Did you ever purchase an app and wonder how to cancel the purchase and get a refund? Perhaps your kid might have wrongly purchased a game and you wanted to get your money back. Apple has a simple process which is common for both iOS and macOS App Stores. Recently, I had an issue with the app purchased from Mac App Store and here is how I got the refund from Apple.
Raising Refund Request
- Go to Apple’s report a problem website and login with your Apple account which was used for the app purchase.
- If you have setup two-factor authentication, enter the verification code and login to the site.
- Click the first “I would like to…” box and select “Request a refund” option from the dropdown list.
- Click “Tell us more…” box and select the reason for asking refund. For example, select “A child/minor made purchase(s) without permission” if your kid purchased an app and click “Next” button.
- Select the app from the list and use search box if you have too many purchased apps.
- Click “Submit” button and you will see a message “Your request has been submitted. Allow up to 48 hours for an update”.
- You will receive an email from Apple with the refund request details as shown below.
Checking Refund Status
You can anytime login back to report a problem page with your Apple account and check the status of your claim. You will see a “Check status of claims” link above the submission form and click on it. The page will show the app details along with the current status of your refund request.
Receiving Refund Amount
When Apple finalized the decision of accepting or rejecting your claim, you will receive an email. It will be from Apple Support team with the subject as “Decision on refund request” as shown below.
It will not say the decision and you need to go back to Apple account and check your claim’s status as explained above. For successful case, you will see the status as “Refunded” as shown below.
The amount will be automatically received to your payment method used for purchasing.
Points to Note
Remember the followings regarding purchasing and asking refund from Apple:
- Though Apple has different App Stores for iOS and macOS, the refund process is same based on the Apple ID used for purchase.
- At least iPhone has an option to stop in-app purchases, but Mac does not have an option. If you have kids, make sure to setup Family Sharing and share the purchases of your kid. You can setup approval or ask to buy process so that your kid can’t purchase without your knowledge.
- App developers do not have any control of the payments made through Apple App Stores. For example, if you have purchased Microsoft 365 apps from Mac App Store, then you should raise a refund request with Apple and Microsoft can’t do anything in this regard.
- If you do not want to renew a subscription, make sure to cancel it one day before the renewal date. For this you do not need to raise a refund request.
- After successful refund, you will lose access to the app.
