Inadvertent $1500 in app purchase Tap Zoo - warning!

I have also been scammed by this app.

It was a very similar scenario to the guys above.

My son (7 years old) downloaded this "FREE" game and quickly created a $400 invoice!

Because my iPhone still had the DEFAULT option of no restrictions, in-app purchases were allowed, further more, in the first fifteen minutes after download you don't have to enter your password for in-app purchases, THIS IS EVIL!

I believe that Apple is complicit, culpable and should be condemned for allowing this to continue.

Apple did refund my money, only because they clearly know how bad this is.

I have removed my credit card details from my iTunes account.

I will never buy another song, book or app from iTunes again!

This is the only way to get Apple to do something.

I cannot believe Apple would associate itself with something as sordid and low as this.

Tasman wrote:

I cannot believe Apple would associate itself with something as sordid and low as this.

I cannot believe that a parent would give a seven year old a smartphone with internet access, with neither supervision nor at least learning what parental controls are available.

Because my iPhone still had the DEFAULT option of no restrictions, in-app purchases were allowed

It's your phone, so it's your responsibility to change the default settings if they don't suit.

iPhone's are not sold to 7 year olds.

This is the only way to get Apple to do something.

Apple already "do something". They provide you with a User Guide and provide you with the option to turn off In-App Purchases in the phone.

My 4 year old managed spend 160 euro playing Tap Zoo. I immediately emailed Apple Customer support, we have had the money fully refunded. I have also disabled In App purchases on my iPhone so it cannot happen again. It's a very cheeky scam designed to rip people off taking advantage of the In App purchases which does not require a password to be re entered. Apple are aware of it which is why the In App purchases option comes enabled in the first place. It's unethical and they need to address it or they are going to lose customers.

Apple are aware of it which is why the In App purchases option comes enabled in the first place.

It comes enabled because iPhone's are only sold to adults, who Apple assumes are capable of reading a manual, and adjusting the provided settings in the phone to suit their personal requirements.

Parental restrictions are not set by default on TVs, DVD Players and other devices where such restrictions exist. If you want to enable them, you turn them on yourself.

If In-App purchases was disabled by default, Apple would be inconveniencing many more responsible adults instead of the few irresponsible ones who let their children play on an expensive gadget unsupervised.

You'd then get all the eternal whiners on here complaining about Apple setting the option ON by default. No matter what Apple do, people will always complain because they failed to read the manual.

And what if your child were to dial a 900 pay per minute type number? Would you also be blaming Apple that they allow the phone to make these types of calls?

Same happened to me. This is not right. I tried getting support from Itunes but I did not get a reply. I let my daughter download the application because it was FREE ....I entered my password, which I do not share with her to avoid fraud. But it seems that for some reason Itunes lets you make purchases 15 minutes or so after you have entered your password. So this is how they do it. Show a game with Santa as an the Icon, fool the parents by letting the kids go in and then take advantage of the 15 minutes to sell junk for hundreds of dollars. Its a fraud according to me but how does anyone explain that Itunes with all their regulations to protect the artists, their own softwares etc. can let people take advantage of clients like this? I used to love downloading songs and Applications and I felt I was doing the right thing by purchasing my music through Itunes. Now I removed many apps from my Iphone, I dont intent to purchase any in the future, my daughter will have to stay away from my phone, I will tell all my friends about this scam and the danger of using Itunes and finally I have removed my credit card info from their site. How will this fraud be a benefit to them? I dont understand what is happeneing with todays businesses., Is it really CASH CASH CASH and the **** with the rest? Anyway BEWARE and stay away from the applications or keep you eyes open, they are out to get your money even if it means using the kids to do so.

In *Tap Zoo xmas* you can now make purchases of 99$ in one simple click.
So, it does not take long to reach 1000$. Also, how do you explain that Itunes requires that I enter my password to download a free application (free?) and then not ask the same password for hundred dollars purchases? I know they can find many arguments to hide whats going on but it is still a shame.

I assume this is "Tap Zoo: Christmas" where the third line of the description of the app in iTunes reads

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

So where exactly do you see this as fraud???

I agree with you but how can Apple I tunes allow this to happen?

I am not a lawyer so you may be right about the fact that it should not be called a fraud. You may be an employee of this company so I dont want to get into legal issues here.
You seem to think that it is fair to show an application for FREE with Santa s image and to ask for a password to download it but allow afterwards to purchase expensive items to play the game without having to give the password.

Thats how people take advantage of clients today. They have all the arguments to show it is legal so it makes things right.

If an application with Santa s face is advertised as FREE it should be FREE with no twist or warning in the text to say "this could cost you a fortune" because chances are the ones who will use it will be children.

And if kids should stay away from these devises, Itunes should not offer kids stuff in Apps Store.

And yes there are many legal reasons why Tap Zoo like applications will continue to exist. but it does make it right.

And again legally you are right in saying it is not a fraud. I wont fight this with a laywer so let me say then that I dont find it ethical for Itunes to let these things happen.

I am not neither a lawyer nor an employee of Apple. Just an ordinary person who would read the description of an app as far as the third line if I were going to let my children play with them (if they were not all around forty years old).

The application is completely free, and may be played for no additional cost. It also (read it) warns that parental responsibility is required, and tells you how (at least in this case) to achieve this.

Rant as much as you like. Apple is not responsible for the parenting of your children. You are.

Just learned the hard way that iTunes password isn't enough, that there is a setting for "in-app" purchases that defaults to "on"! (To turn it off, Settings/General/Restrictions/create pass code/Enable Restrictions/In-app Purchases/"OFF")

I discovered this morning that my 8 year old daughter unknowingly purchased a $99.99 “Trunk of Coins” in the stupid "Free" 'Tap Zoo' app on her iTouch.

I feel Apple has allowed rip off artists to take advantage of their system to the severe detriment of Apples reputation and the trust customers have in them.

Right now I feel like bringing my families two iTouches, three iPods, and iPad to the apple store, snapping them into pieces and leaving them there on the counter.

I am going to call customer support right now and if they don’t resolve this they will have lost a customer for life. I’ll write again with the results.

34 mintes and 37 seconds later, 95% of which on hold, and I'm told that the amount will be refunded in full and that I should see it within 3-5 days.

Didn't have a confirmation number for me, just a case number. The rep was fine, very helpful and polite, did the best he could with the system they have. Nearly all of the hold time was him waiting for iTunes support to respond to him.

So here I am having to hassle with it further, I have to check to make sure the refund comes through some time next week. If it doesn't, I get to have more of my time evaporated.

Lame Apple, extremely lame! I want my time back. Allowing crap applications to do this is badly damaging your reputation. Believe me, all of my friends will know about this crap. Next stop - facebook and twitter.

Just learned the hard way

It's all covered in the User Guide... of course, being a responsible parent, you would've read the User Guide, and made any required Settings changes to suit your parenting before giving an 8 year old child an internet enabled device with online purchasing facility?

In-App Purchases are a legitimate way for third party developers to provide extra features, add-ons etc. for games and other Apps and receive some income for their development work. It may surprise you to learn that software developers, just like you and I, need to make a living and charging for products is how they do it.

Offering a free (usually feature limited) version of their game allows you to try it out *at no charge*. If you like the game, and wish to get extra levels or enhance it in some way, you can make these optional in-app purchases. Or you can just continue to play the free version, still at no cost.

Obviously, as a parent, you do need to spend a few minutes evaluating the suitability of things you give to your child. That's where the Product Descriptions and Reviews in the AppStore come in. Also, like many parents do with kids movies, you can assess the suitability by viewing it yourself before letting your child see it.