# Steam to begin offering refunds! **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 2, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-to-begin-offering-refunds/721463 "2015-06-02T18:34:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-to-begin-offering-refunds/721463/1 "2015-06-02T18:34:40Z")
[Cite.](http://kotaku.com/steam-is-now-offering-refunds-1708492000) You have to get the refund within 14 days of purchasing the game (or release in the case of pre-orders) and you have to have less than two hours of playtime on the game. This is really great news.\* Like other digital sellers that offer a refund system, they reserve the right to decide if you’re “abusing” the system and cut you off from refunds altogether, but they specifically say that it’s not abuse if a game you’ve purchased goes on sale and you get a refund so that you can re-purchase it at the lower price. \*probably really bad news for my wallet, since it means I’ll buy more games that I’m on the fence about. ---
**Author:** ![Raza](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raza/32/213_2.png) [@Raza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raza)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-to-begin-offering-refunds/721463/2 "2015-06-02T20:07:42Z")
I hate to use the phrase “game-changer”, but it’s pretty big. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-to-begin-offering-refunds/721463/3 "2015-06-02T20:18:37Z")
It will be a godsend to the uber-power-gamers who think they’ve failed if they don’t complete a game in 90 minutes. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-to-begin-offering-refunds/721463/4 "2015-06-02T20:29:03Z")
Nice! ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-to-begin-offering-refunds/721463/5 "2015-06-02T20:29:45Z")
This is great news! ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-to-begin-offering-refunds/721463/6 "2015-06-02T20:52:08Z")
> [@Raza](#): > > I hate to use the phrase “game-changer”, but it’s pretty big. What game is it changing, exactly? 😛 Seriously, I dunno. I don’t think this is actually that big a deal. It’ll be nice to give people a chance to reject their crappy pre-ordered titles when they ship buggy as hell, but it’s not really going to affect ME at all. ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-to-begin-offering-refunds/721463/7 "2015-06-02T22:33:47Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > What game is it changing, exactly? 😛 For one thing, it might spell the end of the atrociously bad cash grabs/frauds like Bad Rats or the Slaughtering grounds. Check this out: [http://youtu.be/VfI7pAaOH9c](http://youtu.be/VfI7pAaOH9c) There’s an unbelievable amount of down right terrible crap on the Steam storefront trying to fool you out of your money. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-to-begin-offering-refunds/721463/8 "2015-06-02T22:52:15Z")
That’s really good. Their no refunds policy was one of the shittier things that the average gamer would run into. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-to-begin-offering-refunds/721463/9 "2015-06-02T23:27:10Z")
> [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > For one thing, it might spell the end of the atrociously bad cash grabs/frauds like Bad Rats or the Slaughtering grounds. > > Check this out: [http://youtu.be/VfI7pAaOH9c](http://youtu.be/VfI7pAaOH9c) > > There’s an unbelievable amount of down right terrible crap on the Steam storefront trying to fool you out of your money. Sorry, but if you can’t tell that those games are awful by the videos and the reviews, I don’t actually feel like you deserve your money back. 😜 ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-to-begin-offering-refunds/721463/10 "2015-06-02T23:40:18Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > Sorry, but if you can’t tell that those games are awful by the videos and the reviews, I don’t actually feel like you deserve your money back. 😜 Maybe I don’t deserve it back, but that developer sure as shit doesn’t deserve it. Maybe donate the money to a charity? ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-to-begin-offering-refunds/721463/11 "2015-06-02T23:42:53Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Maybe I don’t deserve it back, but that developer sure as shit doesn’t deserve it. Maybe donate the money to a charity? Touche. Though if that’s the end goal, maybe they’d be better off with a more aggressive screening process. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-to-begin-offering-refunds/721463/12 "2015-06-02T23:47:37Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > Touche. Though if that’s the end goal, maybe they’d be better off with a more aggressive screening process. Honestly, I think this is a great solution to the problem. Game developers are on notice that if their games are so shitty that nobody’s willing to play them for more than two hours, Steam isn’t going to work out for them. Why do we need a different solution to the problem? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-to-begin-offering-refunds/721463/13 "2015-06-02T23:52:08Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > It’ll be nice to give people a chance to reject their crappy pre-ordered titles when they ship buggy as hell, but it’s not really going to affect ME at all. You’re conflating “doesn’t affect ME at all” with “doesn’t affect the MARKET at all.” You may have risen above the petty and base concerns of the plebeian masses, but putting more agency in the hands of the buyer creates a more robust marketplace, and that benefits ALL consumers. ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-to-begin-offering-refunds/721463/14 "2015-06-03T00:02:26Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > Sorry, but if you can’t tell that those games are awful by the videos and the reviews, I don’t actually feel like you deserve your money back. 😜 It’s not just the customers that were effected. Lots of good games get buried under the mounds of bullshit that Steam spews out daily. With refunds those out to cheat people will go away giving developers that have confidence in their product a bigger chance to get noticed. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-to-begin-offering-refunds/721463/15 "2015-06-03T01:44:36Z")
> [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > It’s not just the customers that were effected. Lots of good games get buried under the mounds of bullshit that Steam spews out daily. With refunds those out to cheat people will go away giving developers that have confidence in their product a bigger chance to get noticed. I consider this rather optimistic. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, I’m just saying I don’t think it’s going to change much. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-to-begin-offering-refunds/721463/16 "2015-06-03T14:43:31Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > I consider this rather optimistic. > > I’m not saying this is a bad thing, I’m just saying I don’t think it’s going to change much. What it will change is if you buy a game you don’t like you can get your money back. That is enough. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-to-begin-offering-refunds/721463/17 "2015-06-03T17:00:46Z")
I wish this would be retroactive for those of us who bought games only to realize that the damn things don’t even work. And **Airk** is likely still stuck in 2014, not bothering to notice that the client is now identical to [this](http://store.steampowered.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-to-begin-offering-refunds/721463/18 "2015-06-04T11:50:00Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > I wish this would be retroactive for those of us who bought games only to realize that the damn things don’t even work. I don’t think they want millions of users purge their libraries of every copy of a game they didn’t like (or games that didn’t work) in one huge deluge of negative profit. I mean, I’d love it too as a consumer, I just don’t see it happening. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-to-begin-offering-refunds/721463/19 "2015-06-11T15:08:40Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > I wish this would be retroactive for those of us who bought games only to realize that the damn things don’t even work. > > And **Airk** is likely still stuck in 2014, not bothering to notice that the client is now identical to [this](http://store.steampowered.com/). They are currently making exceptions to the stated limits. If you really want something refunded, submit a request. It may be granted. I know a few peopel who got their money back om games as old as early 2014 (these are all games they never played or played under the 2 hour limit though). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-to-begin-offering-refunds/721463/20 "2015-06-11T16:48:29Z")
Turns out the game I’ve been having so much trouble with was free. :smack: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-to-begin-offering-refunds/721463.md?page=2)