Half-Life Fallout: Can't use Wallet funds - Half-Life Fallout

Hey y'all.

I hate to be a new poster and requesting help on my first post. But I'm at the end of my tether regarding Steam Customer support and hoping someone here can possibly help with my problem. If it's not fixed soon I'm seriously contemplating phoning my Card company to get the charge reversed which no doubt they'll scream about.

Basically - last month I pre-deposited 25 GBP into my steam wallet account for use as and when I wanted a game as I was feeling a bit flush that month so wanted to leave funds in my account just in case I see a game on offer.

During that time I've had to move house (only 6 miles away) on a short term basis. However when I now try to spend the funds in my wallet I get the following. (Pic attached)

http://imageshack.us...steamstore.png/

I've had 4 e-mails from there support since the 26th December all saying I need to put the right details in from my Credit Card...but I clearly tell them I don't - as they already have my money.

I've even attached the picture and said - where do I do what you're saying to do there?
I've tried Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, Tried doing my country of residence by proxy, different wireless networks, Nothing. Except a rising anger issue.

If any of you can help that would be awesome, but I've got a theory this is a Steam F' Up!

Many thanks
Lee

That really sucks, not sure why steam support are not helping you properly, can you post what you sent to them and what replies you got?

Hope we can help you with this, I would be so annoyed if this happened to me.

In Quote boxes - that's me typing.

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1 Message by you on Mon, 26th Dec 2011 3:46 pm

Good evening,

I've been trying since just after 6pm (5 ish hours ago) to purchase the Bastion: Soundtrack Edition from funds in my Steam Wallet. (Which I originally added hoping to reduce or remove such errors)

However on trying to complete the transaction through the Steam Platform or via my Internet browser on Chrome or IE I get the following error.

"There seems to have been an error initializing or updating your transaction. Please wait a minute and try again or contact support for assistance."

This happens a lot on my account and I'm finding it rather infuriating, I suspect it's due to my permanent residence being the Isle of Man but not being able to select it on my profile settings thus clashing with my billing info when processing but I'm not entirely sure.

Could you please investigate and confirm/provide a solution?

Kind regards

Lee Holmes

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2 Message by you on Tue, 27th Dec 2011 5:32 am

Logged on again this morning and still having the same issue

3 Message by Support Tech Charlie on Tue, 27th Dec 2011 4:35 pm

Hello Lee,

Thank you for contacting Steam Support.

Our records indicate that your purchase was declined due to your current IP address differing from your billing information.

We have removed the lock on your account - you will now be able to complete additional purchases.

Additionally, you will need to use the following link through either Internet Explorer or Firefox to complete your transaction.

http://store.steampowered.com/?cc=IM

Please make sure to enter your billing address as it is registered to the card.

Please bookmark this link for continued purchasing while you are traveling out of your native country.

Please let us know if you have any questions, or if you encounter any further difficulty.

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4 Message by you on Sun, 1st Jan 2012 8:52 am

Hi,

Still not working - can you just remove this lock all together as it's exasperating.

Thanks

Lee

5 Message by Support Tech Charlie on Tue, 3rd Jan 2012 10:21 am

Hello Lee,

You are contacting us from the UK, however, you were accessing the IM store.

Is the credit card registered in IM or GB?

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6 Message by you on Tue, 3rd Jan 2012 12:16 pm

Hello,

the card is registered to the isle of man, which is part of the uk, I'm assuming Im = isle of man. The original £25 deposit made to the steam wallet was deposited at my primary residential address in Douglas, isle of man. Since then I believe I purchased orcs must die via the browser at my primary address after failing to do so via steam with a similar issue so I'm not entirely believing the ip issue mentioned earlier, I also have the suspicion that my ip is 'reset' by my ISP upon rebooting of the router although I can't say that for definite.

over the Christmas period I have stayed with my family, 6 miles away and still on the isle of man. Where I've tried to spend my funds in the holiday sale but due to this issue failed.

re my steam profile stating my primary residence as uk. This is because I could not locate an isle of man option on the available list.

Please note this isn't an isolated issue with my account as if you have my history on file I've had issues before. Adding to a steam wallet I believed would fix this, especially when using my account from a new address requires entry of an authorisation code e-mailed to me.

in re: to trying to purchase from a different address I don't know why you're making it so difficult to spend my money, I don't have this with any other digital game supplier, if it weren't for the vast library I'd have been driven off.

in addition due to factors outside my control I am unable to return to my primary address on the immediate short term

Excuse the lack of grammar not at a pc.

With regards

Lee

7 Message by Support Tech Charlie on Thu, 5th Jan 2012 12:21 pm

Hello Lee,

If the card is registered to the Isle of Man address, you will need to enter it as such. We sent you the link to be able to complete your purchase correctly.

