Anyone else have purchases blocked from their account "for their protection"??

[RavenFB]

This is really aggravating! I have been trying for hours to buy Sleeping Dogs, Payday, AI Wars, and a few other games. I added $100 in funds to my Steam Wallet earlier, and decided to use them... now I cannot. How is this "for the protection of the account holder", when the actual MONEY has already been spent?? It seems more likely it is protecting Steam from me buying a bunch of heavily discounted software, more like. I made up a Steam Support ticket about five hours ago. Still haven't heard a peep from ANYONE in Steam Support. My guess is that I'll magically be able to purchase again, once all of those items are no longer on sale. I fully expect to still be able to purchase those items at their discounted prices. This is completely unacceptable!

Hey, mods! Any way you can mark this up somehow to get my darned Support ticket taken care of, so I can buy the games I want with the money you've ALREADY TAKEN FROM ME?! PLEASE?!

[tmwfte]

Steam's anti-fraud protection is for themselves as well as for customers. Unfortunately, all you can do is wait. Steam Support is currently experiencing a heavy ticket load and response times can be in excess of 72 hours.

[RavenFB]

So basically all of the stuff that I was going to buy on sale, I now will not be able to buy on sale? If this is how Valve is going to treat me as a customer, I think I'll be taking all my future business elsewhere. It's just a shame that I already have so much money and so much software tied up into them already.

[RavenFB]

By the way, how is this "anti-fraud"? If this were an "anti-fraud" issue, I would have been prevented from buying the Wallet credit to begin with, and not prevented from spending the credit that's already been bought!! That Wallet credit IS my money! Valve is $100 richer for taking it from me, and there it sits, uselessly, because they are "protecting the account holder". Silly of me to demand what is due to me!

Edit: And if Steam Support is taking 72 hours or more to respond to tickets, Valve or whomever is responsible for Steam Support needs to either hire more personnel, or hire personnel that can get the job done with some alacrity!

[RavenFB]

I cannot express just how incredibly enraged I am right now.
So now Steam won't let me buy anything at all, by any method. I dedided to buy JUST The Bard's Tale on my Visa. Again, purchase denied. I've been using this card for a year with Valve, and I know that there's adequate funds on it.
I really need to know something, here: Since, as has been suggested here, I can likely expect a wait of 72 hours or more to even get a response, is Valve/Steam going to honor the sale price for Sleeping Dogs, Payday, and The Bard's Tale if they don't resolve this before the sale ends? Or are they going to screw me out of that? I've attached screencaps of my purchase attempts in my account history, which shows both the already-bought $100 Wallet credits, as well as the games I am trying to purchase, which is dated... so I can prove that I was intending to purchase those games today, during the sale. It bothers me to no end that I've done absolutely nothing wrong here, and am being treated like a criminal. This demands reprobation. I'm stunned that this has happened, though I probably shouldn't be. What reason has Valve to hurry now, anyway? They've already gotten paid.

[badhair1963]

I've been having the same issue since yesterday morning. I'm glad to see I'm not the only on having this issue as at least it proves to me I've done nothing wrong. Hopefully they'll get the problem sorted in the near future. In the meantime, I suppose I'll just have to content myself with playing the games I've already got and haven't got around to looking at yet.

[RavenFB]

Unfortunately, I've spent pretty much all of my free time today trying to get some response from Valve. I really would have preferred to be playing The Bard's Tale or any of the other games I had expected to own today, but it looks like that's not happening. And, since you've had that issue since yesterday, it also looks like I can expect this NOT to be resolved by the time Sleeping Dogs, Payday, and The Bard's Tale sales have ended. Again, though, what does Valve care? They've already gotten my money, and they get the bonus of having NOT lost some profit on selling those games at sale price. Only I have zero intention of buying them if I DON'T get them at the sale price. In fact, I have no intention of buying ANYTHING in that case. I'll petition to get my Wallet credits refunded, and shut down this accursed account. I won't do business with folks content to sit on their laurels after collecting my money, then treating ME like the thief while they count the money they took from me, and won't let me use to my own ends!

