1. False advertising

"Get 10.000 hits to your website in 24 hours". Such tempting promises might sure make you wanna flip out your credit card immediately. But when you apply the methods or use the software and have to find out that those 10.000 hits might really result in 10, then this is a legitimate reason for requesting a refund. Unfortunately it's not always that easy. Many vendors get around such false advertising by stating in the fine print that these results cannot be guaranteed. Therefore always keep an eye on such statements and if you cannot believe what's advertised then search for product reviews using your favorite search engine.

2. Product outdated

Believe it or not, but I've seen products that were still advertised and happily took the money out of the customers' pockets but were totally outdated or didn't work anymore. I once bought a product that could not be downloaded anymore but still had the sales page up and running, it even displayed the current date indicating the end of a special promotion. Every attempt to contact the creator of the software failed and after I read in a forum that I wasn't the only one not being able to download the software, I contacted the credit card processing company and got my money back.

3. Usability

Not every software is as user-friendly as Windows (you got the joke, right?!), which can be frustrating if you want nothing more than use it immediately. For most complex software products there exist written tutorials that exactly describe how to use them and sometimes even video tutorials that make the product handling even easier. If you've read and watched all tutorials and still cannot manage to use the product, then state this to the creator and you should get that refund.

If you've contacted the product creator and still were not able to get a refund despite some legitimate and acceptable reasons, not all hope is gone. Most marketplaces offer a refund guarantee for products that were sold through them (e. g. Clickbank offers its customers a general refund policy of 8 weeks after the product purchase, for a vendor like PayDotCom you have to contact the credit card processor like Paypal which has a refund policy of 60 days).

It is always suggested to clearly state the reason for your product refund and to keep a friendly communication style. Even if the product is not worth a single penny it doesn't make things easier when you insult the creator. Try to show that you've really tried to use the product in an efficient way, maybe attach some screenshots, include suggestions what could be better, etc. The product creator might loose you as a customer but still can benefit from your experience and will most of the time happily give you the refund.

Whatever you do, please be fair. It's just not right to purchase a product which you badly want and then request a refund to get your money back but still continue to use the product. Most marketplaces (Clickbank, PayDotCom) tolerate 2 or even more refunds, but after that you might not be able to purchase anything again through the specific company.