I bought Freeletics on the App Store for $125. Their app description clearly states a 14 day money back guarantee. Twice. I tried it out and the app sucks so I requested a refund through Report a Problem from Apple within a few days. Since I requested a refund, I lost access to the app. Apple denied my refund twice saying that I’m “ineligible.” I’ve talked to a bunch of Apple specialists who all do the same thing - deny me and try to placate me by making a note of my complaint.

So now I have no shitty app and I’m out $125. Freeletics won’t give me access back because I requested a refund. Apple won’t give me a refund. I’d really just like my money back.

My current plan is just to keep messaging and calling Apple support to waste at least $125 of their time. I didn’t actually do that. It would be a huge waste of my own time. In my own pettiness, I’ve made sure to cancel all of my subscriptions through the App Store. From now on I’ll only use apps that let me handle a subscription from their websites. My credit card has better refund protection than Apple does.

Some clarifying information - Freeletics states twice in their app description that they offer a 14 day money back guarantee. You cannot access the pro features without purchasing. I made a refund request well within those 14 days. I told this to Apple. They didn’t care.

Got this error message after trying to make an in app purchase. App developer said I need to get a refund through Apple. Apple denied the refund request despite me being charged but me Not getting the purchase. If I do a bank dispute theres a chance I’ll lose my Apple ID if im not mistaken. Is there any other channels to contact Apple to get a refund, as their text support is no help

on 4.11.2024 I accidentally signed up for a Microsoft 365 year (69,99€) subscription.

it was through my macbook, through Word, I needed to do something for school so I clicked on a message from Word offering me a month free. it asked for my email, I used my school one.

immediately after i got a notification saying I have been charged 69,99€ and a receipt to my non-school email adress -which I didn't even sign up with.

I immediately cancelled my subscription and talked to a Microsoft support guy online and he said the purchase was made through a 3rd party app (Apple) and that I should contact them.

Apple refused both a refund and an appeal.

What should I do? Should I contact Microsoft again?

I'm 17 years old and can't afford losing 70€. Any help is appreciated. G

Just got off the phone with Senior “Specialist” from their billing department named Bill (ironic) whom refused to refund me $65 after having had an app falsely advertise a 3-day free trial to unlock “special” features. I had screen shotted proof of the app’s advertisement disclosing the trial and indicating that I could “continue for free”. This screen shot (LUCKILY) was time/date stamped on the SAME day Apple charged me the $65. I took the screenshot prior to downloading the subscription jsut because I had a previous experience with Apple similar to this one. If it was a subscription with a 3-day free trial… why was my card charged as soon as I agreed to the subscription?

Prior to this conversation I did go the traditional route of having an Apple rep submit a claim for a refund request after explaining the situation through their customer service chat. Go figure, Apple denied it. I then got on the phone to physically speak with someone. spoke to another Apple Rep and re-explained the situation, emphasizing that I had a screen shot explicitly advertising the free trial and she appealed the originally-denied claim and again…Apple denied the refund request. If you’ve ever been in this situation, then you may know Apple likes to basically tell you that after a request like this has been denied twice, it is final—there is nothing else that they can do about it, and there is no one higher up that you can speak with. I decided anyway to get back on the phone and spoke to yet another Apple rep who I actually was able to screen-share with so that she could physically see in real-time what it was that I saw the day that I confirmed the subscription. After viewing this, she also agreed that this was in fact a false advertisement and confirmed not only that but that she could actually see that on the same day that I had downloaded the subscription with the free trial was the exact same day that Apple had charged my card. She had me send my evidential support in to some link that she sent to my email and basically told me she would escalate it up and that’s when she transferred me over to Mr. Bill, the Sr. Billing Specialists, who ultimately confirmed that it didn't matter that the app blatantly lied about a 3-day free trial. It did not matter that the charge was NOT authorized to come out of my account at that time that it did. It did not matter to him that I had a screenshot (WHICH HE COULD SEE FROM HIS END) of the advertisement stating that it was in fact a free trial. His response to me was basically that there was already 2 documented denials of my refund requests making the decision final, the charge wasn’t “eligible for a refund” (without giving insight as to why), and there was nothing further that he could do. When I mentioned speaking to my credit card company about disputing the charge since it was clearly unauthorized and off the basis of a false advertisement with photo proof, he made sure to inform me that I would risk having my Apple ID disabled if I chose to do that. 

