Inadvertent $1500 in app purchase Tap Zoo - warning!

A comedian . . .

For those who might find themselves in this same situation - and I foresee it happening again . . . I did get a resolution. I did not receive responses to my "report a problem" emails, but once I finally got a human being on the phone (give yourself plenty of time - it's no easy task), I explained the situation, and they were able to make an exception for these "unusual" charges. No judgments or recriminations from the customer service rep either, although he did make sure I knew how to disable this function 😉. Kudos for exceptional customer service - and not because I got a refund, but because the rep was polite, professional and attentive (he had me on hold for a long time and checked back regularly to make sure he hadn't lost me - and he apologized to me for the long wait)!

Glad you got it resolved. I keep a copy of my iPhone manual, AND my camera manual in iBooks on my iPhone. I do admit to having more trouble with the camera than the iPhone, possibly because I use it less.

The in app purchases are a legitimate issue. And I see people on this topic accusing others of leaving a child "unsupervised" while they play on thier ipod. True some settings should be restricted. But when games have a target marketing group (in this case children) then they should make it somewhat childproof. At very least, there should be an Apple password reentry to proceed with a purchase. This would fix the problem as children should not know this information.

This is a real problem. And I'm certain Apple has already prepared thier legal department for anything that comes thier way. It would take a class action lawsuit to get them to do anything. And they are certainly due for one. People have given this company too much power with too little demand for customer service and satisfaction. They have made themselves nearly untouchable by charging you to talk to them. Most people wont do it. Therefor, they get few official complaints.

Dont give up those of you who have lost money no this. Contact an attorney. Sometimes a letter from one is all it takes. But they can also find out if a class action is justified. Keep track of any and all expenses incurred in getting your refund. And good luck to you all.

This thread won't lie down.....

I'll just point out, again, that a parent only has to bother to read the first line or two in the app store description, and take the suggested preventative action, and no harm will be done.

Then why do they have games for kids???? That's stupid to assume layman people know how to use controls and settings. It's just to easy to purchase stuff and it needs to change. It is fraud!! A free game and then you have to buy cash or gems to play.

So you're going to use an iPhone and have absolutely no clue how it works? You're not going to read the manual and attempt to figure out how to restrict purchases? That's ridiculous. Part of having an iPhone is knowing how it works. If you're not savvy enough to figure it out, don't get an iPhone. That's what's wrong with our society today, people don't take responsibility for themselves. (And by using "you're" in this posting, I am not referring specifically to you, brady. I'm referring to anyone who doesn't take the time to figure out how to use the phone.)

I own an iPod touch, not an iPhone. It is an entertainment device my son can use also. If I see a kids game he might like I will just download it for him and let him play it while glancing over every once in awhile to see what he's doing. It's deceiving to allow in app purchases which are obviously targeted specifically at children who are unaware they are spending real money. It's like selecting a kids tv show to watch and having in the disclaimer that there is **** at random intervals within the show. The name and general nature of the games are deceiving to parents as something they don't have to worry about. If you can't see that then you need to take a step back and think about the number of people it's happened to unintentionally, the percentage of people who would actually purchase virtual items at the prices set for the game in question, and the opportunistic mentality behind developing a game in this manner.

No, not really. It's like letting your child on your computer after you've signed into PayPal and Ebay and left the web browser open, then blaming Microsoft because your kid bid on a bunch of stuff. Would you also blame Coach or Parada if your son got into your purse and took your credit cards and used them?

Regardless, iOS 5 allows you to require the password immediatley after using it to purchase something, so you can finally stop complaining you don't have time to teach your kids about money. Although as soon as that happens I'm sure you'll start complaining that it asks you for your password after every purchase.

You're missing the point about it being deceiving. I wouldn't KNOWINGLY let my 4 year old on my computer with knowledge that he could easily make purchases with a couple clicks not needing authorization. Also, I do monitor what he's doing and would notice him stray away from what he was allowed to do. Him being in the game I allowed him to play wouldn't raise any suspicion that he was making purchases as the menus look alike and the same music/sound effects are universal throughout. Any reasonable person would not think that loging in to get free game would allow full access to your bank account for 15 minutes without prompting for verification within a different app. Your purse anology doesn't fit the scenario either.. as it involves them directly taking your money. Maybe if the credit cards were disguised as a "cans of stars" with cute zoo animals being all over the purse that would have had to give him, and he was somehow able to manage to find someone would take a card from a 4 year old to buy something, or he was somehow able to complete the purchase process at a self check out.

Tap Zoo seems to be designed to fool people, Apple force restrictions on everything, why not tell the makers of tap zoo to change the way the in app purchase work, do Apple get a percentage of the purchaces.

You can argue all day with the fanboys, but you wont get anywhere because they are that far up the A**e of apple they dont see the light.

I have read through this entire thread and I find comments like these completely baseless. If you invested all of your money with a Financial firm that ended up being a Ponzi scheme how would you feel? The fact is that this issue is receiving the attention it does from the lawmakers because of its "prey on consumers" nature. The fact that your account remains "unlocked" for 15 mins after you put in a password is just absurd. Ok, so they may have disabled that unlock timeout on the newer versions of the iOS, but for all the devices out there that still keep the account unlocked, it still remains a problem.

