Automatic refunds now available for Steam pre-orders
Those suffering buyers remorse on a pre-order PC title will be relieved to know that Valve has streamlined the process of pre-order refunds, now issuing funds directly to a user's Steam Wallet.
Steam has made their marketplace a bit more user-friendly by streamlining the process of pre-order refunds. Customers will no longer need to contact Valve directly or wait for an email response in order to get their money back on an unreleased title. Because let's face it, we've all suffered buyer's remorse on a PC game that's coming out six months from now.
ValveTime has noticed the change, finding a "Refund an item" button available for any pre-order title. Customers exercising that option will receive an immediate refund to their Steam Wallet.
This only applies to pre-order games, as requests for refunds on current titles still need to get run by the Steam Support staff. This manual review policy is one that runs similar to recent return policies implemented by GOG and Origin in the last six months.
Valve's new pre-order refund policy, of course, does not apply to Early Access titles, as Valve explicitly stipulates, "Early Access is a full purchase of a playable game. By purchasing, you gain immediate access to download and play the game in its current form and as it evolves up and through 'release'."
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Shacknews
replyOzzie Mejia posted a new article, Automatic refunds now available for Steam pre-orders.
Those suffering buyers remorse on a pre-order PC title will be relieved to know that Valve has streamlined the process of pre-order refunds, now issuing funds directly to a user's Steam Wallet.-
Seems like it would be a lot easier and more customer friendly to be like amazon and just not charge people until the game launches.
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I think there is just one mean old lady with a giant DENIED stamp.
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1: It's better than nothing
2: You know and they know you will buy something else on steam, especially if you are using it as platform for pre-orders.-
But I want a sammich instead. Gimme my fucking money.
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Don't give Steam money in the first place if you don't want Steam to have that money.
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You must like getting ripped off.
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Because I don't just throw money at things and expect to get it back? No, I simply consider my purchase decisions ahead of time.
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Except Valve previously wouldn't refund at all in most cases so I don't see how this is a downgrade.
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Ok? I don't see how that's relevant to whether this is better or worse than what was there before.
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I'm not aware that Origin has any refund policy so I still fail to see how this is worse than that.
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https://www.origin.com/en-us/great-game-guarantee-terms
They offer refunds on anything within 7 days of purchase/release.
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This is the first I've heard of anything like that except the "secret" one refund per customer.
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Yeah, it wasn't something that Valve would advertise or talk a lot about, but preorders were open for cancellation. I know that I did cancel some preorders and many other people as well.
It was a hassle though.
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=8360-WEJC-2625#refund
An exception is made for games purchased during a pre-order period if the request is received prior to the games' release date.
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#2 kind of confuses me or maybe I'm misinterpreting it. Wouldn't they have your "real" money and therefore collecting interest on it whereas you are sitting on stagnant steam cash.
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but i have a receipt!
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The issue for Steam is that issuing a refund to your credit card will incur additional interchange fees. So you get $60 back but Valve just spent $65 on the non-transaction (60+2.50*2 in interchange).
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Probably contrary to at least one law in the EU, too.
I know in the UK you can cancel a 'service' within 7/14 days if the service has not yet commenced and you must be given the money back. Just getting what amounts to a store credit is not enough. If the service is shoddy/doesn't work/isn't as advertised then you should also be able to get a refund after it has commenced, but we all know how good Valve are about refunds post release.
Of course, digital distribution is a tricky one because it's never been defined as a service or a product (products get better protection post-sale) and publishers always call it a service because you dont own what you buy.
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