I always wonder why people keep attributing this to cheap/unskilled labor.
At one level it really doesn't matter as the company is choosing who works for them, and the outcome of their action is the company's action. It's Valve's fuckup anyway we look at it.
At another level, qualified and well paid employees also take shitty actions. I'd argue they're often less prepared and less professional than contracted customer support.
Because it's out of character. On Steam there are practically no restrictions whatsoever on what you can say in reviews. Even completely irrelevant, off topic, risque, or meme spam reviews are perfectly kosher. A reasonable and relevant review being removed makes 0 sense, and is not something Steam would ever do. So it's obviously somebody who's working for them, that shouldn't be.
Of course I do agree with you on accountability. Companies should not use volunteers for remotely relevant positions. If they do, and those volunteers screw up, it's on them.
But I'd contrast that with the reaction when people get rejections from the AppStore for instance. They're not blaming some proverbial intern for that, they'll rightfully blame Apple, either for inconsistent decisions depending on the reviewer, or lack of clear rules, etc.
At one level it really doesn't matter as the company is choosing who works for them, and the outcome of their action is the company's action. It's Valve's fuckup anyway we look at it.
At another level, qualified and well paid employees also take shitty actions. I'd argue they're often less prepared and less professional than contracted customer support.