Very much agreed. I don’t mind having to buy a virtual currency. I’ve played MMOs before, and most if not all will have some kind of VC. But the difference is you can actually SEE what you bought and what you have. When I play Star Trek Online and buy some Zen, I can see the amount I have in my account. I don’t have to guess or trust that 3 different parties (merchant, publisher, and store owner) that don’t talk to each other very well will handle everything in the background. So far in 3/4 of my purchases, it has. BUt this one failed miserably. And the hassle associated with trying to get the issue solved it just unreal.
Obviously its a last resort if all other avenues are exhausted. Steam have some responsibility to help in these situations though, They took the guys money and as such the transaction was between him and them. At the very least they should help him resolve any issues that arise like this.
But Steam delivered their product - virtual currency. Then Asobo (through Microsoft) claimed said currency. As fas as Steam are concerned, they gave me my digi-coins, and they were spent. Asobo claimed said currency, but didn’t deliver the product.
It’s much like if I was crossing over to the US for a day of shopping. I drop by the local cash exchange. I give them $X in Canadian funds, for which they give me $Y in US funds. If I have an issue in the US where I get screwed out of $100US, I don’t take it up with the cash exchange back home. They did their job. The issue is at the point of sale. In this case, it’s the MSFS marketplace, not Steam. Steam were just the exchange for the real currency to virtual currency.
Oh I see, yes that does complicate matters. Yep you are right, the point of sale was in the marketplace in that case.
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Yes, it does complicate issues significantly. So much so that had I not posted this thread and had someone at Asobo not been poked to take a look at the issue, chances are I’d still be scratching my head wondering what the hell happened.
As of right now, my problem still isn’t solved. I’m glad we got this far in determining what went wrong and how it can be fixed. I’m just waiting for someone to actually implement the solution.
You know, it would be so much easier if Asobo just did like all other VC game stores out there. List the price for their items in their VC. Allow users to buy VC through the store or 3rd party, whatever works for them, and then we can have a proper record of what we have in the store vs this convoluted, opaque system that customers have no visibility on.
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Absolutely. They have made it unnecessarily complicated. Hopefully it will all be sorted out soon.
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Just in case you missed it above, we have got a community manager involved and this is being delt with.
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Indeed. This is “technically solved”. Just waiting on the final action to get me my digi-goodies and all will be good.
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Just FYI, if you do a charge back on a Steam charge it’s very Valve will place restrictions on your Steam account as a result, and ban that credit card or PayPal account from ever being used as to buy things on Steam again.
Definitely a nuclear option.
Yup. There’s no coming back from that one.
It doesnt apply in this case as the OP purchased VC rather than a product which he received so its now moot.
I have heard twice in this thread about bans but having read their policy I cannot see anything that says they will ban the use of a payment method following a chargeback, only that there will be a suspension of the product or service paid for until the dispute is settled. which seems reasonable. I am sure people try it on and rip off companies hence the policy wording but if its clear that a good or service was not received I would think a reputable company would think carefully about the circumstances on a case by case basis rather than just banning somebody outright in such a situation. It doesn’t go down well, at least not in the UK, when big companies screw consumers.
Just want to say thank you to everyone that helped or gave suggestions in this thread. It’s been resolved and I’m now downloading the Premium Deluxe content as I type this.
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Don’t you just love a happy ending.
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Who doesn’t like a happy ending? lol
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All you have to do is google “Steam charge back” to see what has happened to some people by doing this. Including yes, banning the payment method from ever being used on Steam again, and if the charge back isn’t reversed (so Steam gets their money) within a certain time - making it so that Steam account can never buy another game ever.
Please don’t understate the consequences of doing this. If could really harm someone who gets the wrong idea.
Back to the original topic - I’m glad the OPs issue was resolved but would also like to know what steps Asobo/MS will take to avoid this in the future.
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The community manager in question said they just had a meeting about this before fixing my account to see how they can avoid this from happening again in the future. Hopefully my misfortune ends up being a catalyst for positive change. If it is, then I’ll call my frustration worth it and a small price to pay.
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Steam are nice people they will let you buy again . i’ve refunded many games
A refund from inside Steam is not the same as calling your credit card company, bank, or PayPal and doing a credit card chargeback.
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That sounds promising.
I’ve refunded too. That’s not a problem and they’re happy to do it.
Reversing the charges on your payment method after they’ve denied your refund (particularly if the denial was justified, as it was in this case) is another matter.