PC & Video Games

I'm Done With STEAM - EDITTT see last page

  • Last Updated:
  • Mar 14th, 2015 5:31 pm
Tags:
None
Penalty Box
Dec 27, 2013
8003 posts
4050 upvotes
Toronto

I'm Done With STEAM - EDITTT see last page

I've had an epiphany of sorts. Well... Not so much an epiphany, just that I'm really pissed off at STEAM. How is it that companies like McDonalds, WalMart, BestBuy, focus on providing excellent customer service and yet a company like STEAM and all the companies that release games on STEAM can get away with providing NO customer service or support.

This is more of a rant than anything but I will give you the details in full. I bought Call of duty advanced warfighter during the STEAM sale about 4 weeks ago. At the same time I bought Planetary Annihilation. The total cost was about $100.00 even. Great.. So I download the games, about 50gbs in total off steam, and proceed to try and play them.

I only bought these games for online multiplayer.

Can you guess what the first problem I had was with both of these games? Call of duty WILL not connect to online play. I tried everything. I searched everywhere. I posted for help on the STEAM community forums. I tried all the suggestions and nothing worked. I'm not the only one either, lots of people with the same issue. Total Anhilation will connect to online play but when you try to play unranked matches it will not show current games to join - it will not download the server lists.

So I was pissed and called my credit card company and started the process of a charge back. Guess what STEAM does, they send you a message via STEAM saying that you cannot use any of the VAC servers/any online servers for up to 9 weeks or unless the charge back is reversed. On top of that, the credit card that I used can no longer be used with STEAM because of the charge back. LOL.

Im not sure if you know how a charge back works but basically the retailer has 45 days or so to respond to the Credit card company. If they respond the charge back is cancelled unless you the consumer tell the credit card company to further pursue the issue.

In any case the only way to contact STEAM through all of this nonsense is through their STEAM SUPPORT website. Which has terrible Custer service. You need to send an email and then wait days if not weeks for a response. There is no 1-800 number. There is no online chat platform for help. There is nothing. There is no one to complain to that my STEAM account is pretty much "banned" until the charge back dilemma is solved.

So this is how STEAM holds you hostage. You buy a game, the game doesn't work. It's not STEAMs fault its the "game developers" but STEAM won't do anything to help you a) get your money back b) make the game work. AND if you charge back, you can't play your other games through online play... LOL. amazing customer service.

I get it. I get that STEAM didn't make these games, they merely sell it to you as a third party. Like if I bought agame from Best Buy it's not best buys fault the game doesn't work. But at the same time, I expect that in 2015, that with software that is loaded with DRM and all this ***** that if somethign doesn't work that you guys can either refund it, or exchange it, or help us freaking fix it, OR HELP US go after the developers of the game to get our money back.

It's total BS that in 2015 developers can release games with so many freaking problems. It's scary that games from 15 years ago work better at online game play than games from this generation. It's totally mind boggling to me.



Lastly, I must say I am impressed with EA ORIGIN and their support. I had bought Titan Fall during a sale and had a problem where it too could not connect to online multiplayer (go figure same developers from Titan fall and Call of Duty). BUT with EA I got help through EA chat... And then THEY ACTUALLY CALLED ME and were on the phone for 40 minutes with me to try and fix the problem. It wouldn't work at the end of the day and they gave me a full refund. I was sad but happy with the service i received. At least these were people that were understanding and empathetic.


Just so you guys don't think I'm a total scrub with computers
a) Battlefield 4 runs on my computer at MAXIMUM settings and plays online with no problems.
b) Counter Strike Source runs on my computer and plays online with no problems.

So I;m not some door knob that doesn't know that your firewall can block *****/etc.

Anyway, I am probably never going to buy anything from STEAM again because of this. Im debating uninstalling it from my computer. I think I'm done with gaming for ever as it's to much of a pain in the ass every time you want to play something.
163 replies
Newbie
User avatar
Dec 24, 2014
77 posts
9 upvotes
Oakville, ON
Little bit of an overreaction to say you may never game on PC on anymore. There are tons of online retailers that sell games you can turn to. Greenmangaming, Direct2Drive, DLgamer, Nuuvem, Origin, GetGames, Gog, Amazon, Newegg, and the list goes on.

