"My son received two separate Steam gift cards, both legit and unscratched. When we finally scratched them a few days ago, we discovered the codes were partially illegible. The middle sections are missing or defective, like a printing error. The issue isn’t from scratching too hard. The damage is clearly under the protective layer, so it looks like a manufacturing problem.

I contacted Steam Support with photos, and they replied that the codes had already been redeemed. What? How is that even possible when:

The codes were unreadable

They were scratched off just a few days ago

They were gifts that had never been used

Steam told me to talk to the seller and closed the ticket. No refund. No replacement. No help. I have no idea who the seller was and I definitely don’t remember which friend gave him the cards. I'm not going to start tracking down a kid’s friends to ask where they bought them.

I'm attaching photos of the cards and the support replies.

Has anyone else had this happen? Can Steam gift card codes be stolen or redeemed without being visible? Why won't Steam take responsibility for a clear defect?"