Q: Your Apple ID has been disabled!?

NOLA Girl--without giving details, can you tell me how you verified your identity to their satisfaction?   I called them today, i used the method where i went to my previous case number on the Apple website and typed in my phone number and got a call right back from Apple, a brief hold time, less than a minute, and then i got a live person.  i told him i was instructed by iTunes support email to talk to Account Security (just like i did last Monday) and he told me he was Account Security.  Then, he determined that i am not able to verify my identity for this Apple ID (i have two others that i was able to reset the passwords on when this lock out of so many acccounts by Apple occurred, but not this one, the one that  has most of my apps on it, which i now can't update because i have no password for this ID, and some of them no longer function because of not being updated).  The reason my  ID can't be verified seems to be because i created the ID so long ago that they weren't asking for enough information, they only have one security question on that Apple ID, i answered that one correctly (my pet's name) but because they require two and that is the only one they have on file, i can't verify that it's my Apple ID.  He had no solution for how to use the Apps that iTunes sold me and welcomed me to buy (which i have email receipts for). He said he knew it wasn't my fault, i hadn't done anything wrong, yet Apple had no way of verifying my identity--the only thing they would accept is the credit card number i used with that Apple ID, which (confusingly) was not the one i used when i bought those apps and i apparently don't have it anymore. I asked to speak to someone on a higher tier. He said that the was as high as i could go, he said there was no one higher to forward my call to.  He was apologetic for not being able to solve my problem but basically said several times that there appeared to be no way to re-enable that Apple ID.  he said that he had experienced one or more customers that were able to contact their bank and find out an old credit card number.  It seems like a needle in a haystack because i don't know what i'm looking for.  For example, i bought the app, Navigon Navigator in 8/09.  It cost $69.99 !!!!!   I now cannot update that app because it's linked to the unverifiable Apple ID.  On my email receipt, it says Billed to PayPal.  It shows the last 4 numbers of my checking account, NOT a credit card.  ???  i am too confused and ****** OFF that this is put back on me to fix when they caused the problem in the first place.  That Apple ID was fine until they locked it out and prevented me from having any way to re-enable it.  But i'm just a little person, i don't matter much from their perspective, they expect to lose some customers. And the guy said that i was not the only one who was experiencing similar issues.  !!!   He said he hoped Apple will figure out new ways of verifying accounts but if i didn't have two security answers (which i can't because they only have one in my records) or didn't have a particular credit card number that no one can tell me how to track down (like a time frame of when it was used  or what it was used for, what kind of transaction we're talking about, an amount, something), then that Apple ID is effectively dead.  How can they just cancel my ability to update $70 app?????  And the bad way i feel right now (near tears when talking with him, hearing him say i was wasting my time to be calling in about it) makes me want to give up. This is just wrong.

Jaw444,

I really understand your frustration.  I told the last person that I spoke with that I appreciated them being so nice but it got aggravating when I was really angry and they were so pleasant but still nothing fixed.  I think that I verified with a home address (don't know why and this may not be correct) and the first three/four numbers of the credit card that I used with the account.  I will say that one person I spoke with said they were with security and they were not able to help.  Finally a supervisor with iTunes support (I think) put me on hold for an hour and then I reached the person who could help.  I actually mentioned to her that people on this thread were volunteering to go to an Apple store to prove they were the owner of an id.  I don't think this would work.

On a different note, in the interim, I set up a new Apple id so I could get an ipad working. The set up only asked me to chose one security question instead of three.  I let the Support person who fixed my id know that this was taking place and she strongly suggested logging in and selecting 2 more questions.  She also let me to believe that this needed to be fixed.

Jaw444, I wish I could help more.  It unbelievable that this is taking place and I am amazed that more attention and press is not being paid to this problem.

i have had the exact same problem i just bought my phone yesterday and logged in and it wont let me download or update my apps i have reset my password five times already and i am very frustrated if anyone can help please let me know and the message that pops up is the "your Apple ID has been disabled"

You can't reset it yourself anymore.  You need to go to expresslane.apple.com.  They will send you an email.  You click on the link and they will call you back and ask you your security questions.  You need to answer 2 out of the 3 correctly for them to reset your account.

lets switch to samsung now.

coz apple don't care about anyone anymore

It keep saying your Apple ID has been disabled i reset it and change my password as well, but it still doesnt work what can i do please help me

After our credit card was compromised and we had to reverse a fraudulent iTunes charge, my husband's Apple ID was disabled.

The message he had on his iPhone, iPad and iTunes account was "Your Apple ID has been disabled." Nothing more. So he changed his password - that didn't help. But it was, I think, a necessary precaution.

We couldn't go through "Manage your Apple ID" or whatever it was that prompted my husband for answers to 3 security questions because neither of us had any idea how to answer two of the security questions he had set many years ago.

So, he went through Apple Express Lane https://expresslane.apple.com/GetproductgroupList.action

Because his warning message was "Your Apple ID has been disabled" he did everything he could as he worked through Express Lane to click "other" or "my problem is not listed" - for instance, the issue was with  iTunes Account but he did not  select ""Your Apple ID has been disabled for security reasons" as the problem because that wasn't the precise message he was getting.

Eventually, we  finally got the "describe your problem here" box, and he explained the credit card theft, reversed charge, and exactly what the message was that my husband is getting.

Within an hour, he had an email from Apple with a phone number for the iTunes Security Team support and we went on from there. The phone call was long because of the security question problem. But by confirming a number of other user-specific bits of information, it got all straightened out and everything's okay now.

