Help escalating to someone to get App refund

Re: “It was free trial. He never used the app. Then about 10 days later, we are charged $19.99. That VERY day, he cancelled service”

Many of the “free trials” require you to agree to automatically converting to a paid subscription when the trial ends. If you do not cancel the subscription at least a full day before the trial ends, you get charged for the paid renewal … and requests for refunds at that point may be denied.

I’m guessing this is what happened here. By the time you were charged, it was already past the time when you should have cancelled the subscription to avoid charges.

A lot of “free” apps are only “free” to download. They are like vending machines or arcade games stocked with “in-app purchases” (for things like artificial consumables and subscriptions) that cost real money.

I prefer the model from many years ago where you paid a few dollars for an app up-front, but then did not have to pay any more to use it. But developers these days all seem to want in on the “in-app purchase” and “subscription” gravy trains. So you always need to be on the lookout for such things.

This is a user to user forum, and nobody here has access to your account, so if Apple has denied your refund request, I’m not sure what (if anything) you can do about escalating it.

There are parental / Screen Time controls that you can use to do various things, including restricting a child’s ability to install apps and to make in-app purchases.

chefbikram wrote:

My 14 year old son clicked an app that he thought was free. It was free trial. He never used the app. Then about 10 days later, we are charged $19.99. That VERY day, he cancelled service. He had to RE-download the app b/c he had deleted it. He never used it. It is an app for adults anyway -- about getting in on class action lawsuits. Anyway, Apple denied $19.99 refund. Seems crazy. Didn't know it was a paid app, didn't use it at all, and now can't get refund?????

For the future, you need to cancel 24 hours before the end of the free trial.

It’s clearly stated in the terms of service for the AppStore that you agreed to that all sales are final.

It is crazy that you didn’t bother to read it.

Which means it’s your responsibility to control what is purchased or signed up for since you are paying for it.