On Steam’s new Refund Policy
See http://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds for more on Steam’s new policy concerning refunds.
Basically, what this boils down to is Valve (as of June 2, 2015) finally allows users to obtain a refund of a game or software application bought on the platform. This is a function that was brought to EA’s Origin and GOG.com a while ago, and I will get to that in a bit.
“You can request a refund for nearly any purchase on Steam—for any reason.“
Valve goes on to list various reasons why one would want to return a purchase; perhaps it was a mistake, the PC cannot handle the game for some reason or another, or you simply did not wish to keep the game because you did not like it. Further on, the page lists some stipulations concerning how one goes about acquiring a refund:
Within 14 days of purchase
Under 2 hours of gameplay
One can make an inquiry of refunding a title at help.steampowered.com
“You will be issued a full refund of your purchase within a week of approval. You will receive the refund in Steam Wallet funds or through the same payment method you used to make the purchase. If, for any reason, Steam is unable to issue a refund via your initial payment method, your Steam Wallet will be credited the full amount.“
Apparently, there will be an option for a refund through either the Steam Wallet or the method of purchase; this gives users some leniency, but it should be stated that some methods of payment are not supported. More specifically, unless you are paying with Paypal, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, or JCB, you will automatically get your payment through Steam Wallet. (link here)
DLC (Downloadable Content)
The Steam page states that DLC can be refundable within the same time as a purchase of a game. The difference here is that the title must have “been played for less than two hours since the DLC was purchased, so long as the DLC has not been consumed, modified or transferred,“ which answers that question. Some DLC will not be refunded (the example they provide is a DLC that causes irreversible effects such as a level up). However, Steam says that these will be “clearly marked as nonrefundable [...] prior to purchase.”
As far as in-game purchases within Valve games are concerned, as long as the item is refunded within 48 hours and the item in question has not been used, changed, or given to any other person, Valve will honor a refund. As for all other developers, they “will have the option to enable refunds,” and Steam will let the user know of the choice these developers choose at the time of purchase.
“When you pre-purchase a title on Steam (and have paid for the title in advance), you can request a refund at any time prior to release of that title. The standard 14-day/two-hour refund period also applies, starting on the game’s release date.“
I especially enjoy this bit mainly for those games that have been abandoned by developers. While this obviously does not work retroactively on titles that have already been ‘released,’ it allows users to have the choice to return their product if it is still unfinished or abandoned.
Should someone add funds to the virtual wallet and the funds have not been used, one may request a refund within fourteen days. Don’t know if this was intentional wording on Steam’s part. All other stipulations word in such a way that Steam will offer a refund, or that users have the option to receive a refund.
Pretty much the same as the DLC section. However, be warned. Should you buy a bundle which includes multiple games, it seems as though you will not get two hours of play time per game. Specifically, Steam says that “if the combined usage time for all items in the bundle is less than two hours,“ you should be good. Bundles (as with DLC) will be marked on refundability.
Purchases outside of Steam
“CD keys or Steam wallet cards purchases from third parties” are two examples given. The answer is Valve cannot provide refunds for these.
VAC Bans (Valve Anti-Cheat system)
You lose the right if you have been banned. In light of the mass banning at Blizzard, I don’t think this zero-tolerance stance is correct. I understand that individuals who hack can ruin the experience of others online, but if there were to be a flaw in the VAC system and an individual is banned for a reason unbeknownst to them, this is ‘unfair’ to the user. Recently, users were allegedly being banned from Rockstar’s GTA V on PC for single-player modifications. While these allegations may be false, it is important to mention that Rockstar has stated that their “primary focus is on protecting GTA Online against modifications that could give players an unfair advantage, disrupt game play, or cause griefing” (Rockstar). Should a game be unplayable to an individual who cannot handle the low field of view then installs a modification that changes the FOV (Field of View), this could be viewed as a mod that gives an unfair advantage, as it would allow the user to have more breadth of view. It bears mentioning that Valve will take a look into details if some the user falls outside of the rules provided (such as purchasing a game and requesting a refund fifteen days after purchase). It remains to be seen whether or not such false positives will arise.
“If it appears to us that you are abusing refunds, we may stop offering them to you.“ Valve is saying don’t be a dick. The next line, though, is interesting. “We do not consider it abuse to request a refund on a title that was purchased just before a sale and then immediately rebuying that title for the sale price.“ I suppose the main factor in this (especially with the Steam Summer Sale approaching slowly) is the time it takes for approval. While a refund is provided within the week of approval, no time frame is provided on when Valve get back to the user. But it is nice that they have added this in. I guess someone realized that this does happen a lot of the time, and it lends to a higher customer satisfaction when a blunder can be corrected.
This page is fairly generous in what can and cannot be refunded by the user. It again remains to be seen as the weeks go by.
So Origin has a refund policy, and for a long time, this is what seemed supreme over Valve’s platform. As it stands on Origin’s Refund Policy, “Refund requests can be made within 24 hours after you first launch the game, within seven days from your date of purchase, or within seven days from the game’s release date if you pre-ordered, whichever comes first. And if you purchase a new EA game within the first 30 days of its release date and can’t play it due to technical reasons within EA’s control, you can request a refund within 72 hours after you first launch the game instead of 24.” This looks to be the same on the Origin EU Returns and Cancellations page.
Great Game Guarantee Policy
On Origin’s Great Game Guarantee Policy page, they state the above with some extra information. First, on bundles, the 24 hour time frame mentioned starts when the bundle is first launched.
“You will get a response within forty-eight (48) hours after your request is submitted and your refund within seven (7) to ten (10) days if you meet the Great Game Guarantee refund requirements.“ Here, Origin states a clear time frame for individuals to get a response back from the platform.
Most of the Game Guarantee Policy is similar (e.g., the abuse clause and nonrefundable payment methods).
GOG.com has a 30 Day Money Back Guarantee that lists its rules in an FAQ format.
“If, within 30 days after the purchase of your game, you experience technical problems or game-breaking bugs that prevent you from finishing your game, contact our customer support. They will do their best to help you fix the problem and if, at the end of their attempts to solve the problem your game is still not working, we'll give you back your money.“ Here, we see a more technical approach (an example shown below). Valve states it will provide a refund for any reason provided if it follows the stipulations.
“8. What if I don't want to bother with trying to get my game working? All I want is my money back!
Our top priority is to help you get the game working, and this means that we will require some cooperation from you. We won't ask anything extravagant, or super time-consuming, like a system reinstall, but if you absolutely refuse to try anything, we won't be able to determine whether the problem can be fixed or not, and won't be able to issue a refund.
This is especially relevant if there are some glaring issues with your computer, like DirectX faults, or drivers that are ancient, or even missing.“
Pre-orders before the game’s release can be refunded.
My favorite part of GOG’s policy is in the abuse clause. “So don't be that guy. No one likes that guy.“
So yeah. Steam’s refund policy looks pretty good compared to the others at the moment.
Having a maximum of two weeks instead of seven is pretty handy. I do feel that there will be instances of Steam’s ‘hours played’ function may not be the most reliable, though for such a small time window. Origin has 24 hours after the product’s launch, which could be 24 hours of game play. GOG has the longest period of time (30 days), but the refund cannot be given for any reason. It is on a more technical aspect of owning the product purchased. They all have high points and low points of varying interest to varying shoppers. But at least Valve is on the board in terms of refundability.
Disclaimer: I’ve definitely probably made a mistake at least somewhere in this. Call me out and I can edit accordingly.
