Apple’s full control of its App Store refund policy has drawn the ire of developers who say the company is allowing users to abuse loopholes to cheat them, The Korea Times reports. Apple independently determines whether customers get refunds, with developers unable to even obtain information about users that receive the refunds.
That forces developers to track down users manually to ensure they’re not still using the content for which they’ve received refunds. The disconnect has allowed unscrupulous users to buy paid content multiple times, request refunds, and then continue using the content without paying for it.
Developers claim that abusers have even created their own businesses around bilking the refund process on the behalf of others.
Developers have been forced to take matters into their own hands, independently tracking down and blocking the accounts of abusers. Game studio Flint, creator of the role-playing game “Dragon Blaze,” claims to have used payment data and logs to track down about 300 users suspected of manipulating Apple’s refund policy and is planning to request an investigation from authorities in South Korea.
