This sucks. I paid $25 for my play console account to monetize my extension two days ago - just to find out they deprecate web store payments entirely.
I have no connection to any of the teams involved, but if you have problems getting this resolved, please send me a mail (my HN name @google.com) and I'll make it right.
And if it turns out that there's a pattern of a _lot_ of developers who all recently signed up for first-time Google Play Developer accounts just to monetize Chrome apps, I'd be maybe a little surprised, but more than happy to have helped identify an unexpected trend.
If I'm understanding the timeline correctly, it's not just recent signups but anybody who has wanted to monetize an extension from March until now, who paid under the expectation that the temporary ban would be lifted.
Thanks! Mostly I just hated to think that a developer might fall into protracted customer support discussion asking for their account to be refunded, if the $25 turns out to be a hardship. I wouldn't expect this to impact many people, but you never know.
I'd also be curious what happens if people ask the normal channels for the refund, of course.
Make up a support e-mail address at random, send refund request to it, wait 14 days, file chargeback, be sure to mention no response to refund request which is attached to the form. Don't worry, they probably don't pay attention to chargebacks either
Alternatively, simply wait 12-18 months and the same feature will be relaunched under a slightly different name by a different team
According to everything i read about chargebacks on Google services, they indeed don’t pay attention, they just automatically block access to any of your Google accounts and services shortly after you do a chargeback. And given the horror stories I’ve heard about trying to resolve or reverse any automated account bans by Google, I do not recommend following that route.
Yup, companies dislike charge backs and many will block you from all their services for requesting one. So don't go that route unless you never wish to use services from that company again. My wife accidentally did one for a mmorpg she plays and after 6 weeks (and dealing with support, multiple banks, etc.) it was only social media shaming that got them to unban her.
A company can pay more than $100 for a $1 chargeback, regardless of the outcome, and if your amount of chargebacks exceeds certain threshold, a payment processor may just dump you entirely, so it is very understandable, why 'companies hate chargebacks'.
Stripe is a processor with more generous chargeback terms than many out there, but merchants with small payments still suffer from them very much.
When I did support for a newly-launched MMO back in 2014, the policy for a chargeback was to permanently disable any using the card, and ban any cards used on those accounts.
There’s been a couple of casual stuff Here and there on how no one will chargeback Amazon (or Walmart depending on demographic). Not worth the risk compared to dependency. I agree myself and ate a $125 loss from Amazon recently when it didn’t feel worth the trouble. But I’m almost any other circumstance, I would’ve charged back. I used an AMEX for the purchase too.
Similarly, until I weaned myself off using Amazon for majority of shopping, I had minor anxiety over other Amazon stuff. Like my return rate and I had 2 incidents of being sent junk instead of the couple hundred dollar electronic. I’m sure they log how often it happens to a customer and it’s possible to not be stealing but still get booted if it happens too much.