Proving, perhaps, that being reasonable and polite (and somewhat flattering) will get you everything you want, some guy emailed Steam’s customer service asking for a refund of the “terribly buggy” Brink, and got it.
“Having been a loyal customer for 4 years, purchased many many games, and recall seeing quite a few posts on Reddit of the Legendary Valve Generosity™, I was wondering I could use my 1 Favor from Valve™. I have been playing Brink for about an hour and it is terribly buggy (performance is awful and no sound). As I have no more money in my gaming budget for awhile, I would like to redeem, if at all possible, my 1 Favor from Valve™ and get a refund on Brink (I intend to repurchase it later when it is all patched) so I can buy a couple of indie games like Monday Night Combat, Magicka, Nation Red, and possibly Amnesia: DD if I can find where I dropped my balls,” wrote Valve Lover™ (via Reddit).
And – shazam! – it totally worked.
“As requested,” Support Tech Joey replied, “the title has been removed from your account and a credit has been applied to your Steam Wallet. The credit can be used for future Steam purchases.”
Oh, sniff.

Discuss how much you love/hate Steam in the forums.