscription. It requires a refund be submitted within 48 hours. It doesn't follow the same rules as actual games that you buy a license for

[dawei213]

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Originally posted by dawei213:

Nothing to hide, the game is iRacing. I didn't know if the name of the game matters or not.

Not a bought account. I've been out of PC gaming for a while. Been console for the better part of the last 10 years. Just recently gotten back into PC gaming for sim racing. That's why it's an old account and low games. And I don't do the social aspect of gaming either.

So it is an automated system and not vetted by an agent? It is my first purchased in a long time. I purchased Assetto Corsa as well but will be keeping that.

Read through this thread to the end...

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/1/4031346899450709793/#c4031347072447409069

:summercat2023:

Just read it, I didn't know about the subscription thing. From their own FAQ (https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/784C-923B-A4A1-C825) it's written:

"Valve will, upon request via help.steampowered.com, issue a refund for any title that is requested within 14 days of purchase and has been played for less than 2 hours. Even if you fall outside of the refund rules we've described, you can submit a request and we'll take a look at it."

That's pretty clear cut if they say "any title" and the time frame requirements.

In any event, thanks all for the quick response. Really appreciate it.

[dawei213]

This is just idiotic.

This is whole refund process sucks when it doesn't work. Per the other thread, via the manual request, the person was able to get a refund. When I tried it for the 4th time, I get the same canned response for denial. It's the same game as the other player and we both have time played, though mine is less.

Going forward, Steam will be my last option to buy any game.

[dawei213]

It looks like I can't make another request unless it's for other issues.

This platform does not have ANY customer service as far as I'm concerned then if I can't reach a human being. It's utterly ridiculous.

[Ogami]

I-Racing is a subscription based game.
Once a subscription has been started,meaning you downloaded and played the game ( time does not matter) it can no longer be refunded.
Which is also clearly stated in the refund policy rules.

So yes, them denying you the refund was completely correct.

[dawei213]

I've read a chargeback would lock me out of my account right? So they pretty much hold your account hostage?

[Ogami]

Originally posted by dawei213:

I've read a chargeback would lock me out of my account right? So they pretty much hold your account hostage?

A chargeback will lead to a account lock, yes. You can still play your existing games but can no longer activate or buy new games on that account.
A chargeback is tied to hundreds of dollars of additional costs for Steam so they are taking a hard stance about it.

Again, subscriptions cant be refunded when already started, you not reading the refund policy rules does not mean Steam is at fault here.
How about showing some responsibility for your own actions?