From payment, purchase to after-sales service: Google Play Shopping Guide

Looking at the date, Google Play has been with us for six years. Perhaps you and I have witnessed the development of this vibrant application market from zero to one, from nothing to something. Now Google Play has become a level comparable to the App Store.

In addition to a large number of genuine applications, Google Play also has many other wonderful digital content. You can watch many high-definition movies and genuine books for just a little money, such as:

• E-books (including but not limited to classic literature, light novels and e-magazines)
• Music (Google Play Music)
• Google's terminal devices (Pixel devices)

Google Play in different countries and regions also provides special virtual products. For example, the Japanese area has a lot of comic resources.

However, the usage of Google Play is not particularly convenient. Not to mention that it does not support payment with WeChat or Alipay, even UnionPay cards cannot be bound. If you are a "newbie" who has just come into contact with Google Play, you may be scared by the creepy-sounding words such as "credit card cancellation".

So, we can no longer enjoy the services of Google Play? Not necessarily. This article is my experience sharing on Google Play, covering everything from the most important payment method preparation to how to shop and apply for after-sales service. I hope it can give you some reference.

Add a payment method

Google Play supports three payment methods:

• Gift Card
• PayPal
• bank card

The difficulty of using these three methods varies, and their advantages and disadvantages are also different. The author has summarized a table here for your reference.

Easiest: Gift Cards

For domestic students, this may be the most down-to-earth and convenient payment method. You only need to choose a store area you like, and then buy the gift card of the corresponding area on Taobao, and then connect to the agent of the corresponding area to complete the gift card recharge.

Failure to recharge a gift card is very rare. If it does happen to you, there is a 90% chance that your IP address is different from the region corresponding to the gift card. Check your region, switch it and try again. You will definitely be able to complete the recharge. The disadvantages of gift cards are also very obvious. First, the face value is single. Take the US gift card as an example. The author has seen only three face values ​​of 10 USD, 50 USD and 100 USD. When you complete the recharge and spend, the balance that is not enough to complete the next consumption cannot be used. You have to buy a gift card again to use the remaining balance from your last time. This is really a pitfall. Secondly, the source of the gift card is also a concern. Some unscrupulous merchants use "black cards" of unknown origin, which is very likely to cause Google to recover the credit or block your account. It can be said that the gift card method is a payment method with both advantages and disadvantages. If there is no other way, this payment method is not a compromise.

So it is obvious that this payment method has the lowest cost of use, and only requires Taobao, but the disadvantages are also very obvious - it is inconvenient to manage the balance, and the origin of the gift card is difficult to determine.

Advanced method: Pay with PayPal

The benefits of PayPal are self-evident. It can handle many payments that Alipay cannot. For related reading, you can refer to my other articles. However, when I use PayPal, whether I use domestic bank card binding or dual-currency card binding in accordance with the previous step, the transaction will always prompt "rejected". At this time, I can be sure that the primary payment method selected by PayPal is available.

However, a friend of the author has a successful case. You need to try it yourself. If PayPal can succeed, you can safely use this payment method to shop.

To sum up this payment method, the success rate of this payment method is very low, so low that the author has never succeeded, but its advantages are also very prominent. Backed by PayPal's excellent payment method, once the payment is successful once, you can enjoy the high-security rights protection policy and no longer have to worry about shopping.

The most difficult but best experience: Add a bank card

Since Google Play is the only app that does not support UnionPay settlement, this has added a lot of trouble to our path to becoming an official account holder.

When I explained Google Play payment to my friends privately, the most common question they asked was "Can my XX card from XX bank be used?" This question is really not uncommon, so I think it is necessary to briefly popularize knowledge about settlement institutions. I am not a student or worker in finance, I just want to give you a brief introduction to the relevant content.

There are three well-known settlement institutions in the world, namely:

• UnionPay
• MasterCard
• Visa

Simply put, take out the bank card at hand. If there is only the UnionPay logo on the card, it means that this card cannot be used to pay on Google Play. Usually, the Visa/MasterCard logo on the bank card appears together with the UnionPay logo. Such cards can generally be used. Generally, such cards are "credit cards."

Now let's see how to add a bank card. Open the Google Play Store page, click the "Account" option on the left, and the first option is "Add payment method".

Then a window will pop up and you can choose to add a card. Friends who hold a valid card can simply fill in the corresponding card number, expiration date, CVC code and billing address.

Now the question is, for a "student party" like me, there is no way to pass the asset review of the bank to issue a credit card, so naturally there is no way to get a normal credit card for Google Play shopping. If your family members are used to using credit cards at this time, you can try to ask them for a secondary card for binding. If your family members do not have such habits, it will be relatively troublesome.

Apply for a dual currency card

Students are unable to obtain dual-currency cards because it is difficult to pass the bank's "asset review". So are there any cards that do not require review? The answer is yes. As far as I know, Bank of Communications provides student dual-currency cards. This type of card has no credit limit, so there is naturally no need for asset review and no annual fee. You only need to fill in relevant personal information and the name and address of the school when applying, and you can use it.

Isn't it pretty? This little thing just has no credit limit, and other aspects are exactly the same as normal credit cards, and it can even participate in credit card points activities. Before using it, you have to transfer money into it like a debit card, and the currency transferred is naturally "RMB". The process is very simple, WeChat repayment, bank App and inter-bank transfer are all possible, and then you can consume directly, but before consumption, you must pay attention to ask the counter staff to help you turn on the "automatic purchase of foreign exchange" project when activating the card, otherwise the card will not convert the RMB in your card into US dollars. After a long time, your card will be frozen because of arrears, which needs to be noted; another point is that since this card has no credit limit, when the remaining RMB balance in your card is insufficient, you will definitely not be able to complete the transaction, I believe everyone understands.