Here's the basic picture:
1. I "bought" $100 in Steam Wallet credits.
2. This means the money, which I have already SPENT, is, in effect, a promissory note from Valve, et al, for future services rendered, ie the digital distribution of software.
3. Since then, any purchase I have tried to make with those credits, or by ANY other means, has been declined "for the account holder's protection".
4. I AM THE ACCOUNT HOLDER!
5. In preventing me from making any purchases, Valve has failed to meet their end of the agreement, which is, in itself, a contract. This, ostensibly, somehow for my own protection, according to the message conveyed.
6. I am, therefore, aggrieved, and demand satisfaction!
7. Valve, in offering no means other than their "Steam Support" forum, have also made it clear that they do not take the resolution of my problem, or any other problem, seriously.
8. It is then safe to assume that I can expect NO satisfaction.
9. Item 7 could present itself as a predisposition to reneging on their contractual obligations to consumers.
10. The sum of all parts constitutes a potential path to legal action. I don't like going there, but this is ridiculous.

I am owed $100 in software, in the time of my choosing, just as if I had bought a $100 gift card from GameStop. Vavle has decided, instead, that my Wallet credit purchase not only begets no obligation to me on their part, but also somehow seems to be an accusation of fraud, if I am to take tmwfte's response as an "official position". Fraud? Hmmm. I'm not the one that looks like a fraud, here. I'm not the one that sold a bill of goods, failed to deliver, and then blamed the consignee.

FIX IT. NOW.
EDIT: Fixed the flow of the rant so as to be more coherent.

[tmwfte]

These are the Steam Users forums. Your only recourse is through Steam Support. Ranting here is not going to get you anywhere. Given that it is currently 10:19 PM PDT at Valve's offices on a Sunday and that support is neither offered, nor guaranteed, 24/7 unfortunately, you're unlikely to get a response any time soon. There are also no guarantees that any purchase is "immediate", so if something was flagged for review, you unfortunately have to wait.

In the mean time, take a read through the Steam Subscriber Agreement.

[Τhe Rolling Cheese Wheel]

Wait.. why are they blocking purchases if you're using steam wallet codes? That sounds incredibly stupid on Valve's end. I get it if they are blocking credit/debit transactions due to multiple cards or first time splurges. But there is no reason at all to block Steam wallet codes. If the codes are applied to an account, obviously it had to be the owner that applied the code.

Why on earth would a hijacker credit boost an account they do not legally own? Fail logic is a fail.

[RavenFB]

No, these aren't Wallet Codes. I added $100 to my Steam Wallet, purchased with my credit card. And now, it won't let me use the Wallet credits, or my credit card. However, this isn't unusual activity at all. I've done this numerous times in the past, and it's never been a problem. And no, it makes no sense at all to block sales to me AFTER already accepting and processing the sale of the Wallet credit. If fraud were to be done, it would be done in the first transaction, and not the later. However, I'm done with this for the night. I really don't care if these are "the users forums". The fact is, I'm here because at least I get SOME response here. I get NOTHING from Steam Support. I don't care how many tickets they have, I don't care what their excuses are, and I don't care what their reasoning is. I'm mad. BEYOND mad. And quite frankly, one way or the other, I will be heard. The fact is, my purchase of the Wallet credit WAS immediate. I have proof of that in the account activity for the card already. What's NOT being "immediate" is my ability to do with them what I see fit, having purchased them. And that, so far as I am concerned, is pretty inconsiderate. That says, to me, "We're happy to take your money for our equivalent of a gift card or store credit. Wait, you actually want to spend it? Now? THIEF! FRAUD! BLACKHAT! EVILDOER! BEGONE! *counts my money while twirling mustache*"
What else do you expect me to do? Just sit around, patiently and obediently, awaiting permission to spend my own money? I think not.

[Τhe Rolling Cheese Wheel]

Originalmente postado por RavenFB:

No, these aren't Wallet Codes. I added $100 to my Steam Wallet, purchased with my credit card. And now, it won't let me use the Wallet credits, or my credit card. However, this isn't unusual activity at all. I've done this numerous times in the past, and it's never been a problem. And no, it makes no sense at all to block sales to me AFTER already accepting and processing the sale of the Wallet credit. If fraud were to be done, it would be done in the first transaction, and not the later. However, I'm done with this for the night. I really don't care if these are "the users forums". The fact is, I'm here because at least I get SOME response here. I get NOTHING from Steam Support. I don't care how many tickets they have, I don't care what their excuses are, and I don't care what their reasoning is. I'm mad. BEYOND mad. And quite frankly, one way or the other, I will be heard. The fact is, my purchase of the Wallet credit WAS immediate. I have proof of that in the account activity for the card already. What's NOT being "immediate" is my ability to do with them what I see fit, having purchased them. And that, so far as I am concerned, is pretty inconsiderate. That says, to me, "We're happy to take your money for our equivalent of a gift card or store credit. Wait, you actually want to spend it? Now? THIEF! FRAUD! BLACKHAT! EVILDOER! BEGONE! *counts my money while twirling mustache*"
What else do you expect me to do? Just sit around, patiently and obediently, awaiting permission to spend my own money? I think not.

