Google Play’s refund window extended to 2 hours for app and game purchases [YES!]
If you’ve been in this “Android thing” for awhile now, you’d remember once upon a time when Google gave users a full full 24 hours with paid apps/games before getting a full refund. It’s almost insane to think we really had that long to play with an app or game before committing to buy and it was arguably overkill. Back in 2010, Google made the controversial move to reduce that refund window to a mere 15 minutes which pissed a lot of users off, but in actuality, it was still 15 minutes more than what the other guys were offering.
Recently, reports of an unofficially extended 2 hour window began to surface online and today, it seems Google is finally making it official. You wont find a press release, but the new changes are now laid out in writing on their Google Play support page — clear as day. Google now says users can now, “Return an app or game within two hours of purchase.”
We’ll have to wait and see how developers react to the new move, but this is clear win for users who have often felt like 15 minutes with a game or app was too little time to get a feel of what they were purchasing. We also can’t help but feel with 2 hours to play around and explore, this could mean less 1-star reviews from Android users feeling like they’ve been duped. Sounds like a win-win.