Apple refuses to refund 300+ purchases made by an 8-year-old on iPad

The people responding on this support forum are users like you. We have no special access to Apple information or your accounts, so unfortunately all we can do is guide you to the information Apple does provide. Apple, however, does not have much on its criteria for refusing refunds. Here are two sections from the U.S.A. version of Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions - Legal - Apple Media Services - Apple You can see if the terms are different for where you live by clicking on this link Legal - Apple Media Services - Apple select your location and then your language.

- "All Transactions are final."

Apple's terms of purchase in the USA are, "All Transactions are final," ( Legal - Apple Media Services - Apple section B), but check the terms for your country. Even if Apple does not outright say in a country that sales are final, they may say that refunds are only made to remedy defective or unavailable product. In other cases Apple may make limited refunds solely at their discretion and as an exception. Apple can also simply say no without having to provide a reason. I understand this can be frustrating but by using the service you agree to the terms.

- "From time to time, Apple may suspend or cancel payment or refuse a refund request if we find evidence of fraud, abuse, or unlawful or other manipulative behavior that entitles Apple to a corresponding counterclaim." Remember that Apple has no way of removing a purchase from your device. They have to trust you are being honest when asking for a refund. It may be that certain refund requests might be considered suspicious or excessive.

According to https://reportaproblem.apple.com/static/en-us/privacy.html , Apple uses an automated system to detect fraud. Your request may not have met the automated system’s criteria for a refund. If you feel you want to discuss a refund request with a person, try to contact an Apple representative by email —> “If you disagree with your final decision, contact dpo@apple.com “

If you wish to try a telephone or chat method, click here --> Choose your country or region - Official Apple Support Select your country, then a product. If you don't see one that handles your issue then keep experimenting with selections until you reach one that gets you a chat session or a telephone call and get the representative to redirect you.

or:

"See a list of Apple phone numbers around the world." Click here --> Contact Apple Support - Apple Support

Apple’s position appears to be that people need to be proactive with purchases, canceling subscriptions at least 24 hours before trials end, and ensuring that others are not able to make purchases on a user’s account. Note that if you allow—intentionally or not—another person access to purchasing on a device, or through Family Sharing if you are the Organizer, you are taking responsibility for things they do. Apple offers these proactive features:

On your device you can use Screen Time to prevent unintentional or unauthorized purchases from the App Store, in-app, and other Apple services. —> Use Screen Time to turn off in-app purchases on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

Also on your device, require a password for App Store and iTunes purchases —> Require a password for purchases in the App Store and other Apple services - Apple Support

Use Screen Time as part of parental controls on your child's iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch —> Use parental controls to manage your child's iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

If a child made this purchase on their device, consider activating Ask To Buy—> Approve what kids buy with Ask to Buy - Apple Support

Use Guided Access to permit a person to only use a single app —>

Lock iPhone to one app with Guided Access - Apple Support

Sorry, but an 8 year old child is going to need Parental Controls, if you are going to give them a device with access to make purchases. The Parental controls prevent that from happening using one or more of these options:

• Require child to request approval for purchases
• Add a Password for purchases
• Remove the App Store from the device
• Prevent in-app purchases.

For a child to have an Apple Account, it must be set up by you and the device they use with that account would have to be part of a Family Sharing plan where you are in control of what they can do. They will not be able to make any purchases unless payment information has been added or you are using Purchase Sharing to allow them to make purchases with your payment method.

If they are using a device with someone else's Apple Account there is no discerning who is making the purchases, it is the Passcode/Password for that device that authorizes the purchases. In that case it is much more important to use the Screen Time controls on that device to prevent purchases. Apple does not recommend that anyone should be using someone else's account.