Let me first say that I have owned Apple gear for over twenty five years. My first Mac was an SE with a 40MB hard drive. My wife and I currently own three iMacs, two iPads, two iPhones, an AppleTV and numerous other Apple products. I have purchased items on iTunes for over a decade.
I have my PayPal debit card on record with Apple for all iTunes purchases. Because the card is linked to my eBay account the balance varies from pennies to thousands of dollars all the time. Payments and charges are coming through at all times of the day and night.
Last night I tried to purchase two television shows on iTunes. The total was $6.08. The purchase was denied because my balance on the debit card at that moment was $5.61. No big deal. I would just make the attempt in an hour as someone was sure to purchase something and my balance would be sufficient. I went back to iTunes to view an older purchase.
Here's where the problem starts. I click on a show I want to watch only to see a screen telling me there was a problem with the last transaction. I was told to go to my desktop to provide iTunes with a new method of payment. In the meanwhile ALL of my media was blocked. We're talking about thousands and thousands of dollars in music, movies, televsion shows, ect. All blocked because of a $6.08 purchase that was declined.
With a short while, as expected, someone had purchased something from my eBay Store and I had more than enough to cover the cost of the two shows. Instead of going to iTunes to reenter my credit/debit card info I went to apple.com to request a telephone call. It was scheduled (really, they schedule phone calls a day or two in advance) for this afternoon. In the meanwhile, the app store on my brand new iMac was indicating there were updates to my iPhoto and iMovie. I couldn't even download FREE updates to apps that came free with the new computer.
This afternoon I spoke with the representative who directed me to this paragraph in the Terms and Conditions for iTunes use.
"Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, Apple and its licensors reserve the right to change, suspend, remove, or disable access to any iTunes Products, content, or other materials comprising a part of the iTunes Service at any time without notice. In no event will Apple be liable for making these changes. Apple may also impose limits on the use of or access to certain features or portions of the iTunes Service, in any case and without notice or liability."
So, in essence, Apple denied me access to the thousands of dollars of media I purchased because of one failed transaction. This, I was informed, was there policy.
I understand that Apple reserves the right to change, suspend, remove or disable access to iTunes Products by why such an extreme act in this instance? It's not like I got anything for free. The purchase failed. End of story. There was no money due to Apple for any of the previous purchases forcing them to block access. This action on their part, was overkill.
As a result, I will be moving as much of my activity away from Apple and their products as quickly as I can. Please share my story with others who may be under the illusion that the have any rights when it comes to iTunes Products. Today's Apple is not the same company it was just a few years ago. Frankly, I hope Tim Cook chokes on the 150 billion the company has stashed in offshore accounts.
I have my PayPal debit card on record with Apple for all iTunes purchases. Because the card is linked to my eBay account the balance varies from pennies to thousands of dollars all the time. Payments and charges are coming through at all times of the day and night.
Last night I tried to purchase two television shows on iTunes. The total was $6.08. The purchase was denied because my balance on the debit card at that moment was $5.61. No big deal. I would just make the attempt in an hour as someone was sure to purchase something and my balance would be sufficient. I went back to iTunes to view an older purchase.
Here's where the problem starts. I click on a show I want to watch only to see a screen telling me there was a problem with the last transaction. I was told to go to my desktop to provide iTunes with a new method of payment. In the meanwhile ALL of my media was blocked. We're talking about thousands and thousands of dollars in music, movies, televsion shows, ect. All blocked because of a $6.08 purchase that was declined.
With a short while, as expected, someone had purchased something from my eBay Store and I had more than enough to cover the cost of the two shows. Instead of going to iTunes to reenter my credit/debit card info I went to apple.com to request a telephone call. It was scheduled (really, they schedule phone calls a day or two in advance) for this afternoon. In the meanwhile, the app store on my brand new iMac was indicating there were updates to my iPhoto and iMovie. I couldn't even download FREE updates to apps that came free with the new computer.
This afternoon I spoke with the representative who directed me to this paragraph in the Terms and Conditions for iTunes use.
"Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, Apple and its licensors reserve the right to change, suspend, remove, or disable access to any iTunes Products, content, or other materials comprising a part of the iTunes Service at any time without notice. In no event will Apple be liable for making these changes. Apple may also impose limits on the use of or access to certain features or portions of the iTunes Service, in any case and without notice or liability."
So, in essence, Apple denied me access to the thousands of dollars of media I purchased because of one failed transaction. This, I was informed, was there policy.
I understand that Apple reserves the right to change, suspend, remove or disable access to iTunes Products by why such an extreme act in this instance? It's not like I got anything for free. The purchase failed. End of story. There was no money due to Apple for any of the previous purchases forcing them to block access. This action on their part, was overkill.
As a result, I will be moving as much of my activity away from Apple and their products as quickly as I can. Please share my story with others who may be under the illusion that the have any rights when it comes to iTunes Products. Today's Apple is not the same company it was just a few years ago. Frankly, I hope Tim Cook chokes on the 150 billion the company has stashed in offshore accounts.
