Steam link and controller pre order - word of caution!

muz79

For those looking forward to the new steamlink box and steam controllers, you can now pre order them via the steam online store or via game.co.uk for delivery in October (1 month before they go on general sale).
However, something to be careful of - when ordering via the steam store the price comes up as £80 for the steamlink+ controller bundle, however when you complete the payment (ie AFTER you enter your card details), you notice that they charge another £15 for shipping! I checked on the site and it doesn't list shipping/delivery costs anywhere. The first I saw was the invoice for £94.78.


It is possible to get a refund via the steam interface, however what isn't immediately obvious is that the refund is applied to your "steam wallet" and the funds CANNOT be transferred back to your credit card or paypal!
In theory I will probably end up using the wallet funds anyway as I do buy games on steam from time to time but it's something you can easily get caught out with.


If you do want to get the new steam link and steam controller then a better deal is via game.co.uk . Annoyingly they don't have any bundles for just the hardware but they do offer the steamlink + controller + £20 steam wallet for £99 including delivery, which is still better value that what's being offered on the steam store directly.

Nilrem

Erm I actually looked at it earlier, and it shows the shipping fee on the payment page - the one where you enter your card CVV, before you press submit and the order is created.

The shipping charge meant I didn't press submit.

PenguinJim

I would recommend against pre-ordering in general, as it's not exactly the MSE thing to do.

Specifically in this case, with the US$ price at $100 for the bundle (an extra cent over buying them separately - bargain), I would be waiting to see more prices at third parties. The Game offer is only about £15 more than the Steam US offer (if you pretend the £20 Steam wallet coupon is cash).

I also would think it's worth waiting for a lot more hands-ons with the controller, to check its compatibility and see comparisons for who it best fits (e.g. DS3 for the hands of small children, DS4 for people who like rotting rubber on their thumbsticks, WiiU pad if you like region-locked controllers).

Besides, there's no special offer for the pre-order, is there?

Edit: just to clarify muz79's Game price claim, the list price is £99.99, not £99, but the TCB cashback on hardware is 1.01%, making it ~£99.