Key things to remember - no matter how ****** off you are, no matter how frustrating it is, be nice, explain things fully, engage the support personnel and be patient. It works wonders. Express frustration by all means, but do it in an adult, matter-of-fact matter. Our daughter was an Apple Genius and worked at a busy Genius Bar for years, so we have an understanding of what it means to be in that line of customer support.

Good luck!

Message was edited by: PatsyKB51

Patsy--this sounds like my problem.  The last time i called Apple about it, i was told there was no way they could fix it because i didn't know the credit card number, or last 4 digits, of the card i used when i registered the ID, same as you, probably it was a card that was compromised, i don't even know because i set that  Apple ID up long before they even asked for credit card numbers or security questions.  I've had several calls to Apple about this. I have stopped calling because each of these calls takes probably about an  hour and a half and i don't have time to waste for nothing.  If there's no way to fix it, why lose all that time, i have many other things piled up and needing to be done, so little time when not at work.  I have never gotten angry at them, i realize the reps i'm talk to can't fix the problem, they seem to want to.  But i have more than half my apps on my iPhone registered with that ID (other apps registered on another ID) and i am unable to update them. Some of them cost money, including Navigon Navigator that cost $70.  This is really unfair of Apple, and very disappointing that the company would not make it a priority to solve a customer's problem that was not caused by the customer but by Apple who suddenly decided to disable my ID.  One of the security questions i got the right answer to, but that's not good enough for them, even though it's a  unique answer, not something simple like my middle name or anything like that. They are acting stupid about this, i don't mean the reps, i mean the company.  I have email receipts for all my apps. I was told i needed to contact my bank and get old statements or other documents from whenever i may have registered that ID.  I have no idea when it was or which bank it was.  This is ridiculous.  Your post gives me a little  hope because you had the same problem and you say they used other identifying information to straighten it out. They refused to do that with me, but it's been weeks since i called them.  They made it clear enough i'm not the only person with this problem (not knowing last 4 digits of cc number or answers to all three security questions) so hopefully they've been trying to come up with solutions that they didnt' ahve the last time i called. 

i would like to ask you whether you straightened this out talking to the tier one rep, or if you needed to go up the chain of command to a supervisor.  The last two times i called, i insisted on speaking to a supervisor but was told no person higher up was able to do anything different.  A waste of at least an hour and a half.  Very poor treatment by this company that i have loved for many years. This is unacceptable, that they would disable my ID and not give me a reasonable way of getting it reactivated. Again, i have not expressed anger at anyone, that wouldn't do me any good.  But i am angry.  thanks for listening.

jaw444 - i hate to admit it, but after we'd gotten the Apple ID support team number, I called regular tech support first, indicating that the problem was on one of our computers (which it was -  the message would pop up on that computer...when we tried to use iTunes Store); maybe I was lucky, but I got a sympathetic support guy who understood our problem and went to bat for us via in-house chat with the iTunes/Apple ID folks. Then he passed me on to them.

It's important to note that before we contacted Apple, we took these steps:

Changed the credit card payment information for the iTunes account

Changed the password for the iTunes account

Made sure the computers, iPad and iPhone all had updated password information

NOTE TO APPLE - if you didn't make it so freaking impossible to actually talk to a human being, it wouldn't be necessary for people to go through less-than-forthcoming means in order to talk to someone.

Best of luck, jaw444!

destro403 wrote:

 

@Chris, do you only post to NOT be of help and to talk down to people?

To be fair he is not talking down to anyone, he's just being honest. There's a difference. He has been on this forum for many years and has helped many people.

Regarding the Apple ID. I have found that it's usually best to contact tech support directly as the issue is usually on their end, and they need to 'align' your account with any new info.

Patsy--i just got the problem fixed !!!   omigosh, i'm so happy.   Frankly, i think whether the problem gets solved or not, as in your example, depends on who you get on phone support.   This time, i just called the regular support number. I got someone who sounded serious about the problem.   They put me on hold and then transferred me to someone in itunes account security named  Nolen who i could tell from the beginning was going to be good.  At the beginning, instead of saying that my problem couldn't be solved bcause i don't know the last 4 digits of an old credit card that i don't have anymore (or compromised debit card, i suspect), he said it should just be a matter of resetting my password, no big thing, he said he'd send me the email from the website. I told him i have done that so many times and the link in the email that says 'reset your password' is dead, no hypertext.  It looks like hypertext, it's blue, but when you click on it, it doesn't do anything, it's just like the black and white text.  The other hypertext on the email works fine, but just that one link doesn't work.  After trouble shooting that problem with me, including having me try to access the email in a different email client (i use Eudora normally) which still didn't work, he had me quit Eudora and then he sent me another one of those emails which i accessed on my iPhone mail, and that hypertext worked fine and i was able to reset my password, and now i can update all my apps, etc.  i don't fully understand what was wrong, he said probably something with Eudora. i'm just so glad that long problem is over.  I have about 45 apps registered on that apple ID.  Thanks so much for all your info.  Because your issue was similar to mine in some ways, i decided to try calling them again today, otherwise, i probably wouldn't have bothered.  Nolen is My Man.  i'm going to go update some dysfunctional apps now 

I am not alone.i have been dealing with that for more than 10 days and my account is still dlsabled and the number given for my country is not reachable.first I thought that my support person is not working hard for this sending me the same e mail everyday to call the security team and I told him it is impossible from here to call them I am not livin in USA but now I can see that this is a major problem for all other people and I don't know what to do

Please contact the iTunes store support as they will be able to assist you in re directing to correct department.

Hi, i'm getting the Message: "your apple id has been disabled" when a try tão update or download from AppStore.

My iCloud mail and the other functions still works.

I change my ID password and still dont work.

What can i do?

expresslane.apple.com

then choose itunes, then itunes store

follow the proper categories to resolve