How you get a refund for iTunes or App Store purchases and in-app purchases isn't obvious, but it is possible!
If you experience a problem with music, movies, TV shows, books, or apps you purchase from iTunes or the App Store you can request a refund directly from Apple. You'll need to have a valid reason for the request—it's not meant to be a way to get free trials or short term use— but if you buy something by accident, buy the wrong thing, or get the wrong thing, or don't get anything, it's how you get your money back.
- How to get a refund using your iPhone or iPad
- How to get a refund using apple.com on the web
- How to get a refund using iTunes on Mac or Windows
How to get a refund using your iPhone or iPad
Apple hasn't built any links to problem reporting into the iTunes Store or App Store apps, so if you're stuck using the web on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad as well. If it's more convenient, you can go directly to problem reporting via your email receipt.
- Launch Mail from your Home screen.
- Search for "Your receipt from Apple" if it's not immediately visible.
- Tap on the receipt for the purchase your want refunded. (Unless you remember the date, there's no way to tell which receipt is which unless you tap it to open it, so you might end up tapping a lot...)
Tap the purchase you want to report.
From this point on you're in Safari and performing the same steps as described in the web browser section, below.
How to get a refund using the web
If you're not at your computer, or simply prefer to sidestep iTunes, you can still request a refund using any web browser.
- Go to Apple's problem reports page: http://reportaproblem.apple.com/
- Login with your Apple ID user name (typically your email address) and password.
- Select the appropriate tab—all, music, movies, TV shows, apps, or books.
- Find the purchase you want refunded.
Select Report a Problem to the right of the purchase.
- Select the reason you want the refund.
- Fill in the description, as appropriate.
Select Submit
How to get a refund using iTunes on Mac or Windows
- Launch iTunes on either your Mac or Windows PC.
- Click on your name at the top and in the dropdown select Account Info.
- Type in your password when prompted in order to proceed.
- Click on See All under your Purchase History.
Click on the arrow next to the purchase batch that contains the purchase you'd like a refund for.
- Click on Report a Problem next to the single purchase you'd like a refund for, unless there is only one, then you may use the large Report a Problem button.
You will be routed to Apple's website. Just follow the steps after signing in and request the Refund option and explain why.
Note on refunds
App Store refunds typically take a day or two to process and you might get contacted by Apple support to verify the reason for the request. If you have any questions, let me know in the comments!
Reader comments
How to get a refund for iTunes or App Store purchases
Thanks, Aly. Does the same procedure apply for music? I'd love to see a "try and buy" policy put in place. $.99 for an app is one thing, but $12 for an album you end up hating because you were given bad advice via Facebook is a different story.
Really?
no. hypothetical
Apple lets you preview all music on the iTunes Store. And you could always listen to it on YouTube before you buy it.
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Apple implemented 90 second song previews about a year ago. I think that pretty much IS the "try and [then] buy" policy that you're looking for.
That's asking a little too much. You already CAN try before you buy and have been able to for a long time. iTunes gives insanely long song snippets for virtually every song they sell. That's your try before you buy if you ask me.
That's what you get for taking advice from facebook... really?
LMAO, stop, just please stop! I just cant even.............
You have just won the award for most ridiculous comment I have ever read on iMore (& probably "TIPB"days too). I can't even begin to type an actual response to this, sorry.
Soooo.... Anything on WatchOS2? I kind of figured nothing would happen until Tuesday or Wednesday next week. Apple and I have different meanings for "shortly". Guess I'll go get a dev membership
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You can literally listen to the whole song on YouTube.
As MASTER JULIAN said, you can listen to the music for free on services such as YouTube or Spotify before you make you purchase, and iTunes itself let's you preview a fair amount of the song
I accidentally bought Keynote and Numbers for $9.99 each after a fresh install of iOS 7 Beta 3 when a page popped up asking me to download these Apple Apps, ie: iBooks, iTunesU, Podcast etc. I tapped ok, put in my password and everything started downloading. Was never asked to confirm the two $9.99 purchases tho. Well I contacted Apple and they were very helpful and refunded my accidental purchases.
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How long did it take to get your refund? And how do you tell it is refunded? On mac ?
Apple will only allow up to 3 refunds in your lifetime (I think). I received this email from them when I tried requesting for a refund in 2011 (21 months after my prior request):
> Dear Rathijit,
>
> I've carefully considered your request for a refund. While I understand
> this purchase was unintentional, your account history shows a previous
> refund for an accidental purchase on March 26, 2009. Because the iTunes
> Store has already made an exception to the Terms of Sale for you, I cannot
> grant you a refund for this purchase.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Kate
However, I tried requesting for another refund a moment ago for an app that I did not mean to buy, and it worked. I guess they only disallow more than 3 refunds in a span of 3 or 4 years.