Steam support does suck though. It's been an issue for as long as I have used it, which has been a while now.
Penalty Box
Dec 27, 2013
8003 posts
4050 upvotes
Toronto
It seems every time I buy a stupid game on PC these days there is an issue.
Sr. Member
Jan 29, 2013
746 posts
138 upvotes
Toronto
hazzy9 wrote: Little bit of an overreaction to say you may never game on PC on anymore. There are tons of online retailers that sell games you can turn to. Greenmangaming, Direct2Drive, DLgamer, Nuuvem, Origin, GetGames, Gog, Amazon, Newegg, and the list goes on.

Steam support does suck though. It's been an issue for as long as I have used it, which has been a while now.
Of those retailers, I'm only familiar with Steam. Do these other ones also force you to use some sort of app to download/run PC games? Are any of them such that you download a traditional install package that you install and plug in your license (that you get from them)?
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
May 25, 2009
9113 posts
2403 upvotes
qualdoth wrote: Of those retailers, I'm only familiar with Steam. Do these other ones also force you to use some sort of app to download/run PC games? Are any of them such that you download a traditional install package that you install and plug in your license (that you get from them)?
I only have experience with a handful of these.

Green Man Gaming (GMG) mainly resells Steam keys. Same thing with the Humble Store.

Origins (EA) and UPlay (Ubisoft) has their own client software like Steam.

GOG is probably one of the best, no client software and no DRM. You download the install file straight up plus any associated bonus digital material (i.e. manuals etc). However GOG mainly focuses on selling older titles but they do carry some newer ones such as The Witcher series mainly because they're a subsidiary of CD Projekt.

The rest of the other ones are a mishmash of selling Steam keys or not etc. depending on the game.
"God's in His heaven. All's right with the world." - Robert Browning (1812-1889)
Deal Fanatic
Oct 23, 2004
9850 posts
7803 upvotes
Toronto
Steam Support absolutely sucks, no one will dispute that, but you made your situation far worse than it needed to be by deciding to instigate a charge back. You will have problems with a any company you do this with, not just Steam. You even acknowledge the issues you were having were likely the result of the game developers of the games you chose to buy rather than Steam, but you got impatient and charged back anyways. Did you even attempt to contact Activision support about the COD issue?

Anyways, you would've been better off being patient and waiting for Steam support to get back to you rather than charging back and putting your account status in jeopardy. Good luck

daivey wrote: It seems every time I buy a stupid game on PC these days there is an issue.
That's unfortunate but probably more so a side effect of the games you're choosing to buy. I own ~300 games on steam and haven't had any significant issues. I had a problem with 1 garbage UPLAY game where I reached out to get a refund and was shut down to no surprise because that was mainly my fault for trusting Ubisoft/Uplay and wasn't a Steam's issue.
Penalty Box
Dec 27, 2013
8003 posts
4050 upvotes
Toronto
ReeGee wrote: Steam Support absolutely sucks, no one will dispute that, but you made your situation far worse than it needed to be by deciding to instigate a charge back. You will have problems with a any company you do this with, not just Steam. You even acknowledge the issues you were having were likely the result of the game developers of the games you chose to buy rather than Steam, but you got impatient and charged back anyways. Did you even attempt to contact Activision support about the COD issue?

Anyways, you would've been better off being patient and waiting for Steam support to get back to you rather than charging back and putting your account status in jeopardy. Good luck
whatever, I dont care anymore. STEAM is BS and the whole "putting your account in jeapordy" is bs too. No other compnay would do that if you attempted a charge back. Infact NO Other company is so impossible to contact.

and yet, there is still no fix form activision.
Deal Fanatic
Oct 23, 2004
9850 posts
7803 upvotes
Toronto
daivey wrote: whatever, I dont care anymore. STEAM is BS and the whole "putting your account in jeapordy" is bs too. No other compnay would do that if you attempted a charge back. Infact NO Other company is so impossible to contact.

