OTTAWA: Apple has expanded its return policy in Europe to grant refunds for products up to 14 days after iTunes, App Store, and iBooks purchases are made, according to 9to5Mac.
The new policy is now in effect in “the U.K., Germany, Italy, France, and many other EU countries,” 9to5Mac reported, citing an original report from Danish Apple site ifun.
Here’s the new wording for Apple’s return policy in its English-language Terms & Conditions documentation provided to European customers, per 9to5Mac:
“Right of cancellation: If you choose to cancel your order, you may do so within 14 days from when you received your receipt without giving any reason, except iTunes Gifts which cannot be refunded once you have redeemed the code.
Apple’s previous return policy in European Union countries limited no-questions-asked returns to the period after a purchase had been made but before the delivery process had begun. With respect to nearly instantaneously delivered digital purchases such as iTunes music or apps in the App Store, that meant “purchases were all but final apart from some exceptions handled by Apple support,” 9to5Mac noted.
The new policy appears to have been enacted to bring Apple in line with European Commission guidelines in place since June requiring a 14-day grace period for consumers to cancel orders for goods and services, or return purchased products.
Google still hasn’t added a 14-day return policy for apps and other purchases to the EU incarnation of its Play Store, according to 9to5Mac. But the European version of Google Play does allow for app returns up to two hours after purchase and “EU customers [have] a longer 14-day cancellation period for music subscriptions compared to just seven days elsewhere,” according to the site.