Seems like a decent policy to me. It's the same thing that a lot of the bigger stores do when you return items, they ask for your ID or info/name & it goes into the system which I assume throws some sort of red flag up if you abuse the return policy.
-how people buy apps "by mistake" so many times is always something that baffled me. I understand 1 time or OCCASIONALLY the "kids excuse" (which is a whole 'nother discussion we had on here a few months ago). But a grown person making so many purchase errors??? Seems to be either a bit "fishy" or the person in question (even tho they might be grown/mature) probably shouldn't have the power to purchase if they are confused so easily.
Yeah, I agree with and accept Apple's policy. My excuse for 3 requests was that I purchased the apps and then found out they did not have the features I expected them to have in a span of <3 years (I spend a lot on apps, so it's easy to hit that limit in that period). I'd say that's because of insufficient documentation, which is not Apple's fault. That being said, I'd really like it if Apple introduces a 'try before you buy' feature for apps.
I remember reading this a few years ago:
Apple charges a 30% commission on all paid apps sold through the App Store. So basically, developers get 70% of a given sale but if the end-user wants a refund, the developer has to pay Apple 100% of the sale.
Is that still true?
http://techcrunch.com/2009/03/25/apples-iphone-app-refund-policies-could...
Probably because Apple dosent know how to do a return
Thanks for this info!
I just bought a music track with a fault on it today. It appears that you can't report a problem until Apple have actually invoiced you for the items (i.e. not immediately after purchase). You have to go back later and try again.
I got an answer immediately "Please contact developer" after I chose "it does not function as expected".
http://gyazo.com/fa992f96a941669fc7b6b7fc65c6cee9.png
What does this mean? Does it mean Apple won't even consider refunding it?
The developer admitted Apple locks down the environment and the function cannot be added.. so what now!?
Problem here too - though can't even "report a problem" with this version of iTunes on my PC (11.0.4.4). The most recent purchase (I want to get refunded) shows up, above the list - but selecting it, or 'report a problem' button has no effect. Any ideas?
I think Apple should do something with the app store like google does with the play store. You have fifteen minutes from the time an app finishes downloading to get a refund, and a lot of times the developers will extend that time slot if you email them
Yeah I miss that from when I was on Android.
I think this is the next step for the App Store. I really like that they added video previews, they're very useful, but you definitely should be able to try it out for yourself for a bit
I bought Minecraft, thinking that it was going to be cool but instead it was really hard to control and not fun at all compared to the PC version, it spent all my iTunes money and i don't even want it, it won't let me get my money back though... i tried this but it wouldn't let me
i really understand you.. the devs really choose the best looking pictures and make an adorable description, but in the and the app sucks. or games do net even tell you what kind of game it is, only the story and the superb graphics.. i know, i know, i could google it, but come on, it sucks to google everything i do. why the hell not let users try the app for free and the you can make your decision. yeah, like the Play Store does.. sorry Apple, but Google rules on this! but i know why Apple does it this way. simply MORE CA$H! because people want never stop buying apps they never really going to use. they will also not google it every time. and so they spend some $ every year they would not spend if they could get a refund. this turns out to be a lot $$$ if every guy do so.
btw: 2do-apps are a good example. they promise heaven, but in the end they suck all in a way, even the very expensive ones :P
"the devs really choose the best looking pictures and make an adorable description, but in the and the app sucks. or games do net even tell you what kind of game it is, only the story and the superb graphics"
Welcome to advertising. This happens with everything in the world, ever. Even going to McDonalds they will show you a picture of a burger, looking really colorful, fresh and tidy. The end result looks nothing like the picture.
Being a big video game fan myself, I'm always very cautious before I buy a game, so I'll check out reviews or "Let's plays" if you will
Isn't it just simpler to visit https://reportaproblem.apple.com/ and skip the previous steps!?
My purchased history does not show my latest buys. In fact, none of the apps I bought are visible. Please help.
If you have purchased from itunes on desktop, then you must sign out yourself out of App store on iPhone and sign in. The purchases would be visible then on iPhone.
The simple fact with Apple, is that you should use a CREDIT card, backed by VISA or MASTERCARD for protection, that way, if an app does not work in the way described, or features are removed etc after you purchase it, you can simply ask them to implement a refund on your behalf...!!! This certainly works in the UK with card protection, i would of thought the protection would be the same everywhere....
