Microsoft Marketplace Refunds and Cancellations

Microsoft Marketplace refunds and cancellations follow the offer type and the clock. Inside the window Microsoft sets, 72 hours of purchase for most offer types and seven days for Dynamics 365 apps and Power BI visuals, the buyer can cancel and be refunded without the publisher; after it, a refund runs through the publisher.

---

An illustrative case, with fictional companies: Globex’s annual subscription to Acme’s SaaS offer, paid upfront each year, renewed on a Monday. On Friday morning, Globex writes to Acme’s customer success team. Nobody meant to renew, so could Acme cancel it and refund the charge?

Whether Acme can, and who has to act, depends on the offer type, the time since purchase or renewal, and whether payments are still pending. This post is the seller’s side: who can end a Microsoft Marketplace subscription at each point, and what Microsoft needs from you. For the same decisions on AWS, read refunds and cancellations on AWS Marketplace.

Who can cancel a Microsoft Marketplace subscription, and when?

The buyer can, on their own, inside the refund window. After it, a refund needs you: the buyer asks, and if you approve, you file the request with Microsoft. Microsoft’s refund page names that route for SaaS, Professional Service, Azure container and Azure managed application offers.

When	Who can end it	What Microsoft says happens
Inside the refund window	The buyer, without you	A refund on the offer type’s terms; for SaaS, “a full refund, excluding metered billing charges”
After the window, if the buyer asks for a refund	You, if you approve	An Offer or App Delisting, Removal, or Termination support request, with both parties’ consent, the offer ID, the asset ID and the refund amount
From your side, on a SaaS subscription	You	Access ends immediately; no charge within 72 hours from purchase, billed after that
After 72 hours, on SaaS with pending future payments	Marketplace support	No cancellation “until the current billing term is over, and all pending payments are complete”
At renewal, with recurring billing off	Nobody: it ends by itself	The subscription and service “terminate on the renewal date”

How long is the refund window for each offer type?

The refund window is the time after purchase in which a buyer can cancel and be refunded without the publisher: 72 hours for most offer types, seven days for Dynamics 365 apps and Power BI visuals. What it refunds, and what follows it, differs by type:

Offer type	Inside the window	After the window
SaaS	72 hours of purchase: “a full refund, excluding metered billing charges”	Through the publisher, if it approves
Professional Service	72 hours from purchase: a full refund	Through the publisher, if it approves
VM software reservations	72 hours of purchase: a full refund, within the cancellation limits for Azure Reservations; nothing for usage on a deployed VM offer	”Cancellations aren’t allowed beyond the 72-hour time frame”
Azure container offers	72 hours of purchase: a full refund; nothing for usage or consumption-based charges	Through the publisher, if it approves; nothing for usage or consumption-based offers
Azure managed applications	72 hours of purchase: a refund of the fixed monthly charge; nothing for variable charges (custom meters)	Through the publisher, if it approves, including variable charges
Dynamics 365 apps and Power BI visuals	Seven days of purchase: a full refund	None on the refund page: “Refunds aren’t available for subscriptions canceled after the seven day time period”

The window follows the offer type you published; our guide to selling on Azure Marketplace covers the listing types. Inside the window, the quickest answer is usually to let the customer cancel. Microsoft’s own advice to publishers is to “Direct customers to Microsoft Marketplace to cancel SaaS subscriptions.”

Usage is where Microsoft is firmest. Its publisher FAQ says “Refunds aren’t granted for metered usage of Virtual Machines, metered billing for SaaS and Azure Apps, or other instances of product consumption (Pay as you Go, etc.).” Only managed applications get a publisher route “for variable charges.” Usage billed in error needs a correction instead: see what each cloud allows when wrong usage was accepted.

What happens after the refund window closes?

The buyer loses the self-service refund, and the request comes to you. Microsoft’s refund page tells SaaS buyers: “For refunds after 72 hours, contact the partner who published the offer. If the partner approves your request, they submit a ticket to process the cancellation and refund through Marketplace.” Its SaaS lifecycle page, written for the same buyer, says: “Refunds aren’t available for subscriptions canceled after the time period listed.”

