Microsoft offers prorated Office 365 refunds to paid subscribers after making mobile editing free

Following Microsoft’s announcement yesterday that you can now create and edit documents using its mobile Office apps for free, there is some good news for Office 365 subscribers regretting their purchase. The company is offering prorated refunds, though you’ll have to apply, and there’s some important fine print.

First of all, this only applies to Office 365 Home and Office 365 Personal subscriptions purchased on or after March 27, 2014 (when Office for iPad was released) and activated before November 6, 2014 (when the changes were announced). Other Office 365 subscriptions are aimed at businesses, and those licensing terms are a bit more complex.

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Microsoft wants to remind consumers that their subscription still unlocks premium features on mobile, let’s them install full Office applications (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, and OneNote) on their PC or Mac, and includes 1TB of OneDrive online storage as well as 60 Skype world minutes per month. If, however, you got your subscription just so you can edit Office documents on your iPad, you can get a refund.

If you purchased your Office 365 subscription from Apple within the iPad app, you will have a tougher time. Your best bet is to contact iTunes Store Support for assistance.

If you purchased your Office 365 subscription from Microsoft or a reseller other than Apple, you can cancel and receive a prorated refund of any unused remaining days between the date of cancellation and the date your subscription ends. You have to contact a Microsoft Accounts and Billing agent by January 31, 2015.

Microsoft also notes some important details regarding the offer:

• 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.

All in all, this is not the smoothest of refunds, but if you want some of your money back, it’s definitely worth a shot.