Oh pffft then that temporary account lock is fair game. Especially if it's from a different card then all the other ones ever used on your account. I have bought hundreds of games and added likely at least 500 bucks in to my wallet in a day once. Not a single "fraud protection block", you know why? Simple, because I have the bloody sense to use one card.

Although I do agree with you on the timing of the block. A transaction block should be before, not after the product was bought. No idea what Valve was thinking when they implemented that.

[ChrisW]

Why are you telling us since we don't have the information Steam support has? For all we know, someone may have reported the credit card stolen or you may have been trying to make a purchase from a different country. "For the protection of the account holder" usually refers to the person owning the credit card. For all we know, the credit card company has issued a fraud alert.

[RavenFB]

I AM the account holder, in all senses of that phrase. The Steam account holder. The credit card account holder. The Steam Support account holder. I guess none of that makes any difference, though, as the games I had intended to purchase are no longer on sale, and I am willing to bet that Valve will make no attempt to offer me those products at the sale price, despite the fact that this whole issue is entirely their own error and I should have been able to buy them yesterday.
And I am telling you this because I can. Because I feel that what has been done to me is wrong, and I feel that people should be aware of it. I should note that I was able to make purchases again about 15 minutes after the weekend sale ended. Odd, isn't it? Now, I'll be expected to pay $60 more today for software I was going to buy for $45 plus change yesterday. No, thanks.

[ChrisW]

You are right, you will not get the sale price since the publisher is in charge of that. Since you can now purchase games, what reason did they give you for blocking your purchases?

[badhair1963]

Try this: close Steam completely. Once you've done this, open Windows Explorer (NOT Internet Explorer - I know I'm stating the obvious, but I'm trying to keep things simple) and navigate to your steam directory. In your Steam directory, delete everything **EXCEPT** Steam.exe and your Steamapps folder. Once you've done that, close Windows Explorer and restart your computer. Once restarted, open Steam. It should then download any missing files and you can then retry your purchase. This is from the message they sent to me and it worked for me. Give it a try and let us know how you get on.

[RavenFB]

ChrisW: They haven't given me any reason at all. In fact, they have yet to respond at all to my Steam Support ticket. I eventually tried to just purchase the games that were either still on sale, or hadn't been on sale to begin with, and that purchase went through. At this point, I feel like Steam/Valve has either screwed me out of three games and a few DLC I wanted, or screwed me out of $60 if I decide to buy them anyway. At this point, I highly doubt I will buy them. I'm really beginning to feel as though, if they can't manage to make good on the sale price that I was pointlessly prevented from taking advantage of, then I will likely use my remaning credits to gift some stuff to friends, and then cease purchasing anything new from Valve. Most likely, I'll switch to Desura. I don't really care for the "Wall of Silence" I have gotten from Valve. It really feels as though they have gone to great lengths to avoid providing any answer, support, or relief to me, and judging from numerous other posts I have seen, I'm not the only one feeling this way. Effectively speaking, as far as Valve is concerned, they already got their money when I bought the Wallet credits. Their meddling then prevented me from buying several heavily discounted items, the difference of which is $60. To them, that's prevented a $60 loss. Since I've already bought the Wallet credit, it's going to either be spent, or abandoned, but I am sure they believe I will still purchase those games at the substantially higher current price. I really can't put it any other way: This will lose Valve a customer. Motorola screwed me over several years ago on a bad product that they refused to replace, despite knowing that it was a bad product. I have never, and will never, purchase another Motorola product again. When I decided to cut ties with a company or corporation, I mean it. I take my money elsewhere. While it may only be a drop in the bucket to them, so far as I am concerned, I will not allow a company that treats me this way to profit off of me. Period.