Apple Support Tells Customers to Ask Developer for Refund
I would like to offer a giant raised middle finger to @AppStore Support for continuing to tell customers that they should contact me directly for a refund. @AppStore knows developers have no way to refund a purchase. Stop telling customers that we can!
This has been happening for all 9.5 years of the App Store. And some of the customers think we’re lying in order to keep their money when we say they have to ask Apple—because they reasonably assume that Apple knows how its own store works. Unfortunately, refunds are quite literally something only Apple can do.
Update (2017-12-28): Allen Pike:
This has happened for years, but since they recently removed the “Not working as expected” option on http://reportaproblem.apple.com, it’s started happening far more often. We’ve sent some angry customers refunds directly at a 30% loss, but it’s unsustainable.
See also: How to get a refund for iTunes or App Store purchases.
Update (2018-01-01): Jerauld:
I subscribed to a year of a digital mag through the @AppStore and they stopped publishing 4 months in @AppleSupport said the app should refund me and I only have 30 days to ask #apple for a refund. Great scam charge for 12 months and Apple won’t help after 1st month
Update (2018-01-25): Dave Howell:
Sure would be nice if Apple Support didn’t tell Apple customers to contact app developers to request refunds for App Store purchases. Nutty.
Update (2019-01-23): Frank Reiff:
Now the Mac App Store customer service is referring customers to me to get a refund.. but of course I have no way of initiating a refund on the Mac App Store.. nor does Apple tell me WHO buys my products. 😬
Update (2024-04-29): Desairem (via Jeff Johnson):
Every now and then a user of one of my apps contacts me asking why they get an error when downloading or updating the app in the App Store (“Unable to Download App. “App” could not be installed. Please try again later.”). I tell them that third-party developers have no power over the App Store or its download/update process, and this is an issue they have to solve with Apple Care. But when they contact Apple Care, they are told that since it’s an issue with a third-party app, they have to contact the app developer. Sometimes the user is more inclined to believe what Apple Care tells them and they get angry at me. In any case, I feel helpless and frustrated, because I would love to help them, but have no means of doing so. There is something about the concept of App Store that makes some users believe that third-party developers have more power than they actually have: sometimes, for example, users contact me directly, or even leave reviews on the App Store, asking for a refund, which of course only Apple can do.
I continue to have problems where customers also can’t download apps outside the Mac App Store because macOS incorrectly reports them as damaged.
Update (2024-11-14): Apple Support just told one of my customers that they could not issue a refund and that this was something the developer would need to do.
3 Comments RSS · Twitter
It is my understanding: Even when Apple does the refund, they keep their 30% share. So the developer always has 30% loss for esch refund.