Very helpfull!
I'm pretty sure the I'm going to have to bite the bullet on this one. I purchased Omnifocus Mac app and iPhone app, based on recommendations from at least a dozen different blogs Apple forums posts saying how great it was. Since Omnifocus so complicated, to say the least, I didn't have time to try it out for several weeks.
When I finally got to go through the tutorial videos, documentation, and blogs that explained how to set it up and use it, I realized that there was no way that I'd ever be able to dedicate enough time to the app for it to be useful. It's been sitting on my Macbook and iPhone for months reminding me of how much money I wasted.
I switched back to the Reminder app, lesson learned on that part. But I would like to get some/all of my money back for an app that I ended up not using. It's been months though. My life is one of those that it's busy enough to take weeks or even a month to sit down and write a blog post. Anyways, thanks for reading, and buyer beware!
What do I do when it says "This purchase isn't eligible for refund"???
What do I do when it says "This purchase is not eligible for refund"
Then it's not eligible for a refund, simple as
Thank you very much. Your article saved me a lot of time fishing around the iTunes UI.
Thanks for your post! I'd have never came to think it was iTunes app the way to ask for a Mac App Store refund... bad for Apple (shouldn't they give access to such options in the Mac App Store as well as through iTunes App?!?) but great to see I could ask for a refund on a crappy app I had just bought (it was sold as a Google Keep "app" but was nothing but a window opening a web session on your behalf... so no local notes nor configurations... crap!)
Once again, thanks for your post!
What if your boyfriend is a complete and utter f****** idiot who thinks it'd be a great idea to spend £70(!!) in 2 WEEKS(!!) on albums when we're already £200 down on bills that are due out tomorrow!?!?!? I realise Apple probably don't see this as an acceptable reason for a refund but you never know! Failing that I could always kill him and claim on the life insurance!!
okpqthen......./
Personal issues aren't eligible for a refund, but you can always get a new boyfriend and ensure that the issue doesn't happen again…
:)
Cover art app for Facebook that was discontinued I hv been trying to get a refund for months and was referred here I spent multiple charges and a final 9.99 but app quit working was discontinued!!!
Cover art for Facebook app told me for months back and forth til now this link to request yet again a full refund I spent multiple amounts of different money different times and final 9.99 for full access of cover art to decorate my Facebook page?! May I finally recieve my refund in full for this no longer existing app?! Ty
Good I want my money back for iPhoto
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I once rented a movie while on the public beta and it didn't let me watch it. I contacted Apple who said they forwarded the glitch to the OS X team and gave me a movie coupon. I couldn't find out what that is anywhere but I think that it means I can rent any movie for free.
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That's brilliant, I just asked for a refund for the pro version of Alien Blue costing £1.49 as I could not see any difference from the free version and they instantly credited the money directly back to my bank account. No questions asked. I never knew you could do this. Thanks iMore.
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Thank you so much, this really helped :)
I didn't get my hints for a game called Wordbubble they dont refund only apple but you can only get a refund if you have a computer. Why? I didnt need a computer to make the purchase. Feeling Frustrated
The refund instructions for iPad don't seem to work for the latest purchases. I bought an item 6 days ago. It still doesn't show up in the all purchases list. But, It does show at the top of the screen under "latest purchases". yet, it doesn't' have an arrow to click on next to it, like the items in the list below. So, I can't request a refund for it.
I just purchased 75000 coins for 12.99 in the game 'house of fun' but I didn't receive the coins but they withdrawal money from my account without giving me the coins.
Question please. Does Apple refund iTunes credit?
Hi Guys, please HELP. I support a young lady who has learning difficulties. No, she does not have parental restrictions on her iPad as she is normally very careful with money and speaks to me if she wishes to make a payment of any kind. This has been the case 100 per cent of the time so far. Okay so, in the last week she has racked up £700. On in app purchases. What is my best cause of action to appeal for a refund through iTunes???
Clearly Apple just don't want to have to give back their pimp cut. I'm sick to death of paid apps that don't work properly with no recourse. I'm not interested in fluffing about going back and forth to the developers helping them with their beta grade rubbish. There should be a 7 day refund policy that doesn't require human intervention on Apple's part.
what do i have to do to get a refund for the "Lifetime movie club" which I downloaded on my ipad but cannot watch any movie due to my geographical location. So I have deleted the app but as of yesterday the amount due for 1 month subscription was deducted from my itunes credit. I contacted them thru the app and they told me thru a mail to contact apple thru imore to get my refund on the deducted amount due to unsupported geographical locatio. Please let me know.
