Announcement and details (http://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds/)
Wow. It's about damn time, but fair play to them - they're absolutely doing the right thing here. Sounds like it's going to be automated, too.
Cool news! And seems like a pretty brilliant move on Valve's part. By removing the risk of buying a game you're slightly worried you may not like, they're bound to make sales they wouldn't otherwise make. Sure it means they'll have to make refunds they otherwise wouldn't have to, but on balance they must be betting that the profits from 'take a chance on this' sales > refunds.
14 days to refund if less than 2 hours played. Seems reasonable to me.
I wish it was only the 2 hours rule, I could refund 2/3 of my library.
Quote from: RedArgo on June 02, 2015, 01:55:26 PM
I wish it was only the 2 hours rule, I could refund 2/3 of my library.
;D
True, that.
Bonus goodwill points:
"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."
Quote from: Rayfer on June 02, 2015, 02:55:20 PM
Quote from: sandman2575 on June 02, 2015, 01:58:17 PM
Quote from: RedArgo on June 02, 2015, 01:55:26 PM
I wish it was only the 2 hours rule, I could refund 2/3 of my library.
;D
True, that.
Yes, very true!!!
Amen, brother!
Sounds good. And I agree the 2 hours, 14 days policy seems reasonable.
Quote from: Freyland on June 02, 2015, 03:03:19 PM
Bonus goodwill points:
"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 read that as well. Good on them!
Well, let's give it a shot. I bought Interplanetary 13 days ago and have a total of five minutes of "play" logged, because it absolutely will not work no matter what I try. I've submitted my request and will report here when the decision is made.
By the way, refund requests may be copied to the developer in question, apparently.
...hhhmmm, at first glance/read, the new refund policy sounds/sounded superb, but this RPS (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/06/02/steam-refunds/) article does bring up some good points...getting/selling trading cards ASAP then get a refund, review bombing, etc :-\ ...maybe some quirks for Steam to work out.
Huw, you couldn't get Interplanetary to work? I haven't had any problems with it, but I haven't played it since around the time you bought it either -- I wonder if I should check to see if it was broke in a patch!
Well, bear in mind I'm playing on Linux while, I assume, you're playing on Windows? Apparently they've had issues with a combination of Linux and Radeon before. I regretted buying it as soon as I did anyway, even before I discovered it won't work on my PC; I bought X Rebirth a day later and have been playing that game non-stop. I certainly won't miss Interplanetary from my library.
Well, they definitely copy in developers. I haven't had a decision made on my refund yet, but suddenly the devs of Interplanetary are suggesting a "fix", which is to remove my Catalyst driver and install the open source version. Uh, how about no?
The suggestion was made in a thread that I linked in my refund request (to prove I'd tried to get the game to work). Other people who have reported successful refunds seem to have had theirs within a couple of hours, whereas mine has been ongoing for nearly 24 hours now.
Valve seem to be giving the developer a chance to fix the game before they refund my money. Interesting.
Quote from: Huw the Poo on June 03, 2015, 10:51:44 AM
Valve seem to be giving the developer a chance to fix the game before they refund my money. Interesting.
Am I the only one who finds Steam's description a little misleading then?
"Valve will, upon request via help.steampowered.com, issue a refund for any reason, if the request is made within fourteen days of purchase, and the title has been played for less than two hours. "
"*Issue* a refund for any reason" doesn't sound like it should be subject to review, by the developer or anyone else. It doesn't say "Consider a refund for any reason." "Issue" sounds like: if you meet the criteria -- bought within 14 days with less than 2 hours playtime -- you get the refund. Period.
I liked the sound of what I thought I was reading. Hearing Huw's experience, I'm less psyched about this new policy...
Yeah it is a little misleading in that case - assuming this isn't all just a huge coincidence anyway - however I'm not angry or anything. From Valve's and the dev's point of view, I bought the game because I wanted to play it, and was prevented from doing so by a fault. It's in everyone's best interest to get the game working rather than just blindly issue a refund, I guess. I can't say I blame them but they could do with being a bit more honest about it.
48 hours later, still no refund. I commented to the Interplanetary developers that if I switched to OSS drivers I wouldn't be able to play most of the rest of my games, and they pretty much just shrugged and said that's what I'd have to do. Ridiculous.
72 hours later and I've got my refund. Well, confirmation of it anyway; apparently I'll get the cash in my Steam wallet within 7 days. Note that I could've asked for it to go back into the account from which I paid, but I specifically chose the wallet, knowing sales are just around the corner.
Glad the system finally worked for you. Seems like it coulda been a bit more streamlined though...
Thanks Sandman. Just as a followup note, the money hit my wallet just now.
So it took five days to confirm in your wallet? Killing me waiting 3 days with all these sales going on! Maybe I should've chosen PayPal instead!
Three days to confirm my refund, another three for it to appear in my wallet. I can't imagine a refund to Paypal would be any quicker though, since that involves real money and two parties instead of one.
What did you get refunded?
The confirm was immediate. I returned CMANO, the UI was too clunky for my taste, couldn't get into the tutorial.