Steam's refund policy is poop.

filmoret · July 2016

Well I got this game and was like bleh don't really like it very much considering the mods are better. Just got the game last night and checked it out for a few hours and well I don't get a refund because I went over 2 hours of gameplay. Not very happy

Hello filmoret
We have reviewed your refund request.

We are unable to refund this purchase to your Steam Wallet at this time. Your playtime of an included product exceeds 2 hours (our refund policy maximum).

Mount & Blade: With Fire and Sword - Playtime: 3 hours 23 minutes

Purchased: Jul 27, 2016 PDT

Requests are considered on a case by case basis and are not typically issued for purchases of released products that are more than 14 days old, or if the purchased product has more than 2 hours of playtime. For in-game items the refund period is 48 hours and the item must not have been consumed, modified, or transferred.

To learn more about the refund process, please visithttp://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds/

The Steam Support Team
https://help.steampowered.com/

Xeno.phon · July 2016

Um yeah, 2h is enough. Pay attention next time.

simsalabim77 · July 2016

Reading the refund policy when you buy things you're not sure about is generally a pretty good idea.

Avanah · July 2016

Most of the time, people will know if they like a game or not in under 2 hours. If you played more than 2 hours...Something is drawing you in or keeping you in longer.
What were you trying to do in game? Did you afk for 2 hrs and then use 1 hour to figure out you don't like it?
There is nothing wrong with Steams Refund Policy. It's 2 Hours for a reason....People usually don't take more than that to figure out if they like it or not.

I have gotten probably 5 refunds from Steam so far and each one never went over an hour.

When you purchased the game you agreed to their Refund Policy btw..Unless you didn't read it...

SEANMCAD · July 2016

I do not think there is any other product or service in the universe or in the history of mankind other than video games in which you can find out a near lifetime supply of information on before you buy it.

Do I exaggerate? yea but only slightly.
wiki's, review, lets plays, forum board I mean really? at what point should a consumer actually have personal responsibility?

psiic · July 2016

I love the refund policy has saved me on over 100 games so far this year.

bartoni33 · July 2016

Well like everything else in the world this policy is not a black or white issue.

How about if your computer is up to requirements but the game is poorly optimized? You could easily spend 2 hours trying different things to get it to work.

Anyone remember Age of Conan? Remember Tortage? Remember how detailed and great the quests and NPCs were? Remember how much the quality went down after leaving there? Remember thinking "man this sucks, did Funcom give up after Tortage"? Pepperidge Farms and myself remember!

Panther2103 · July 2016

How did you even play longer than 2 hours without knowing if you liked the game or not? It's pretty blatant within the first 30 minutes usually. Even then, you know before hand that the policy is 2 hours. There is no other digital service that offers refunds on games like this. So take what you can get.

bartoni33 · July 2016

DMKano said:

This is why I think free 2 try is the best model.

EDIT: Whoops you added to your post. Nevermind...

bartoni33 · July 2016

Panther2103 said:

There is no other digital service that offers refunds on games like this. So take what you can get.

Wrong. Pretty sure at least GOG gives refunds for more than 2 hours. I think GMG does too. GMG is my go-to for games anymore. They get good deals more often than Steam.

Slapshot1188 · July 2016

It's $9.99 on sale
You played it for 3 hrs and 23 minutes
You paid $2.96 an hour

To me personally I wish Steam would ditch the refund policy and go back to having legitimate Steam Sales and multipack offers.

filmoret · July 2016

Panther2103 said:

How did you even play longer than 2 hours without knowing if you liked the game or not? It's pretty blatant within the first 30 minutes usually. Even then, you know before hand that the policy is 2 hours. There is no other digital service that offers refunds on games like this. So take what you can get.

Its mount and blade. Takes a few hours just to figure out if they added anything worth seeing. Which they didn't on this version.

MaxBacon · July 2016

The steam refund policy is a mess.

People are using it to simply demo games, i know people on sales that bought dozens of games just to try and then submit tons of refund requests. As Valve is getting aware of that and it seems they're not liking it obviously exceptions are not to expect.

If it is for that, just make a Free to Try period demo and it would live up to what several people have been using the refund policy for.

Rusque · July 2016

Panther2103 said:

How did you even play longer than 2 hours without knowing if you liked the game or not? It's pretty blatant within the first 30 minutes usually. Even then, you know before hand that the policy is 2 hours. There is no other digital service that offers refunds on games like this. So take what you can get.

