Help Needed | Misled into Paying for Annual VPN Services and Denied Refund Twice by App Store

Hello Apple Community,

I’m reaching out in frustration and hope, wondering if anyone else has faced a similar experience with VPN services purchased through the App Store. Recently, I purchased Surfshark and VyprVPN, both annual subscriptions, expecting reliable and stable connections, especially given the prominent promises made about their services. Unfortunately, my experience has been nothing short of a nightmare.

• Surfshark seemed like the ideal choice due to their advertised “dedicated line” feature. After purchasing, I discovered that this dedicated line could only be accessed after the 7-day trial period—a fact not disclosed up front. I felt uneasy but decided to wait it out. When the trial period ended, I was shocked to learn that this “dedicated line” wasn’t even available in my region Shenzhen, China. Imagine paying for a year-long service only to realize that the primary feature I needed was unusable. Their response? A casual suggestion to use manual configurations, which forced me to disable crucial security features like the Kill Switch.

• VyprVPN was another disappointment. Despite confirming with their support team that it would work in my region, it couldn’t connect independently and required another VPN as a bridge—completely defeating the purpose. I genuinely liked their interface and features, but they abandoned me without any follow-up support.

I’ve spent countless hours troubleshooting, communicating, and following their endless recommendations, but both services have ignored my recent follow-up inquiries. Apple denied my refund requests twice, even though I purchased these services in good faith, trusting that Apple’s platform wouldn’t allow such experiences to occur.

Has anyone else faced a similar situation or found a solution? Any advice or support would be deeply appreciated, as I hope to bring more attention to this issue and seek a fair resolution.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and for any guidance or support you can offer.