Hi Mamas,
Wow, I thought I did what I needed to do in order to prevent crazy app purchases on my kids iPods like preventing in-app purchases. I was wrong. Got a call from my credit card company about hundreds of dollars being charged from Apple I-tunes since the beginning of July. I thought that for sure someone was using my card fraudulently and had the credit card company cancel my credit card. I was about to fill out the credit cards fraud report when I remembered that I could check what the purchases were made for on my I-tunes account. Sure enough, some game that my son has started to play is now costing me hundreds, as in over $400. I have never disputed any I-tunes purchase or even questioned any of them but this game and what my son explained to me seems a little sneaky in the way they get you to "buy" stuff when you don't really think you are paying for it. Has this happened to anyone and have they been able to get a refund of any kind from Apple? I have now removed my credit card information from I-tunes and restricted all app purchases but I need to figure out if Apple will help in this type of situation. ANy ideas???
I have sent a private message about the outcome of this situation to those of you who were kind and understanding in your response.
To the others... why would you judge someone and their child if you know nothing about them except for mamapedia post? It is very catty and hurtful. I may not be very techno savvy and up to date on the electronics stuff but I know that I am a very good parent (that makes occasional mistakes - cause ALL parents do) and that my kids are respectful and honest (and also make mistakes sometimes-cause most kids do). I hope that you don't find yourself in a similar situation one day, but if you do, think back to how you made one mama feel by your hurtful comments.
I would call apple and ask. I know someone who works for apple and they are a very customer service oriented company. It's worth a try!
Nope...you pretty much gave him permission by allowing him access to iTunes. How do I know? My nephew did the same thing on my moms account when she bought him an iPod. They told her thats what the password lock is for.
I have never had a problem like that, no. Both my kids have ipods and download apps all the time. BUT, they have to enter a password to do so, and they don't know it. "I" have to put in the password for everything they download. Even if it is free.
This is nice, because not only does it keep them from spending $$$, it means that I know everything they download and can decide if it is ok or not BEFORE they get it.
We have our cc linked to our itunes account, but the kids buy and receive as gifts itunes cards frequently (the gifting part, not the buying so much)... and those are loaded so that there is always a credit in the itunes account. I keep a log on my desk of who bought what, so I know which kid still has $ to spend and how much. Hubby and I don't really buy any apps, we mostly use it for music for running, and almost ALL of the music is uploaded from CDs hubby owns. The occasional non-owned CD music comes from purchases by the kids, or free apps/songs from Starbucks. :)
It was smart to restrict the in-app purchases, but unfortunately, you have to restrict their access to iTunes in general, if you really want to have any control of whether they are spending money.
You can call Apple, but I'd be very surprised if you get very far. Everything is set so passwords are required, for your own protection. Apparently, your son has the password to make purchases, and that really isn't Apple's fault. Sorry about the expensive lesson. Those kinds are tough to swallow. :(
ETA: Good catch Renee. I forgot about that. We get emails too. They are sometimes a few days in coming, but we do get an email for every purchase in iTunes...even the free ones.
First, how old is your son? Second, is your iTunes account password protected? Third, how often is your son playing on the iPod unsupervised?
As I read this, I see this as a parenting issue, not an iTunes problem. They will not refund the money because your son is using your iTunes account unsupervised and without the maximum protections.
Chalk this one up to a lesson learned and make sure that your son knows and understands the "rules" for playing with the iPod. I would also play the game with him a few times to actually see what the prompts look like and then call customer service regarding the purchasing process.
If the game is super sneaky I have heard of them refunding and taking action against the game.
Best advice is to call and talk to someone.
Time to put a password on your itunes account.
Just contact them and ask. I know this happens a lot, don't know if you'll have much luck with them.
Hmm, they will probably not help - though you can try that never hurts. They have been in the news a lot lately for these types of bills.
Before you are angry with your son however please understand that some of these games make it really easy to make in game purchases and that the process comes with little warning and I believe is borderline fraudulent, since it is almost impossible for younger kids to understand that they are spending actual money.
