Apple's New 7 Day App Return Policy - For Taiwan Only?
A report came out Saturday on the WantChina Times website that the Taiwanese government has threatened to fine Apple and Google, unless they provide Taiwanese consumers a time period to get a refund if a downloaded app does not meet their needs.
Taiwan passed a law required a one-week time frame for returning any purchase, including those made in Google’s Android Market or the Apple iTunes Store. Google has failed to fulfill this requirement, and according to a report from The Economic Times of India, will be fined $34,600 for the violation - a drop in the bucket compared to Google’s worldwide revenues, reported to be $8.5 Billion last quarter.
In an interesting turn of events, it would appear, according to reports on both sites, that Apple has indeed complied with Taiwan’s enforced return policy - extending what would otherwise be a non-existent return policy on downloaded apps to a full seven days.
If you live in Taiwan.
To be honest, iTunes will allow refunds if you personally contact iTunes support and request one on a case-by-case basis; however, Taiwan’s new policy provides users unprecedented flexibility in getting a refund for buggy apps or unfulfilled promises. Or if a user simply gets bored after the first six days with a perfectly good, bug-free game - a wide open door for abuse by any Taiwanese consumers who might be ethically challenged.
In response to the new law, Taipei Times has revealed that Google has simply removed its app marketplace from Taiwan-based users, rather than make changes or pay the fine. The articles goes on to say that talks are still underway to resolve the impasse between Google and the government of Taiwan, which I am sure does not want to lose all of Google’s business and support for its consumer base.
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