How you respond to a refund request decides whether it ends as a refund or a chargeback

Three business days. That's how long Google Play's Developer Distribution Agreement gives you to answer a customer support inquiry, and a refund request is one. Apple sets no such clock, because on the App Store you can't refund anything. How you respond to a refund request still matters on both stores. A clear answer ends the case as a refund or a decline the customer accepts. A slow or vague one sends the customer to their bank, and since August 3, 2026, a Google Play chargeback costs you more than the refund would have. Here's who decides each kind of request, the deadlines that apply to you, and what to write back.

Who decides a refund request, by where the customer asked

Refund requests reach you through four doors: your support email, an App Store review, a Google Play review, and the store's own notification to your server. The first job is to work out which store sold the purchase, because that decides whether you're answering or redirecting.

How to respond to a refund request for an App Store purchase

"Can I issue an iOS user a refund for an in-app purchase?"

That question has been asked in the Apple Developer Forums for years, and the answer hasn't changed. No. Apple sold the purchase, so Apple decides the refund. What you control is how short the customer's path is. Apple's support page gives the steps: sign in at reportaproblem.apple.com, choose "Request a refund", pick a reason, then pick the item. Apple tells customers to wait 24 to 48 hours for an update.

If your app shows a refund option, StoreKit's beginRefundRequest opens Apple's refund sheet in the app with the purchase details and reason codes already filled in. Apple's documentation suggests calling it from account settings or a help menu, and says the App Store takes up to 48 hours to approve or deny the request.

Answer the CONSUMPTION_REQUEST, not just the email

The email is where the customer talks to you. The CONSUMPTION_REQUEST is where you talk to Apple. When a customer requests a refund on any product type, Apple may send it to your server, and you have 12 hours to respond with Send Consumption Information, provided the customer consented to sharing data. That's the only way your view of the purchase reaches the person deciding.

How to respond to a refund request on Google Play

Google Play splits the job by time. Within 48 hours of purchase, a customer can request a refund from Google directly, and Google decides without you. After 48 hours, Google's refund policy tells the customer to contact the developer, and says the developer can process refunds according to their own policies and applicable laws. From then on the decision is yours, along with the 3-business-day reply window in section 4.7 of the Developer Distribution Agreement.

Refund, partial refund, or decline

In Play Console's Order management you can issue a full or a partial refund. Partial refunds work for in-app purchases and subscriptions, not paid apps, and the percentage you refund also applies to your payout and Google's service fee. Two details matter for subscriptions. Refunding the most recent order removes the subscription at once and cancels future renewals, while canceling a subscription doesn't issue a refund. And a refund can't be reversed after you send it. Through the API, orders.refund does the same job, takes a revoke flag that ends access immediately, and refuses orders older than 3 years.

A decline is a legitimate answer too, as long as it's specific. Name the purchase, say what was delivered and how it was used, and say what you can offer instead, if anything.

Refund requests posted as one-star reviews

Some customers skip the inbox and write the request into a review. The reply is public, so it has two readers: the customer and everyone deciding whether to install your app.

On the App Store

Only the Account Holder, Admin or Customer Support roles can reply in App Store Connect. The reviewer is notified and can update their review, and replies can take up to 24 hours to appear. Apple's guidance is to keep replies concise and respectful, leave out personal information and marketing language, and send reviewers with billing issues to Apple Support.

On Google Play

A reply can be at most 350 characters, and the user gets a notification only the first time you reply to a new or edited review. Keep the public reply short and move the details to email, where you can ask for the order ID without posting anything personal.

What each outcome costs you

Every reply ends one of three ways, and they don't cost the same.

Take a $49.99 annual Google Play subscription. Refund it yourself and your payout share goes back to the customer, while Google gives back its fee. If the same customer gets no answer and calls their bank, you pay the price less the service fee, plus a bank fee you don't set and can't negotiate. And a chargeback is final once the bank decides.

Neither outcome returns what you've already spent serving the customer. The compute, paid API calls, storage and any payouts the purchase triggered stay spent. That's why a refund request on a heavily used purchase deserves a reasoned decline with usage data, and a request on an untouched one deserves a fast yes.

Replies that close the case

Short, specific replies work best. Here are three that fit the rules above.

What not to write

• Don't promise an outcome you don't control, on the App Store or in a pending chargeback.
• Don't ask the customer to change their rating in the same message where you discuss money. It reads as a trade.
• Don't paste the customer's email, order ID or purchase history into a public reply.
• Don't refund on Google Play and also tell the customer to dispute the charge. You'll pay twice for one order.

RefundHalt answers both evidence windows for you, the 12-hour CONSUMPTION_REQUEST and the 24-hour chargeback review, so your support replies and your store responses tell the same story.