I like your line of reasoning and you may be right. But as a user I'll probably try a few of the free trial competitors to see if they do what I want before I put money down. I don't always trust front line customer service and the returns process. Sure, maybe you are the good developer who makes it instant and easy. But maybe you're not and either employ dark patterns to keep me in place or don't respond to me at all to return my money. Then I have to consider if the cc charge back process is worth my time and hassle.
Is chargeback a hassle? I’d think it’s absolutely in the interest of the developer to be responsive to refund requests because chargeback is so trivial with a credit card.
If anything, a downside of the approach I advocated for would be if too many dissatisfied users just issue a chargeback and not even request a refund. For a developer, high rate of chargebacks can presumably cause issues for billing.
Depends on your platform, pricing, how good your product is. Stripe charges $15 per chargeback; if your software costs $100+, it’s probably not a massive concern. If you distribute via a well-run walled garden, chances are it’s not a concern at all.
Chargebacks aren’t so scary. It’s never a default recourse for any customer, especially not the type financially able to buy your product outright (remember patio11’s advice: the higher you charge, the better educated and less problematic are your customers; and any amount is higher than zero). You don’t just issue a chargeback if you didn’t like your new iPhone; same with anything. Whoever issues chargebacks all the time, rather than going through a refund process, is in no time dropped by their bank for chargeback fraud.
As a developer, you only run the danger of accumulating chargebacks if you promise a refund and then simply ignore refund requests, in which case it’s squarely on you. Frankly, there’s no excuse not to have a fully automated refund processing pipeline.
