Smurfs app

Somebody is clearly not rational in this exchange and a bit of a drama queen. And the safety standards only say they have to have wipers, not that they have to work like everyone elses.

If you read the Tap Zoo thread you will also read there about similar purchases, threats of lawsuits, etc. They just didn't make Fox news. And I've yet to have anyone rationally explain what would be the basis of the lawsuit.

You could just go through all the Settings on the iPhone and find Restrictions. Doesn't even require going through the manual. Or post here as many have done prior to handing it to a child.

My 7 year old son inadvertantly racked up a massive bill on this nasty little app (yes, he knew my password and he said he only entered it once. Sometimes you have to do this for free aps so its a normal thing to do. Little did I know the extent of his spending spree over a period of 30 minutes!

I didn't know anything about this until the next day when 4 invoices arrived in my mailbox , each referencing the "Smurf Village" application, and totaling £190.29! Surely this must be a mistake? How can a single game charge this amount. What's he been buying?! Surely credits (smurfberries?) in the game cant total that much?

I tried to dispute the charges via the iTunes application itself (click on the dispute charge button). That doesnt work because its an "in-app" purchase. I clicked the button, nothing happened... No pop up to tell me I could use the dispute button.

So what now? Some research on Google revealed that a refund on an In-App purchase normally requires you to contact the software company, which in this case is Beeline Interactive (formerly Capcom Mobile).

So I found there website... US postal address only. No phone number (what a surprise). A page said I needed to contact iTunes should I have a query about billing.

Finally.... After 30 minutes trawling the Apple support site I found an area where I could ask support a question. There were various pre-canned questions I could choose from. Not suprisingaly there wasn't one about requesting a refund on an iTunes purchase however, after selecting "my question isn't here" I finally had the opportunity to ask my question in free-form text, requesting a refund alongside the associated invoice number.

Within 24 hours Apple\iTunes had refunded me the lot, with a warning should it happen next time a refund might not be as easily forthcoming (thank you Apple. Not)

I've since turned off the "in-app purchase" option on my sons iPod touch (why is this on by default??!) and changed my iTunes password.

It was a real pain requesting a refund. I'm a software engineer so I'm familiar with computers. Someone less savvy is likely to have a real problem.

I suppose some people will give up. Which is, after all, what the software company and iTunes (who take a cut from the sale) want. Searching google found hundreds of news articles and complaints about this app. Beeline Interactive are making $millions out of this "free" app.

Hey there,

As you can see... I went through this last week.

I was able to get some assistance when I contact Apple through this webpage:

http://www.apple.com/ca/support/mac/app-store/contact.html?form=account&topic=Ma cAppStoreAccountandBilling

I explained to them my issue and they refunded the cost as a one time exception.

I also have been hating BeeLine entertainment on twitter and sent them nasty customer service feedback. The customer service rep at Apple asked me to follow up with a feedback form and give the details about what happen. They use this information to govern renewals for vendors like BeeLine and other things when considering AppStore and how customers use/experience.

Good luck- hopefully they refund you as well.

Jenn

Sorry! I just re-read your input on my thread... Apple did give you a refund. I read though it rather quickly.

Anyways... I have adjusted all my settings and basically taken the iPad away from my kid- well at least until the pain from seeing my credit card bill subsides haha.

Thanks for your info! I continue to burn BeeLine amongst all the parents and industry executives I know. I am also making them pay via facebook and twitter. I have found a lot folks are in the same boat and hate them for the same reason!

My child accidentally purchased $70 worth of berries or something from this application itunes, I trust my child to not order things and he knows the rules, he was unaware he was ordering. My fault.. partly.

As a result, apple.. because you REFUSE to deal with this app's problem, I am taking my credit card off the itunes website.. so YOU are the one who is going to lose money from burnt customers in the long run.

think about that.

laurenart wrote:

As a result, apple.. because you REFUSE to deal with this app's problem, I am taking my credit card off the itunes website.. so YOU are the one who is going to lose money from burnt customers in the long run.

think about that.

You are not talking to Apple here. This is a user-to-user forum. Submit your feedback directly to Apple using the appropriate link on the Feedback page:

http://www.apple.com/feedback

And enable the restrictions that Apple has provided to prevent in app purchases.

Meg,

Do you really believe that Apple does not pay attention to anything in this forum? Really? I understand that it is a user to user forum but there will be Apple cores all over the place in here.

Trouble is that when you download one of the 'free' games like Smurfs it is deceitful and nasty when you design games for young kids that has this kind of feature installed - whether they are using a gift card or a credit card or whatever card. I don't believe the target audience of Smurfs is a bunch of tech savvy twentysomethings.

