Be Careful What You Buy In The App Store
Aug 12 2008 
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Boing Boing has recently written up an article about a very serious concern for people who buy apps from the iTunes App Store. Apple does not refund the money on apps that they pull from the store. According to the post, one customer tried to receive a refund from Apple for pulling the NetShare Tethering app. Apple issued the following statement:
All iTunes purchases are final, and I am unable to refund you for the app.
You will need to contact NetShare directly, as this is there [sic] product and we can do nothing with it.
And you call Microsoft greedy….
Way to go Apple on great customer service and support. Take 30% of the lump-sum and leave the developer to cover your ass. This is one reason why I refuse to truly support Apple. Outside of the iPhone, I don’t own a single Apple product and never have. I’d hate to have to deal with their customer service and that is the sole reason why I don’t buy more of their stuff. I’ll take Microsoft over this crap any day.
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Of course Apple could have responded better to this (and used spell check too). But why would you swear off Apple products because they refused to refund $$ on a product they did not create? Do you really rely on someone else's experience to determine whether or not you buy something?
Apple ,just like almost every manufacturer on the planet, is in it to make money – that's not greed, it's capitalism!
This isn't the reason I've sworn off Apple. Their customer service is the reason why. And yes I do rely on other's experience with a product as do you. If everyone is screaming that a particular product sucks aren't you less interested in buying it?
I've heard nothing but the worst about Apple's customer service and I tend to have to talk with CS a lot. So, if your CS sucks, I really don't want to bother with your company.
I'm surprised you have the iPhone actually. It is quite a neat toy, but it still comes from the same people.
I don't have an iPhone and so am not buying apps, but how does this differ from other software sold purely electronically? I've never gotten a refund on software bought and downloaded online.
@corvida — sorry for your bad experience(s). I've had very good luck with Apple customer service when I've needed to contact them.
It's a nice investment for my field of work. Otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered.
From someone of Apple's stature, you'd expect better.
I hear ya, I guess. Still has to feel like shooting yourself in the foot though. I hope you never have to call support for it.
I did once when I first got my iPhone. The hold time was over 30 mins. Googled my problem and got it resolved in 3 mins.
Sounds about right.
What's funny is that Apple is consistently rated as having the best tech support and customer service among the companies in its class. Lets be clear: it's not the customer support you don't like, it's the policy, which really isn't any different that any other company's policy on electronic downloads. We shouldn't have one standard for Apple and something different for everyone else.
The Boing Boing article is the classic “Apple is evil” that's been published for years now. In fact, the more successful Apple is, the more of a target it becomes.
Apple takes 30% to cover the costs for bandwidth, credit card processing, storage, etc.—the costs the developer would pay if it were doing its own distribution. That doesn't make Apple 100% responsible for the customer service for the app, that's still the developers job. Apple is just the distributor; in no way is Apple providing support or customer service for what will be thousands of applications.
The Boing Boing article mentions the developer originally said it would give refunds to customers, but then changed its mind. But nobody mentions that, mainly because it's far more interesting to make Apple the bad guy and not some tiny developer nobody ever heard of.
What's funny is that Apple is consistently rated as having the best tech support and customer service among the companies in its class. Lets be clear: it's not the customer support you don't like, it's the policy, which really isn't any different that any other company's policy on electronic downloads. We shouldn't have one standard for Apple and something different for everyone else.
The Boing Boing article is the classic “Apple is evil” that's been published for years now. In fact, the more successful Apple is, the more of a target it becomes.
Apple takes 30% to cover the costs for bandwidth, credit card processing, storage, etc.—the costs the developer would pay if it were doing its own distribution. That doesn't make Apple 100% responsible for the customer service for the app, that's still the developers job. Apple is just the distributor; in no way is Apple providing support or customer service for what will be thousands of applications.
The Boing Boing article mentions the developer originally said it would give refunds to customers, but then changed its mind. But nobody mentions that, mainly because it's far more interesting to make Apple the bad guy and not some tiny developer nobody ever heard of.
Apple takes 30% to cover the costs for bandwidth, credit card processing, storage, etc.—the costs the developer would pay if it were doing its own distribution. That doesn't make Apple 100% responsible for the customer service for the app, that's still the developers job. Apple is just the distributor; in no way is Apple providing support or customer service for what will be thousands of applications.
The Boing Boing article mentions the developer originally said it would give refunds to customers, but then changed its mind. But nobody mentions that, mainly because it's far more interesting to make Apple the bad guy and not some tiny developer nobody ever heard of.