Great customer service! Truly. I guess we’ll see what happens to my Apple ID because as soon as I hung up the phone, I got on the phone with Capital One to dispute.

anyone else have a similar experience? If so, how did you go about resolving it? Any issue with having your Apple ID disabled?

thanks

**for reference: this is a screenshot I took of the app and it’s advertisement which I agreed to by clicking “continue for free”. This is what was shown to Apple as my evidentiary support, yet it for whatever reason, didn’t change the outcome.

https://files.fm/u/pa7ap4wts9

Update(02/18/2025) after I sent another two emails to [email protected], I got someone callback and reevaluated my refund, approved finally :)

I purchased a $120 app from the App Store, but it doesn’t work on my Mac. The developer reviewed my logs and confirmed the issue is real, agreeing that I should get a refund. However, since I paid via Apple Pay, they can’t refund me directly and told me to request it from Apple.

Here’s everything I’ve tried so far, but I’m stuck:

1. Developer agrees that the app doesn’t work on my Mac and supports my refund, but Apple controls the transaction.

2. Apple denied my refund request twice via reportaproblem.apple.com, so I can’t submit another one.

3. Apple support says they can’t help.

4. I filed a complaint with the BBB, but Apple gave me a generic response refusing the refund.

5. I emailed [email protected] – it’s been two weeks with no response.

6. I paid with an Apple Gift Card, so I can’t dispute the charge through my bank.

I specifically bought the app through the Mac App Store instead of the developer’s website because I trusted Apple to provide a safety net. Instead, it’s becoming an obstacle to getting my money back.

I’ve seen many similar experiences, and it’s shocking that Apple, as a platform, can enforce such one-sided policies without accountability.

👉 Do I have any options left, or do I just accept the loss 💢

I was using my phone today and there was an in-app as popped up for a paid subscription. There was a slight delay and when I hit my home button, it ended up letting the payment go through even though I had no intention of making the purchase. I contacted Apple twice, via chat and phone and they refused my refund both times. I contacted them as soon as the purchase was made. Will I have any issues if I dispute/void the purchase with my credit card company in regards to my Apple account? I've only been an iPhone user since May. With Google Play, refunds were no questions asked.

EDIT: I also cancelled the subscription as soon as it happened. If this was a $5-10 charge, I wouldn't really care. But $50 is ridiculous.

I made a purchase this month in a mobile game through the App Store, based on advertised drop rates for a gacha event. However, the actual results were significantly different from what was promised.

The advertised drop rates appear to be manipulated or tampered with, which violates transparency and fairness standards for in-app purchases. I contacted the game’s support team, but received no meaningful help or acknowledgment.

This lack of response, combined with what seems to be a deliberately misleading gacha system, violates consumer protection guidelines and fair digital marketplace practices. I believe this is a scam, or at the very least, deceptive advertising.

I submitted two refund requests to Apple, but both were denied. Now it says I have “nothing to refund,” even though I have the receipt and made the purchase with my Apple ID. I’m being told I’m not eligible, which doesn’t make sense given the circumstances.

I’m requesting a refund on the basis that: • The purchase was made under false or deceptive advertising • My concerns were ignored by the developer • What I paid for (a fair chance at in-game rewards) was not delivered

Has anyone been in a similar situation and successfully gotten their money back? Any advice on how to get Apple to escalate this or file a proper complaint?

Thanks in advance.

I accidentally clicked the wrong button that by the wrong amount of Robux (Roblox currency), so I go to Apple support for a refund , however it says that: We reviewed your claim and your purchase does not meet conditions for a refund. This decision is final. What can I do?

can someone please help me? i made an accidental subscription through apple (in app), and the amount is really high. i’ve already requested a refund twice, but apple has denied both requests. i'm feeling really frustrated and don’t know what to do next.

here's the situation: • the purchase was accidental. • the amount is quite large, and I really need to get this resolved. • i've submitted two refund requests, but both were rejected by apple. • i've checked my purchase history and followed the usual refund process, but nothing seems to be working.

i also sent an email to the app’s support email, but I haven’t received any response.

has anyone here dealt with something similar and managed to get a refund from apple? any advice on what steps i should take next or how to improve my chances would be really appreciated.

I’m so mad I’m about to chargeback and truly don’t care if they block my Apple ID. My daughter woke me up in tears a couple nights ago because she accidentally fought $199.99 worth of Robux. I immediately grabbed my phone to check my purchase history thinking she didn’t really do it and my lock screen had the “Ask to Purchase” code that was sent to me. I was a bit relieved and even showed it to her to explain I have to approve it. I still continued to look up my purchase history and I didn’t see anything, but she was so frantic it actually happened that I asked her to run back upstairs to get her iPad so I could see and when she came back I looked at her account and there was 6500 Robux/credits on her account. Can’t remember exactly, but from their buy screen it seemed to be about $50 or so worth.