and yet, there is still no fix form activision.
It's not that they're impossible to contact. They're just not very good and slow with contact. The few times I've contacted STEAM support, they got back to me within a few days and were mostly helpful. Only one of those contacts was regarding a refund for a broken game and like I said below that was more Ubisoft/Uplay issue than Steam.
Deal Expert
User avatar
Nov 15, 2004
21786 posts
4903 upvotes
Toronto
I love how you bring up Best Buy as an example. They haven't accepted returns of PC games for over a decade. As Reegee said, why didn't you contact Activision about the issues?
daivey wrote: whatever, I dont care anymore. STEAM is BS and the whole "putting your account in jeapordy" is bs too. No other compnay would do that if you attempted a charge back. Infact NO Other company is so impossible to contact.

and yet, there is still no fix form activision.
EA will ban you from Origin if you even look at them funny. They're well known for locking people out of their entire accounts (even single player games) for something as small as a post on their forums.
Sr. Member
Jul 27, 2007
948 posts
50 upvotes
From what I've read, Origin customer support is actually really good now.

I attribute Steam's *****ty customer service to their org structure. When you have a company that hires only the most brilliant people in the world and let them work on whatever they feel like, no one is going to work on customer support. The current support is likely being outsourced to some random company. Someone in Valve signed a contract really quickly to get it off their desks so they can go back to doing whatever.
Penalty Box
Dec 27, 2013
8003 posts
4050 upvotes
Toronto
FlyingSquirrel wrote: From what I've read, Origin customer support is actually really good now.

I attribute Steam's *****ty customer service to their org structure. When you have a company that hires only the most brilliant people in the world and let them work on whatever they feel like, no one is going to work on customer support. The current support is likely being outsourced to some random company. Someone in Valve signed a contract really quickly to get it off their desks so they can go back to doing whatever.
yeah oh well.
Deal Fanatic
Oct 23, 2004
9850 posts
7803 upvotes
Toronto
FlyingSquirrel wrote: From what I've read, Origin customer support is actually really good now.

I attribute Steam's *****ty customer service to their org structure. When you have a company that hires only the most brilliant people in the world and let them work on whatever they feel like, no one is going to work on customer support. The current support is likely being outsourced to some random company. Someone in Valve signed a contract really quickly to get it off their desks so they can go back to doing whatever.
Probably, doesnt' make it acceptable though. Steam is great in a lot of ways and offers great prices for games but the customer support is really bad. They really should be implementing some protection for Customers and offer refunds just like Origin does. IN the meanwhile you just need to do your homework on the games you're buying before you dive in and if you do end up with a bad game, charging back isn't the answer.
tritium4ever wrote: Buy from GOG and never get held hostage to DRM, account lockouts, and always-online requirements. Problem solved. :)
Not a real alternative though as GOG's catalogue is extremely limited and missing a ton of popular AAA games only available on Steam or purchasing through Steam resellers like the ones mentioned in this thread
Deal Addict
User avatar
Mar 1, 2003
1823 posts
318 upvotes
Scarborough
ReeGee wrote: Not a real alternative though as GOG's catalogue is extremely limited and missing a ton of popular AAA games only available on Steam or purchasing through Steam resellers like the ones mentioned in this thread
Fair enough. GOG is always going to have a product gap simply because of developers who refuse to believe that DRM-free can work. I don't expect AAA games to show up on DRM-free resellers anytime soon, if ever. But hey, you can get Witcher 3 without DRM (for the love of all that is holy, if you're buying Witcher 3, do not buy it on Steam...use GOG or Humble Bundle).

Ultimately the most effective course of action is to vote with your wallet. The last time I gave a single penny to Valve was Jan. 28, 2010, almost exactly 5 years ago.
Ever wanted to shoot guns legally? See here: ever-wanted-shoot-guns-legally-next-sat ... n-1185701/
Public Mobile $13/month plan
Penalty Box
Dec 27, 2013
8003 posts
4050 upvotes
Toronto
tritium4ever wrote: Fair enough. GOG is always going to have a product gap simply because of developers who refuse to believe that DRM-free can work. I don't expect AAA games to show up on DRM-free resellers anytime soon, if ever. But hey, you can get Witcher 3 without DRM (for the love of all that is holy, if you're buying Witcher 3, do not buy it on Steam...use GOG or Humble Bundle).

