Just had a pretty negative experience with Steam support and just wanted to post about it here to inform others of my experience. What you do with this information is up to you!

  • I bought a Steam Deck OLED 1TB in November 2023 for $723 USD
  • I take really good care of it (still looks brand new)
  • Last week I ordered an official Steam Deck Dock because I use the Deck so much.
  • After disconnecting the Steam Deck dock one night, the Steam Deck completely dies.
  • The Steam Deck is 16 months old (4 months out of warranty)
  • I contact support, and after doing some cursory troubleshooting, they let me know that it needs repairs and the quote is $197 USD
  • I reply saying that’s quite a bit of money for a product just out of warranty, but if they can guarantee the repairs for 12 months I would do it
  • They dodge the question for a while, but after several messages finally say that they can only guarantee up to 90 days after repair

At this point, I’m no longer interested in being a Steam Deck owner nor am I planning on using any Valve service in the future. I will pay the repair fee†, but I intend on selling it immediately after to recoup some of my losses.

†I’m sure that some of you are going to say repair it yourself! However, the issue is that the repair is a 3 hour long process that needs the battery to be drained first. Due to the current state of the Steam Deck, it is impossible to drain the battery. If I had access to a garage that I could have a metal bucket full of sand in case things go bad, I would consider doing it myself, but hitting a fully charged Li Ion battery with a heat gun in a small carpeted apartment is just too risky for my risk tolerance.

  • S@infosec.exchange
    0·
    17 days ago

    @LettucePrey I usually try to stay away from posts like these, but this one is weird. 12 month warranty is a bit crap, but it’s standard. That’s at least one thing good about the EU. But it doesn’t really matter whether you’re four months outside of warranty or two years, you’re still out of warranty. I have my fair issues with Valve, but a lot of companies wouldn’t even bother offering you a repair in a scenario like this. Are there consumer laws in your country that dictate that you always should be offered that when you’re outside of warranty?

    Secondly, why would you demand an additional 12 month “guarantee” on the repair, i.e. a new/extended warranty? For something that’s already out of warranty? Are there _any_ companies that would ever agree to that? I don’t know of any. That’s akin to buying a refurbished unit from them, and that unit would _not_ go for a measly $197 in that case.

    • LettucePrey@lemm.eeOPEnglish
      0·
      17 days ago

      why would you demand an additional 12 month “guarantee” on the repair

      It is fairly typical in the automotive world, especially collision shops.

      • FooBarrington@lemmy.world
        0·
        17 days ago

        It’s also fairly reasonable in my eyes. Is Valve not confident their repair will actually work & last those 12 months at least?

        • voracitude@lemmy.world
          0·
          17 days ago

          If you’ve ever fixed an issue with the family PC, and then had a relative call 6 months later because “what did you do, it’s broken”, you’d understand exactly why warranty isn’t offered on warranty repairs.

            • voracitude@lemmy.world
              0·
              17 days ago

              You’re the one saying it’s reasonable to expect a reset of the warranty on every repair. I just said why that’s not reasonable; your follow-up here makes no sense.

              • FooBarrington@lemmy.world
                0·
                17 days ago

                How does it not make sense? They already give a warranty for the repair (which you seem to think is unreasonable). At this point we’re only discussing the length of the warranty.