Buyer beware because this crap has been going on for over a year and despite a couple of low level ways of addressing this shortcoming Apple chooses to allow vendors to continue to exploit default settings to fraudulently take money from users (ie. $99 for a barrel of Smurfberries - huh?!).

I get a kick out of the 'manual readers'. Might as well take advantage of kids to make money because the best way for them to learn about ethics is to introduce them to none.

Thanks Apple and Capcom - nicely done and Merry Christmas to you! And yes I will be sending the relevant e-mails and completing the relevant on-line forms. No need to reply.

Yes, she really does believe that and so do I. There are Apple moderators here and once in a while some Apple employees, but Apple executives do not come here. Apple engineers will also occassionally visit if there is an emerging technical problem (which is what this site is about) and you might even be contacted by them. But this is rare and they would have nothing to do with apps in the App Store.

I think that the visits of anyone from Apple other then moderators is so infrequent as to not be worthwhile talking about hence the reason I always recomment using the feedback page. The feedback seems to have a much high rate of being read by Apple then the forums here.

Allan

£420 for me. Anyone who defends Apple for charging this amount for a game aimed at children is either an Apple employee or has had a moral bypass. There was a time when Microsoft was as respected as Apple is now. They squandered the trust of their customers by overcharging for their 'not so good' products. Apple have now placed themselves in a similar position. Their products are expensive but excellent. I bought their products because I trusted them as a company. I believed their marketing because it reflected my experience with Apple. They had integrity. Since my children downloaded this game I have now lost this trust. A company that so shamelessly targets children to rip off their parents for as much money as possible before they notice has just become another money grabbing immoral company that views its customers purely in terms of maximising cash flow. If I do ever buy another Apple product (and I dont think I will) I will resent the thought that they are making a profit from me. If others begin to feel this way then Apple have lost something invaluable. Our trust.

There is a wider issue. How to respond? Apple is an international company with vast resources. How can we hold such a company to account. They do not respond to our enquiries other than with a bogus legal defence. We cannot vote them out. While its citizens are ripped off by practices which should be illegal, politicians are enfeebled. It leaves only one response: teach this bully a lesson - stop buying its products.

I wonder what Steve jobs would have thought of this? I think he would have 'got it'. I think he would have banged heads together. Whoever is in charge at Apple - try this: Imagine you are talking to a single parent on a low income who has lost hundreds of pounds/dollars on Smurfberries. Convince her that these charges are moral. Explain to her that even though she wont have enough money to buy food/pay the rent/heat her home her child is better off because they have virtual smurf houses. If you can do this - shame on you.

As a responsible parent, I am sure you would not give your children free rein with your Apple password to download any app they liked, and would at least read the description of an app they wanted to play with.

The first line of description of Smurf Village is as follows:

"PLEASE NOTE: Smurf's Village is free to play, but charges real money for additional in-app content. You may lock out the ability to purchase in-app content by adjusting your device's settings..."

The User Guide is available at http://support.apple.com/manuals/ or downloadable from iTunes as an iBook.

Dramatic much?

These apps were availabe in the app store when Mr. Jobs was alive. I'm sure he was involved in the change to the OS that allowed restricting inapp purchases.

The key phrase from your post: "Since my children downloaded this game..."

I have not had a moral bypass, I just still believe in personal responsibility.

Message was edited by: deggie

in some way this thread is almost as funny as the "why can't i get flash on my ipad".

i completely understand the frustration people have in loosing real world money. it has happened to me, not with this game but with a adhd child that felt like buying everything that struck their interest. is it apple's fault for making itunes purchases so easy? no. i as a parent should be aware of what my child is buying, but i also believe that a child needs to learn responsibility and accountability when they are of the right age. my child with adhd doesn't understand those concepts yet, so it their fault? no. it's mine, so i put a stop to it immediately, i removed my credit card number from itunes and solely use itunes gift cards. when the money is gone it's gone. it works just as good as a credit card and in some way it allows me to limit what my family buys on itunes.

as to those who lost money, i'm sure apple will issue a refund. and in the future a thorough review of what one is actually purchasing isn't a bad practice to get use to.

Hi, at home we don't have Internet access so my children can't purchase things accidentally. If we hit wifi and they want to play a game I turn wifi off. I also have my account password restricted. I have also disabled purchase in-app content. We play smurfs all the time and have only been charged the one time I did purchase smurf berries, the kids don't know my password. This is on an iPad 2. My husband also has smurfs village on his android phone and has never purchased anything. You can play the game without purchasing anything and it does give you two warnings before you do, or if working properly, it should. Just make sure to password protect in app purchases, disable them, or turn wifi or 3G on a phone off and your son should be able to play without racking up a big bill. Hope this helps:)