A FREE game called "We Farm" steals real money from iTunes account?

Hi all..

I downloaded these free games for my 6 y-old son (Tiny Tower, 9mm, Army of Darkness, Cover Orange, Bug village, Icee Maker High noon). I downloaded those over the weekend, starting friday, to sunday, knowing they are all free as indicated on the app store. Just this afternoon, 5 days later, I discovered on my e-mail that my credit card has been charged for these games totalling over $400. I don't know yet how it happened but I suspect it's what Ken Lam described as Top in App purchases.This is the first time I heard of this. I've purchased games before, some priced at .99 cents, some $6, but this is the first time I experienced apple is charging as high as $99.99 for a single game! I felt that I have been tricked. I never confirmed these purchases. I hope Apple would do something about this. I will definitely ask for a refund on this one.

knowing they are all free as indicated on the app store.

It also indicates in the AppStore that all these games have "In-App Purchases". They are free to download.

this is the first time I experienced apple is charging as high as $99.99 for a single game!

Apple is not charging you. The game developer sets the price of In-App Purchases

I don't know yet how it happened

You didn't turn off In-App Purchases, then gave your device to a 6-year old to play with who doesn't know he is playing with real money.

Is the firmware on your device up to date also?

Julian, Apple may not directly charging me, but they sure make a lot of money out of this. I was so disappointed that Apple has allowed this to happen. I'm a fool to entrust all my credit card details to them, only to be

deceived by all these in-apps craps. I felt betrayed and violated. Robbed in broad daylight. Now I have to cancel my credit card to prevent this from happening again. Yes, I'm partly to be blamed, but this is clearly a system designed to mislead an unknowing customer. Tell me, would you knowingly purchase an online ****** game for $99.99?

Do you have kids Julian? Do you have the slightest idea on the kind of games a 6-year old kid of today wants to play? The games I have downloaded was designed exactly for kids 6-10 years of age. These are the kind of games that an adult like myself would not dare to play with. But then again, I was a fool to trust Apple that they have a system that upheld the interest of their customer.

And please don't give me the crap of me not updating my firmware.. this is not an excuse to steal other peoples hard earned money.

Now I have to cancel my credit card to prevent this from happening again.

Rubbish!! Just switch "In-App Purchases" off on your phone, and make sure the firmware is up to date.

this is clearly a system designed to mislead an unknowing customer.

The information is there if you bother to read it. Do you expect Apple to personally call you up on the phone or visit you to show you how to read instructions and turn on options in your device? Come on, take some responsibility for your in-actions. You are an adult.

If you are giving an expensive electronic device with internet access to a child to play with, it is your responsibility to make sure they are unable to do something they shouldn't if you are not supervising them. Presumably, you wouldn't want your 6-year old opening up Safari and inadvertently navigating to adult sites either?

Do you have the slightest idea on the kind of games a 6-year old kid of today wants to play?

Yes, I do. I have turned off "In-App purchases" on both my iPhone and iPad, so that such purchases cannot be made on my devices. I also supervise the kids (both younger and older than yours) who play on my iDevices.

And please don't give me the crap of me not updating my firmware..

If your firmware was up to date, there would be even more protections in place for people who don't bother to spend a few minutes reading instructions or set-up restrictions. Again, it's your device and your responsibility to keep up-to-date with it. Apple provides the means to protect against unwanted purchases - it is up to you to use them.

If you noticed you applied to a thread that began one year ago. This topic was all over the news, was heavily debated in this website, was widely discussed in computer trades. As a response Apple made some changes in firmware that required passwords to be entered when making purchases, etc. If Apple took these steps as a result of this how is it their responsibility that you did not take the time to install the update?

They also required game makers with in-app purchases to clearly delineate within the description of the app that this is how the game operates. Is it Apple's fault you did not take the time to read this?

And finally Apple has always included the ability to prevent in-app purchases. You did not avail yourself of this. This lack of action lies upon you, not Apple, they gave you the tool and you failed to use it.

