WTF Steam?

[Prototype_No.98]

Iv sent a email to PWE support, asking to explain the nature of the ban as there was no reason given, this may give me some clarification as to whats really going on.

As of yet I havent recieved any response from either PWE or Steam, Il try to keep everyone up to date if I hear any news, any advice on the matter would be greatly apreciated.

[Patrick]

Sorry to hear that, i hope you can get it sorted out soon.

[cmdraftbrn]

think its time to fire up ye ol' laywering machine

[Prototype_No.98]

I have news from PWE, they have replied to my message regarding my STO Ban.
Here is the following message.

Response Via Email (Fourze) 11/24/2014 10:30 AM
Hello ,

Please contact steam in regards ot this account, we have been notified of outstanding charges with steam. Once you have rectified the issue with steam please contact us so we may proceed with your issue.

Regards,
Fourze
Game Master
Perfect World Entertainment
http://support.arcgames.com/

I am going to reply to their message informing them of my "scenario" with Steam.
Yet to hear a reply from Steam.

[Prototype_No.98]

I have explained everything to PWE about what is going on between me and Steam.

PWE has unbanned my account, however they have informed me that Steam could ban my account again at any time. I asked them to give me some information about this automated system and how Steam can pull such a thing.

I am really grateful for PWE doing what they did.

I am still waiting for a reply from Steam...

[Mike]

At least that is some good news.

[KickKat]

Holy crap, dude. Any resolution on this?

Hevach is right. Find out who the governing body is for you that handles consumer fraud and file an official complaint. Someone will have to at least check on your claims, which will mean speaking to someone higher up on the food chain than the customer support monkey whose hands are completely tied anyway.

Register.com did this same crap to me. I tried to get them to correct a double charge and they wouldn't. They left me no choice but to do a charge back. They responded by saying that I had agreed not to do any charge backs when I agreed to their terms of service and, as was their right per the agreement, were siezing all of the domains associated wit the account the charge back was on. Luckily I was able to move most of my stuff to GoDaddy before they got around to closing my account. The domains they confiscated were crap anyway. They can have them. I won't miss them or the company.

Basically, they are taking away stuff you paid for to punish you for being a naughty consumer and not sucking it up and taking the hit and PWE is flat out refusing you access to something that might have real monetary value for no reason other than .... "just in case". If you don't get satisfaction from PWE, report them too if you feel you have suffered a tangible loss from being banned.

The legality of such actions seem iffy to me to begin with, let alone how binding such an agreement can be. Just because it is in a "contract" doesn't make it legal. If it comes down to it and they request arbitration from a third party (which is probably also mentioned in the ToS, to settle the matter, refuse. Whose payroll do you think the arbitration company is on?

[Prototype_No.98]

Holy crap, dude. Any resolution on this?

Hevach is right. Find out who the governing body is for you that handles consumer fraud and file an official complaint. Someone will have to at least check on your claims, which will mean speaking to someone higher up on the food chain than the customer support monkey whose hands are completely tied anyway.

Register.com did this same crap to me. I tried to get them to correct a double charge and they wouldn't. They left me no choice but to do a charge back. They responded by saying that I had agreed not to do any charge backs when I agreed to their terms of service and, as was their right per the agreement, were siezing all of the domains associated wit the account the charge back was on. Luckily I was able to move most of my stuff to GoDaddy before they got around to closing my account. The domains they confiscated were crap anyway. They can have them. I won't miss them or the company.

Basically, they are taking away stuff you paid for to punish you for being a naughty consumer and not sucking it up and taking the hit and PWE is flat out refusing you access to something that might have real monetary value for no reason other than .... "just in case". If you don't get satisfaction from PWE, report them too if you feel you have suffered a tangible loss from being banned.

The legality of such actions seem iffy to me to begin with, let alone how binding such an agreement can be. Just because it is in a "contract" doesn't make it legal. If it comes down to it and they request arbitration from a third party (which is probably also mentioned in the ToS, to settle the matter, refuse. Whose payroll do you think the arbitration company is on?

