Take, for example, the refund policy of the online video game store, Steam: Check the policiesĪpp stores, game stores, and developers all have different refund policies, and believe it or not, some are (shockingly) consumer friendly. But if there’s any chance of getting one, here’s how. Unfortunately, getting your money back for digital intangible goods isn’t guaranteed in the US. And when it does happen, one thing’s for sure-we want a refund. Or had our kid or our now least favorite nephew download a paid app or use our credit card to buy lives on Fortnite. It happens-we’ve all forgotten to cancel free trials before we’re billed or that annual subscription is renewed. Add that to interfaces designed to be an in-app purchase minefield, and it’s easy for users to accidentally buy something they actually didn’t mean to, or that wasn’t quite what they expected.
But more and more platforms are building their business models on subscriptions, and app stores are still reluctant to offer free trials on these services. Developers aren’t sure what people want-and people aren’t quite sure either. Software like apps and games are in a weird place-the old model it’s on its way out, but consumers are still not sold on subscribing to every app they own.
