Finally we see one of the big players here, @ThemeGoods! And now we can check out how Envato cares about authors and their concerns 
3 Likes
Itâs easy for Envato to correct the blackmails issue from users:
- when a user ask for a refund, his rating will no longer count. A message can popup to warn the user about that. SIMPLY as that.
Also, authors should be able to see the refund history of the users to know what kind of user he is.
I understand that Envato tryed to give a better service for buyers, but when you create a feature you need to protect all parties from it, but the way it is right now, it only protects bad users. Please think of a system that is more fair to everyone, otherwise authors will start looking for another alternatives markets, like ThemeGoods mentioned. Itâs a matter of time that the majority of authors will have this problem, so please, correct that fast.
5 Likes
Truth is, people donât like to click links to view support or refund policies. Iâve had many customers write me ridiculous emails about how absurd my policy is when itâs all written in black and white on Envatoâs website. Could we have the ability to write more text on the page the user sees when requesting a refund? In the very least I want to make certain points clearer, stuff that is on the Envato policy page so there are no surprises. But I also want to write some of my own that I donât think are there. For example, there should be a time limit. I donât approve requests more than 3 months from purchase date. Thatâs already more than generous to test a plugin and determine whether or not you like it.
Personally, due to the nature of the content, there shouldnât be any refund possible period. Licenses are not tied to one website so itâs impossible to know whether or not they requested a refund and continued using the plugin. Setup a system like that for CodeCanyon authors and Iâll never utter another complaint 
1 Like
Recently had a customer that wanted a refund for an item thatâs under the HTML Category becuase the item is broken for not being a CMS Theme. So thatâs utter and total nativity. I would have gladly refunded the guy (even though he purchased it ALMOST A YEAR AGO), but he rated 1 star directly and called me the liar then requested a refund and called me arrogant and dismissive for calling his claims out as being false and accused me of âwasting his timeâ because my demo text is not lorem ipsum and I actually have dummy text written that he believes I must do what the text says⌠Iâm so gonna start writing âbuyers must also give me a Ferrari and a penthouseâ for dummy texts!
That item is a good seller, and I know that giving him a refund would have meant the rating went away, but just on principle, just because he lied, didnât send one message, just one message being polite and asking for a refund because he canât use the item, and didnât even read the item title, I rejected the refund.
Itâs time to educate the buyer guys. I will NOT provide refunds to anyone if they donât read the item title. Itâs not my job to teach them that a TEMPLATE is a not a THEME. Iâll gladly take the punches.
Disrespectful buyers that just want to take advantage should be treated with rejected refunds. I did and will continue to give refunds to everyone who is respectful and is obviously NOT trying to extort a free item.
I suggest all authors stick together and stay strong. Solid reasons should be refunded, without a doubt, but donât compromise yourselves, your moral values for a rating. Learn to say no! 
My 2 cents.
9 Likes
Hey folks,
Weâve just added a new tool that will let authors see an overview of their refund requests.
Check out the full announcement here: Introducing the Refunds Tab for managing refunds
1 Like
Well, it just happens to me a few days ago. A buyer never tries to contact me for an assistant but request a refund instead. Even I try to clarify how it works but it seems buyer not bother read anything I replied and continue to ask for a refund or else they well give a bad rate.
Iâve tried contact Envato support and Yes it unless they canât help unless the rate is already made, surely they canât remove as well because the rating comment will relate to user experience about my item which is not true.
So basically, approve any refund request that threatens with a bad rate. Even though we able to reply to rate comment. I would prefer not to have one in the first place. 
The more time passes, the more this system shows its flaws.
Authors are TOTALLY alone and blackmails + bad ratings are smashing our items.
Just got one cute customer doing this. Letâs see what Envato help will tell meâŚ
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And⌠oh yeah⌠you take the 30% 
Nope! Instant reject. Go ahead and rate it 1 star. Contact Envato. Report he blackmailed you, and voila, he getâs his account disabled and doesnât get access to any of his files. Donât stand for extortion.
2 Likes
Aaand⌠nope!
Envato answered me with a âstandardâ text saying they think his review complies with guidelines.
And I want to be totally honest: a part of that review might be considered true.
But since has been left after my denialâŚ!
Iâm just lucky since my items have a lot of 5-star, but this is a very dangerous behavior. We are too much exposed to blackmails that could potentially smash our sales. Just sad.
I want to, but Envato support and buyer claim that he is a long time buyer never refund before. Unfortunately, the first time he do he wonât just asking nicely or contact support for help or try to understand how it work but threaten with a bad rate instead.
