Comments on: Steam gets me steamed

By: pseudonym

pseudonym — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:44:16 +0000

Wow, if only I read the countless articles like these before buying games on steam.com. Recently, I bough company of heroes because it had been such a long time since I had played it. Once I played it for awhile, I thought I’d buy the expansion-like opposing fronts. This is where my troubles began. After downloading cohop…it didn’t launch. Then it started launching but it only launched coh. Then once I looked at my programs, I realized that coh and cohop were both 5.74GB. How conspicious. So I reinstalled both games twice. Each time in a different order, and it did not help. I HAVE BEEN GOING BACK AND FORTH WITH STEAM FOR TWENTY-FIVE DAYS NOW!!! THEY HAVE THE WORST CUSTOMER SUPPORT EVER, AND THEY WILL REFUSE TO GIVE YOU A REFUND IF THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT THE PROBLEM IS. Instead, they will give you link after link of workarounds that do not pertain to your situation at all, simply to give you the round-a-bout. If they do not resolve my problem in two months, I am simply going to report them to the better business bureau. I advise everyone else to do the same if they have such problems as I am having right now. Steam’s customer support is very poor, BE WARNED!

By: Ian

Ian — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:59:37 +0000

Steam is a horrible service, I had a bad service expierience and I will never be back, digital dist is a great idea for gameing, but the way in whihc it is being exectued and supported is bullsh1t.

By: brian

brian — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:45:18 +0000

So sorry to hear about your troubles, Daniel. Technically you are a subscriber, not an owner, of Steam games, even though you may have the game box and disc in your hand, so all the power lies with Steam. Pretty shady, I know.

If you just can’t get satisfaction from Steam I would wholeheartedly recommend just pirating the game. I’ve done this before where the DRM was just too much for me to deal with (even for products like Windows – I own it but hate the Windows Genuine Advantage checks in the legit version).

By: Daniel

Daniel — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 08:40:09 +0000

I got a Steam Account when I bought the Orange Box. As you all know, this is mandatory and something you are forced to in order to play the product you bought.
Anyways, Steam closed my account without warning or explanation a month after I bought the Orange Box.
I opened a ticket with them and there seems to be an issue with my CD key. So I took pictures of my CD Key and took a picture of my Orange Box and the CD’s and everything. And sent it to them.
They opened my account, but I still can’t play my games. In fact I am redirected to the shop, where I guess I’m supposed to buy the games AGAIN!
I have contacted Steam 3 times now, to hear what the deal is. And they have not replied.

So here I am, with a game I paid a lot of money for and that I can’t play. Eventhough it’s mine. I own it physically. And they are preventing me from using it.

You know what? That is ILLEGAL! It violates my property rights and it violates just aboue every single consumer legislation I can think of. You can’t SELL a product and then PREVENT people from using it! I am steaming with rage. Pun intended.

By: "TheThinker"

"TheThinker" — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 09:29:13 +0000

I hear you on that, Brian.

Steam has really gone down hill since I first came there in 2005. Constantly having crap disappear for no reason from my folders, having games stolen QUITE COMMONLY despite the number of times I’d changed my password to 10 or 12-character long phrases, being unable to play a game at a certain point FOR NO REASON and then having the same issue appear with all others that you own via Steam. I thought it was bad then, but it’s TERRIBLE now.

Just a few minutes ago, for instance, I went to play Garry’s Mod 10 for a bit. Waited and waited. Then, the message that the files were corrupted popped up. Dreaded by every person who uses the thing. Anyway, I thought to myself, “This can’t be right. I was playing just 7 minutes ago.” (no, I was really playing it 7 minutes ago before I wanted to take a quick desktop break; I even checked the clock). Went online, grabbed a couple of threads that I’d found in the archives and put them to work at trying to resolve the issue. NADA with GMOD10. I think, “OK. Well, it’s only 1 game. Can’t have much else to worry about.” WRONG. I decided to play Day of Defeat: Source for a few minutes (pitiful in its own right, but something about it won’t let me leave it alone to rot) and the same damn issue comes up again. I move to Red Orchestra. SAME THING. I tried simply uninstalling the games and reinstalling. NO DICE. “Steam’s servers are too busy at the moment. Please try again later.”

I’ve ended up deleting Steam ENTIRELY off my machine, but I’ve got it back up, and now I must go through the equally painful task of downloading everything that I’ve EVER used on it AGAIN. For 10 months, nothing has gone wrong with Steam; that is to say, nothing of this magnitude, since I’d bought my new computer (the one I am CURRENTLY using to post on at the moment).

They don’t care about the customers, I think. They might refund money, SLIGHTLY help in technical support, but that’s it. When it comes to the BIG matters that could result in their entire empire falling, they’ll do whatever it takes to save it and without mercy or regard for the people who’ve made steam what it is.

If my credit card information is/was at risk -of this significance and magnitude- for a hacker, I have every right in the world to know IN DETAIL about it. What’s worse is it DID happen, but we weren’t told about it!

I-DID-NOT-EVEN-KNOW-THIS-EVENT-HAD-EVER-OCCURED-UNTIL-I-CAME-TO-THIS-BLOG-15-MINUTES-AGO.

