iPhone App Refund Policies Could Cost Devs

CBRcrash writes "Apparently, if iPhone users decide that they want a refund for an app (users can get a refund within 90 days, according to Apple policy), Apple requires that developers give back the money they received from the sale. But, here's the kicker: Apple will refund the full amount to the user and says that it has the right to keep its commission. So, the developer not only has to return the money for the sale, but also has to reimburse Apple for its commission."

Comments

Re:App Store refunds: Much ado about nothing

[tompaulco]

I guess it depends on what kind of volume the merchant is doing. For my business, we do a paltry $7,000 a month in CC sales, however, we close batches daily, and settlement is usually 3-4 business days later. We have had only one attempted (and successful) chargeback in our 3 year history, and the chargeback was less than 1/10 of a typical days sales, and they simply deducted it from our settlement. No need to hold funds.
In our case the one chargeback was a woman who bought product in our store, walked out the door with it, and then lost it on her way home. Since she couldn't find it, she simply reversed the charges. Our Merchant Account sent a letter saying that we had to refute the charges in 3 days or they would accept the chargeback. Unfortunately, I did not receive this letter until after the 3 day period had expired. So they chargeback stuck. Later, the woman, a regular, came in and paid us back in cash after admitting it was her fault.