In a recent confirmation about the TouchPad and Pre 3 compensation programme, Hewlett-Packard (HP) said that it will refund the difference between the purchase cost of the two webOS devices that have now been discontinued and the heavily-discounted price at which they were subsequently offered.

Going by the details of the compensation scheme listed on a dedicated micro-site, the refund implies that all those customers who paid the original full price for their TouchPad before August 23 will have effectively acquired it at the fire-sale price.

More specifically speaking, buyers who had purchased the 16GB model of the TouchPad will be eligible for a refund of the difference between the tablet's purchase price and the £89 discounted cost it was later offered at. The early customers of the 32GB and 64GB versions of the tablet - which were offered at £115 and £159 respectively after HP announced its decision to kill the devices - will also be similarly compensated.

So far as the early adopters of HP's Palm Pre 3 smartphone are concerned, the company said that these customers will be refunded the difference between the handset's original purchase price and £69.

About the refund scheme, HP said on the micro-site - which currently details refunds for customers who purchased the TouchPad and Pre 3 units in the UK, Ireland, France and Germany - that the program essentially is "our way saying thank you for choosing HP webOS."