Not all games get going right away. Especially RPG's where the early levels are usually spent creating characters, getting used to some basics of the world you're in, looking at the (few abilities) you have and how your character(s) might progress. Mount and Blade has a lot of reading text boxes and it takes a while to get used to their [absurd] combat system, by the time you have a good grasp of it you can be well past 2 hours in, then you have to decide if you are actually enjoying what you're doing.

Even Skyrim is boring as hell for the first 10 or so hours. RPG progression just takes a while until you start getting more interesting abilities.

Gdemami · July 2016

Agree. There should be no refunds at all.

Panther2103 · July 2016

bartoni33 said:

Panther2103 said:

There is no other digital service that offers refunds on games like this. So take what you can get.

Wrong. Pretty sure at least GOG gives refunds for more than 2 hours. I think GMG does too. GMG is my go-to for games anymore. They get good deals more often than Steam.

How does GMG give you refunds? Most of their games are steam keys, so once you get it and activate it they can't disable it. I also didn't know GOG gave refunds, but I can understand that I guess CDprojekt red is great at pretty much everything they do.

Yeah I guess I understand the idea of RPG's taking longer to get into as well. I just think that in some cases people abuse the hell out of this system.

Bloodaxes · July 2016

It's easily exploitable to beat short games and refund the money back.

There are many games that are as long as 4-6 hours and you are proposing for a longer refund policy? Not going to happen. Like others said, next time check some gameplay videos or make a thread here and see what other people tell you.

Sovrath · July 2016

Rusque said:

Even Skyrim is boring as hell for the first 10 or so hours.

"!" it is?

I'm going to have to disagree with you on that. That's the whole unfolding of the world and the "setup".

You learn who the power players are and get to learn how each side does things. Not to mention, if you aren't adverse to the main quests in these games, the whole mythology of Alduin (and actually seeing him for the first time lay waste a town).

It's pretty exciting.

Arglebargle · July 2016

Appeal it up the chain. Steam will make it difficult to do, but do it anyway. If you are serious.

Not like you played it for 70 hours over 13 days. And it is not the simplest game out there, either.

H0urg1ass · July 2016

Rusque said:

Panther2103 said:

How did you even play longer than 2 hours without knowing if you liked the game or not? It's pretty blatant within the first 30 minutes usually. Even then, you know before hand that the policy is 2 hours. There is no other digital service that offers refunds on games like this. So take what you can get.

Not all games get going right away. Especially RPG's where the early levels are usually spent creating characters, getting used to some basics of the world you're in, looking at the (few abilities) you have and how your character(s) might progress. Mount and Blade has a lot of reading text boxes and it takes a while to get used to their [absurd] combat system, by the time you have a good grasp of it you can be well past 2 hours in, then you have to decide if you are actually enjoying what you're doing.

Even Skyrim is boring as hell for the first 10 or so hours. RPG progression just takes a while until you start getting more interesting abilities.

I've played quite a few games where about 4 hours in I was like "This game just went from ok to utter shit. I'd like to get off this train now."

Two hours is pretty damn low for a lot of genre's of games.

sketocafe · July 2016

I think it's fine. The policy should never be so easy as to work whenever one wants it because that is rife for abuse. It is still on you to beware, as the buyer. It's on you to do your homework. It's on you to track your play time given the stated refund policy. A refund policy should protect players from dishonest advertising, not their own carelessness. Steam's current policy does this quite well.

SEANMCAD · July 2016

with as many youtube letplays out there for video games at what point does a consumer take personal responsibility for their purchases?

filmoret · July 2016

SEANMCAD said:

with as many youtube letplays out there for video games at what point does a consumer take personal responsibility for their purchases?

Which is why I gave it more then 2 hours of gameplay. The videos were saying the game is great.

Gdemami · July 2016

filmoret said:
Which is why I gave it more then 2 hours of gameplay. The videos were saying the game is great.

...then ask those youtubers for a refund, not Steam.

SEANMCAD · July 2016

filmoret said:

SEANMCAD said:

with as many youtube letplays out there for video games at what point does a consumer take personal responsibility for their purchases?

Which is why I gave it more then 2 hours of gameplay. The videos were saying the game is great.

'the' videos? you watched one video and decided to buy? really?

Gdemami · July 2016

sketocafe said:

A refund policy should protect players from dishonest advertising, not their own carelessness.

Erm no, that is mostly what they are there for - to protect customers from their own stupidity.

While there are usually some law enforced rules how to handle a refund - return or exchange of defective goods mostly, refund policies are by large part established by merchants.

It is an extension of customer service. Customers do not have a right to return goods just because they are not satisfied with their purchase, it is just a good will and result of market competition providing this option.

Nothing more but self-entitlement of a customer...

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Steam's refund policy is poop.

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Steam's refund policy is poop.

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