It is common belief that all purchases on the App Store are definitive. Well, it’s not the case. It’s true indeed that you might get disoriented in iTunes but if you know how to proceed and as long as you have a valid reason, there is no obstacle to getting your money back.
1. Launch iTunes
2. Log on to your account (using the upper right box)
3. Proceed to Purchase history (iTunes link)
4. Report a problem
5. Fill out the form politely and concisely. You’re going to have to provide a valid reason to be refunded
5b. In case you’re unsuccessful or unable to access the form just use the online form, don’t forget to give your purchase number and such
There are hundreds of stories around the web of people obtaining a refund because of a purchase mistake or because the app didn’t function properly (like push notification wouldn’t always go through). You also need to precise that a refund is what you would like to obtain.
After that you should receive an answer in the next 48 hours and you’ll be refunded in 4 to 5 business days.
However, there is an issue with obtaining a refund. When Apple grants you a refund it keeps its 30%, so basically when you ask for a refund the developer is gonna be billed 30% of his app price.
Try to use this possibility with parsimony and be fair
I did this and it worked. I downloaded a game and complained that it wasn’t what the description said it was.
Great so the developer gets fined because someone wants a refund, sounds like an even worse invention that chargebacks
This is definitely true. ESPN’s fantasy football app (which is 4.99 and still displays ads, but that’s a whole different frustration) didn’t send me the push notifications for three consecutive weeks, despite going back and forth for their tech support. I finally requested a refund. and recieved it. AND they fixed my push notifications the following week.
Great tip! I feel sorry for the legions of developers who won’t be too happy about this.
I won’t be sorry for the developers! Maybe they will work a little harder at getting the bugs and problems out of their apps.
I had bought ‘Mariner Calc’ because I have that on my Mac as well. It was exceedingly difficult to do anything with the iPhone app. I gave up in frustration.
I then purchased ‘Spreadsheet’. This app had a crashing bug that caught me all the time. They said it would be fixed in the next upgrade, but here is some kind of file that you need to install so you can install some other file to make the beta wok. Oh, and by the way, we have sold this app to someone else!
Fortunately, I was refunded for these two mistakes.
I ended up buying ‘Documents To Go’ which has been working just great for me!
I did this and was refunded, but be careful because you can only do this once or twice. I asked for a refund and got it, then a week or so later I needed another refund but they wouldn’t give one to me.
Nowhere in there did hear hat you used the link in iTunes to inform the developer about the problem.
I’ve got 2 apps in the store and nobody has ever used the Developer link to complain.
Most people just delete and whine their feelings on the rating system.
The iphone consumer attitude is really hard to please… most of you have way more money than the average Joe, and just throw it all over the place… then get bitter over 99 cents. Oh, and did I mention that most people never read the instructions on apps? Right?
Its hard to get an app in the store, I doubt that many don’t live up to their descriptions.
People also need to know to reboot their phones every couple of weeks. Mine can even go buggy even on the Apple apps in it if I never reboot. Right… the iPhone is as buggy as Windows ME, but they won’t tell you this.
Hope you get your 99 cents back
I’ve bought loads of apps and although I’ve deleted some as not being good enough to merit a precious space on the home screens, there’s only one I’ve felt should have a refund – but because it only cost £0.59 I’ve not pursued it.
That app was Lyrical or whatever it was called which it transpired was using a lyric source on the web they had no right to and so it just stopped working and was withdrawn from the store. In that circumstance I would have expected an automatic refund to everyone despite the developers efforts, and should have included Apples bit as they clearly hadn’t checked that the author had the rights to sell what they claimed to be selling.
I do have sympathy for devs though, and hence I won’t be using this advice for that app, bit it is useful to know in case anything crops up later.