How to Refund a Game on Steam With No Fuss

Steam is a digital distribution service for video games owned by Valve. Besides selling games, Steam serves as a gaming community hub, with over 95 million users active on a monthly level. It also offers a set of tools and services called Steamworks, meant for game developers and publishers.

Steam was initially developed for Microsoft Windows operating systems, but now it’s available for macOS and Linux users as well. Over the last ten years, Steam expanded to mobile gaming with apps for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone.

Even though Steam has a great gaming catalog, its services are not flawless. Maybe you bought a game that doesn’t work on your computer because of hardware requirements, or you played it for an hour and decided it’s just not that great. In any case, you might want your money back.

Getting a Refund on Steam

There are many cases when you might be in a position to ask for a refund from Steam, but the process is not so straightforward. According to their support, you can ask for a refund for almost any purchase. Still, some items are not refundable, and there is a time limitation on being eligible for getting your money back.

The good thing is that you can ask for a Steam refund for almost any reason. There are two-time constraints, though. You are not eligible for a refund if you don’t honor the return period, which is:

• Two weeks after the purchase
• Two hours of playtime

The time constraints apply to games and software applications purchased on Steam, including pre-purchased titles, gifts, and downloadable content (DLC), with some limitations, explained below. Even if you had bought a game before it went on sale, you can ask for a refund and buy it at a new price, if you made the purchase within two weeks.

Once approved, the money is returned to you through the payment method you initially used. If that is not possible for any reason, the full amount will be credited back to your Steam Wallet. The following payment methods accepted on Steam support refunds in the United States:

• Visa
• MasterCard
• American Express
• Discover
• JCB
• PayPal

How to Get a Refund for Games on Steam on Your Own?

In case you want to try to navigate the Steam’s customer support web page, here is a step-by-step process on how to get a refund for your Steam purchases:

1. Go to Steam Help and log in with your Steam credentials
2. In the section under What do you need help with, (your profile name), click on A Purchase
3. Find the purchased item in the list and click on it
4. When asked about the problem you have with the product, choose I purchased this by accident
5. Click I’d like to request a refund
6. Fill out the request form where you can select your preferred payment method
7. After submitting, you will receive a confirmation email that your refund request has been received

This procedure is the only official way of requesting Steam refunds. The company doesn’t offer any other options to contact them regarding getting your money back. In case this process seems too complicated or bothersome, you can let DoNotPay help you with the procedure with only a few clicks.

How Long Does a Steam Refund Usually Take?

If you request a refund for a Steam title 14 days after you paid for it or within two hours of playtime, Steam assures you that your request will be approved. Once Steam representatives confirm that you are eligible for a refund, you will receive an email stating that your purchase has been refunded. After that, you should have the money back in your account within seven days. If you used an international payment method, the process might take a bit longer.

If you submit a refund request and it’s approved within 24 hours of the purchase, this situation is not treated as a refund. Steam will cancel the original transaction, and the charge will disappear from your bank statement. If it comes to this scenario, you won’t see a credit in your account, and the whole process usually takes up to ten days.

Requesting a Refund on Steam Is Not Always a Smooth Ride

While Steam’s refund policy is generous, it doesn’t mean that the refund process is always smooth. Here are some common problems that you might experience when requesting a refund on Steam:

1. Refunds for older purchases—While Steam encourages its users to ask for a refund even for older purchases, their policies explicitly say that there is no guarantee the refund will be approved. If the game was purchased significantly out of the 14-day window, the refund request would be denied, even though they don’t specify what “significantly” means
2. Refunds for some DLC—Steam doesn’t guarantee refunds in the case of some third-party DLC (for example, if it levels up a game character irreversibly) or if the DLC is consumed, transferred, or modified
3. Refunds for in-game purchases—In case of Valve-developed games, in-game purchases can be refunded within 48 hours, unless the item has been modified, transferred, or consumed. In the case of third-party developers, Steam respects their refund policies
4. Video content refunds are not possible—Even though Steam is primarily a game store, they offer movies and series as well. If you purchase a video through them and would like to return it, you won’t be able to get your money back
5. Refunds for items that were not bought on Steam are not allowed—If you buy CD keys or Steam wallet cards on another website, you won’t be able to get a refund for them from Steam

How to Get a Steam Refund With DoNotPay?

Finding the refund option on Steam’s website is not as transparent as it should be, and it might take a while to figure everything out and you can get your money back. Instead of wasting your time on navigating their support pages, you can let DoNotPay assist you with getting that Steam refund. Start by opening DoNotPay in your web browser and follow these easy steps:

1. Once you log in, choose File a Chargeback
2. Pick a payment option you used to buy an item on Steam
3. Choose the name and the address of your bank
4. Type in Steam when asked about the merchant, and provide the date of the purchase and the amount paid
5. Follow the rest of the instructions and verify your personal information to finish the process

DoNotPay can automatically send the request for a refund to your bank and create evidence on your behalf by contacting the merchant. Our virtual team can also provide you with a letter stating relevant Visa and MasterCard laws and codes that will strengthen your claim if needed.

DoNotPay Can Do More Than Helping You Get Steam Game Refunds!

Handling refunds is not the only thing that DoNotPay can do for its users. We assist with other bureaucratic issues that might bother you. If you are a gamer, you will find our virtual credit card service useful to prevent unwanted subscription charges once your free trial expires. DoNotPay's virtual credit card generator enables you to create a new credit card number that you can use to sign up for services and verify your payment info without worrying about information abuse and theft.

All you have to do is create a profile on the DoNotPay website in your web browser. Log in and let DoNotPay help you to:

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