AppleTV+ promotional offers

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AppleTV+ promotional offers

So imagine this. A while back, I buy a MacBook - my initiation into the world of Apple, and I am very impressed by it. Then I hear from friends that other Apple products are good too, including AppleTV. Incidentally, I have an Android phone that I was considering to switch to iPhone, and perhaps even potentially switch over my home security to Apple HomeKit, and so on. Already being subscribed to Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, MGM and YouTube Premium, I was hesitant about getting involved in yet another TV subscription service. However, with friends recommending various AppleTV shows, and having finally got into a position where I am finished with TV shows on the other subscription services, I feel I finally have an opportunity to actually try out some TV shows on AppleTV. I was aware that I could try AppleTV on a 3 month free trial, via my Playstation 5. So I decide to enrol in the promotional offer. I download the AppleTV app on my PS5 and start the process. At the very end, when it looks like I am about to engage, it tells me I must visit tv.apple.com/settings on a web-enabled device to set up a payment method before embarking on the promotion. So I do just that and what better device to do this on than my MacBook! Except that as part of this process, I must sign up to a subscription with AppleTV+ for a free 7 day trial. I do so, without any warning that this could invalidate any offer I may be wishing to utilise. So I am all done and return to my PS5 AppleTV app, only to be greeted with a message when I try to proceed further, informing me that the promotional offer is not valid on existing subscriptions!

So I contact Apple support over this matter. Surely they can see what has happened and just extend my trial for an additional 3 months. Well... It turns out they understand my predicament just fine - but they can't extend my trial. Instead I am told I have to wait until my existing 7 day trial period ends and expires, and then try again. Well... I think not AppleTV. In 7 days I will be well into whatever next TV shows I try out on my other existing TV subscription services, and Apple TV will be all forgotten about. This level of customer service is woefully insufficient, given the reputation I had garnered of Apple. And thus, I am here merely to voice my disappointment. I am venting out of outrage, and in the hope that maybe, just maybe, someone listens to this, and bucks up their ideas about how to treat potential customers in the future. For the good of customer service in general, maybe my voice will be heard. Apple had their opportunity to show what they were made of for my first experience with their customer service and they blew it, as far as I am concerned.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 14.1

Posted on Dec 6, 2023 5:40 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Urquhart1244

Level 10

150,112 points

Dec 6, 2023 7:16 AM in response to jamesclennett

Except that as part of this process, I must sign up to a subscription with AppleTV+ for a free 7 day trial. I do so, without any warning that this could invalidate any offer I may be wishing to utilise.

I think this is the point where you may have misstepped. At no point were you required to sign up for a 7 day trial to activate your account for financial transactions and link a payment method. It wouldn’t/shouldn’t say to go to tv.apple.com/settings for this. And even then, that URL would redirect to the main page when not already signed in to that site. There is nothing in this generic URL to have the site know you were doing something related to a PlayStation signup. Users can sign in to the site without signing up for anything (as a way to see the bits of free content [+MLS free content]).

The PlayStation offer does mention that their offer isn’t for existing subscribers. (FAQ #4)

Add a payment method to your Apple ID - Apple Support

Do so on Mac, on the web, on iPhone, or on iPad. (No reason to use the tv.apple.com website for this.)

A new Mac would have had a very similar offer, for the first 90 days. Also not for existing subscribers.

I’m sorry that you seem to have missed out on the extended duration trial.

As the current free trial will auto-renew into the paid subscription after the 7 days, do remember to cancel it at least 24 hours before the renewal moment, if you do not wish to stay subscribed.

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Answer 2

Dec 6, 2023 7:37 AM in response to Urquhart1244

Just so we know, I am a senior software engineer, which consequently renders me fairly computer literate. I am famailiar with website functions, URLs and what they should or should not do. I can tell you that if I struggled, I surely cannot be the first, and surely will not be the last. Of course a URL with final path part "settings" is never going to direct me to "adding a payment method". So yes, I had to navigate to adding a payment method, as requested by the AppleTV instructions on the PS5. However, to add a payment method, it seemed that I had to subscribe to the AppleTV+ service. It was my first time for anything for this account.

In any event... whether I mis-stepped or not, who cares? It is the intentions of the customer that mean something, and I did not regard Apple as some cheapo service where customer service levels are expected to be abrupt and short-lived due to financial constraints. I expected Apple to be engaging, understanding and accommodating, like other premium services/products I subscribe/buy. I am most disappointed, and shall not be engaging in Apple services again, and will certainly share my experience.

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Answer 3

Dec 6, 2023 8:35 AM in response to Urquhart1244

So which company writes the code for the Playstation AppleTV app? I do not honestly know, nor do I really care who lies at fault, it is the customer experience that matters. Being fobbed off with "Try again at the end of the trial period" is just not good enough. Even McDonalds can't throw enough freebies at you when shown the slightest hint of dismay. When enquiring with customer support, I fully expected Apple support to understand my plight and offer a free 3 months as trial instead. They disregard that the promo came from PS5. It was evident I had tried. I was on the first day of my 7 day trial, and a PS5 device was in my list of devices - added same day. I was clearly not trying to pull a fast one. And supplying me with a free £27 worth of AppleTV+ subscription for the potential thousands of £'s I would have paid in the following year or 3 seems like a no brainer to me.

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Answer 4

Urquhart1244

Level 10

150,112 points

Dec 6, 2023 8:13 AM in response to jamesclennett

When you try to use the PlayStation offer, then it is Sony that has to link their offer to your Apple ID account. Apple can’t change what Sony should or shouldn’t do. Apple Support‘s suggestion to try again later seems very reasonable, as you might be a qualifying returning customer then.

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AppleTV+ promotional offers

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