You have not been betrayed, violated, etc. You have not been robbed. You don't need to remove your credit card. If you are going to intall these types of games on your iPad for your children to play then restrict in-app purchases. Or read the description and don't install this type of game at all on your iPad, there are many other games that you can purchase up front that don't use this model.

It seems like I’m in a battle here that cannot be won. At least not in this forum. What would you expect from a discussion under Apple’s website anyway? Look guys, I just feel like Apple should have done more. Yes, they might have took some measures, updated their firmware, done this, done that. But its just simply wasn’t enough. Not all of us can keep up with these, and there should be a better way to protect us. What about us, paying customers who fell through the cracks? And believe me, there are a lot of us. And that is exactly where, for some rea$on, Apple fell short. They are letting their customer learn it the painful way.

We can debate and argue all year long. You can give all the technical excuses you can think of and keep on blaming me by not turning off that In apps purchases (which in the first place shouldn’t be ON by default anyway). At the end of the day, we have some game developers who took advantage of the system, laughing their way to the bank. And Apple, sadly was a big part of it.

A fool and his money are soon parted.

Caveat emptor.

There is no such thing as a free lunch.

What other advise would you like?

You failed to understand your device, what you were downloading and failed to supervise your child.

You are at fault, no one else.

You have just learned a pretty cheap life lesson about personal responsibility.

Man up and accept it.

Here's a new one..

Thieves of the same leather, robs together.

Fact is, Apple does not sell the iPhone to children or as a children's toy. In-App Purchases are a legitimate way for developers to sell content. Why should Apple turn these off by default when they are selling the device to (supposedly) responsible adults. They don't turn off all the other abilities the phone has which you may not want a 6-year old child doing.

If you choose to use the phone as a toy for 6 year olds, and take advantage of third-party games for children, it is your responsibility to check that they are suitable, and what they involve.

Apple cannot constantly hold the hand of every customer who fails to read the instruction manual.

Ken Lam wrote:

Not the same session, the game was downloaded weeks ago.

Ken,

Go to Settings > General > Restrictions > click Enable Restrictions

Look down below and In-App Purchases is probably already switched on, so you need to turn that off.

There are also other settings there you might want to adjust as kids are involved here.

These things aren't too obvious I know and it's a case here of 'you live and you learn'.

There's a post somewhere else on this board where a user was complaining that her grandkids had run up a €780 (Euro) bill under similar circumstances.

Apple have been known to show compassion in such cases, but an in-game purchase isn't really their concern.

Good luck.

Peter

I apologize for what I've said on my earlier post. I realized there are words that can hurt, and I don't want to end my postings in that manner. To be fair with the game developers, my son loved some of it, its just that there are some things that are too much. Fact is iphone is a toy, and it is a toy for children of all ages. I hope some people will learn from my mistake.

marconiusrex wrote:

Spoken like a truly compassionate human being...

I wasn't going to get invovled here, but I TOTALLY agree with Martin. Then again, I take responsibily for my actions. And I would NEVER allow a kid to play with my iPad. They should be outside relatiing to kids their own ages rather than playing some BRAIN DEAD game.

Further more, the headliine of this thread seems to be like the mindless headlines on huffingtonpost. Does the OP work there?

Well close to 1 year later but I agree with you and with Ken Lam.

Most of the negatives here are from people that do not even have kids so have NO CLUE what they are talking about with regards to child rearing and being responsible.

The same thing has happened to me. I am very upset and yes, Apple & iTunes has a responsibilty to their customers not to set them up to be ripped off!

Games targeting 6 - 10 year olds should NOT come attached with in-house "points" that cost 100's of dollars. To be withdrawn out of your account without asking your persmission first. Yes, that is stealing. What ever technicalities you want to semanticize. A 6 year old is obviously NOT going to have the money to fund that!

I agree, a 6 year old does not, but apparently you do. Did you turn off in-app purchases before you virutally handed the 6 year old your credit card?

You have failed to learn how to use your device or familiarize yourself with its features.

You handed your kid your credit card and told them to run wild.

It's called bad parenting.

PS.

My child is a legal adult now.