Contacting an actual PERSON in Steam Support

[starlight-matrix]

Is there really no possible way to contact someone other than the drop-down menu options? Because what I need help with isn't in those options and it's driving me INSANE.

I've spent half an hour trying to get into one of my old accounts, linked to an email I no longer use but still have access to, because I'm trying to get ahold of a game I've already bought. But I've changed the password for that account three times now and it still won't let me in! None of the sign-in issue menu options will help in this case and I really just need a moderator, but apparently it's impossible to contact one!

Honestly, I understand the menu setup because it makes it easier to filter issues without needing an employee for every single one. But the fact you can't contact an employee directly AT ALL has caused me more stress in the last hour than I've felt during the entire quarantine.

[wuddih]

what is the error when trying to login? *rephrased

[Glimmer]

What's preventing you from accessing the account?

You could always follow the full steps for account recovery. While logged out, follow this guide
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1126288560

[Splat ♥]

Originally posted by Brockenstein:

Originally posted by catherinelynnelove:

Is there really no possible way to contact someone other than the drop-down menu options? Because what I need help with isn't in those options and it's driving me INSANE.

A lot of people are convinced about this and usually they're wrong or just don't want to go through the process.

Originally posted by catherinelynnelove:

I've spent half an hour trying to get into one of my old accounts, linked to an email I no longer use but still have access to, because I'm trying to get ahold of a game I've already bought. But I've changed the password for that account three times now and it still won't let me in! None of the sign-in issue menu options will help in this case and I really just need a moderator, but apparently it's impossible to contact one!

Doesn't sound like you need one. There's an account recovery process and if the self help features don't work it is possible to submit a ticket. Although you have to provide proof of ownership for the account. If you're unable to they won't recover the account to you.

Originally posted by catherinelynnelove:

Honestly, I understand the menu setup because it makes it easier to filter issues without needing an employee for every single one. But the fact you can't contact an employee directly AT ALL has caused me more stress in the last hour than I've felt during the entire quarantine.

The fact is if that was an easy and available option, 95% of people would just do that first or mash all the buttons until they can "just talk to a person" for nearly any inane issue. It would be a huge drain on resources and you'd be pitching a fit over the wait times for live support.

Xbox has easy to find live support and it takes 2 minutes to talk to a person even if the line is like 10 people

[Zekiran]

Originally posted by Splat:

Xbox has easy to find live support and it takes 2 minutes to talk to a person even if the line is like 10 people

Steam has literally tens of millions of users daily. Don't try and compare this.

[starlight-matrix]

The account recovery doesn't work because the options don't include "I've changed my password four times for two different accounts and it still won't let me into either of them."

[wuddih]

Originally posted by catherinelynnelove:

The account recovery doesn't work because the options don't include "I've changed my password four times for two different accounts and it still won't let me into either of them."

if you can change your password you obviously have access to the account.
what is the error on login?

[crunchyfrog]

Originally posted by Splat:

Originally posted by Brockenstein:

A lot of people are convinced about this and usually they're wrong or just don't want to go through the process.



Doesn't sound like you need one. There's an account recovery process and if the self help features don't work it is possible to submit a ticket. Although you have to provide proof of ownership for the account. If you're unable to they won't recover the account to you.



The fact is if that was an easy and available option, 95% of people would just do that first or mash all the buttons until they can "just talk to a person" for nearly any inane issue. It would be a huge drain on resources and you'd be pitching a fit over the wait times for live support.

Xbox has easy to find live support and it takes 2 minutes to talk to a person even if the line is like 10 people

Sorry, that does not translate AT ALL.

You cannot compare one company with another when they are all different and have different setups.

MS has a wide variety of different markets and help staff in many of them, from business support to Windows and more. So having some double-up is normal.

Having the equivalent with Valve where they don't have anything like that is NOT the same.

Again, if they employed live chat in any way, people would simply ignore the ticket system, and completely block the helpline rendering that useless too.

The fact is this is a great method to deal with specific account issues (which is what support is for and we are for others stuff), and asking people to fill in their details allows a nice breathing space to deal with each case before moving to another (which can be impossible or very hard with live chat, where you can be in the middle of one case while talking to someone else).

Plus, think hard about the different areas here - Xbox is a closed system. Things can go wrong with it, sure, and there can always be account issues, but it's FAR simpler. Valve support deal specifically with account issues and a few other things requiring personal data. Can you imagine how a phone line would help with someone trying to access their old account? It'd go something like this:

"Hello, how can I help?"
"- Insert explanation about getting account back -"
"I'm going to need to run through a few personal questions first" - so you do this.
"Now, what is the account name blah blah blah"
You tell them what you know and what you don't.
"Ok, can you now please provide evidence that you own the account? It can be old CD keys or details of the credit cards used in the past"

Tell me, how would that be sped up IN ANY WAY over the phone?

I trust you're seeing the point now.

So, sorry, but I guess you're inexperienced in this, but they are most certainly nothing like the same, just because they work in the same market.

[Muppet among Puppets]

You login with the account name

[starlight-matrix]

I change my password and put it into the Steam launch page, and it doesn't let me in. I'm able to log into my account on the website just fine but every time I go to login on the launcher it won't work no matter what I try.

Originally posted by A no brainer:

Did you get the emails for the password change? If yes, copy the USERNAME out of them and past it into the login. Most of the time people make a mistake with the username. They are case sensitive and when they aren't used for a long time people remember them wrong, but the username is used in the mails EXACTLY the way it needs to be written.

Thank you! That actually worked for my current account, and I never would've thought of it.

I'm going to try it for my older accounts, hopefully I'll get lucky and guess the right username ^^;

[Supafly]

Originally posted by catherinelynnelove:

I change my password and put it into the Steam launch page, and it doesn't let me in. I'm able to log into my account on the website just fine but every time I go to login on the launcher it won't work no matter what I try.

Originally posted by A no brainer:

Did you get the emails for the password change? If yes, copy the USERNAME out of them and past it into the login. Most of the time people make a mistake with the username. They are case sensitive and when they aren't used for a long time people remember them wrong, but the username is used in the mails EXACTLY the way it needs to be written.

Thank you! That actually worked for my current account, and I never would've thought of it.

I'm going to try it for my older accounts, hopefully I'll get lucky and guess the right username ^^;

If that solves it consider using a password manager to store credentials. Some will allow you to autotype username and password so you'll never make a typo again. There are free and paid version. Personally I use KeePass as it's free and doesn't need installing as it can run of a USB. Has both IOS and Android Apps both online for sync'ing or offline that requires manual sync'ing.