Ultimately the most effective course of action is to vote with your wallet. The last time I gave a single penny to Valve was Jan. 28, 2010, almost exactly 5 years ago.
yep. I'm done too with STEAM. Good on you for sticking to that.
Deal Expert
User avatar
Oct 26, 2003
39343 posts
6342 upvotes
Winnipeg
phew, good thing origin have something going for them. the amount of effort i had to put into to get watchdog to run correctly was quite irritating and was due to their incompetence of having a instable cloud save and ingame overlay
Moderator
User avatar
Aug 20, 2009
9827 posts
5935 upvotes
daivey wrote: whatever, I dont care anymore. STEAM is BS and the whole "putting your account in jeapordy" is bs too. No other compnay would do that if you attempted a charge back. Infact NO Other company is so impossible to contact.

and yet, there is still no fix form activision.
Issuing a chargeback can be damaging to vendors. There is a costly investigation process, too many of them can make a processor freeze your merchant account and so on. Vendors take it very seriously and you will encounter the same sort of problems with many other companies. To put it in perspective, if you have a problem with CoD on the Xbox and can't get it resolved, do you expect Futureshop to take it back? They won't. It's been opened. Similar concept on the PC. Valve offers a single refund for accounts and that's all. Steam Support absolutely sucks though, I agree. To be fair though there isn't much Steam Support could do about this issue, they didn't make the game just like you don't expect Futureshop to fix Halo MCC or something.

The PC is a complicated platform and it's not like connectivity problems are foreign to consoles either. The wide variety of consumer networking hardware makes things difficult. Sometimes you have to be a little understanding in the process though I can understand your frustrations, I couldn't play Halo MCC online for pretty much the entire first month and it was beyond aggravating.

I'm sorry to hear you're done with the PC but good luck with whatever platform you choose.
Deal Expert
User avatar
Oct 26, 2003
39343 posts
6342 upvotes
Winnipeg
Redmask wrote: Issuing a chargeback can be damaging to vendors. There is a costly investigation process, too many of them can make a processor freeze your merchant account and so on. Vendors take it very seriously and you will encounter the same sort of problems with many other companies. To put it in perspective, if you have a problem with CoD on the Xbox and can't get it resolved, do you expect Futureshop to take it back? They won't. It's been opened. Similar concept on the PC. Valve offers a single refund for accounts and that's all. Steam Support absolutely sucks though, I agree. To be fair though there isn't much Steam Support could do about this issue, they didn't make the game just like you don't expect Futureshop to fix Halo MCC or something.

The PC is a complicated platform and it's not like connectivity problems are foreign to consoles either. The wide variety of consumer networking hardware makes things difficult. Sometimes you have to be a little understanding in the process though I can understand your frustrations, I couldn't play Halo MCC online for pretty much the entire first month and it was beyond aggravating.

I'm sorry to hear you're done with the PC but good luck with whatever platform you choose.
i concur, when game doesn't work like the case with watch dog, yes i'm aware it's on origin, the quickest way to fix it is google, i didn't even think of asking origin/steam about it
Deal Guru
User avatar
Dec 1, 2004
12038 posts
5146 upvotes
Not trying to be an ass or anything, but OP claims is "not some door knob" when it comes to gaming. However, he states that COD:AW and Titanfall are made by the same developer ;)
Either way, CC charge backs end up being a PITA most of the time. But if all other avenues have bee travelled, I guess it's the only way. But I didn't see him mentioned trying to contact Activision. And like many others have mentioned, no b&m stores would allow a refund on opened games/software. They would tell you to contact the publisher.
Moderator
User avatar
Aug 20, 2009
9827 posts
5935 upvotes
If I had seen a thread here about it (Was one posted?) I would've been happy to help.

Top

Thread Information

There is currently 1 user viewing this thread. (0 members and 1 guest)