As we all know, not all that glitters is gold, you only get to know that an app or a game you purchased on the store is not exactly what you had in mind and paid for. So for situations like these, these stores have the option of a refund but are not exactly highlighting this feature. So today, I will try to help the majority of smartphone users out there with refunds on purchases made on their respective stores.
Refunds on Play Store
Let’s take the simple one first and that’s the Play Store for Android. The policy of Play Store is simple and that is, one can straight away uninstall an app or a game and ask for a refund in first 2 hours of installation. On the app page, you will have a refund button for the first two hours you installed the app. Simply tap on the button and the app will be uninstalled and the refund will be initialized back to your linked card. Fair and simple. But if you have exceeded the two-hour window, things get a bit complicated. There’s still a way you can ask for a refund with a valid reason. Best for scenarios where you find out that the app is broken after using it for a day or two, or a kid purchased it accidently and you only come to know about it later. Open Play Store on your browser and click on Settings to open your Account page. When you scroll down, you will be able to see all the apps you have purchased on your account. Here, click on the three-dot menu next to the purchase you want to report a problem, select a valid reason for a refund and wait for the team to review and revert back to you. You can also contact the developer directly in such issues and even for in-app purchases as there’s no option to get a refund for in-app purchases even before 2 hours.
Refund Request for App Store Purchases
Moving onto iOS purchases. You can use this on your computer or directly on your iOS device as it works on any browser and doesn’t really require iTunes like before. Open the Apple’s Report a Problem page and log in with your Apple ID. The page will list all the apps, free and paid you have downloaded on your phone. All you need to do is, click on the report a problem link and give a valid reason for a refund. Much like the options we had on Play Store manual refund. You can also use iTunes Purchase History page and then report a problem, but I prefer that the web link is more flexible. Change Country in the App Store: It’s not that hard, but here’s how you can change the country in the App Store itself.
Requesting Refund for Windows Store Purchases
Windows users might feel a bit betrayed to know that there is no straight away option to get a refund like Android or iOS. But yes, there’s a way. As it’s stated on the Windows Returns policy page. So to get a refund, you will have to contact representatives at Microsoft and the best way to do that is either by arranging a call or by starting a chat session using this link. All you need to do now is explain the problem with the purchase and why you would like to request a refund. Finally, it rests on them to process your refund request. But if it’s legitimate, I am sure there will be no issues. Trust me, they are way too polite, even the Canadians might get a complex.
Conclusion
So that was how you can get refunds for purchases made on the three major smartphone store. I think Google’s Play Store is the best when it comes to refunds. What do you think? Do you have any personal experience with refunds on any of the stores you would like to share with our readers? Please go ahead. The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.
