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Korean Fair Trade Commission rules that Apple must change App Store refund policy

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Apple has been ordered by the South Korean government to revise its App Store refund policy, the Korea Herald reports. The company’s current policy requires users to submit a request for a refund and have the case reviewed by an Apple employee before a refund will be considered.

The practice was ruled “unfair” by the Fair Trade Commission after numerous requests from the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice. Apple told the Fair Trade Commission that it would create a new, automated refund system for the Korean App Store, and consider rolling the change out worldwide.

The same consumer group that brought this case before the Fair Trade Commission says it also plans to bring a complaint regarding Apple’s current iPhone repair policies. According to the group, the intent of this new complaint is to determine whether Apple’s practice of replacing users’ iPhones rather than repairing them is unfair because the users cannot get their original phones back.

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Comments

  1. Nooooo, i love the replace over repair. Get a brand new iPhone for nothing! So long as it’s all backed up, there’s no problem; and a brand new shiny device.

    • This is just in Korea probably.

    • Repairing the phone is going to take longer too, and most stores don’t even have people on staff with the tools, parts, and training needed to repair an iPhone. Not to mention the fact that (like all electronics repairs) the exterior is likely to get scuffed in places! Not always, but sometimes this is unavoidable when separating small parts that fit together so tightly.

  2. khodson98 - 10 years ago

    This Korean Fair Trade Commission is ridiculous. You get your phone replaced with a brand new outside but that’s unfair?? The iTunes and App Store refunds are good too because they just credit your account and let you keep what you had previously.

  3. Computer_Whiz123 - 10 years ago

    I literally JUST figured this out when I tried to request a refund for an app, just change it to the way you had it before.

  4. PMZanetti - 10 years ago

    See this is why this is bullshit: immediately after mentioning their refund victory they mention the second attack scam they’re running on repair policy. This is just attack Apple and gain some publicity in the process.

    I don’t understand why, regardless of country, a company can ever be taken to task for something like this by anyone but shareholders. If Apple says NO Refunds, well you don’t have to buy do you?

    I have no respect for South Korea on this. It amounts to a whiny bunch of children who complain that a company that makes sexy products that they are addicted too has strict policies.

    • Edison Wrzosek - 10 years ago

      Agreed. I’ve had to deal with a couple of people from South Korea, and I’ve always found them overly arrogant and pushy, and patriotic to a near fault. Don’t forget though, that Samsung owns most of the country, so they decide what buttons they want to have pushed and who they want bullied. It’s no wonder they’re using some of their political strong arming power to get this ridiculous organization to begin attacking Apple on home soil.

      And sorry, but “Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice” sounds like an oxymoron for South Korea.

  5. Nick Kisner - 10 years ago

    They have a strange definition of unfair.

  6. mooeymoose - 10 years ago

    I am sure some of this is politics given what South Korea would see as US unfair treatment of samsung.

    All I can say is last time I took my phone in for a bad battery they just replaced the battery. I was so disappointed I did not get a new phone.

  7. Vaclav Vitous (@vasekcz) - 10 years ago

    What is Samsung home country? :)