If you are wondering
why anyone would want refunds for purchases that they have made from the iTunes
store, consider the following situations:
A. You ordered an HD
movie from the iTunes store but after making the purchase, you realize that it
would take several hours to download that massive file to your computer. You
can stop the download but your credit card will still be charged.
B. You have an iPhone
but you accidentally bought an iPad version of some app which is obviously of
no use to you.
C. You wanted to buy a
game but there were at least a dozen similar titles on the iTunes store. The
one you finally bought is not the one you were originally looking for and you
therefore want to return it to Apple.
D. You purchased a song
from iTunes store but there’s some problem with the audio format and it won’t
play on your iPod or iPhone.
E. You have two or more
iTunes accounts and you purchased an iPhone App using the wrong iTunes account.
You can’t transfer apps across accounts so a refund followed by re-purchase
makes more sense.
F. The 1-Click ordering
system, that Apple licensed from Amazon, makes it easy for anyone to buy apps,
songs, movies and games from the iTunes store with a single click but this can
sometimes lead to accidental purchases especially when kids have access to your
devices.
These are just some of
the legitimate reasons why people may want to return their iTunes store
purchases and request refunds from Apple.
Return your iTunes Store Purchases to Apple
The iTunes App store
sales policy clearly says that you cannot cancel a purchase or receive a refund
for a purchase but they are known to make exceptions if you have a valid
reason.
For instance, I
recently purchased the $2.99 Reeder app from the iTunes store but only after
installing it on my iPad did I realize that it was an iPhone-only app and not
designed for the iPad. I requested a refund from Apple and how they reversed
the charges in less than 4 hours.
Step 1:
Locate the email receipt for your iTunes Store purchase and click the “Report
Problem” link next to the app that you would like to return.
iTunes Store Receipt
If you have deleted
the email invoice that Apple sent you after you completed the purchase, launch
the iTunes program using this special link and you’ll see a list of all items
that you’ve bought from the iTunes store. Open an order by clicking that little
arrow next to the order date and then click “report a problem” next to the app
name.
If the above method
fails, or if you don’t have iTunes on your computer, you can use this page to
submit a refund request to Apple through any web browser.
Report Problem - iTunes
Step 2:
Click the Problem drop-down menu and choose an option that best describes your
problem. If you have purchased an app accidentally, choose “I inadvertently
purchased this application.”
You can expect a
response from Apple in the next 24-48 hours. If the support rep is satisfied
with your reasoning, he’ll probably reverse the charges. Please remember that
you are not entitled to a refund under the iTunes Store Sales policies so if
they deny your request for a refund, move on!
