Steam Support Possible the Worst Yet

[King_Arthur]

So I'm currently having problems with the Steam client that prevent me from playing (or even downloading anymore) the games that I paid for. I tried to contact Steam, but apparently they don't have their own phone number (?!), and I tried to contact Valve and you have to go through a 3rd party support system that is essentially pointless. So here is my question: Why does a multibillion $ company not have direct and dedicated support for one of its more successful services?? Why do we have to jump through hoops to resolve problems they created most of the time?? I wanna hear y'all thoughts.

[Spawn of Totoro]

"Steam Support requires an account that is DIFFERENT to your Steam Account, so if you don't have a Steam Support account you'll need to create one. https://support.steampowered.com/register

Once you have your Steam Support account, you'll need to create a new ticket: https://support.steampowered.com/newticket.php " -FrazerJC

There is no 3rd pary support.

[King_Arthur]

I have done all of this. And they've yet to address my concerns with the client. And yes, for Valve, you have to go through a 3rd party called "GetHuman".. which is rather ironic, since if you don't have a three digit extension to actual person, you'll never talk to one.

[Zefar]

When you send in a support ticket it's sent directly to the Valve staff. There are no third parties here.

If you need help with another company that have published their game on Steam you need to contact that company.

It might take some time because they have too many costumers and it isn't all that easy to just hire in new people.

[King_Arthur]

I don't think you're understand the issue I'm bringing to the table. When you have a problem, you cannot contact anyone directly (e.i. chat, phone), for Steam has no direct line to its consumers. You can only contact them indirectly through this "support ticket" system. And even then it takes 4-6 days for them to get back to you. Which is rather pathetic for a company as big as Valve. And when you try to contact Valve directly, the only phone number available is given by a company called "GetHuman" which is fully automated and pointless unless you have a specific person to contact. It's ridiculous!
Only contact info Valve offers:
www.valvesoftware.com/contact
gethuman.com/phone-number/Valve-Software/

[psi onix]

lol, so much feelings of entitlement with you people. It is so ridiculous. i know banks and credit unions with FRACTIONS of the amount of members that steam has and even they have problems with "dropped calls" and people having to wait to speak to someone in the service department.

the ticket system is the only possible way to deal with steams millions upon millions of users. get off your high horse and be patient.

[King_Arthur]

By the same coin, there are companies with many more clients than Valve/Steam, and they carry out direct customer support perfectly. It doesn't have as much to do with any sense of entitlement (which is non-existent in this case), as it has to do with the fact that we are the consumers that are keeping that company afloat. Without us, they have nothing (unless the further diversify). For that, they need to ensure the quality of their products. It is that simple.

[King_Arthur]

It's too late, I fixed the problem on my own, only hours after posting this. Now I simply have it up to see what people think on the matter.

[Zefar]

Messaggio originale di King_Arthur:

I don't think you're understand the issue I'm bringing to the table. When you have a problem, you cannot contact anyone directly (e.i. chat, phone), for Steam has no direct line to its consumers. You can only contact them indirectly through this "support ticket" system. And even then it takes 4-6 days for them to get back to you. Which is rather pathetic for a company as big as Valve. And when you try to contact Valve directly, the only phone number available is given by a company called "GetHuman" which is fully automated and pointless unless you have a specific person to contact. It's ridiculous!
Only contact info Valve offers:
www.valvesoftware.com/contact
gethuman.com/phone-number/Valve-Software/

Valve does not do phone support. They have their reasons why and the biggest reason was, "It isn't worth the time as someone has to wait for people to call".
The support at the top is the best way to contact Valve because the ticket will be sent to the staff directly and they will try to get to you as quickly as possible.

That Gethuman site is for other stuff and not Game support related.

[King_Arthur]

Once again, it is ridiculous for a company to not attempt to ensure the longevity of its product through direct support. Longevity of your products = longevity of the company. And my problem is not "game support related," it has to do with with the rather buggy client software and the lack of help we get. And the "GetHuman" site clearly states that it is for "custumer support" purposes. Don't satisfy yourselves with mediocre services and demand the best of the companies you support: it can only help both parties.

[King_Arthur]

The problem consisted of Steam putting me into a nearly permanent "Offline Mode" which meant that I could not play multiplayer games (like Left 4 Dead and Castle Crashers). After doing everything that I felt relevant to do (turning off my firewall, resetting my router, attempting futilely to change the setting to "Online Mode," updating Steam, etc.) I decided that re-installing Steam was the only option left. So I did it. The first time i had to do it, everything went smoothly. That was a month ago. Nearly a week ago, it happened again, but this time, after going through the motions and re-installing Steam, I couldn't play any of my games. Not even install them. So after waiting days for the pathetic Steam support, I decided to just delete everything in my computer that was related to Steam (game files, Steam files, etc.) and re-install. That seems to have fixed it for the moment.

[Lostedge]

Regarding steam support:

I agree. Steam support is in child shoes compared to many other big companies. Though nothing is going to change with this thread. Make a complaint to somewhere where it matters. Try to contact popular game magazines / game people to make a article / youtube video about steam support and long response times ... I am serious this is the only way they will hire more personnel (bad publicity).

Give feedback to their customer relations personnel ... which is hard as their customer relations personnel is well protected secret, and nobody knows him / her.



Regarding your problem:

Well, the solution was kind of obvious. If steam does not work, re-installing it normally works. Though it is very annoying if you have 300 games installed, and need "re-validate" them again ... takes a long time (or as steam says "changing them to more efficient format")

[King_Arthur]

I agree. Much like the XBox One's current situation, sometimes bad publicity is the only thing that catalyzes change. But about my issue, re-installing it was not the solution (not completely, anyway), because I actually re-installed it 3 times before a friend (user of Steam for years) suggested that sought out and deleted everything Steam-related and delete it. In my opinion, this is not something I should have been forced to solve on my own. Either way, thanks for your opinion. I'll try to seek out this mythical customer relations personnel.

[NeKryXe]

about 9 hours ago i added some more money to my steam wallet to use on community market, right after it i got completely blocked to use the market and lost access to my money. since then i already contacted my bank with success and confirmed that steam got my money, but, after 9 hours i never found a way to contact steam. i opened a ticket right after the problem but never got any answer, i searched for phones, chats, everything. i'll be forced to inform the bank that i don't authorize the transaction and find a way to get my money back, because there is no way to contact steam. this is really insane :\

[NeKryXe]

now it's too late, so, it's not overreacting it's a final reaction. i added that money 9 hours ago to my wallet because i needed 9 hours ago to get some things at the community market for one particular trade deal that i already lost thanks to the lack of a steam support. now i just need to find a way to get my money back, because at this moment is not either on my bank account or steam account. it's not asking for much to have a chat or phone support, after all, this is a shop with clients.

[NeKryXe]

i'm still able to contact microsoft every time.