Android users, you do not have a 48hr app refund window, it’s still just 15mins

A popular rumor currently circulating in the Android-loving world is this: The refund window for those with “buyer’s remorse” after purchasing an app from the Android Marketplace has been extended from 15 minutes to 48 hours. This would be awesome, of course, if it were actually true.

Andrew Kam, blogger at Androinica, first brought the issue to my attention after posting his thoughts to his Google+ stream. Kam referred to a tweet exchange from July of 2010 where one Android user asked Android Developer Relations Tech Lead, Reto Meier, the following question:

“Is it true that the Market refund policy is now 48 hours? I just read the newest dev agreement & it seems like it’s been changed.”

In response, Meier tweeted:

“re: Market Refund. No change to the DDA, it always said 48 to give us a buffer. Actual policy is still (and always was) 24hrs.”

Since that particular tweet exchange, the refund policy dropped from 24 hours down to a mere 15 minutes. The official Developer Distribution Agreement, however, remained unchanged at 48 hours. Kam adds, “It only means that if someone requests a refund (through Checkout/Wallet) that the developer should give it to them; it’s not an automatic refund through the Android Market as people think.”

When taking a peek at today’s current DDA, Section 3.4’s Special Refund Requirements states:

Products that cannot be previewed by the buyer (such as applications): You authorize Google to give the buyer a full refund of the Product price if the buyer requests the refund within 48 hours after purchase.

Again, however, this statement has always been there, and nothing has, in fact, changed. According to a post by AndroidCentral, the DDA wording has always said the same thing, and “the 15-minute window still applies, it’s just that Google has that long to refund the money.”

There goes that rumor. You’re welcome. What I want to know is, why does Google have a 48 hour window for its developers, but only give a 15-minute refund evaluation window to its actual customers? That doesn’t sound very friendly to me.