That’s my money, I’m using the damn program, I deserve to be told the truth as to what’s going on; I don’t expect nor do I deserve (along with my fellow users) to be spoon-fed such things as “It never happened.” when it DID happen. To support this, users who are in possession of evidence that contradict “IT DIDN’T HAPPEN” should not be kept in the dark to try and strengthen the resolve of those who state otherwise, let alone treated so unfairly and left without a say.

Their company IS at serious risk from a lawsuit at this rate. I will contact them, and if I do not get a response that answers my questions as to whether or not my information was on the line IN A TRUTHFUL manner, then I’ll be having a long chat with my lawyer; then I will go for the dogs (and that’s just what they are; they run with their tail between their legs without the balls to tell the truth).

By: brian

brian — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 10:53:46 +0000

That’s incredible! The very same thing happened to me these past few weeks! I’d try to log on to Steam but my password wouldn’t work. I emailed their support and didn’t hear from them for 10 days. Then they gave me the runaround for a few more days by asking poorly phrased questions. Nearly a week later they asked me to photograph my Half Life 2 box and send it to them. At long last they reset my password and said they “suspected” someone had hijacked my account. It’s working now.

They were incredibly slow but at least they were polite. I told them this. I doubt it’ll make any difference. Stick with it, Al. They’ll assist you eventually.

It’s pretty heartbreaking what happened to Sierra too. It used to be my #1 favourite game studio but now it’s just another publisher.

By: Al Dutton

Al Dutton — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 05:53:49 +0000

I agree with the author. And sympathise greatly. Here it is 9/13/07. I asked for help last Friday because it became apparent that someone had hijacked my Steam account. It’s Wednesday and STILL NO RESPONSE From Steam. I paid good money for the bloody game. I was ill for awhile and when I went to play HL2, It isn’t my account anymore, at least HL2 isn”t . They used my numbers and evidently my password to steal HL2 from me. Although, I don’t know. Steam hasn’t deigned to answer my pleas for help. They want me to buy HL2 again.

Steam Support is very slippery and hard to find/pin down. They don’t allow any Human to Human contact.

I used to Work for Sierra. If they have their hands in Steam. Get used to lies, deceit and miserable treatment.

By: brian

brian — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 13:36:47 +0000

Sir, you are as wise as you are diplomatic!

By: mick

mick — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 11:42:48 +0000

maybe both
but as it’s easy to express one’s self online, actual thoughts were in written form, which usually isn’t a good thing :)

By: brian

brian — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 21:05:00 +0000

That’s exactly what my girlfriend told me. (well, not the debit card part)

Did I overreact to this or is my anger justified?

By: mick

mick — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 20:09:25 +0000

yeah steam is all hot air, no need to get heated up though, just get a debit card you can use online, no sweat. ;)

By: brian

brian — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 17:31:38 +0000

Perhaps, but considering a million credit card numbers were on the line I think we as Steam customers were justified in being upset at the lack of disclosure. If I were running Valve I’d sooner issue a statement at least reassuring those customers that, regardless of what happens, Valve was there for support. Instead they issued no statements and deleted any comments.

That being said, I’m not really sure what you mean when you say my first sentence was not the best wording I could have used. In my article I quote my letters to Steam Support but did not include what I posted on the forums. Here’s the one comment I left that wasn’t deleted, and I’m sure you’ll agree that it is not inflammatory or hot-headed:

“Even if there is no danger to Steam subscribers I am very annoyed that my support ticket went unanswered for 18 hours and counting. Anything could have happened to my credit card in that time.

I’m much angrier about Steam’s customer neglect than any security issues. I don’t think I’ll ever buy anything over Steam again. Box or nothing from now on.

Shame on you Steam. I was one of your biggest supporters but you let me down when it mattered most.”

By: Bianca

Bianca — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 16:21:18 +0000

Valve’s forums are not public domain, even though they are opened to the public. Simply because something is open to the public doesn’t make it inherently public domain. NationStates forums, likewise, are open to the public too but are privately owned.

As a customer, nevertheless, you are entitled to your opinions, no matter the degree of dissatisfactions resonates within the words. However, deliberately seeking to inflame other people is a sign of trolling.

Your first sentence is not the best wording one could have used. Whether or not it was your intended connotation, you came came as being extremely condescending. That is he last thing you want when trying to get an issue resolved.

By: brian

brian — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 16:13:46 +0000

I’m new to trolling so I guess I didn’t do it right. Regardless, my words weren’t terribly scathing but I did include a link to one of the screenshots above.

It’s my opinion that valid customer complaints should not be deleted from a company’s official support forums. If it were a private forum I wouldn’t be so annoyed, but it’s clear that Valve is trying their darndest to come out smelling like roses by spraying perfume on weeds.

By: Bianca

Bianca — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 16:08:34 +0000

Having myself been banned for posting for a few days, I know what it takes to irritate a few short-fused mods and given your propensity to jackassory when you’re highly disgruntled, I can imagine the type of diatribe you posted. Of course, that alone got deleted but you went ahead and reposted it verbatim, a general no-no. You could have easily reworded it to circumvent the system. The fact that you hit the back button and reposted shows you were impatient and to the server, a potential spammer…

Ceterus parabus….the essence is a legitimate concern but when you’re irate, you have an innate tendency to paint yourself as a martyr against an immoral cooperate entity that is personally out to make your existence a living hell.