I've had a giveaway end about a week ago, and the winner still has not yet claimed their prize. I sent the key to them about six days ago, and they have signed on to SteamGifts multiple times since then. I sent them a friend request last week after the first time I saw them sign into SteamGifts and hadn't yet marked their win as 'Received' to see if they were having a problem redeeming the key. I can see that they've signed onto Steam multiple times since then, but they have not approved my friend request so I can ask them if there were problems with the key I sent. I figured I should wait at least seven days after sending the key to them to request a new winner for the giveaway, since they won't respond to my friend request on Steam. I've never had to request a reroll and I hoped I never would, but it seems it might be necessary in this case. Am I doing the right thing here? Should I be doing more - i.e., should I e-mail the person directly to ask them if they are having problems redeeming the key I sent them?

Sorry, no extra giveaways to be had here, but check the puzzle threads for an easy puzzle from me, or check my username again this weekend...

Edit: Thank you for all of your advice, folks. I ultimately decided to e-mail the winner, and the winner replied to my e-mail within about 15 minutes, fortunately. They apparently receive a lot of random Friend requests due to posts they make on trading forums, and tend to ignore any Friend requests they don't make themselves. It seems this issue should be resolved later tonight when the winner gets home and checks their SteamGifts account.

Thanks again for anyone who helped here, and I hope that all of you have a wonderfully splendiferous day!

9 years ago*

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What should I do?

View Results
Wait seven days after sending the key, then reroll.
Wait seven days after the end of the giveaway, then reroll.
Request a new winner immediately.
Send them an e-mail before requesting a reroll.
Mandatory potato.
Spoon!
None of the above (clarify below, please).

I have the same issue but he didn't connect to SG since he created the account and entered the giveaway. Should i request new winner or contact support?

9 years ago
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Had a similar problem lately. Support said to try and email them and add them on Steam. If neither of those work, send a re-roll request with proof you tried to contact them, and they'll approve the re-roll. In my case, they never answered my email or multiple friend requests, so the re-roll was approved.

9 years ago
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Will do, thank you.

9 years ago
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You have to wait 7 days past the end of the GA before requesting a re-roll. Support will also want proof you tried to contact the winner outside of SG.

EDIT: One thing to keep in mind is that a lot of people connect to Steam and SG through mobile and can't activate right away, so waiting the full 7 days is necessary.

9 years ago*
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The "Reroll immediately" option in the poll was just to see how many impatient people saw my question. I just wasn't sure if I should wait seven days after the giveaway ended, or seven days after I sent the key, since I sent the key about a day after the giveaway ended, and I wanted to give them a full week to redeem it.

What proof would I need to show that I tried to contact the winner outside of SG? Would a screenshot of my friends list, with their screenname under the "Invitations Sent" entry be sufficient, or do you think I should also try to e-mail the user before requesting a reroll?

9 years ago
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I did both, plus a screenshot of the giveaway with the key sent on it (block out the key of course). They just ask for proof, and gave those three as examples, so I don't know if you need all three - I tend to be very thorough, though, lmao.

You can actually wait longer than a week if you want, that's up to you.

9 years ago
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It's based on 7 days from when you first tried to contact them.
Screenshots are 'proof'.
You need to try and contact them on both Steam and E-Mail.

Source: SG Staff telling me this directly :P

Basically, this is the one place in the world where you have to actively hunt down winners, instead of them being obligated to put in any effort of their own -.-

9 years ago
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Yep, tracking down winners is the one thing that makes me cringe a little whenever my GAs end ...

9 years ago
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Really? The one thing that makes me cringe is when they yell at you about 'how dare you delay in giving them the game they earned' (that's ACTUAL phrasing I've had thrown at me) and then throwing insults at me, when I finally get a hold of them.

Of course, that's still nothing compared to those throwing 'just go kill yourself' and mocking people's disabilities/other bigotry, which happens way too much on these forums, and the staff typically doesn't suspend them at all (or even say anything negative to them!), and even if they do, they unsuspend them very shortly after.
Melly's giveaway thread got a lot of that, after she had to reschedule her event due to leaks, it was depressing- but all too common :(

9 years ago
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Luckily I haven't really come across anyone like that yet. It's the internet, so I'm sure it will happen sooner or later, and I'll probably just dismiss it when it happens. Tracking down winners takes valuable time though, and you'd think people would be a little more motivated to collect something they've received for free LOL.

9 years ago
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If your winner has activated the game on their account, I think support can also mark the giveaway as received. If the account is private and you can't take a look, once again support can because of the mandatory weekly sync.

9 years ago
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This is the response I got from support, granted it was 7 months ago, so I have no idea if things have changed(I don't know if they can in general?):

"If the user hasn't accepted the gift in your inventory, we cannot mark it as Received.

There are a couple of options though. You can add the user on Steam to give the gift to them via chat (since they might have missed the mail) or you could ask for a reroll, by attaching the same screenshot and cancelling the gift being sent. Or you could wait, until they accept. It's up to you."

As for asking for a reroll, well you're dealing with a key which the user might or might not have seen already.

9 years ago
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Yeah, there's always a chance he activated it on a different account. Or maybe he sold it or something.

9 years ago
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Well, as you mention, HBNayr sent a key, and the response you quoted is about Steam inventory gifts. Since the key was sent, and there is no mechanism to check whether a key is used (without potentially using it), it would be reasonable to infer that if the winner has the game activated on their Steam account (which they didn't prior to entering the giveaway), they obtained the game from the key they won.

What would really suck is if the winner used the key on another account.

9 years ago*
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there's a chance that the user already grabbed the key, so a reroll is risky since it can be used...

9 years ago
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you should definitely try e-mailing the winner. as far as a reroll, that opens you up to possible "not received" feedback since you can't know if the winner used the key (especially if it was activated on a different account), and i'd hate for you to get negative feedback because you gave a key to someone who isn't following the rules.

of course maybe the winner just hasn't noticed yet and has no idea who you are from your steam friend request, so an e-mail might clear it up.

9 years ago
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Tip: next time you find yourself in a similar situation, change your Steam profile a bit before adding him as a friend. Adding a "Custom Info Box" on the topmost and explaining whom you add and why you add will help you. It helped me since most ignorant winners at least check other's profiles about why the add. And seeing that you're trying to communicate with him for his sake, he'll most likely be reasonable.

9 years ago
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Thanks a lot for the tip!

9 years ago
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Actually last week I had asked for a reroll because like you it was 7 days that the GA had pass and even though I had send the game to his e-mail and friend request on Steam after 6 days without answer. The funny thing his on when it was 8 days, he finally accepted the gift... But really when 7 days have passed you really have to ask for a reroll, because if not you could be waiting for a while.... Good luck with that:)

9 years ago
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The dilemma isn't how long to wait – at least seven days after GA ended – but to what to request. If the winner obviously visited SG several times, then there is a chance they just took the key and regifted/traded it. In this case rerolling means new winner cannot activate and you either buy the game again or take the not received. So in this case if you can prove support that the user logged in, you can request a forced received response. (And optionally report the user for non-activation.)
Your ale had a nice ending, but sometimes people won't respond because they don't want to respond.

9 years ago
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First thing is delete the key, so it will not be used while you're waiting for Support to respond ... assuming it hasn't been used already.

Or delete the key anyway so the person has to accept your invite to get the key.

9 years ago
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