The refund was successful, but the balance was not returned immediately

It can take up to 30 days for a refund to go through. It has always been this way, due to billing cycles, not by being "not as good as they used to be".

How long refunds from the App Store or other Apple services take

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210904

Hello~ It is usually only a matter of time. See what Apple has to say here…

Check the status of a refund for apps or content that you bought from Apple - Apple Support*

*Please note, if you already initiated your refund request, contacting Apple by phone or chat won't help speed up your request, or the processing of your funds. Monitor the status of your request on reportaproblem.apple.com, or with your financial institution.

Also…

*How to check the status of your refund request

1. Go to reportaproblem.apple.com and sign in to your Apple Account.
2. Choose Check Status of Claims. If you don't see Check Status of Claims, you don't have any pending refund requests. Learn how to request a refund.
3. To see the status, tap or click Pending.

When will I get the money back?

If your refund is approved, the funds are applied to the same payment method that you used to buy the item. Here's how long it takes for a refund to appear on your account or statement:

Store credit—It might take up to 48 hours to see the refund in your Apple Account balance.

Mobile phone billing—It might take up to 60 days for the statement to show the refund. Processing time might be affected by your carrier. You can contact your carrier for an update.

Credit and debit cards, Apple Pay, Apple Cash, and all other payment methods—It might take up to 30 days for the statement to show the refund. If you don't see the refund after 30 days, contact your financial institution.

Post back if you need to.

~Katana-San~

This support article explains how to check the status of a refund for apps or media content that you bought from Apple, and how long it takes to receive a refund if you are granted one --> https://support.apple.com/118224

After you request a refund you'll receive a status update by email within 48 hours. IF your refund is approved (with a few exceptions Apple does not automatically grant refunds), the funds are applied to the same payment method that you used to buy the item. How long it takes for a refund to appear on your account or statement depends upon the payment method used:

● Store credit—It might take up to 48 hours to see the refund in your Apple Account balance.

● Mobile phone billing—It might take up to 60 days for the statement to show the refund. Processing time might be affected by your carrier. You can contact your carrier for an update.

● Credit and debit cards, Apple Pay, Apple Cash, and all other payment methods—It might take up to 30 days for the statement to show the refund. If you don't see the refund after 30 days, contact your financial institution."

Where it refers to seeing your money taking many days, the article specifically says "statements”. To me a statement is something that I only get once per month. I know with my cards I can also check online and charges and refunds usually really appear in a day or so.

For apps and media you can also sign into https://reportaproblem.apple.com to check if the status of your item is "Refunded".

If you need to contact Apple about this, click on this link --> https://getsupport.apple.com/?PGF=PGF63006&category_id=SC0060&symptom_id=23390 If that one does not work, try: https://support.apple.com/106932 and go to the bottom to see if there’s a phone or chat option. The people responding on this forum are users like yourself and can’t do anything more than advise you.

I have never seen an immediate refund. When the source of funds is your Apple Account, the refund occurs there in a day or possibly two, but a credit refund must transfer through the financial networks and those take additional time.

If Apple did not want to give you a refund, they would not have approved it in the first place.