The next time you log into Steam you’re going to be asked to agree to an updated Steam Subscriber Agreement and may want to take a peek at the updated version of Valve’s Privacy Policy as well. Valve has made a few significant changes.
The first change is related to how dispute resolution is handled. Essentially, this is related to situations where a customer may find himself unhappy with products or services on Steam and it can not be handled by customer service to satisfaction.
Valve has outlined a process by which the customer may use arbitration or small claims court to resolve the issue with Valve reimbursing a certain amount of the cost — regardless of the decision. The only exception to the reimbursement is if the arbitrator determines “the claim to be frivolous or the costs unreasonable”.
There is, however, a stipulation. Customers may now only file claims individually and can not participate in any class action suits against the company. According to Valve’s post on the matter they feel that while some class action suits do benefit customers, the majority of them are really only beneficial to the lawyers responsible for handling the claims. In Valve’s opinion, the process they have outlined is faster and better for both the customer and themselves.
In addition to these changes, Valve has also announced the opening of a new office in Luxembourg. Steam users living in Europe will be subject to a slightly different version of the Steam Subscriber Agreement which will be handled through the Luxembourg office. This agreement is amended to include items specific to EU customers.
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