I went to my nearby Circuit City in the company's final days in hopes of scoring some good prices on whatever electronics they had left. Imagine my joy and surprise upon finding copies of Half-Life 2 AND Team Fortress 2 for $5 each. I went home and eagerly installed Half-Life 2. No problems. Great game. However, as I opened the box for TF2, I noticed the card with the game's activation code was missing. Let me clarify one important detail: both games were still in the original factory shrink wrapping and stickers, which was quite an adventure in itself trying to remove. HL2 contained its' activation card, and I was able to install the game without a hitch. TF2's box contained only the game disc. But, without the magic activation code, I could not install it.

So, I sent an inquiry into Valve's customer support, as well as posting the same on their message boards asking for help (Their irritating lack of phone support notwithstanding). Within days, I'd received a response from the CS department, which thanked me for my purchase, suggested I return the game to the store I'd bought it from, and hoped I would enjoy future titles from Valve. Way to not answer my problem. At. All. Not to mention the fact that the store (and the entire company) had CLOSED, a detail I made explicitly clear in both of my posted requests. Sure, I could return to the empty building, but I can't see it being a very productive part of my day. I even scanned the receipt from the day I bought it and offered it up, but to no avail.

The responses on the message board weren't much better, most people telling me "S.O.L." and to just purchase the game online.

So no, Valve, I will not buy it online. I've already spent money on the game, I don't need to do it twice. How hard is it to send me a new activation code?