Yesterday I purchased an album I actually didn´t want, I never ask for refunds when I purchase apps or music on iTunes or App Store, not to mention that I don´t read the terms and conditions thing. So I was kind of nervous when all my family and friends told me that Apple does no refunds, but that´s a lie!
I followed these steps and everything worked out totally fine, and extremely fast. You just have to explain everything really well, and they will understand.
Strange, the top of this article indicates that it was posted today and is "by Rene Ritchie", but there are comments that were posted 2 years ago saying "Thanks, Aly". Was this an article that Ally Kuzmucha originally posted a couple of years ago, and now got re-posted and Rene put his name on it?
Read at the bottom of the article ...
I had never done this prior to today, which I did for Peace.
I got a refund no problems or questions asked. Bought Launch Center Pro for my iPad, didn't expect to have to buy again for iPhone what with Universal Apps being a thing for awhile now. Was so pissed at that, got a refund and don't plan of ever buying it again unless they make it universal.
I would like to get a refund from a purchase on hour of fun slots I just did it a couple days ago there was not enough funds on my card sorry for the Inconvenience hope this will happen soon it is screwing up my Facebook account please help
Purchased Pixelmator when it came out on iPad Air 2 (before it was universal). Returned the iPad Air 2 to the Apple Store. Months later, the app was made Universal. I purchased it for my iPhone cause it was on sale. Now, I can no longer download the app after resetting my iPhone because of the earlier refund, even though I paid money for it the second time to download and install it on my iPhone.
No obvious way to appeal this. Can't even repurchase the app again. It just throws the error.
Thanks for this my younger siblings was starting a free trail of a game on my account and instead of doing the free trail it charged me instead and didn't get the trail I found out a day later because I needed the credits for Apple Music and was upset and concerned why it charged when the 7 days weren't even over
My 7-year-old son actually learned my password and by-passed all of this, and I woke up to $300 worth of purchases for "candy machines" that were invisible. It is UNBELIEVABLE how these apps for 4-years+ get away with this. Just one purchase my son made was for $99.00!!! I was panicking, especially with Xmas around the corner. So, I called Apple Support the very next morning, and they immediately took it off my bill. This was HUGE for me in maintaining my trust in their service. I was very happy they solved the matter without even arguing. I suggest calling Apple if this happens to you.
I spend quite a bit on in app purchases monthly as I have a substantial income with limited responsibilities. I Came across a little over $1200.00 in unauthorized purchases on my account. I canceled my card and upon receiving my new card i contacted itunes support through chat. In less than 30 minutes they issued a full refund that will be issued back to my checking account within 10 business days, I dont have a history of refund requests(last one happened back in 2012 whilst deployed). both times i have had zero issue with apple attempting to place blame and in each instance, resolved my issue with little resistance.
TIPS:
Dont get angry.
Treat the CS reps with respect, they only want to help.
Don't make refunds a trend.
Don't worry if you have authorized purchases mixed with unauthorized purchases, apple will sort it out if you tell them specifics.
if all else fails, dispute the charges with your financial institution.
No matter how much I try, I am unable to contact iTunes Support via email, I get this error -
cas.error.CASWS-CUST-001
I have not been able to figure out the number to contact iTunes. Can anybody please share?
https://getsupport.apple.com/ ... you need to login to your apple id and then you can contact them by phone / have them call you / real time chat / or e-mail to the correct address ( the error seems to be because of a faulty address)
This is good especially for apps that do nothing.
PS HERES A GUIDE FROM THE APP "lucky blocks for Minecraft PE" FOR FREE
https://ghostbin.com/paste/wzhsb
What about songs you want and they're "album only" when you only want that one song or why mind of a stoner by machine gun kelly isn't on iTunes
Have you checked YouTube? You should be able to find the song somewhere to preview
I would find it beneficial to have the ability to take apps for a test drive before officially letting the developer have my dollars. For example, many times I research apps heavily and am torn between App A and App B. Sometimes when I buy App B, I find I have made the wrong choice. Of course, I could lie and get a refund, but I like to consider myself an honest guy.
I've rented movies that I didn't like and didn't watch much of and I have received a refund in the past.
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Thanks! That was so easy! Got my $5 back from a bad app!
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May i know what is the alternate contact point if there is no respond after report for refund?