Just after Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and with great Christmas deals like those on Steam just around the corner, we are undoubtedly facing a few weeks in which there will be no shortage of video game purchases. However, whether from others or even for ourselves, many times these gifts are not usually successful.
However, unlike other products or stores, one of the great advantages of this gaming platform is that not only can we unseal the game (mainly due to its intangible and digital format), but we can also try and enjoy them games before returning them with the only requirements of not to exceed two hours of use or 14 days from their acquisition . In this way, we will have enough time to see if we really like them or not before deciding whether to return them or not.
That is why we want to recover this little practical in which we will explain, step by step, the entire process that you will have to follow if you finally opt for the return and want to get your money back.
How to request a return and refund of a game on Steam
Although we can access both the Support web page from and through the Steam client, the process is somewhat simpler and more intuitive through the desktop application. From here, we will only have to look for the game in question and select the option «Support» at the top to access the list of options to indicate the type of problem or reason for the return.
However, in order to achieve the reimbursement, only the following options will be valid :
- Now available cheaper
- Technical or game problem
- Not what I expected
And is that if we select another of the available options, the message from Steam will change, informing us that the refund cannot be made and offering us the option of contacting another of the parties involved such as the distributor or the developer.
Clicking on any of the three valid options mentioned above will take you to a submenu asking you more questions. For the purposes of this guide, in our case I have selected the game “Not what I expected” , which led us to a second menu where we could directly choose the refund option. However, depending on the options that we select during these steps, we may end up seeing different alternatives and additional questions during the process.
Finally, although Steam will first recommend other contact options to resolve our problems with the game, we could finally be eligible for a refund and full refund by clicking on “I would like to request a refund” .
In addition, you can choose where the refund amount will go, being able to choose the original payment method or the Steam Wallet digital wallet . And it is that if our intention is to spend money on Steam again, the most advisable thing would be to opt for this second option, since it does not involve other parties and is much faster.
Thus, as long as we comply with everything previously established, we should receive the reimbursement within one week of the request . Additionally, mention that in the case of games that we receive directly as a gift through Steam, the monetary value will be returned to the person who made the purchase, and not to our account.
Steam will not issue a return or refund if…
Unfortunately, although we have tried it on occasion, it seems that Steam takes the requirements of the two hours of game time or 14 days from purchase very seriously, without ever having achieved receive a refund in these cases.
Also, another thing to remember is that games that you obtained through promotional keys , such as those offered by developers in some of their giveaways or free trials, are not eligible for reimbursement.
Last but not least, although Steam does not offer any kind of limitation on the number of refund requests, if we make a large number of returns in a short period of time (exceeding 10 requests in the same week), we could receive a notice from the platform informing us that the fact that we are abusing this option will be considered, and that in case of incurring in a greater number of requests, restrictions could be imposed on our account.