Inadvertent $1500 in app purchase Tap Zoo - warning!

I set up an account for my mother over 4 years ago with an iTunes Gift Card without trouble and I'm quite sure you could do it before then. You can even set up one with no billing method.

I'm glad you finally discovered how to turn off in-app purhcases, reading the manual would have shown you this some time ago and I certainly would have done so prior to giving a 12 year old full access with it. And do you have your credit card set in accounts for retail on your computer?

And the game once again has a bunch of reviews and is highly rated just like Tap Zoo. I've said before that I looked at the various apps in this ilk and found them overpriced and did not put them on my iPad. I did this following looking at the app and reading the reviews. There is no "fault" here by the publisher, Apple or anyone and the customer still bears some responsibility.

Now you know to stay away from these. And to go even further you could download games and play them yourself before handing them to your child. If they are like this one and you don't want them on there just delete the app from the iPad and your computer and restrict the iPad from your iCloud.

deggie - I agree that a customer bares some responcilbity in these situations. I disagree with your absolution of the vendors. You are clearly a much better parent than I am and I will undoubtably benefit from your condescension.

Well, people shouldn't gripe when their kids rack up a bill, then.

Edit: I was actually looking at the wrong page of the thread when I posted this, so I posted it in error. I still say, though, that it's simple. Read the manual, adjust the settings, and then you won't have to worry about a kid racking up a bill. It's simple, really.

Well Deggie, and others like him, I probably have been using Apple products longer than most of you have been alive--1979. Besides my seven year old, I have a 23 year old, former two time state HS wrestling champion (ranked 17th in the nation after only 6 years at the sport), collegiate wrestler majoring in Psychology. A 20 year old Ivy League daughter majoring in biology who secured a coveted PAID internship with one of America's five female neuroscientists as a sophomore--usually reserved for juniors/seniors only, who is headed for Johns-Hopkins for an MD. Oh, and the seven year old is a year ahead in school at a highly prestigious private prep school. I think anyone would say those children have been well parented.

No one told the child the password, no one inputed the password. Apple makes a 30% profit from the sales of these apps and associated purchases. Apple justifies the closed environment because they do due diligence on these apps. There is a class action lawsuit filed over these apps and Apple and TinyCo will lose--it is deliberately predatory. Whats more is, is that Apple waits 24 hours to send an email confirmation of the transaction--no one else waits that long. There is no excuse for that and anyone who makes an excuse for that is simply an Apple cultist whose opinion is worthless.

Wrong--Apple has a closed environment who stated purpose is to protect their customers from malware. Apple makes 30% from Itunes store purchases. Any app that is made for children and behaves this way is malware.

The thing is .... I am an Apple Fan. I have bought 4 Ipods, an Iphone and a Macbook in the last two years. I frequently tell my friends they should consider a Mac over a windows based system. That said ... this situation with iTunes disappoints me. These games are marketed to kids. For TV advertisers there are strict rules around marketing to children and what you can and cannot do. Other games my Kids (they prefer to be called Kids over Children) play online restrict the number of purchases that can be made in a 24 hour period ... usually to one ... and their purchase options never exceed 25-30 dollars and I get invoiced immediately. They do this specifically to avoid situations like this ... to protect kids and families.

I like Apple. I find the products are very user friendly and intuitive and security is great, but these Apps purchased through iTunes don't meet that standard.

If a (free) game is marketed to kids it should be kid friendly.

I was born long before that date.

As I've clearly said I don't care for the app, it is too rich for my blood. But the app is certainly not malware, it complies with Apples rules for being allowed in the App Store and no one is being forced to buy it and hand it to their children. I review all of the children's apps that go on my iPad. All of them. I also would not hand them a DVD of a movie I had not reviewed. It would not take long after installing that game to determine it is expensive.

My only point through all of this has been it is the parent/guardian's responsibility to restrict the iDevice before handing it to a child and walking away. It isn't the developer, who wants to make money (as well as all other developers that have in-app purchases in their software) and it isn't Apple.