On my I-pod you have to re-enter the password for every purchase, get an email receipt AND it is not connected to my credit card, but rather I purchase i-tunes cards for it. It is WAY to easy to spend a lot of money on i-tunes if it's connected to your CC...
Expensive lesson learned. Sorry.
My response is pretty much exactly like Victoria W's. We do the same thing. We also get an email for every purchase made on iTunes.
That's a lot of $$ for apps. I might see a low charge monthly on daughters card. I monitor our cards daily as they are paid in full before any statement is processed. I urge you to monitor the card regularly online do you can catch things sooner. As a business owner, I track expenses this way.
Apple is usually good about customer service. If you child had the access and permission and it was done legitimately, you may have no recourse. Talk to the credit card company about your options.
Any purchaser has the buyers remorse which is 3 day change of mind. That's why it's critical to watch any and all charges and pending charges so you are on top of the game.
There should always be a passcode so you know what is being downloaded. I don't oversee the passcode so much anymore since daughter is pushing 18. She had to realize the responsibility at this point.
Good luck!!
Any ideas? For what? How not to have this happen again? Take the Ipod away from your kid & sell it.
How old is your son? Why does he have so much time alone with an Ipod? Why is he not being monitored? Why were you not getting notifications of the purchases? It sounds like he was being sneaky. $50 bucks could be a mistake. $400 is deliberate. Why should Apple have to eat that?
Call Apple. That just happened about a month ago to me to the tune of $800. Exact same situation. They looked at it and refunded everything to my account. My card information is no longer on the account and we only use gift cards. So call and talk to them. It's not going to hurt.
We get emails.
We've had no experience with the "sneaky" apps here.
I also set it up so they deduct from iTunes acct only, which is funded thru gift cards only.
We have it set up so there is NO credit card roll to payment.
And we have to enter the password with every purchase.
Call & ask but I wouldn't bet on them eating the balance, but you'll never know until you ask, I guess.
Can you share the apps that have resulted in this? We'd probably all like to know. I'm unaware of apps the automatically charge like that.
They will probably not help on this. If it were 10-20 bucks, maybe but not 400+ no way.
Someone told me their child once bought an architectural app on her iPhone that cost around $500 once. I have no idea why the kid wanted it, but there it was. She contacted Apple and explained it and got a full refund.
Call Apple! My friend's son did something similar and they refunded everything!
When my SD was younger, before iPhones, she racked up a huge bill (I forget the real amount, but hundreds) on her mom's account playing a game. SD thought it was a flat fee for a one-time download and her mom didn't read the fine print before buying. The lesson learned was that kids shouldn't be allowed to buy without the parent reviewing the purchases very very carefully. The company did not reverse the charges.
You can always report the game and ask for a refund. But I'd also ask the rep how to prevent this in the future and find out what parenting steps you need to take to make sure your son doesn't have the passwords, doesn't buy anyway, etc.
I also like the idea of reviewing the game and seeing how the purchases are made and seeing if there are any other complaints. Additionally, since I don't know how old your son is, is this a game geared for his age or older? I ask because if it's older, the prompts may not jump out at him at this age where an older child/teen would catch it.
My son did the same thing, but it was only for $40.00! I called Apple and explained to them that he didn't realize he was buying things on this app he was playing. They told me that they normally do not refund on any app purchases, but would do it for me as a one time deal only! I was freaking out when I first saw the email notification of the $40.00! I can't even imagine a $400.00 bill!! YIKES!! I would definetly call them!
Then change the apple password so that your son doesn't have access to it. You need that password to purcase any apps! That's what I did on my Iphone and the kids now have to ask to purchase anything!
Good luck!
I haven't had that issue with iTunes. I have mine set to require a password in order to make purchases, but that's on my Mac. You can call them and explain that the purchases were made by a minor and see if that works. All they can do is say no. Otherwise they may credit the charges or credit a percentage. I also suggest taking the device from your son as he had to know that he was making purchases. Remove your cc info out of your iTunes account as well as it's not necessary to have there in order to use the iPod. I really hope they will be kind and that you won't have to pay all of that money.