I just ran into this issue myself not because of something that was purchased, but rather because I "unlocked" my I-Phone to do an update. AN UPDATE!! Then while I was waiting for my update to finish, I let my daughter play on the phone. During that 15 min window, she managed to purchase 70 dollars worth of stuff in an in-game application. The applications are built to reference pay options as soon as the app loads (for example the free games that show the "remove ads" slogan right away). This is by DESIGN!! And for people to come on here and blame the parents for not knowing what their kids are doing is just plain BOGUS. I knew my daughter was playing the game she was. But I in no way knew that purchases to my account could be made without properly authenticating. I don't go to the store and buy groceries, leave, and then expect my card to be accessible to everybody else who came behind me for 15 mins.

Apple knows about this. The app developers know about this. All of this was done by design, just like someone doing a Ponzi scheme. It is crooked any way you slice it. Its deceiving and downright wrong. There is no other explanation for allowing a 15 min "unlock" to your account. Its got nothing to do with making it easier for the end-user. You don't get prompted for the password anyways unless you are doing a purchase or downloading, or accessing your account information. If end-users are complaining about that, then that is just plain lazy.

I typically don't post to any threads but i find it necessary in this case. All the people that have posted that we parents are irresponsible are ignorant. How could itunes turn a blind eye to allow such charges on a childs app. I could possibly see maybe a .25 cents charge for a "truck load of coins" but $99.99 is a scam that is not justified by reading the app before purchasing a free app. It is possible that we as parents note there is a charge but seriously $99.99. The folks that believe we are at fault have issues. A free app should be just that FREE and no outragious charges for virtual play. These are children that they are purposely trying to take advantage of. I do believe that a class action suit would take care of the issue quite quickly because itunes would certainly change their tune. To place the blame on the parents is completely irresponsible. Maybe you folks who think that a $99.99 charge on a childs app is legitimate need to consider the phrase "like taking candy from a baby". How can a free child's app charge you $99.99 for virtual play? THAT IS UNCONSIONABLE!!

I don't bother with these threads usually either, but I am going to with this one. Apple's little shills on here be da*****.

I have been using Apple products since before most of these "your a bad parent" types were probably alive. I can and have programmed Unix mainframes. I know my way around Apples products and was an official beta tester of both versions of Apple OS X. This app is heinous and so is Apple's way of dealing with TinyCo and the rest of those that prey on children. In legal parlance, this is what is known as a classic bate and switch routine. I downloaded this app with my 7 yr old onto an iPad and later iPhone. I played it with him for a while and know how the game works--it does not ask for real money immediately, it only does so as the child progresses. The iPad came with IOS 4.3 installed on it--so it should have not allowed in app purchases regardless of security settings w/o a password. My 7 yr old does not know the password. No purchases had been made via iTunes on the iPad in the previous three weeks--this is bourne out by my receipts and history. The only iTunes purchases that were made from a Mac for three songs in the preceding month. The only other thing that happened was the app was updated on 9/30/2011. Tiny Zoo changed itself. It allowed my son to run up over $600.00 in one session, the next day, he did it again for more than $1,380.00 total buying truckloads of acorns and such at $99.99/truckload. Unlike all other Internet sellers, Apple does not send a prompt email confirming the purchase to the card/account holder. Every other Internet seller in existence sends an email instantly upon completion of the transaction--but not Apple. This is deliberate in my opinion. The delay does not allow you time to head off possible problems. By the time the first emails arrived confirming the transaction, the damage was already done.

I have consulted with my attorney and he assures me this will not pass muster in the state of Minnesota. I have spent four hours on the phone with Apple without satisfactory result. Consequently, I will be filing suit against them in court for all of the charges, plus attorney and legal filing fees--plus my time plus damages.

For all you Apple smart a**** telling people how to parent better, understand that it does not matter what warnings are placed on what page of whatever manual. This app is clearly targeted at a child, Apple states that it 'proofs" these apps and Apple makes 30% on every iTunes purchase. It has a vested interest in getting children to spend mommy and daddy's money. It is, therefore, quite complicit in this and given the number of complaints, it has decided that it is better off taking candy from baby's and fending off the occasional lawsuit then it is actually correcting this problem.

I repeat--no password was inputted at all in this game within weeks of this game stealing my money via a child. I have to input a password to download a free update or purchase a song, but my 7 year old was allowed to download $99.99 truckloads of make believe acorns without one. That is an obvious scam and no one is going to believe otherwise--unless they have been drinking Jobs kool aid.

RobertinMn,

I couldn't agree more with what you said. Don't worry, Apple will refund all your Tap Zoo proven purchases, i.e. all the purchases that went through iTunes, as they have done with all those that bothered complaining and insist.

I had to exchange some 4 or 5 emails with the itunes support team, but they ultimately gave in and reimbursed me in full, without explicitly admitting any wrond on their side

I still find disturbing thst after soo many months that I discovered this scam, Apple hasn't done anything to prevent other parents from falling into this and, more importantly, other children from feeliing cheated when they discover what they inadvertely did. Come on Apple, just like your customer service is always on top of clients requests, put this straight and move on!

Giovanni

giovanni perche'no wrote:

I still find disturbing thst after soo many months that I discovered this scam, Apple hasn't done anything to prevent other parents from falling into this

The second line of the description in the App Store (check it out) is:

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

You cannot argue the clarity of that. You are told straight away of the potential problem, and are told how to prevent it. Beyond sending someone around to read it aloud to you, what more can Apple do?