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How to: Get a refund on your Android apps purchased through the Google Play Store

Callum Tennent
July 7, 2014

There’s an awful lot of fantastic apps out there, this we all know. A lot of those apps are awfully expensive though. Why should you have to spend £4.99 on something that you don’t even know you’ll like or need yet? If we buy a pair of jeans in a high-street store and they don’t fit, we can return them. If we buy an app that doesn’t do what we thought it did, we’re stuck with it forever… right?

Wrong. That is, if you’re an Android user who’s been purchasing apps through the Google Play Store. It’s a little known fact that you can actually claim a refund on an app (any  app) bought through the Google Play Store, so long as you do so within  15  minutes of purchasing the app. So no dilly-dallying, got it? Now, let’s see just how we go about getting that cash back.

Step One:  Open up the Google Play Store app. You know the one, it’s where you bought this crummy premium app from in the first place.

Step Two:  Tap the hamburger menu icon in the top-left hand corner of the screen to bring up the Google Play Store menu. From there, tap on ‘My apps’.

Step Three:  Find the premium app you wish to seek a refund for from the list of apps you’ve downloaded. Tap on it.

Step Four:  Under the name and developer of the app you’ll see two options: ‘Open’ and ‘Refund’ – simply tap on the latter and there you have it! A pop-up will appear asking you to confirm, as the app will be immediately uninstalled after you choose to agree. Once the uninstall is completed you’ll be refunded your money.

Now you can go forth and download expensive apps with impunity – just be sure that you give them a go as soon as you can or you might miss that vital fifteen-minute window. And, just as one final reminder, this only applies with Google Play Store apps – anything you downloaded from other app stores or more,  ahem, questionable sources, do not receive the same treatment.

About the Author

Callum Tennent

International playboy/tech journalist.

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