They said, âI assure you that we are taking a close look at these buyerâs transactions and will sanction them once we see that they do these things repeatedly.â
4 (four) (F O U R) âmistaken purchaseâ requests in 2 days.
Do I have to say anything else?
Are you aware of the amount of time spent to manage this and the risk of getting a 1-star?
Why not add a sort of âfilterâ blocking requests containing those keywords?
1 Like
I have received a refund request for âmistaken purchaseâ, despite the item having being downloaded. Like others, I am hesitant to offer a refund for this reason, but I am concerned about receiving a 1 star rating if I donât comply with the buyerâs request. What assurance do I have that I wonât be extorted should I decide not to accept this refund? Am I required to put a notice stating we will not refund mistaken purchases?
Do not refund! Ask customer to fill in refund request and donât answer. Leave it to Envato. You are not obligated in any case to give refund. Especially for mistaken purchase.
I thought authors should get this until now and know how to act future.
https://themeforest.net/page/customer_refund_policy - refund policy. Educate yourself about your rights!
Absolutely do not refund. You would legitimate other 4ssh0l3s to do the same
Totally agree with you. This should be changed as before.
My themes have been used by many people and even I did not received a support due high check.
I developed videos for my themes which is it self a support but after this refund policy is introduced.
I received messages from the buyerâs âoh i made a mistake, my customer wanted another product, can you refund me?â Or
They buyers even does not respond, if we ask what sort of problem they are facing. There is just a general reply.
âThe item is broken, malfunctioning or not as describedâ
on top of that if I decline the refund after some days it is refunded.
Also if they send a message on Sundayâs or Saturday, Usually we respond within 12 hours due to time difference and then they say support in not responding.
In some of my themes there is no page builder used so it is not in the description and buyer wantâs a refund because there is no page builder of their choice. What is this.
The system must be updated to avoid this kind of problem. Otherwise it is very difficult to deal with this policy.
If a refund is accepted and we see that the theme is still used by the buyer on their website.
I read comments like this a lot. Donât get me wrong, Iâm not saying refunds are deserved in such cases, but if they didnât realise it was a mistake at the time of purchase⌠then how else would they then realise it was a mistake without downloading it?
1 Like
Hello,
Could you pay back me ? I actually bought Bridge support for 6 months yesterday, but by contacting them : https://themeforest.net/item/bridge-creative-multipurpose-wordpress-theme/7315054/comments?page=555&filter=all#comment_14209984 I realised that actually bought the wrong theme support.
It would be nice of you, Thank you,
Regards
Angelina (angelinatexier.com)
Asking help from @matthewcoxy or @andrewfreeman
I got a refund request for my âMediPoint | Responsive HTML5 Medical Templateâ
He go to install HTML file into WordPress from his message
"This theme will not install into wordpress it says âThe theme is missing the style.css stylesheet.â"
I replied and told this is HTML template not WordPress theme if you need any HTML related help let me know after then he mail me again he can not install in WordPress and ask refund.
Then I again explain it is HTML template not WordPress theme also Themeforst donât accept refund for mistake purchase item and send the refund policy link.
He tell in right âTheme Forest Files Includedâ I told it has CSS but when he go to install in WordPress it give message âThe theme is missing the style.css stylesheet.â" so my template is broken and not as described
Now he ask refund and put a 1 star rating and bad review !!
So what can I do now a surely mistake purchase item he ask refund and 1 star review with bad review.
Please advice me what I will do now.
Waiting for replies.
Thanks
1 Like
Clearly, your buyer doesnât understand the difference between a WordPress theme, and a HTML template, which speaks a lot about his qualification to be a âweb designerâ.
And while you are also clearly in the right here and are not required to issue the refund due to this being a âmistaken purchaseâ and NOT an issue/bug with the item itself (even though your buyer is claiming so), the easiest way to get rid of the unjustified 1-star rating would be to in fact approve his refund request, as Envato is supposed to then also automatically remove any ratings given by this buyer.
Alternatively, you can submit a support request to Envato and ask them to remove the unjustified rating (with an explanation of the case), but past experience with Envato (not just mine, but many other authors as well) tells me that they will simply reply back that it is âa valid user experienceâ, refusing to remove the rating. Despite all the claims and official rules on Envato, Envato itself is very bad in actually removing those type of ratings.
So the choice of two evils is yours: Keep the money, but also the bad rating, or lose the money and get rid of the rating.