The purchases did not go through because you were selecting GB as your country instead of IM.

If you enter your billing address in correctly, you will be able to make a purchase.

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8 Message by you on Thu, 5th Jan 2012 1:27 pm

Hello,

That answer makes no sense what so ever in relation to my problem. I would have appreciated if you read my question. This has now been going on for 10 days and we're still no closer to a solution.

I've attached a picture since you so clearly failed to read my in depth reply earlier.

The funds are in my Steam Wallet after having successfully completed a transaction from my Credit Card to Steam with the Isle of Man correctly entered - however that fact is now redundant in regards to the issue I am querying which you'd know if you'd read my replies, the funds held with you are now 'virtual' and require no card transaction what so ever.

I've attached a picture which might make it a little bit clearer to you and I've underlined that I have 22.01 GBP remaining, however on the next screen it fails no matter if I'm going through web browsers or steam store.

I'm biting my tongue as best I can here but you're customer service is really beginning to test my patience.

Perhaps a phone call would be better to resolve this!

Lee

Steam store.png - View Image (File Size : 266.7 KB)

9 Message by Support Tech Charlie on Mon, 9th Jan 2012 8:53 am

Hello Lee,

We do not provide phone support.

The issue is the same.

To complete any in-game purchases while traveling, you will need to add funds to your Steam Wallet through an internet browser first.

You will need to use the following link through either Internet Explorer or Firefox to add funds to your Wallet.

http://store.steampo.../addfunds?cc=IM

You will need to make sure you are selecting IM as your country when entering the billing information.

After adding funds to your Steam Wallet, you can then complete your content purchase through the in game store.

In most cases the in-game content will be added to your account automatically. If this has not happened, please allow two hours for the transaction to fully complete.

Please let us know if you have any questions, or if you encounter any further difficulty.

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I replied with lost temper here and said quite a few things I probably shouldn't have - but have told them if this isn't resolved the Credit Card company will be phoned

Could you add a small amount of money with the way they asked to add funds then maybe you will be able to use all the funds you have.

It's an interesting suggestion but I don't want to risk it - mainly because I shouldn't have to.

Also have a potential 800 pound garage bill coming up for the car! *not feeling so flush anymore!

Gerinako, on 09 January 2012 - 10:13 PM, said:

Yeah I understand that, to me that seems the only way I can see you trying to fix it yourself though... if getting through to steam support is feeling like a brick wall I say get your bank involved in someway because it's not right that they can take your money and not let you use it.

Wow this sucks! And looking at the Steam replies they clearly don't seem to either read or understand your question. The replies they're giving makes it seem like they don't know or want to know you've already got money on there. Weird, since I've now had quite a few Steam support tickets and they've always been quite helpful to me, though usually the issue resolved itself.

I think you should make one last attempt at a reply that just says:

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If they're still too dumb to understand that (or just aren't willing to understand), you should contact your bank.
On a side note, I would also be pretty pissed if this happened to me.

im guessing, and this is just a guess...

are steam funds location aware? That is, funds are only available from the country you put money into it. Essentially, you cannot use the funds because you have none in the Isle of Man (that is the most awesomest name for an island evar, that would be a great place to be, except for the saussage fest)

So, until you add more funds to your account while in IM, then you are SOL. Can you refund from your wallet to your account, then transport it back while on IM?

Monkeh, on 10 January 2012 - 05:59 AM, said:

After I calmed down a little last night I did put a reply similar to the above - I've also managed to find a phone number with them and left a message on there credit card unknown transactions number. Although I know about the transaction I've told them I'll be doing a charge back as I'm having a problem that isn't being resolved. See what I get back...

I'll also be telling the bank to re-call the full £25 - I'll have my extra £2.99 back for the inconvenience. Bound to get there attention then...

suicide_mission, on 10 January 2012 - 06:20 AM, said:

All funds were added in the Isle of Man so unfortunately not applicable.

Saying that just noted they can suspend my account....might download all the games I want to play first and put my account into offline mode....

Finally - after threatening of a chargeback unless rectified they found the problem.
Even though I deposited pound sterling my account was defaulted to US as were the funds in the wallet (Don't know why)

Which made my purchasing from a UK store impossible.

They've amended the currency and now all is shiny - never putting money in the wallet again though!

Cheers for the advice in the meantime anyway!

Really glad you got this sorted!

Gerinako, on 11 January 2012 - 12:08 AM, said:

Hooray! Shame had to take this long (and this many replies by you), but all is well that ends well.

It's good to hear things worked out well.

This isn't a point to their customer service though. I guess good/sympathetic customer service can only be expected locally.

And another positive - garage bill was only £84! Thank the lord it wasn't as bad as I thought!