Has anyone here accepted a GS position, and requested records review for a step increase? If yes, how long did it take?

I'll add a dose of reality. One thing that happens is an employee requests a desk audit to prove they're doing either higher quality, more quantity, or more complex work, hence should get a GS grade bump up. The first two do not determine grade change. Flipping burgers is a job. Doing more/hour doesn't change the basics. This is more related to steps. Concepts like complexity, span of control, contacts, etc. are weight criteria on the original classification of the position description (PD). So the employee requests a desk audit. In general, management hates desk audits and doesn't think much of the employee demanding one. The vastly less frequent result is the employee has been "suffered and permitted" to do a "preponderance" of higher graded work. Management has two choices; a new properly graded PD if they want the work or removal of duties to knock the "preponderance" down. I've seen it cut both ways. This result can also piss management off more because they got caught being lazy and it's the employee's fault. The second rarest result is the desk audit concludes the employee isn't performing the graded duties complexity, span of control, etc. and the position needs to be downgraded. I had that happen to my clerical assistant who was on a similar lower graded PD as others and did not perform some of the same duties. Her PD was classified one grade below the others. The desk audit resulted in the determination that she should be two grades lower. I didn't have the higher rated duties for her to perform. I warned her not to demand a desk audit because of the likelihood of a bad result, but she insisted. When notified of the upcoming demotion, she simply quit. The third result that's most common is the PD is good and the employee duties match. That still is a bad result as the employee is labeled as disgruntled and incapable of understanding what a three page document means and how they relate to it. Unfortunately, I've never seen a happy on all sides result of a desk audit and don't recall an employee getting a merit promotion later on because they were proven to be worth the grade they're at and no more.

I was hired in at the top of my grade. I was offered another position around the same time and did the paperwork to request to be hired at a higher step but it was not approved, luckily I was offered another position that did negotiate step at hiring.

Step increases are normally based on time in civilian service It's possible for you to get a meritorious step increase. Normally your civilian supervisor can recommend a step increase. If you are currently interviewing for a GS job, but haven't accepted yet, you can negotiate a higher entry step based on experience, education, or current position and salary greater than the minimum requirements for the job. I started my Army Civilian job at step 8 because I asked my hiring manager to match my civilian salary; he did.