Asking for a refund, and what Australian law guarantees

A refund for something bought inside a game is not a matter for the game's studio. It goes to whichever store took the payment, and above that store's own policy sit consumer guarantees that Australian law does not allow anyone to sign away.

Step one: the store that charged you

Find the receipt, then go to that store:

• Google Play. Requests start in your Play Store order history, and Google publishes what it will and will not refund on its refund policy page. Google states that unauthorised charges should be reported within 120 days of the transaction, and that developers may also process refunds under their own policies.
• App Store. Apple handles requests through reportaproblem.apple.com, and explains the process on its Australian support page.

Self-service windows and time limits change, which is why this page links to the policies rather than quoting numbers that will be wrong in six months. Read the store page on the day you need it.

Step two: what to say

Requests are read by people and by automated systems. What helps:

1. The order number from the receipt.
2. What was bought, when, and what actually happened — item not delivered, charged twice, purchase not authorised, subscription continued after cancellation.
3. A plain statement of the outcome you want.

What does not help: describing the level you were stuck on, or how the offer was presented. Neither is a ground the store can act on.

Step three: consumer guarantees

The ACCC sets out the guarantees that apply to products and services bought in Australia on its consumer rights and guarantees page. Two points matter most here:

• Your first step is the business that sold the product, which for an in-app purchase is the store operating the billing system.
• Guarantees cannot be removed by a business saying they do not apply. A term in a game's agreement does not displace them.

Where a purchase was not delivered, was charged twice, or was not what it was described to be, that is a guarantee question rather than a goodwill question, and it is worth saying so plainly in the request.

If the store says no

• Ask for the decision in writing, with a reason.
• Approach the developer's own support separately; some studios will restore a purchase in-game even when a refund is declined.
• If the charge was never authorised, raise it with your bank or card issuer as a disputed transaction.
• Unresolved consumer law matters can be taken to your state or territory consumer protection agency, with the ACCC page above as the starting point.

What this site cannot do

Orazevix is not a party to any purchase and has no access to any store or game account. We cannot look up an order, cannot escalate a request and cannot restore a purchase. Everything above is the public route, described so it is easier to follow.

Short version

• Go to the store that issued the receipt, not to the game.
• Quote the order number and state plainly what went wrong.
• Consumer guarantees under Australian law sit above any terms of service.
• Read the store's current policy page rather than a number quoted elsewhere.

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