Why is it so hard to get in contact with Steam?

[Bojangles]

They seem to care so much about security and keeping everybody's fake toy knives and keys safe, but if you come across an actual server, download, installation or payment issue there is no email to address and definitely no phone number to call. It's pathetic.

[Ranting Demon]

You just click on the Help tab up in the steam client and go to the support page. From there everything should be easy.

[fluxtorrent]

the help drop down is too hard, cause reading?

[wuddih]

a big chunk of these problems is covered by the knowledge bases, google and user forums.

http://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/1/494631959821287778/
the reason you probably received no reply on that is ... it is too long, I gave you a reply now but 10 minutes investing in google would have also resulted in several other possible solutions.

[Shotgun]

Originally posted by Ranting Demon:

From there everything should be easy.

Aside from the part where you wait 6-8 weeks to get an initial response by a keyword-scanning bot, and then another couple of weeks when you choose the escalation option.

As terrible as it sounds, the answer to the OP's question is that Valve simply doesn't want its own users to bother them, because they're too busy counting stacks of money. They stretch the process to such an extent that chances are you'll either end up fixing your issue by yourself, or give up and go away.

Yes, it's as bad as I make it out to be. I've had a transaction-related ticket open since June, and aside from the fact that it took many weeks to even get the initial response, it's still unresolved. Their second reply was basically that "we're not going to help you with this issue, you're on your own" and they left the ticket open, despite the fact that I followed up with more questions.

The support system is truly terrible, and being unable to get in touch is a logical extension of that.

I had an issue with Humble Bundle once, and they answered my ticket before I even logged into my e-mail again.

[Ranting Demon]

Originally posted by Shotgun:

Aside from the part where you wait 6-8 weeks to get an initial response by a keyword-scanning bot, and then another couple of weeks when you choose the escalation option.

So far I have dealt with steam support two times and each time I have received a direct response from a support staff member after roughly 2 to 3 days.

The average milleage may vary, of course. Other than that it has to be kept in mind that steam has between 6 and 10 million people online at all times and between 1,5 and 3 million people in games at all times. It is safe to assume that the amount of support mails and requests per day number in the thousands if not up in the tens of thousands. It's completely impossible to expect rapid responses of the kind you get from Humble Bundle (not to mention that Humble Bundle does nothing else than supply keys and download links so the range of possible issues and problems is fairly limited andsupport requests are relatively easy to work through).

[The Giving One]

If this is about your other thread here...

http://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/1/494631959821287778/

then you may not need anything from support here in the first place, AND one of the reasons that support is so backed up is because users keep submitting tickets for every little thing that it totally fixable by themselves, with all due respect , and with help from us here in the forums sometimes.

[Shotgun]

Originally posted by Ranting Demon:

Originally posted by Shotgun:

Aside from the part where you wait 6-8 weeks to get an initial response by a keyword-scanning bot, and then another couple of weeks when you choose the escalation option.

So far I have dealt with steam support two times and each time I have received a direct response from a support staff member after roughly 2 to 3 days.

Some categories likely have expedited queues. But even 2-3 days is too much when we think about what customer support truly means.

Originally posted by Ranting Demon:

The average milleage may vary, of course. Other than that it has to be kept in mind that steam has between 6 and 10 million people online at all times and between 1,5 and 3 million people in games at all times. It is safe to assume that the amount of support mails and requests per day number in the thousands if not up in the tens of thousands. It's completely impossible to expect rapid responses of the kind you get from Humble Bundle (not to mention that Humble Bundle does nothing else than supply keys and download links so the range of possible issues and problems is fairly limited andsupport requests are relatively easy to work through).

"The company is too big and successful to provide support in a timely manner" isn't much of an excuse. In fact, it can be said that it's the opposite of an excuse.

I'm just not buying the explanation that poor old Valve can't scrape enough shekels from the bottom of the piggy bank to get a few dozen extra in-house support staff members, which would be low-tier employees with no RnD costs attached. It's a company that by some estimates grosses $2 billion in profits per year, and only has about 300 employees. It can't be money, so what else is it?

[The Giving One]

There are countless threads already here about long support wait times. Can we PLEASE not turn this into another one ? Other users here need help with things that we can actually help with, and every time this gets posted in, they get moved down the list even more. The OP has another thread already open, and if that is why he or she needs support, then maybe we can help in that thread as it is still active. Thanks.

[Shotgun]

This thread was in a different section originally, but fair point now.