That said, you should be able to get a refund from BFL in USD.
Huh??
He mean they will convert the USD value of the product you bought to BTC based on current exchange rate if you want to request BTC refund
Unless the exchange rate has fallen since then.
Then I bet they only return how many Bitcoin he paid.
This has already been debunked thoroughly. Bitpay will only convert the bitcoins if the merchant instructs them to. BFL could have kept all of their payments in Bitcoin without converting any of them, which they should have in case they needed to refund them.
The original thread:
BFL did not receive bitcoins for preorders. BFL received USD and allowed customers to exchange BTC for USD using BitPay for their own convenience.
Customers paid in BTC. Bitpay acted on behalf of BFL (like a bank or credit card company would) to receive that BTC. What BFL instructed Bitpay to do with that BTC after receiving it is BFL's business. If BFL received USD from Bitpay, then it was only because BFL instructed Bitpay to convert the BTC into USD.When a customer placed an order they immediately exchanged their BTC for USD and used that USD to pay for the order. This is exactly the same as if you sold bitcoins for cash, deposited cash into your bank account, then used your debit card to pay for the preorder, except that it is much much easier and quicker. BFL did not gamble on any currency, they did exactly the opposite.
You clearly did not read the bitpay faq here: https://bitpay.com/faqBitpay does what the merchant instructs with the funds. If BFL wanted the BTC so they could escrow it and refund it like they claimed to, then Bitpay would have sent them BTC. If BFL wanted to instead spend that BTC on operations and development, then Bitpay would have converted it to USD for them.
From the bitpay faq: https://bitpay.com/faq
How do I get paid?
Merchants choosing to keep the bitcoins can be anywhere in the world. Merchants in some countries can choose to receive a direct deposit into their bank account.
When do I get paid?
We prefer to send one payment to every merchant each day, which clears out their balance with BitPay. This prevents balances from accumulating and discourages hackers. Payments to bank accounts are made per business day. Payments in bitcoins are sent to the bitcoin address of your choice, at least once per calendar day.