As if the possibility of a Steam Sale coming in the next few days weren’t enough, Steam has let slip something that gamers have wanted to hear for years: they will now officially offer refunds for items purchased on Steam (with some caveats) for nearly any reason.
You read that right, you can now request a refund for nearly any item purchased on Steam for any reason provided that you’ve owned the game for less than 14 days,and played for less than 2 hours. Maybe you read the system requirements wrong, or perhaps drunkenly ordered four copies of Train Simulator, or even just decided that you don’t like a certain protagonist’s attitude you will be able to have your money immediately refunded upon request, provided that you fit the criteria above.
Even if you don’t, Steam has put it out there that you can go ahead and request a refund, and it may even be fulfilled, but don’t get your hopes up too high if you suddenly decide you want to refund your oldest, or most-played game, it probably won’t happen. There are some other rules, specifically relating to DLC, in-game purchases, bundles, etc.
All-in-all, this is a welcome sign from Steam, and honestly a very competitive offer for refunds. In the past, you could certainly request a refund, but there have been plenty of horror stories recounting those attempts. Nearly overnight, Steam at least on the surface appears to have turned a complete 180, making the refund process fast and easy. They promise that for all requests fitting the 14 day/2 hour criteria, a full refund will be fulfilled within a week. No estimates are given for anything falling outside of that window, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction.
No word on whether or not this change comes as a result of Valve’s ridiculously bad rating with the Better Business Bureau. While Valve is not an accredited BBB member, that hasn’t stopped people from complaining quite vocally to the BBB, earning Valve an F rating. Maybe a bit of good will in the form of a friendly return policy will start to bring that average up a bit.
You can learn more about Steam’s return policy at the source link below, or get started requesting a refund at help.steampowered.com.
[button type=”link” link=”http://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds” variation=”btn-danger” target=”blank”]Source: Steam[/button]Last Updated on November 27, 2018.
