I purchased the free "smurfs app" from Itunes. I then saw where I was charges $60 without my authorization for this app. Has this happened to anyone else? How do I get some help with resolving this fraudulent charge. It does not seem that the app company should be able to charge my bank account wit bout my approval. Any help would be appreciated!
Tamara, I am not shrieking from blame in this manner, and I've read your previous posts. Again, I sat there and watched it happen, dumbstruck. It was quicker than losing money in Vegas.
I have never seen my money leave that quick and easy. Perhaps I was persuaded that if a company cares enough to not allow **** apps into its store, they also would not allow a developer to prop a kid's app that can sucker punch hundreds of dollars out of your pocket within seconds. And I got tons of history with Capcom, so it is more disappointing in that respect. So, yes, I was there, I saw it happen, and I was even asking myself what happened for a half second.
The mere fact is that, yes, in-app purchases have been around, and honestly, I probably would be like you shaking my finger; however, this app appears to have raised the bar when it comes to accessing its store where you can drop hundreds of dollars. If it was $5, I'd suck it up and probably laugh about it. How is it right to charge $60 within a kids app by a mere click of a button? That's about half the cost of The Beatles box set, and $20 more than a law dictionary.
It appeals to kids and adults. Most adults with kids, and I'm not sure if you are one but I and the others who got robbed by smurfs are, are extremely conscientious with their expensive gadget. It seems that someone who designed this app was banking on your logic and hit a gold mine, knowing that people don't have everything on lockdown because they trust the content of the store to a fault, like me. As if they thought, hey, we can make a ton of money off in-app purchases by making a kids game where it is as easy as possible to drop hundreds of dollars, because their parents can't all get refunds. It's about trust.
The iPad was meant to share. How many ads have you seen where, just before a person hands off the iPad, they check their restrictions? Or maybe I'm just describing the next ad.
Actually, that's what I should set out to do, instead of discussing this. I'll create a game with puppies and kittens where every second say before you give your puppy a bath, cut it's hair, or whatever you want to do, you're asked if you will donate $60 to me. I might have to give back a fraction of the money, if that. Seriously, we need to take advantage of this now before all the other parents bone up on their manuals.
Reflecting on years of enjoying Capcom games, I honestly don't believe Capcom intended this to happen, but it does bring to light a feature in ios I've always found useful that can be easily exploited by less scrupulous developers, if they concoct the absurdity I've presented when they are designing their apps.
Again, the responsibility lies on the owner of the iPad to READ THE MANUAL. If you give it to someone else and leave things like in app purchases enabled then it is YOUR own fault when someone makes a purchase.
Just like you developers want to make money on their hard work and get a regular paycheck. In app purchases allow them to get steady revenue while developing new apps or enhancing existing apps.
My son just did the same thing and I am sitting next to him on the couch playing the game. The buy button popped up and he tapped it before I even had the chance to stop him. Does anyone have a number that I can call to see if I can get rid of the charges? Deleting app now.....
Not disputing in app purchasing, just that the default should be protected meaning that you knowingly opt in. Also virtual fruit base currency is never worth £35 a go in real money. What has happened to the developers sense of what these games ( and they are only games!) are worth. Anyone buying this knowingly out of their own money @ £35 a go has too much money and no concept of what is happening in the real world.
To others caught by his - just contact iTunes by mail and they will refund you since even they can see how deceitful and unreasonable this current set up is and refund without argument. (also because they don't have a legal leg to stand on, in the uk at least.
I do not dispute that developers of apps should be able to make money. But come on $60 for smurfberrys, a game that is geared towards children, and no authorization they can just access my bank account without my permission. I have learned a lesson here, I have disabled in app purchases in my settings, thanks for the tip. I also deleted the game. An obviously this is a problem since it seems to be happening to so many of us, it goes beyond reading a manual!
I have to agree, it is terrible how easy it is for funds, and we're not talking about 59cents to be taken so easily. My 6 year old must have done this when she was playing with my iphone and I have a bill for £38. It is strange that when I looked at the game it shows it costs $35 and no mention of charges in GBP. Since when did $35 = £35! I have complained and have now turned off the restriction mentioned here of purchasing in APP's. I never knew it existed!
YOU NEED TO DO ONLY ONE THING TO PREVENT THIS: go to accounts on either iPad or pc and MANUALLY DELETE THE CREDIT CARD NUMBER AND "THEN" select. None! In that order!!!! Then remember to press done! And done!
As for berries purchased. Did u BUY IT BY ACCIDENT OR DID U GET CHARGED FOR IT JUST FOR DOWNLOADING THE APP ITSELF? cuz they have berries for $59.99 and if u even tapped it just to try out the buttons if u didn't remove credit card info then a LOG IN to APPLE ITUNES IS ALL U NEED TO DO TO ACCIDENTALLY BUY BERRIES!
MY GOLDEN RULE IS ALWAYS REMOVE ALL ENTRIES OF CREDIT CARD INFO WHEN U ARE DONE! ITS MUCH BETTER TO ENTER IT IN EACH TIME U WANT TO BUY SOMETHING! REALLY!!!!
BUT YEAH THIS SMURF APP IS SNEAKY! I AM ABOUT TO GET MY CREDITS BACK FOR THE BERRIES BUT IT HAS TAKEN 6 days of 1 email to them a day and next day 1 email back from cap com! And mine was not accident but they are giving my $11.99 back! Contact them! They are considerate because they realize they messed up with the in app stuff!!!!!! Heard one mom whose kid racked up hundreds of $$$ in 1 hr!!!!!!!!
PEBBLES83--I was a victim of this strategy just a couple of days ago and after searching the internet, there seems to be plenty of other people who have had this happen. These "freemium" apps seem very shady and seems to me open up these developers and Apple/iTunes to potential litigation.
I'd be interested to know what the email address you used to get a hold of iTunes? I got the "we'll contact you within 24 hours" email over 24 hours ago and have yet to get any further correspondence.
