redeem on steam error

[Aklyon]

So I bought Tidalis a few minutes ago because of the SavyGamer sale, but Steam is saying my license key is a duplicate and someone else already has it activated on Steam.

[tigersfan]

Sorry about this. It sounds like someone already pirated your key.

Sadly, we can't actually do much for this directly, so, the best way is to contact Steam Support, and show them your proof of purchase, and they should take care of this for you. If they don't, BurtonJ, on their forums has said he can help if you PM him directly.

[Aklyon]

Thanks, tigersfan.

[tigersfan]

Sure thing, sorry I can't be more help.

[shauno]

Same thing happened to me!  I contacted Steam support, hopefully they'll take care of it.  They are usually sooo slow...

[Aklyon]

Hello,

Thank you for contacting Steam Support.

Retail copies and other digital versions of this game cannot be registered through Steam. If you wish to create a shortcut to this game in your Library list, instructions can be found here:

Title: Adding non-Steam games to the Library tab
Link: http://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=2219-YDJV-5557

A full list of games with CD Keys that can be registered through Steam can be found at the following link:

Title: Retail CD Keys
Link: http://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7480-WUSF-3601

Please let us know if you have further questions.

[Fiskbit]

I believe this is a mistake on their side. We did get Steam redemption set up (see this post and its replies), but I vaguely recall that Tidalis might not have actually ever made it onto that Retail CD Keys page. From the sounds of it, getting this set up is a very manual process for them, so such a mistake wouldn't be impossible.

I'll ping Chris about this to see if there's anything he can find out.

[Aklyon]

Its not entierly a great big problem for me (theres enough games in my Steam list already), its just easier to find later, since I tend to clump anything not on the desktop into large folders that are. (And then forget what is in which one ) I've got plenty of other things to do while we wait here. (like AVWW  )

[furiuzmnky]

I just purchased Tidalis as well using the coupon and have the same Steam error.

[shauno]

"Thank you for contacting Steam Support.

Unfortunately, used CD Keys (whether resold or given by an individual or a store selling used goods) cannot be activated via Steam.

If you have recently purchased this product, please contact the seller to discuss a refund or exchange. "

No help from Steam Support... 
I pm'ed BurtonJ, but no response yet.

[furiuzmnky]

I am sure these guys will sort us out. At least I can still play the manual download 

These types of issues must really make life hard for small dev teams. How many support hours are wasted for a process that should work seamlessly? Of those hours my purchase price $2 covers them reading this post. As soon as there is an issue they are losing money 

[Penumbra]

Sadly, we can't actually do much for this directly, so, the best way is to contact Steam Support, and show them your proof of purchase, and they should take care of this for you. If they don't, BurtonJ, on their forums has said he can help if you PM him directly.

This seems to be the key part after contacting support. From the posts, he wants the number from you support ticket.

[Fiskbit]

Yeah, for those who've contacted Steam support and haven't been able to get any help on this matter, it's looking like BurtonJ is your best bet. He helps out with this problem for AI War, so it should be the same thing here. This is one situation where piracy actually hurts paying customers; it's really frustrating and I wish we had more direct control over it. Hopefully BurtonJ can solve this for you guys!

[shauno]

It's been 3 days since I sent a PM to BurtonJ.   I've gotten absolutely no response.

Any suggestions?

[BurtonJ]

Howdy Howdy,

No need to PM me! Simply submit a support ticket with a picture of your key and your receipt and a support tech should be able to assist you. It might also be a good idea to link to this thread so that they have additional context.

Pro Tip: Submit your ticket message first, which will generate a ticket reference number, then submit your pictures with the ticket reference number written on the key/receipt (probably only applies to physical copies).

Cheers!
-Burton J.