You can state you are not 'up-in-arms' and that is fine. I am not going to quibble over your interpretation over mine. When you state you will no longer purchase something out of principle until you get an explanation from Steam, you seem to be upset with them. It confuses me when you then go on to state that you have nothing against Valve/Steam and that it was regret of missing it, not anger. Your post certainly doesn't read that to me, neither then when I first read or now when I have reread it.
Take this for what it is, but I will create a hypothetical situation. Let's say McDonald's raises the price on their Dollar menu up to $5 for every item. There will be people out there who will spend the extra money, because they no longer feel like they have any options, however, most people will boycott McDonald's until they get the idea that it's not smart to capitalize on the success of a lower price. A lower price is more convenient, especially for people who are not completely sold on the product or service. Now, when I said I have nothing against Valve, I meant it. Since that Summer Sale, I have payed for other titles on Steam and have still given them my business.
Terraria was not a title that I was completely sold on. It looked like a 2D Minecraft, and I had no friends who were willing to buy the game with me. Which is why I hesitated on purchasing it. Why would you pay money for a game that you know you will never play? I was on the fence, because the game was such a low price. I thought, I could spare the $2 to get a game that may waste away in my list of games. When the price doubled, I was absolutely put off by the act, and decided to hold off until there was just cause to buy the game. Since then, there hasn't been.
Now, I think you are confusing the powers that be with Valve. Valve has no control over the prices that are posted on their site. EA tells Valve how much they want for their titles, and unless Valve likes to be sued for everything they are worth, they have to abide by their demands. Re-logic tells Valve how much they want for each copy of Terraria, and Valve needs to adhere to the request. So when Re-logic tells Valve to make the game $2.49, the game starts to sell very well, and then Re-logic phones in and says, "Double the price". It's very possible that it was a mistake, but it lasted for 5 hours, so I hardly think that it was a mistake. I would categorize it as an "FML" for everybody involved.
This is Capitalism 101. Supply and demand. If they can't supply me with a product or service that adheres to my wants or needs, then I'm not obligated to pay for it. I have choices, and options. If a game is cheaper, starts to sell well, and then 5 hours later, the developer decides to capitalize on the success and charge more for it, then I am allowed to dissent. Which is why I felt so willingly to do so. So, in conclusion, I have nothing against Valve, I have something against Terraria and Re-logic. And by the bye, Steam did release an explanation as to what happened. It was a generic PR statement, but at least they didn't choose to ignore the consumers and make it look even more conspicuous. So if you are not understanding the situation and don't see where I'm coming from, I take no fault in that. I, along with many disgruntled Steam users posted a lot on the forums that day discussing the phenomenon. So I'm most definitely not in the wrong, and if I am, I'm at least in the majority. Now, this is ancient history, and I have more than gotten over it. My mind has moved on to bigger and better things.