Microsoft publishes both, and neither page sets criteria for approving a request, so set your own: who approves, up to what amount, and for which reasons. On your side, the request Microsoft documents for taking an offer away from an existing customer carries the refund amount.

How does a publisher remove a customer’s subscription?

With a support request and the customer’s consent. Microsoft’s instruction is: “To remove offers from existing customers, log a support request.” In the support article list, select Microsoft Marketplace > Offer or App Delisting, Removal, or Termination, and submit the request. “Support requires both Partner and customer consent,” and the consent should include:

• The offer name
• The offer ID
• The customer name
• The asset ID
• The refund amount, in the customer’s currency

The consent “can be provided by a screenshot of the email agreeing to the cancellation, ensuring that all necessary details mentioned above are clearly visible.” So put all five details in one email and screenshot the customer’s agreeing reply. Telling the customer what happens next is your job: “When the publisher initiates the offer removal, the publisher owns communication of the removal to the customer.”

For how this evidence compares with what AWS and Google Cloud ask for, and how a refund lands in your payout, see what each cloud requires for a marketplace credit request.

Stopping distribution doesn’t remove anyone

Stopping distribution “prevents new customers from finding and purchasing” an offer or plan, but “Any customers who previously acquired the offer or plan can still use it,” and SaaS customers can keep renewing. Retiring an offer ends no subscription on its own.

When can’t a subscription be canceled?

Once the first 72 hours have passed, in two cases: a SaaS subscription with payments still to come, and a virtual machine software reservation. Microsoft also says a reservation bought through a private offer “can’t be canceled at any time.”

SaaS subscriptions with pending future payments

Microsoft’s lifecycle page is direct: “SaaS subscriptions with pending future payments aren’t eligible for cancellation after the standard 72-hour cancellation period passes. Cancellation for such subscriptions isn’t possible until the current billing term is over, and all pending payments are complete.” The buyer’s route: “To request a cancellation of long-term SaaS subscriptions beyond the standard 72-hour cancellation period, contact Marketplace support.”

Microsoft’s guide to planning a SaaS offer, written for publishers, words it differently: “Subscriptions with multiyear contract durations and pending payments aren’t eligible for cancelation by customers. This restriction applies when the billing frequency of the purchase is monthly, annual, or has a flexible schedule as part of a private offer.” It adds: “For contract durations with equal payments, payment collection is enforced for the entire term and the standard refund policy applies.”

The two pages scope the lock differently. If payments are still to come, send the customer to Marketplace support, as Microsoft does, and promise no date. If you sell multi-year private offers billed in installments, say at signing that customers can’t cancel them.

Virtual machine software reservations

Every VM software reservation stops being cancelable after 72 hours: “Cancellations aren’t allowed beyond the 72-hour time frame.” For reservations bought through a private offer, a note in the same section goes further: “Reservations purchased via a private offer from a partner can’t be canceled at any time.” The note then continues: “For cancellations and refunds after 72 hours, contact the partner who published the offer. If the partner approves your request, they submit a ticket to process the cancellation and refund through Marketplace.” It speaks only of reservations, not SaaS private offers. If you sell reservations by private offer, tell the buyer before they accept.

What if a subscription auto-renewed by mistake?

Act within 72 hours of the renewal if you can. Microsoft’s publisher FAQ says “Requests for refunds of recurring SaaS charges are eligible within 72 hours of the start of the billing term or its renewal.” The buyer pages count from purchase instead: a full refund “within 72 hours of purchase” on the refund page, and “within 72 hours from purchase” on the lifecycle page.

Only the publisher FAQ ties the window to a renewal, so a customer reading the buyer pages may think theirs closed long ago. Treat a renewal complaint inside 72 hours as a same-day job.

Globex wrote on Friday morning, more than 72 hours after Monday’s renewal, so the refund is Acme’s call; if Acme approves, it files the removal request with Globex’s consent. Had payments still been pending, Globex’s route would have been Marketplace support.