If some friends don’t like such “fake credit cards”, there is another option, which is the EMV card of Bank of China.

This card is a real single-currency debit card, which means that it can only deposit and withdraw US dollars. Before using it, you need to take another UnionPay card to manually "buy foreign exchange" and "transfer money". In addition to the troublesome operation, this card also charges an annual fee of 10 yuan. In comparison, it is not as easy to use as the student card of Bank of Communications. However, this card has two advantages. First, there is no handling fee for overseas transfers; second, because the card is a single-currency debit card, it can be directly consumed in some scenarios that require a mandatory single-currency card. The transfer of US dollars and RMB using this card can only be completed through the Bank of China App, so everyone needs to pay attention.

Add card and shop

Google verifies whether the card information is correct by performing a "one dollar" transaction on the bank card, so the prerequisite for binding is that the card limit/balance must be greater than one dollar. Within fifteen minutes to two hours after the successful addition, Google will refund the transaction to your account, so don't worry. Generally, the reason why the card information is correct but cannot be bound is that the card balance is insufficient or the "overseas payment" option is not enabled. Different banks have different regulations for this option, so I won't go into details here. You can call your bank's customer service hotline for more help.

It is worth mentioning that even if your card is successfully added, it may still be subject to risk control by the issuing bank or Google during the transaction, and then return "transaction rejected". In this case, we have to deal with different aspects separately. The risk control of the issuing bank is easy to solve. If the bank believes that there is a problem with your transaction, a customer service representative from the credit card center will usually call you to inquire whether you know about the transaction. As long as you answer "yes", the bank will not call you for consultation after a few times, and there will be no so-called risk control.

If Google believes that there is a problem with the transaction (which is the most common situation), you need to contact Google's online customer service, change the language of your phone to English, connect to a US IP address, and open the Google Play help interface.

After a while, the online chat icon will appear. Click it to start the online chat.

Don't be shy, admit that you can't complete the transaction in China, and Google customer service will tell you that they will handle it. It won't take too long, they will inform you that "it's OK now", try again, and you will find that the transaction is successful! Don't be afraid of your low English level, their grammar is very simple, and you can also use the translation function of Gboard, I believe you will not be trapped by this problem!

You can then set up convenient payment methods such as fingerprint payment and enjoy the convenience brought by genuine software.

How to request a refund

Different from the "repeated delays" in domestic stores, the refund process on Google Play can be described as lightning fast. Within the first fifteen minutes of purchasing an app, if you are not satisfied with the effect of the app, or accidentally buy something you shouldn't have, you can directly click the refund button on the left side of the app uninstallation. The app will be uninstalled and your money will be returned within one minute. Isn't it very convenient? It is worth noting that this refund method cannot be used for in-app purchases; be sure to pay attention before buying.

Once the refund is successful, you will receive a confirmation email from Google, which means the refund is complete.

Friends who want to "buy as you go" should pay attention. This refund method can only be used once. That is to say, the refund button will not appear when you purchase the app again after a refund. Be sure to think twice before purchasing the same app again after a refund.

For in-app purchases or game recharges, Google will only send you an email to confirm the purchase. In this case, you can apply for a refund unless your rights are infringed. Otherwise, no-reason refunds are supported. Friends who want to make in-app purchases should also pay attention to this.

If there is a real problem with the in-app purchases, we may have to talk to Google Support again.

Choose a suitable reason here. If it is an acceptable reason, Google customer service can also make a refund. It can be said that there is basically no worry about the transaction.

Other payment issues

Regarding timeliness and virtual credit cards

Due to special reasons, Google Play's attitude towards the Chinese market is difficult to guess, so these payment methods (especially bank card payments) have a certain time limit. Every year, Google will block the addition of a large number of virtual credit cards and the purchase rights of corresponding Google accounts. Therefore, unless it is absolutely necessary, you should not use this kind of prepaid virtual credit card. Not only is the safety not guaranteed, but its time limit is also difficult to say. Therefore, it is recommended that you go to the bank in your respective city to try to apply for a physical card, which is more reliable. As far as I know and the reminder of friends in the comment area, the time limit guarantee ends on August 12, 2018. The student credit cards that can be used now are as follows:

For more information about the difficulty of applying for a student card, please see here. Other experts on the Internet have summarized it in great detail.

Please use your card safely!

Under normal circumstances, please ensure that the CVC code on the back of the card is not known to anyone except you. Knowing the card number, expiration date and CVC code means that the transaction is authorized by the cardholder! Please protect your credit card or personal information!

Regarding discounts, this is important!

Google Play also has discount sales. The biggest discount I personally encountered was when Nova Launcher, a highly acclaimed launcher, was sold for 4.99 USD in the "vegetable market". There was a "rock-bottom" discount around Christmas last year, and I bought it without hesitation at the price of 0.99 USD. Now I think I made a lot of money^ ^.

Rational consumption.

Just like what I said above, everyone must control themselves. There are so many good things in the "wet market". Remember to consume rationally and avoid blindly following others. The author has learned a painful lesson (covering face).

Although this game is quite fun, I still untied the card without hesitation. I will add it when I need it. I won’t say more. I’m leaving now. Google sent me another threatening letter (fog).

It's over, the "threatening letter" came again