With Office Now Free, Microsoft Offers Refunds to Users Who Paid Earlier

Microsoft, last Thursday, released the new versions of its Office apps for iOS, making basic editing of documents free for iPad and iPhone users. Previously, Office for iPad users would have needed an Office 365 subscription (Personal at $69.99 or Rs. 3,299 a year, and Home at $99.99 or Rs. 4,199 a year) for basic editing features, though with the subscriptions some additional features are also available.

"Starting November 6, 2014, we're making many Office for iPad features available for free. Just install the Word, Excel, or PowerPoint apps from the Apple iTunes Store and sign in with a Microsoft account," stated the Microsoft Office Support page.

For those who subscribed to Office 365 to be able to make use of basic editing features on Office for iPad, and can now enjoy these features for free with the new Office apps for iPad released last week, Microsoft is offering a partial refund. Of course, Office for iPad users who use other premium features than those now available with the free version will have to stick on with their original subscription. Premium features include like tracking and reviewing changes in Word, customizing Pivot Tables in Excel, and checking speaker notes while presenting in PowerPoint.

iPad users that purchased the Office 365 subscription service on or after March 27 this year, and have activated the service before November 6, will be eligible to apply for partial refunds on a pro-rata basis. In addition, the offer stands for Home and Personal subscriptions to Office 365, leaving Business subscribers in the dark. The last date to apply for refunds is January 31 next year.

Users who purchased the Office 365 subscription via App Store would have to contact iTunes Store Support for their refunds, while those who purchased their subscription via Microsoft or a reseller can contact a Microsoft Accounts and Billing agent to request a refund. Multiple subscriptions by a user would also be refunded. Microsoft says that the request process could take around 6-8 weeks to complete.

Microsoft last week, alongside the release of the new version of Office apps (Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint) for iOS devices, also made available a preview version of the apps for Android users.