UPDATE: we’ve totally updated this article see How to get a refund of Office 365

With the release of the ‘free’ Office for iPhone/iPad apps with many editing features, there’s probably some unhappy Office 365 subscribers out there.

If you bought Office 365 for the editing features in Office for iPad or Office Mobile for iPhone, you’d be entitled to complain since what you paid for is now free to all comers.

Microsoft has you covered.  There’s a refund program in effect which lets some people apply for a pro-rata refund of the unused part of their Office 365 subscription.

This is a good move by Microsoft- kudos – especially since there’s probably not a lot of people in this situation. Most people buy Office 365 rental/subscription for more than just the mobile apps.

According to Microsoft:

“You’re eligible for a refund if you meet the following requirements:

• You purchased an Office 365 Home or Office 365 Personal subscription on or after March 27, 2014 (when Office for iPad was made available) and activated before November 6, 2014 (when these changes were announced).
• You cancel your Office 365 subscription and request your pro-rated refund by January 31, 2015.

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• It may take six to eight weeks for you to receive your refund.
• If you have more than one Office 365 subscription, you must make one refund request for all your subscriptions at the same time.
• You may be asked to provide proof-of-purchase documentation.
• Trials and free subscriptions are not eligible for a refund.
• Microsoft reserves the right to deny any refund request that it deems to be fraudulent.

”

The ‘six to eight weeks’ delay is common for many companies but very annoying.  It’s hard to understand why it should take so long to process a refund, except a desire to delay paying out money for as long as possible.

How you claim the refund depends on how you purchased Office 365, details and links are on the Microsoft web site.