GameStop Steam Wallet Code Already Redeemed - Anyone Else Lately?

[Sajakain]

I recently purchased two Steam Wallet codes from GameStop's online store. I've made this kind of purchase multiple times before with zero issues. . . . until this one.

x2 $50 Wallet Codes

The process is always the same:

- Make the purchase
- Get an email verifying the purchase
- Wait a little bit (5 - 15 minutes)
- Get an email with the codes
- Redeem the codes and go about my merry way.

The issue, this time, was that when I went to redeem the codes, Steam said they have already been redeemed.

Has anyone else recently had this issue?

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Customer Support on both ends have been 100% completely useless and Steam has taken it a step further by not even reading the ticket and just giving out their copy / paste generic response.

The short of it is that both supports are saying to contact the other person. (GameStop says to contact Steam and Steam says to contact GameStop). Multiple tickets on both ends with the same exact result.

At the end of the day I'm out $100 and nobody is offering a solution.

I'm curious if anyone else has had a similar situation lately (within the last 6 months to a year) and what their story is.

[Leader of the Zakonistians]

This happens sometimes, though it is pretty rare. Either somehow, someone had the EXACT same code you did, or they stole it somehow. No way to know for sure, but what is certain is you're out of luck. Your only option is to buy another card.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Chances are your e-mail was compromised.

You could always do a chargeback on the payment method used, seeing as you didn't get the product.

Though why use a card on GameStop's site and not directly on Steam?

[Sajakain]

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

Chances are your e-mail was compromised.

My email being compromised was one of my thoughts. Doubtful, but a consideration none-the-less. I went through and double checked all activities, histories, etc. 2FA, locations, history, none of that threw a red flag. I've made purchases like this multiple times before with no issue. It's just this one time.

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

You could always do a chargeback on the payment method used, seeing as you didn't get the product.

Seeing as how both Steam and GameStop are giving me the run-around, this is the only option that I seem to have left. I have already contacted the company and started the dispute process. If neither company is going to give me an actual solution then I'm not paying the $100

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

Though why use a card on GameStop's site and not directly on Steam?

I have a credit card through GameStop. Steam doesn't accept GameStop's credit card. xD

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by Sajakain:

I have a credit card through GameStop. Steam doesn't accept GameStop's credit card. xD

Then that isn't a credit card. A credit cad, you could use on Steam.

https://www.gamestop.com/pro-credit-card

Seems more of a department store card then anything. Chances of a chargeback would be slim in such a case.

Wife had a Macy's card for a bit, but when she needed to do a chargeback for a purchase, they denied it.

Besides, GameStop has been slowly dying for years. Not telling when it will fully go under, so a good idea to be cautious.

I would suggest getting a Credit Card through your bank/credit union instead or someplace like Capital One. A Visa or Mastercard through them would be far better and a real credit card.

[Sajakain]

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

Then that isn't a credit card. A credit cad, you could use on Steam.

I see what you're saying. It's not a "use anywhere card"; just something that has a line of credit with that store specifically.

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

Besides, GameStop has been slowly dying for years. Not telling when it will fully go under.

This is unfortunately the case. There were two locations I primarily dealt with and one of them had a "PC department" in it. Had enough hardware I could've built an entire PC from that location alone. Walked in one day and the entire area was empty. The manager informed me that GameStop is ceasing all PC related hardware sales and expanding to close software sale (very difficult to preorder some titles on PC)

Shame, really. It is what it is, though.

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The really unfortunate thing is, back to the original topic, is that I expected more out of Steam Customer Support. The fact that their replies were generic and a clear case of copy / paste was disappointing.

The dispute has already been filed. I was informed that I will receive the response via mail. We'll see when that time gets here.

The take-away is that I'll never buy another Steam Wallet code online from them again. Even if there's a 0.01% chance of this happening again. I've spent thousands of dollars at GameStop over the years and several hundred for store / product / game codes for personal use and as gifts for friends. Never had an issue with these types of purchases until now. All it takes is one time.

