IPHONE NEWS
Apple’s 90 day App Store refund rumour confirmed
Read the contract right here |
A couple of hours ago we reported on
Kotaku's rumour about Apple's contract stating that not only must developers offer a 90 day full refund on App Store products, but they must foot the bill for Apple's commission.
We've since had this rumour confirmed by an established iPhone games developer, and we've taken a look at the offending passage in the new contract. Here it is:
"6.3 In the event that Apple receives any notice or claim from any end-user that: (i) the end-user wishes to cancel its license to any of the Licensed Applications within (90) days of the date of download of that Licensed Application by that end-user; or (ii) a Licensed Application fails to conform to Your Specifications or Your Product warranty or the requirements of any applicable law, Apple may refund to the end-user the full amount of the price paid by the end-user for that Licensed Application. In the event that Apple refunds any such price to an end-user, You shall reimburse, or grant Apple a credit for, an amount equal to the price for that Licensed Application. Apple will have the right to retain its commission on the sale of that Licensed Application, notwithstanding the refund of the price to the end-user."
But, with the help of our covert developer buddy and a bit more digging, we discovered this passage was
always in the Apple developer's contract - it's just gone pretty much unnoticed until
Android's 24 hour returns policy brought it to light.
Presumably, then, it isn't as simple for users to claim their money back from the App Store as it is from the Market, since we've not heard of anyone landing an iPhone application refund.
It's very interesting to know that the option's there, however, should any mis-sold or systemically faulty games make it onto the App Store (and there have been
one or two lately).
But neither does it change the fact that the option to 'cancel the license' within 90 days could be potentially disastrous for developers. It's also quite ludicrous that Apple should be allowed to retain its commission on a refund, leaving the developer to lose money on every returned product.
Your thoughts on a postcard.
Joined:
Dec 2008
Post count:
945
I still don't like it.
kistajk | 24 March 2009
90 day is too long. 24 hour is more like it.
But Apple's not refunding their commission is acceptable. When I sell something through eBay and the seller refunds it, I'm the one who lost money, not eBay.
Wes | 24 March 2009
Well, I can see that Apple shouldn't be suffering from the loss of sale because of bad development. It's up to the developer to make sure that his stuff works correctly and does as he says it should.
However, the part where you can, apparently, simply cancel the licence without reason is service from Apple's part. Seems fair enough that if you develop for the iPhone platform to accept that, but not to have to lose money because Apple decided to give users a theoretical option.
JohnC | 24 March 2009
As far as I can tell, this is nothing like the Android returns policy. This only seems to apply when a refund is required by law due to whatever reason, such as not being fit for purpose, not as described, etc. which is unlikely given the approval process.
Apple won't be allowing you to return your games after 90 days for no reason, that's for sure.
VENDETTA | 24 March 2009
It me again, i am Vendetta the one who spread the information yesterday, nobody wanted to believe me and now it is official, and announced in the ttp://www.pocketgamer.co.uk
Next time, believe vendetta's information
Developer | 24 March 2009
This is very unfair for the developers, Apple is offering a 90 days refund policy at the expense of the same people that brought the iphone ipod to the top ( the developers), 90 days is a way too long, even the competitor android is just offering 24h, so why would shoot on the developer ??? why would a developer loose money while Apple will make more and more profit on every refund ??? Lame...
John | 24 March 2009
This is for something that's technically faulty. i.e. doesn't do what it says. It doesn't mean you can just return something that you don't like
As a developer of the iPhone, it is worrying though however not as worrying as the Android marketplace (yet). I can't justify the expense of developing for Android as even a 24 hour policy would mean a player could download and complete a game and then return it without us getting paid.
You might say that we shouldn't be making games that can be completed in couple of hours however whenever you're looking to sell it for a couple of dollars then you can't justify the huge budgets that those games require. The casual games market is for people who want a quick fix, nothing more. It's like saying that you can download a movie and then "return" it after 24 hours. Total stupidity, but then again Google doesn't give a damn about content creators, just themselves.
iliketofight | 24 March 2009
90 days!!! Geez! I could play a game, unlock all of its extras, play through it again and then sell it back. Sweet.
stevefanboy | 25 March 2009
Actually that 90 days is just in the agreement between Apple and the developer - which is confidential information btw. You should read your iTunes terms of service to hear your actual rights as an end user. I think it differs from country to country.
Just because Apple makes sure it has the right to give 90 day refund for an arbitrary reason doesn't mean they pass the same right to the end user.
Lilith | 28 June 2009
I think it's ridiculous. There are many games on there that can be finished in a matter of hours or days. For example, I could purchase Krull, finish it in about 5 hours, then ask for my money back, I think that is just really unfair to developers. Most people who buy games on there won't be playing them for a full 90 days anyway, so if it became possible to request refunds like this it would be disastrous to the AppStore in general, developers would simply stop making apps for the iPhone since it is already only barely sustainable at the prices we put on the apps sold. And quite honestly, if I could get any app or game for free for 3 months then give it back, sure, I would do it, since I know I won't be playing it in 3 month's time... Imagine if everyone ended up doing that if the option was available, the developers who poured countless hours into their applications will end up actually losing money, even if their apps are perfectly fine and do what they claim they do... I really hope Apple never actually makes this option available, many of the apps are priced roughly the same as a single song download or two, which is already beyond believe. By the time you take away tax and apple's revenue there ends up not being much left.
