gift vouchers for another country

Question

Level 1

52 points

gift vouchers for another country

I bought an iTunes gift voucher for my grandson, who lives abroad, only to find that it can only be redeemed in the country it was bought in.

How can I give him a credit on his iTunes account as a present? On his account there is no option for redeeming vouchers or putting in credit.

Toshiba Satellite, Windows Vista

Posted on Oct 7, 2010 2:09 PM

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Answer 1

varjak paw

Level 10

170,206 points

Oct 7, 2010 2:28 PM in response to Joy R

Gift vouchers, as you have discovered, can indeed only be redeemed in the country of purchase. If your grandson lives in another European country, though, and that country has an iTunes Store that sells prepaid iTunes cards, you should b able to through the online Apple Store and have the card sent to him. See:

http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/campaigns/cross_border?mco=MTM3ODM3MDY

All iTunes Store accounts should have the ability to redeem a prepaid card unless your grandson lives in a country without iTunes prepaid cards nor gifts.

Regards.

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Answer 2

Oct 13, 2010 2:30 PM in response to Joy R

The option you mention appears to relate only to Europe. Is there any way that I, holding a UK account, can make a gift to a relative in New Zealand?

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Answer 3

varjak paw

Level 10

170,206 points

Oct 13, 2010 3:00 PM in response to grantliddell

Sorry but no, there isn't, unless you can find a retailer in New Zealand that sells iTunes cards that would allow you to order from the UK with your presumably UK-issued credit card.

Regards.

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Answer 4

Luxo_Pip

Level 1

0 points

Jan 8, 2011 9:51 AM in response to Joy R

Hi,

It seems not to be possible in Europe either. My son bought me a voucher in the UK and I cannot redeem it in Luxembourg. This is most frustrating. I bought the 16gb Nano last week. Headphones faulty, cannot put photos on it (more visits to forum). Any ideas on how this voucher can be used?

Pleas

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Answer 5

varjak paw

Level 10

170,206 points

Jan 10, 2011 10:04 AM in response to Luxo_Pip

Vouchers issued in a given country can only be used in that country. E.g. a UK gift can be redeemed only in the UK iTunes store. So there's no way you can use that voucher. You'll need to return it to your son so he, or someone he knows, can use it there. The only way to give a gift across country borders is the possibility I mentioned above.

Regards.

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Answer 6

Mar 17, 2011 2:22 AM in response to Joy R

I have to say it is just plain ridiculous.

One would have thought that a code for a product available in the country of the person who wants to redeem a code would work, but no ...

Also how come this restriction is not stated in red and bold letters when you purchase a gift for someone ?

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Answer 7

varjak paw

Level 10

170,206 points

Mar 17, 2011 8:38 AM in response to thomas.mery

I guess Apple figures that you'll actually read the information they post. Each "gift" page states clearly in a separate paragraph, that "gifts can only be redeemed in the store country from which they were originated". If people miss that, putting it in bold red letters probably won't make much different (there are huge red letters at the top of the Discussions Feedback forum and close to 50% of the people who post there miss or ignore those completely).

Anyway, if you want to comment to Apple, you can use their feedback pages:

http://www.apple.com/feedback

Ranting here doesn't do any good, since none of us here can change things.

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Answer 8

Mar 17, 2011 5:14 PM in response to thomas.mery

You can't do this for gift cards for bricks and mortar stores why do you expect it to work for an online store? Each country has it's own rules and currency. What are you meant to do with a 30 pound sterling gift card in New Zealand?

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Answer 9

Mar 4, 2013 1:34 AM in response to Matthew Smith

I'll tell you what you can do Genius. You may want to send a album as gift to a friend that lives in another country. If the purchase is anyways inside iTunes, and since the other iTunes store ALSO has the same album on the same platform for an equivalent price, I don't see a good reason why this shouldn't work. Why would I expect it to work for an online store? BECAUSE ITS AN ONLINE STORE, that's why! Because the products you sell are DIGITAL, meaning they can be sent via something called THE INTERNET. Why would Apple assume I wouldn't want to do that? Apparently customers expect it, since its not the first time I read about it.

I totally agree with thomas: THIS IS PLAIN RIDICULOUS.

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Answer 10

Mar 14, 2013 2:27 PM in response to twelveinches

While it may appear "Plain Ridiculous" let me point something out to you.

I see your profile has only been registered since the Third May 2013, so you may not be aware but technically....

noone purchases music (single or albums) from itunes... the way it works is the the money you hand over buys you a licence to listen to the music (called digital rights management). At no time does the album/song become your property... casing point to this is the actor Bruce Willis who has famous spent a very large amount of money on a music collection through itunes, and had his will changed to leave it to his daughter(s), but legally he cannot do that.

Every country has different "broadcast" and music licencing laws, so while there maybe an album in two different geographical countries' itunes store, the rules behind how they can deal with the music are different.

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Answer 11

Mar 20, 2013 8:47 AM in response to Luxo_Pip

Good Morning Luxo. If I may say that we both have common interest. I love European music. We can can futher discuss our musical taste elsewhere. You can better get ahold of me at Gotmilk2900 at yahoo.com. And believe it will be worth your while. Have a lovely day and I hope to hear from you soon. Take care.

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