Apple doe not make a 30% "profit" on sales. Apple does charge 30% of the cost of the app as their share to keep the app store operating, handle the financial transactions, etc. If Apple wants to rewrite the rules and put a limit on how much a developer is allowed to charge for in-app purchases then the Tap developers could either reduce the prices or pull their apps. But I doubt Apple wants to do this. If Apple wants to change their rules and say in-app purchases are no longer allowed they can do so and remove all applications, including the iTunes Store, iBookstore, etc. that allow in-app purchases. I doubt either is going to happen unless there is some lawsuit out there and a liberal judge decides to rule in their favor. I certainly hope not.

And it is not unusual for a receipt to take more than 24 hours.

Yes, a perfectly normal addition to the thread by you.

If it makes you feel better I've had discussions on personal responsibility issues like this that do not involve Apple and have the same stance and opinions. What part of my arguments are "ignorant"?

It is not my job, not the Tap developers, nor Apple to raise other people's children. I feel the same way about movies, TV shows, music, etc.

That is you being defensive again, I did not mention your name. As I have said in a previous post this happened to a friend of mine, its not nice, its blatant daylight robbery by the app maker which is allowed to go on by Apple.

Have any of you defending these Apps ever played them? they are that misleading that you could buy something without even realising you have done so.

And @ Stevejobsfan0123 your name says it all!

seems to me much discussion for little progress :(

i can understand the angst over the cost, but what has happened is not illigal as it stands. i would say imoral in that it is named as a childs program, it is alsi dowloaded for 'free', then who ever s hit with additional cost's at astonishing prices.

i do feel that makes it wrong, any app having such an abibilty imho should have more safe guards put in place, but then phone companies have done this for years, offering attractive tarrifs but God help you if your not savvy and use it abroad.

microsoft 'live' is not inocent in this, they often offer an introductory 'gold' weekend for £1, but then see fit to roll onto a £6 monthly deduction to contunue gold memnership - which is the most expensive tarrif they have.

no warning this will happen is not shouted in bold type, and in practice a way to harvest credit card details to make these charges as they see fit, having got the initial fee that they claim entittles them ti do so, although the punter was only intending/wanting to spend £1.

to me this tactic of charging extornate prices is being taken to a new more sinster level, what is to stop the vendors who arevtrading within the blue chip highly trusted name of Apple via iTunes from charging £1000 for their DLC?

the above unfortunately won't help the O/P, but i hope serves to make more people aware of what is the legal, if not moral phishing scams.

peraps gamers should unit to push their goverments to legislation to stop this blatent abuse

Nah, I knew who you were labeling and so do you.

It is not robbery, blatant or otherwise. Don't want to pay that much money, don't use that app. And yes, as I've said I looked at the original Tap Zoo, said it was too expensive for me and any kid using my iDevices, and didn't buy it. I know others who have it for their kids and they love it, but they do control the in-app purchases to avoid large bills. It is not my place nor yours to decide how much they should charge for the various tokens in the game.

well it is a game aimed at children, so in app purchases limited to £10 per week would be fine. everything you do in the game requires stars and lots of them, there is no way to earn them in the game, the only way is to buy, but at extortionate prices £10 - £70

And your Psychic powers must be failing, because I wasnt refering to you at all 😝

sois it a case of the foolish beware?

there is a very funny advert if a couple checking out of a hotel, they are asked questions about the view, the bed to each reply of yes the bill is increased, finally he is asked 'did you want a paper clip?' to which he falteringly says No!

if society is be seen to be fair, the populous should be assured a certain level of dececy is the default setting, so restraint and honesty has to be exercised by the organisations who are granted free access to clients funds, not a barage if gliblyworded t&c's.

if you concider many elderly do not trust banks, and that was before this recession caused by them to ave very good reason, if not forth comming then all such transactios including good ones, will be widely mistrusted (as example time share selling is now), and i suggest to a point of damaging manyvcountries economies severely if it is allowed to continue unabaited.

so legal trading yes, in good spirit NO!

you should set this yourself as the account holder, default maximum pw i'd suggest £20, after that it's password required to accept.

i know many will screen 'nanny state', but it is not it is morals state.

There was nothing about that when the app was downloaded onto the iPhone and no warning when iTunes passed it on to the iPad.

Apple will lose the class action lawsuit--they have already admitted guilt in various ways. IOS 4.3 was supposed to address this issue--it didn't. IOS 5 has fixed it--AFAIK. In some respects, this is no different than some other things Apple has pulled in the past with G5 warranties, etc.

Give it up. Pull your heads out of your Macs and get some fresh air and sunshine.