Unfortunately I am situated in the UK, I have no idea who my Governing Body is or who to turn too.
Someone brought up that I have a right to a refund under the EU Overseas Transactions Directive:
http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/sh ... dex_en.htm

http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/sh ... dex_en.htm

http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/sh ... dex_en.htm
However Im not sure if Digital content applies, however in the last link the following words get my attention.
"paying only for things that you have expressly agreed to."

They may state I violated their terms of service, however they took money from me and gave me a service I did not ask for. I violated their ToS? As far as I care, they violated my Consumer Right.

Its been 7 days since I sent my message to Steam explaining my situation once again and stating how they left me with no choice, Steam has started some sort of Sale as of yesterday, so I expect their reply is going to be delayed further, however Im starting to suspect they are giving me the cold shoulder.

[cmdraftbrn]

Holy crap, dude. Any resolution on this?

Hevach is right. Find out who the governing body is for you that handles consumer fraud and file an official complaint. Someone will have to at least check on your claims, which will mean speaking to someone higher up on the food chain than the customer support monkey whose hands are completely tied anyway.

Register.com did this same crap to me. I tried to get them to correct a double charge and they wouldn't. They left me no choice but to do a charge back. They responded by saying that I had agreed not to do any charge backs when I agreed to their terms of service and, as was their right per the agreement, were siezing all of the domains associated wit the account the charge back was on. Luckily I was able to move most of my stuff to GoDaddy before they got around to closing my account. The domains they confiscated were crap anyway. They can have them. I won't miss them or the company.

Basically, they are taking away stuff you paid for to punish you for being a naughty consumer and not sucking it up and taking the hit and PWE is flat out refusing you access to something that might have real monetary value for no reason other than .... "just in case". If you don't get satisfaction from PWE, report them too if you feel you have suffered a tangible loss from being banned.

The legality of such actions seem iffy to me to begin with, let alone how binding such an agreement can be. Just because it is in a "contract" doesn't make it legal. If it comes down to it and they request arbitration from a third party (which is probably also mentioned in the ToS, to settle the matter, refuse. Whose payroll do you think the arbitration company is on?

Unfortunately I am situated in the UK, I have no idea who my Governing Body is or who to turn too.
Someone brought up that I have a right to a refund under the EU Overseas Transactions Directive:
http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/sh ... dex_en.htm

http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/sh ... dex_en.htm

http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/sh ... dex_en.htm
However Im not sure if Digital content applies, however in the last link the following words get my attention.
"paying only for things that you have expressly agreed to."

They may state I violated their terms of service, however they took money from me and gave me a service I did not ask for. I violated their ToS? As far as I care, they violated my Consumer Right.

Its been 7 days since I sent my message to Steam explaining my situation once again and stating how they left me with no choice, Steam has started some sort of Sale as of yesterday, so I expect their reply is going to be delayed further, however Im starting to suspect they are giving me the cold shoulder.

if you dont hear a thing in 24-48hrs. make a copy/paste of what your going to say (nicely i might add) and start pinging one off every hour.

[Prototype_No.98]

Just a heads up, Steam has finally replied to my message, Id like to have a second set of eyes on this because I still dont believe that Steam recognizes my situation (confidential details have been removed).

Thank you for contacting Steam Support.

We apologize for the delay.

The Steam account has been automatically locked due to the payment dispute and is restricted from purchasing, gifting, trading, CD Key activation, and Steam Community access. Additionally, the disputed purchase has been removed from the account.

To unlock your account, you will need to contact your bank and have the bank withdraw the chargeback, cancel the dispute and return the funds to Steam for this purchase. As soon as the chargeback dispute is settled, your account and the disputed game, will automatically unlock.

If your bank is unable to withdraw the chargeback, we will need them to fax an affidavit that clearly states that they are unable to withdraw the chargeback and, more importantly, that the chargeback was not due to the credit card being used fraudulently.

Please have them fax this affidavit to ******** Attn: Fraud Department. Make sure that your bank has included the phone number for their dispute department so that we can verify the statement with them. Please reference your ticket number ********** on your cover letter. As soon as we can confirm this information with your bank, we will review the situation so that we can make an exception and unlock the account even though the chargeback is still pending.

We understand that this is an inconvenience, but we hope that you understand the logic of our actions. We appreciate your patience with this issue.

Id like to know if Steam even acknowledges what has happened, they seem to been keen on simply getting my money back.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.