Inadvertent $1500 in app purchase Tap Zoo - warning!

On what basis will Apple lose this lawsuit? Because you think the prices are too high? Because children use the app? Children can end up using any app.

Apple put in the ability in 4.x to turn off in-app purchases. In 5.x they have added the ability to restrict to install and delete apps. If a parent turns off in-app purchases before handing the child the iPad there is no issue, they won't be able to spend anything within the app. Other parents who want to let their kids play with the app can do so.

How has Apple admitted guilt? And the same type of things occurred in the past before unlimited text message plans are available (it was Verizon's fault that your child sent 4,000 text messages a day), have happened with online games on computers, will happen with future data plans on phones,

Perhaps in future iterations of the iOS Apple can implement more systems to protect parents from themselves such as has already been mentioned here, like be able to set 24 hour purchase limits, etc. But again someone won't do this and will write here and blame Apple. And if these things are made mandatory some will complain about too many restrictions.

now you're just being silly. No comparison here. I'm glad you weren't a cop in my city. Since you want to bring up toys in a toy store, lets go with it.

It would be analogous to buying a toy, we'll say, and getting another one free. You paid for the first one up front and you know it requires batteries. The companion toy which came free doesn't tell you that the toy is capable of say, putting holes in your carpet--that's buried somewhere else in very tiny fine print that you can't read without a magnifying glass.

Face it, you guys are grabbing at straws here. your defense of Apple has been silly from the word go. If I have to put in my full password to buy a $.69 song from Apple, then I should most certainly have to do it when I buy a $99.00 make believe truckload of make believe acorns to feed my make believe animals. And my guess is, is most any judge and jury are going to agree. Plus, there is the problem that, by the time the first email confirmation arrived, there was a $1,600.00 plus bill--the first email totaling over $550.00 for 7 or 8 separate purchases. Everyone else I buy something from over the net, I get an instant email confirmation--but not Apple. Apple's vaunted system takes 24 hours for the email to show up. And that's deliberate too.

Now, you know how I know Apple will lose? Because the minute my lawyer got involved and explained to them what would happen here in Minnesota in a court room over this, they coughed the money back up--instantly. no more three hour long holds to be told the same crappola your spouting. No more "gee, did you do this or that?" Nope, just money going back where it belonged. Now, you go ahead and try and bury this so no one sees it--thats fine, that's what the class action lawsuit is for.

Preying on children is dimmly viewed by those of us living in the real world.

Yes, deggie, they changed it--an admission of guilt. It is not us telling Apple what to charge--don't be obtuse. It is about hidden costs that never should have been possible without an adult's itunes password being input--every time the child tried to buy something.

In college (political science major, mind you) they flat out told us in one of many constitutional law classes to never ask a cop the law or to interpret it--sadly, they know nothing about the law because they were never instructed in the law--which is the real reason so many perps go free. So your opinion on this means nothing to me or to Apple's lawyers.

The previous poster was trying to say that the owner of the iWhatever should be able to set an upper limit on per time charges. And I agree, it's a SAFETY measure.

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yeah--that leaves them 28.5% in their pockets. Ever heard of Ebay? THey have an even bigger set up than Apple--waaaaay bigger. Their fee is no where even close and they actually protect you against such fraud.

Dude, you sound silly, just making things up now and being really childish--you sure you're in your 60's?

I'm glad you're not a judge in my city. And again, you seem to be in a very small minority of people who hate this app. Apple would win the suit simply by calling on any Tap Zoo fan as witness. Besides, you would not be the defendant, but rather the little kid who made the purchase. If you didn't make the purchase you can't be complaining about it.

Sorry, but if you download any one of the hundreds of children's apps in the App Store that work this way they clearly lay out how they work. If you bother to read it. And it isn't hard at all from the reviews of the apps to determine that they work this way.

In-app purchases have always worked differently than other purchases since Apple introduced them. And they are different in that you can turn them off completely.

Again, what is going to be the basis of the lawsuit? That the basket of acorns is too expensive? That might work in China but I don't think it will fly here. And preying on children? No, if it is any kind of "preying" it is on adults.

And if you really didn't need your lawyer to get your money back, both the developer and Apple as far as I can tell have refunded the money on all incidents of this type. They didn't have to and you must have a really poor lawyer if he thinks so. Again, on what basis? Not just that it is expensive, or the receipt from Apple didn't arrive, etc., what under color of law is going to be the basis of your lawsuit. Or anyone else?

And changing anything is not an admission of guilt. Not in the real world or the courtroom. I hope in the future that they are able to build an even more extensive system of restrictions and maybe as better processors emerge they will be able to. But again it will require parents to use them.

As to all these analogies and all, if you hand your child your iPad and you just bought something for the next 15 minutes they could buy a lot of books in the iBookstore that could cost a lot of money, as there are some expensive books out there. Should this also be blocked?