[shen]

Man I wish I had seen this ticket yesterday. Purchased 2 wallet codes, one worked and the other was "already redeemed". I don't understand how neither company can fix the situation. Steam can see when the code was redeemed, where it was redeemed and such and Gamestop doesn't even recognize this keeps happening or just flat out does not care.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by shen:

Man I wish I had seen this ticket yesterday. Purchased 2 wallet codes, one worked and the other was "already redeemed". I don't understand how neither company can fix the situation. Steam can see when the code was redeemed, where it was redeemed and such and Gamestop doesn't even recognize this keeps happening or just flat out does not care.

If someone buys a code, then sells it to someone, then Valve steps in after the seller claims the code was stolen and revoked the money from the buyer, what happens then?

Valve has no way verify anything that is said. All they know is that a code was redeemed. Both parties are going to claim ownership and one is going to lose something, regardless of what choice Valve makes. Best solution in that case, is to do nothing and let those involved figure it out.

If something at GameStop is causing redeemed codes to be sent out or allowing someone else to redeem them first, then that is a GameStop issue. Nothing Valve can really do about it.

If they were simply to give the seller another $100 code, that would open them up to more such scams as well as encourage them to happen.

Originally posted by Sajakain:

The really unfortunate thing is, back to the original topic, is that I expected more out of Steam Customer Support. The fact that their replies were generic and a clear case of copy / paste was disappointing.

And what do you expect them to do? In the situation above, if you were Valve, what would you do?

Keep in mind that screenshots and e-mail receipts can be faked as well as Valve won't have any way to verify the actual transactions numbers as they did not process the payment.

[no154370]

Steam and Valve Corporation are not the Owners of "GameStop" at all.

if you got any problems with 3rd party websites that sell Steam Wallet Codes

then go back to those said 3rd party websites which you bought the Steam Wallet Codes

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Steam Support will not refund people who bought Steam Gift Cards and Steam Wallet Codes outside of Steam Platform.

[Sajakain]

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

And what do you expect them to do? In the situation above, if you were Valve, what would you do?

The disappointment came when their reply clearly reflected the fact that they didn't read the ticket. Wording in their response was a clear case of either an automated reply or a CS employee saying "This subject gets this response" and closing it. It was two different agents and both of them clearly did not read the initial reply and the 2nd one force closed the issue not allowing me to respond at all.

It's like "Blah blah blah we can't hear you and now you can't say anything because we've hung up the phone!"

Even if they won't do anything, it'd be appreciated if they took the time to read what they were replying to instead of just spitting out generic checkbox answers.

Originally posted by no154370:

Steam and Valve Corporation are not the Owners of "GameStop" at all.

While they are not the owners of GameStop, they do list the company as a verified retailer for their codes. I won't presume to say I know how the codes are generated from GameStop's end but the information alone, between the two companies, can easily be verified and the issue resolved. Instead, both companies are saying "Nope. Not it." and just pointing to the other.

Order numbers, account data, and redemptions can all be traced and verified. It's just easier for them to blame the other guy and hope the customer just forgets it instead of actually taking the time to solve the issue.

Originally posted by shen:

Man I wish I had seen this ticket yesterday. Purchased 2 wallet codes, one worked and the other was "already redeemed".

Curious - were the codes from online (digital) or were they physical cards? Either way, I'm sorry to hear that you also had that issue happen.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by Sajakain:

The disappointment came when their reply clearly reflected the fact that they didn't read the ticket. Wording in their response was a clear case of either an automated reply or a CS employee saying "This subject gets this response" and closing it. It was two different agents and both of them clearly did not read the initial reply and the 2nd one force closed the issue not allowing me to respond at all.

It's like "Blah blah blah we can't hear you and now you can't say anything because we've hung up the phone!"

Even if they won't do anything, it'd be appreciated if they took the time to read what they were replying to instead of just spitting out generic checkbox answers.

https://store.steampowered.com/stats/support/

May want to check what they have to deal with.

On March 15th alone, they had over 800, 000 tickets.

They really don't have time personalize a response for every user.

[Sajakain]

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

May want to check what they have to deal with.

On March 15th alone, they had over 800, 000 tickets.

They really don't have time personalize a response for every user.

That's not an excuse. I could write a whole different thread on this topic alone. Instead, I'll just agree to disagree.