I was somewhat relieved again that it was only that amount, but immediately I still requested a refund with the bought without approval selection if I remember correctly. I calmed her down for the night and went back to bed. She is a worrisome girl and honestly a little “paranoid” after her mother and I divorced, so right when she woke up and the entire way to school she was still upset about it. I reassured her I requested a refund and it wasn’t a big deal regardless. Later that day I came back home after dropping her older sister off at an activity and she was waiting for me at the door with every dollar bill and penny she has saved up and handed it to me to pay me back and it broke my heart, so I reassured her again and again.

Well it ended up getting denied later that night so I requested the second refund request where you can explain a bit more. I explained it was an accident, it was caught within 5-10 minutes, the approval code was never given for authorization and so forth. That next day I didn’t even mention it when again it was the first thing she asked and just explained it took time. She asked again after school and got the same answer. Well now I just got the second denial with no third option and I’m beyond frustrated.

I have NEVER since I’ve had the original iPhone requested a refund. I had the parental controls set to authorize purchases. Can’t count the amount of iPhones, iPads, MBPs, iMacs, Airs, apps and accessories I’ve bought over the years. Heck I’ve had a cracked screen for 5 months on a new 15Pro Max with Apple care that I just didn’t care enough about to go through the waste and time to get replaced and now they want to screw me over for a measly $200. Luckily my account is tied to my business card so I if it wasn’t so late at the moment I would setup a replacement for my phone and then the next call to my card company to file a charge back. I know corporations don’t give a damn about consumers, but I did everything right setting up purchasing for my kids and have never once raised a peep. I’m not sure where to go from here…..

Edit: Sorry for the long post. I’m a bit frustrated at the moment.

My nephew recently purchased something from Pixel Gun 3D game and i got charged $600 from my iPad. As soon as I got the charge, I filed for a refund claim but it got denied. I sent them a dispute and it's still pending. I'm expecting the worst and thinking it would still be denied.

What should be my next step for this? Should I call my bank and say that my account was compromised? Is there a chance I can get my money back?

Edit: TLDR summarizing some points I didn't mention or ppl didn't get 5 apps total have been requested refunds, one at the time still pending. All requests were recent since I only recently found out you can even get refunds. But the apps themselves were purchased at various times throughout the last couple years. First refund was ~3 months ago. Succeeded. Since the refund section showed me a list of all the 40-50 apps I've bought over the last few years I figured I could get a refund on the 3 listed below since they're the only paid apps I've had issues with since joining Apple and since the drop down menu where you select the reason for a refund has an option for each(malfunction, accidental) The app pending - a recent purchase - I feel will get rejected by default, and I don't understand how any of this is considered abuse of the system.

I'm just curious what to do here.

I had a series of refund requests refused. One was for an app that didn't work despite saying my phone met the specs. The second was an accidental IAP for an app I never use, the third was an accidental purchase of a stupidly labeled app with 3versions with nearly identical names; one being the "Full version" and another being the "Full Full" version, costing $6 and $12 respectively and not offering any discount for an upgrade from "Full" to "Full Full." Unaware of "Full Full" but obviously wanting full featured apps I bought "Full" and asked for a refund so I could get "Full Full" version.

All of these situations easily fit within the drop-down list of reasons that one can select when explaining why they need a refund.

All 3 were refused. I requested a review of the refusal, explaining myself like I just did. Refused again. I contacted customer service and they just told me I violated the terms of service.

All the terms say about refunds is

If technical problems prevent or unreasonably delay delivery of Content, your exclusive and sole remedy is either replacement of the Content or refund of the price paid, as determined by Apple. From time to time, Apple may suspend or cancel payment or refuse a refund request if we find evidence of fraud, abuse, or unlawful or other manipulative behavior that entitles Apple to a corresponding counterclaim.

Considering the refunds that they did approve were arbitrary on my part and I offered no explanation, plus given the fairly large number of options o nthe drop-down, it seems like "technical problems" is pretty broad. So I opened another support ticket, ended up talking to James, the Senior Advisor for AppleCare, for about two weeks.

The entire time I only really had one question: "I don't feel like I've violated the terms. Can you explain to me how I've violated them? I've got another app that I'd like to refund, and given that I was unable to refund the previous three apps that I'm never going to use, I can't really handle another malfunctioning financial blow like this."

After two weeks of beating around the bush James finally just said what I wish he'd said in the first place, which was:

James from AppleCare here and I just want to clarify that the informaiton you are requesting is information I am not able to provide. When a refund is denied we are only able to refer you to the Terms and Conditions and we cannot provide any additional details. 

My question is... how does that interact with the last sentence of the terms that I quoted? Doesn't Apple having a counterclaim suggest that they do have a specific reason for refusing my claim? Is that a legal requirement? Is James unable to tell me because then I'd be able to build a case against them in court? Is that legal on their end?

And is there anything else I can do? I really do need the refund on this app, I shouldn't have splurged as it is but it's just adding insult to injury that it ended up not working and I'd love to be able to buy a different one... :/