Starting April 2, 2019 Microsoft is closing down its eBooks platform. This means starting July 2019 eBooks will no longer be available to read and all books will be deleted from the Microsoft’s cloud including purchased books. But you will get full refund for those purchases with a bonus $25 credit.
When refunds will be processed you can read your books until July 2019 using Microsoft Edge.
After April 2, 2019 you can no longer rent, buy or pre-order books. If you have pre-ordered with delivery after April 2, 2019 those orders will be cancelled and you won’t be charged for the purchase. And Microsoft is recommending you to pre-order at another digital book store.
With this unfortunate news customers are asking for details about their refunds and here is the answer given by Microsoft,
“Refund processing for eligible customers start rolling out automatically in early July 2019 to your original payment method. If you’re original payment method is no longer valid and on file with us, you will receive a credit back to your Microsoft account for use online in Microsoft store. “
And if you have purchased a book with a gift card or credit, your refunds will be credited to your Microsoft account.
Microsoft application for reading e-books, in other name Microsoft Reader first released in August 2000 for Windows 8.1.
In 2013 Microsoft Reader was released for PDF,XPS and TIFF formats and was a free download application from the Windows Store for Windows 10. In 2018 PDF reading functionality was moved to the Microsoft Edge browser.
“Books are a product, not a service. If you spend hundreds on a library, protect it.” Author Alexandra Erin wrote on Twitter after the Microsoft’s announcement.