And if you and your attorney have settled up with Apple and you think they are so evil then move on and buy products from competitors.

Have any more slurs and name calling you want to resort to? Trust me in the academy they do indeed cover the law as you are likely to get sued if you misapply it. And given that I also went to college, studied political science (along with Criminal Justic and Mathematics) and then went back to school while working you have no idea how much I know about the law do you? And who is they "they" that told you this? They never told me that in any of the constitutional law classes I took. Nor the other officers I was in class with. We are the ones every day that have to interpret the law and very quickly. And you've been watching too much TV, there aren't near as many suspects going free as you would think. And again, officers have to make their decision in a split second, lawyers and judges get months to second guess them. But given the fact you took the tack of attacking police officers instead of sticking with the argument tells me a lot about you.

I agree with one of the posters here that talked about setting daily limits and I posted the feedback link to do so. And some of the games that use in-app purchases have actually set their own internal limits although not required to do so. But again it will be up to the parents to set these limits. So if say iOS 6 implemented such limits and controls, someone did not set them and handed their iPad to their children and they racked up $700 of charges over a week would you be in agreement then it was the parents fault?

Yes, I've heard of eBay. You sell a product and it is gone. Business vendors who maintain a business on their site pay different rates.

When Apple announced the Apple Store they stated the amount they would charge and went over what that charge paid for. I know many developers who sell apps on the store (nope, I don't know any of the developers of the Tap Zoo stuff or any of that) and they know the costs involved in selling apps online. None of them have any problem with the 30% charge. Apple has stated repeatedly since then that the 30% is not netting a profit.

I believe them. You don't. This isn't being childish. If you think they are an evil company and prey on children and they are lying don't trade with them. Vote with your pocketbook. And stopy using their website.

It's the advertising witinn the apps fo in app purchases aimed twards kids. They don't realize tht THIS is what happens when you over purchase.

I have to say that the amount of white-knighting for apple going on in this thread is astounding. I have never posted in this forum before but feel compelled to do so after some of the things I have read here.

Firstly,a bit bit about me. I am a very "tech-savy" person (software engineer by trade) and have not been caught out by the in-app purchases here as some people have. In fact I disabled in-app purchases as one of the first things I did after buying my iPad.

Now that's out of the way let me say this.

Either this situation is a case of (at best) extremely bad software implementation, or it's a blatant scam trying to take advantage of people that don't understand the full consequences of their purchased app.

I'm inclined to believe the latter in the case off the app producer, and the former in the case of apple.

To try and blame the parents for bad parenting is just going to far defending apple in this case.

Let me sum up the main problem, as I see it, with this situation:

1. The app is aimed at children

2. The app includes in-app purchases

3. Due to the way iOS works in default mode, you will always get a lot of cases here of children accidentally running up massive bills in the first 15 minutes when no authorisation check is required.

Sure you can say "they should have read the instructions". Or they should be more "tech savy" or whatever.

I have a problem with this.

iPad is designed with simplicity in mind, so that people who are not that good with computers can use them. Combine that with a default setting that allows 15 minutes of no authorisation check, and a default setting that allows In game purchases, and you have a system that is clearly set up for easy abuse by unscrupulous devs.

What you will see is more and more apps designed to take advantage of this loophole, to try and prey on the less technically minded customers, the customers that perhaps do not realise what the line of In game purchases actually means.

Apple have clearly missed a trick here. I do not believe the 15 minute period where authorisation is not required should have been applied to ingame purchases.

Before any more devs go exploiting this loophole, apple would be well advised to step in and change their software operation. Apple have a good reputation,which they should wish to build on. This sort of loophole will do them no good if left as is.

A final point I would like to bring up, with regard to possible lawsuits.

The app dev has clearly written in their app description that this app allows for ingame purchases. So legally they are probably covered.

However, I would like to just point out that what is legal and what is ethical are often not the same thing, and in fact often diametrically opposed. I do not believe apple should be seen to be unethical in their conduct. It would tarnish their good reputation.

taking 3) ths is very much someone sating you have a phobea because you don't agrree with their pov, i'm no die hard Apple fanzie member, so hope to comment from in some part sensible view.

a) The Ipad is not a cheap dvice, i'd vouch most even doting / grand perants wouk let a child of ths age play with one unsupervised.

b) this child has special needs regarding autism, surely knowing this, then special attention to supervise that child should have been used (i'm not beating down on the o/p).

put it this way, there is a very precarious path around a mounting with a 1000 ft drop to certain death, do you let child proceed alone unaided having unlocked the security yourself, or would you guide them? and if they fell would you them blame the path's builder or yourself?

many ganes are marked 18+ but how many kids well under this age play them on line with perental perticipation in providing not onlt the software but the means, i.e. the pc/xbox 360 or playstation.

i don't like these type of apps, and imho there needs to be far better controls to protect the gullible, but remmember Apple make the device not the App, they do ake great strides in controlling what is available, that is not defending Apple just stating facts.