Recurring billing prevents the next one. “When recurring billing is off, the SaaS subscription and service terminate on the renewal date,” and the setting can be changed “only while the subscription is active.” Then it’s final: “A terminated and/or canceled SaaS subscription can’t be reactivated; a new SaaS subscription needs to be created in its place.” For SaaS bought through a private offer, Microsoft tells buyers to “check with your private offer vendor for the recurring billing setting that’s best for you,” so have an answer ready.

How Fours fits

In Fours, you cancel an Azure subscription on its entitlement, not its offer, and the cancel takes effect immediately. The refund still follows Microsoft’s rules.

The Fours FAQ answers the Globex question, an offer that auto-renewed and needs canceling: use the Cancel button in the Fours console, on the entitlement rather than the offer. Through the API, Cancel Entitlement cancels an Azure subscription immediately.

What a cancel does to the bill is Microsoft’s rule. For any SaaS cancellation made from the publisher’s side, its fulfillment API reference says: “The customer isn’t billed if a subscription is canceled within 72 hours from purchase. The customer is billed if a subscription is canceled after the preceding grace period. The customer loses access to the SaaS subscription on the Microsoft side immediately after cancellation.”

So the order matters. After 72 hours, a cancel ends the customer’s access while the charge stands, and any refund you agree travels on the removal request. Microsoft doesn’t say how an earlier cancel affects that request, so agree the refund before anyone presses Cancel.

Frequently asked questions

Can a Microsoft Marketplace customer get a refund after 72 hours?

Not on their own. Microsoft tells buyers to contact the partner who published the offer; if the partner approves, it submits a ticket for the cancellation and refund. Dynamics 365 apps and Power BI visuals get seven days, and the refund page names no route after that.

Can a publisher cancel a customer’s Microsoft Marketplace subscription?

Yes. A cancel from your side ends a SaaS subscription immediately, but after 72 hours from purchase the customer is still billed. To remove an offer with a refund, file an Offer or App Delisting, Removal, or Termination support request with both parties’ consent and the refund amount.

Can a SaaS subscription with pending payments be canceled?

Not by the customer after the standard 72-hour period. Microsoft says cancellation isn’t possible until the current billing term is over and all pending payments are complete, and sends customers to Marketplace support. Its publisher guide words the rule as multiyear contract durations with pending payments.

Can you refund a subscription that auto-renewed by mistake?

Possibly. Microsoft’s publisher FAQ makes refund requests for recurring SaaS charges eligible within 72 hours of the start of the billing term or its renewal, while its buyer pages count 72 hours from purchase. After that, a refund needs your approval and a support request.

Does Microsoft refund metered usage?

Not as a rule. Microsoft’s publisher FAQ says refunds aren’t granted for metered usage of virtual machines, metered billing for SaaS and Azure Apps, or other product consumption, and SaaS refunds exclude metered billing charges. Only managed-application buyers are sent to the publisher for variable charges.

Does canceling in Fours refund the customer?

Canceling and refunding are separate. Cancel on an Azure entitlement in Fours cancels the subscription immediately, and the money follows Microsoft’s rules: a SaaS subscription canceled within 72 hours of purchase isn’t billed, and after that a refund needs Microsoft’s support request.

Takeaways

• Inside the refund window, 72 hours for most offer types and seven days for Dynamics 365 apps and Power BI visuals, the buyer cancels and is refunded without you.
• After it, a refund is your decision, filed as an Offer or App Delisting, Removal, or Termination request with both parties’ consent and the refund amount.
• After 72 hours, SaaS with pending future payments goes to Marketplace support; VM software reservations bought by private offer “can’t be canceled at any time.”
• For a mistaken auto-renewal, act within 72 hours: the publisher FAQ counts from the renewal, the buyer pages from purchase.
• Cancel on an Azure entitlement in Fours is immediate, and the refund still follows Microsoft’s rules, so agree it first.

Refunds and cancellations close an agreement’s life on Microsoft Marketplace. The rest of it, from the private offer to the reconciled disbursement, runs in Fours for Microsoft Marketplace.