Game account disabled less than 24 hours after arrival

gohan2091

I won this game recently and it arrived in good time. The game comes with disc, case, serial key and booklet but requires that the serial key be attached to a Steam account to play. Since the item is used, the serial key was already attached to a Steam account (the sellers). I know this and I didn't mind using a retired account to play the game.

The game worked fine the night I got it but when I tried to play next evening, it said the Steam account has been blocked. After some investigation, I discovered that it's actually against Steam rules to sell or trade Steam accounts. I contacted the seller and he said he didn't know that either but we both agreed to contact Steam to get this sorted. Neither of us had luck so the buyer said he will try contact them again and if this is not sorted, he would refund me. Later however he changed his mind and will now not refund me. He said he cannot be held responsible for the account as it's out of his hands. He broke the rules and the Steam account was doomed from the moment it was sold on eBay. I understand we are both to blame for this as we should have checked the rules but I feel he is more to blame than I.

I filed a Paypal dispute and lost. Paypal said the item works as described. This is not true as the eBay ad clearly says that the account is needed for the game to work. I decided to telephone Paypal and the lady on the phone said the reason why I lost was because the Steam account was offered as a FREE GIFT and you cannot file a dispute on free gifts. I contacted eBay via live chat and the guy said he has to agree with Paypal's decision.

So I paid £15 for a game I've had a few hours use out of. Is there anything I can do? I am now forced to re-buy the game.