Regardless who is right, it reflects badly on Apple. I am an Apple customer because they earn their $ by providing value, even if their products cost more.

When I try to purchase a song on itunes that I already own, they remind me, and won't take my 99 cents. Do they have to, legally? No, I can buy a product as many times as I want. Is it Apple's fault that I don't remember what I bought? Hardly. Sure they could make more $ by re-charging me for songs, or for the new version of iOS, but they don't, and that's why I'm not interested if an Android phone has a bigger screen.

So when an itunes game vendor takes the opposite approach - let's see how much I can ripoff a kid for before his parents wise up - it goes against everything I've always associated with Apple.

In addition to graphics, game makers should be reviewed on their ethics. Those whose business model is to shamelessly market useless products to kids should be called out and shunned.

We got burned on this, too, but I'm in much deeper -- it was to the tune of $2300. I don't know whether to be frustrated with Apple or the actual maker of the app, Pocket Gems, Inc. who with an app that has Santa Claus in it, is CLEARLY preying on young children who aren't able to understand what $99.99 worth of coins actually translates to on their parents' Visa card. My son didn't have a clue -- when I asked him, he told me that everything was FREE. Yes, he understood that he was playing a game.

I allowed my son to download several FREE games from Pocket Gems, including Pet Hotel, Tap Zoo Santa, and regular Tap Zoo. Apparently, my password was entered one time, just to download these FREE apps, and he didn't know this, but went on to purchase over $2300 in things like Trunks of Coins, Satchels of Treats, etc. You name it, he clicked on it. He played this along side a neighbor friend who tried it and a cousin -- so I really don't know who did the buying -- either someone figured out my password (which I will bet happened), or they were able to easily click one time after I used my password on the Itunes store to download a song.

No one is giving refunds, and no one seems to care that this is happening -- Apple, of course, said that if my password was compromised, I had to report that to my credit card company and it was up to them to resolve it. They blocked my apple ID, which I understand.

AFTER THE FACT, I'm getting all the great advice from them how to block in-app purchases.

I've heard some people say that I should have been "smarter". Why would I even suspect something like this would happen? I've not had this happen before -- my consistent ITunes Store bills and purchases rarely total more than $10 to $20 per month. Why would I go and think that there are items available at $49.99 and above within a child's game? I guess I actually have never been fleeced like this before -- in 45 years.

1- What in the world is an app that has Santa (usually those who believe in Santa are ages 5 - 10 years, tops) in it doing charging $99.99 and $49.99 and so on to purchase more "goodies"?

2- Why didn't I get a warning or notice that this app has things for sale to my kids for $99? There was nothing to indicate this at the time the app was purchased for FREE!

3- Why didn't my IPhone come with factory settings that disallowed in-app purchases? Where I have to remove it to allow for in-app purchases! Why would I even look at this setting when (I'm not that SAVVY of a user) I had no idea my son could by virtual coins for a price that could have bought me a copy of Adobe Illustrator? Or a new IPad?

4- It is so much harder for someone to go out in a real (physical) store or an on-line virtual store and make a purchase -- there are pages of inputting your address, your name, and finally asking you if you are SURE you want to order? My bank even asks me a personal question when I log-in to make sure it's me that's really behind the password!

It was way too easy for this to happen to me -- way too easy.

It's Pocket Gems that should be ashamed of themselves for preying on young kids and hurting families like ours. Since when do we have to use devices defensively that are meant for fun and leisure? This is ridiculous! I'm wiser now, and have put the various restrictions on my devices, but I wish there was some warning out there initially -- there is something very wrong with this company and their predatory marketing.

I got the charges cancelled by Itunes. Apparently they will do it once.

bumpybutfun wrote:

This is ridiculous! I'm wiser now, and have put the various restrictions on my devices, but I wish there was some warning out there initially

Like the first three lines of the description for each App?

From the App Store:

Santa's Quest:

Description

Can you and Santa build a winter wonderland in time for Christmas?

PLEASE NOTE: This game lets you purchase items within the game for real money. Please disable in-app-purchases on your device if you do not want this feature to be accessible.

Pet Hotel:

Description

Can you grow your small kennel into a world-class pet hotel getaway?

PLEASE NOTE: This game allows you to purchase items in the game for real money. Please disable in-app-purchases on your device if you don’t want this feature to be accessible.

Tap Zoo:

Description

Can you grow your island from a one animal zoo to a world-class safari park?

PLEASE NOTE: this game lets you purchase items within the game for real money. Please disable in-app-purchases on your device if you do not want this feature to be accessible.

Apple did tell me what to do to disable in-app purchases, but they said there would be NO refunds.