Windows Phone Marketplace charging me twice for apps. AGAIN. Why?! (Sorted)

This is now the second time this has happened. Marketplace has otherwise been a pleasant experience.

Fortunately unlike Nokia/Ovi Stire, there is no download limit. You can download as many times as you like. Over and over.

Unfortunately, the phone app, you CANNOT see what you have bought and what you haven’t.

Well, not easily. If you’ve paid for an app, you will be presented with the usual ‘buy’ (perhaps also ‘try’) options. Only when you click on ‘buy’ again will it say

“You’ve already purchased this application. Would you like to install it again”

Now a couple of weeks ago I demoed an app. It had a bug that I didn’t encounter during reviewing and decided to reinstall. But when I went to marketplace, it decided to not just let me download. It let me buy the app again! (receipt to confirm).

Today I was checking out App Highlights and decided to try a recommended app. No trial version, I just downloaded it (it was only £0.79) but it didn’t install. I tried this over and over again going through ‘BUY’ and nothing happening. Maybe marketplace was down.

Now I tried downloading over WiFi. Perhaps my 3G was too slow (though it shouldn’t have a problem as the app is only 14mb). The app finally starts to download and I get another receipt to confirm I paid TWICE for the same app. I checked my bank and yes it did come out.

I don’t care so much about the price for me (the game was really good and I don’t mind the developer getting paid extra). What if it happens to someone else? The principle of being charged twice is rather annoying, no? What if the app cost more? It’s even more frustrating to know that this isn’t a one off. This is the second time you have charged me twice.

Please fix this. Please don’t show the ‘buy’ button if we’ve already paid for an app. At leas even when searching and showing the list of apps, isn’t there anyway you could show things you’ve already downloaded/bought?

Now I’m wasting time going through chat support from a link that @winphonesupport previously game me the first time I brought up this issue. I would not have called up about it as I’d be wasting more money through customer phone support.

Update from chat:

Yeah it happen sometimes, some apps doesn’t recognize that they already have been purchase, it have to be report to the publisher app for they correct it, anyway i’m going to refund you the duplicate charge.

They have to ring me back for security reasons. 🙂

Update 2: Refund done.

On the upside, customer service was not a hassle at all. I wonder how a normal customer would find @winphonesupport in the first place to get that chat link? Hopefully they would end up somewhere on Microsoft support pages:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

Customer service is really important to me and it irks me when some companies just fob off customers. Today I felt CS was rather speedy, helpful and they got things sorted in minutes. I liked how it could be conducted without charge my end (sometimes you’re on call for customer service to get a refund and end up paying more on their call charges). Call back reminds me of Amazon – just some of the best customer service I’ve ever experienced.

Have any of you encountered similar problems at marketplace? I’m told it’s ‘rare’ but it’s still recognised as something that does happen. If you do have problems at all, it’s good to know there’s some very good (and FREE) customer service available.

BTW, Microsoft/Windows Phone peeps. I still want you to change the button so that it shows me I’ve already bought the app and DOES NOT show the buy button if I have – regardless if it’s meant to say ‘install’ after clicking.

Category: Rant, Windows Phone