"invalid address"--solution from Apple support that worked for me

I have been among the throng who have been frustrated for the past couple of days by not being able to get even free Apps and songs from the iTunes store,let alone purchase anything,since all attempts at downloading/purchasing or even updating Apps on the iPad are met with a message "invalid address" and a link to update billing info in the store. I have called AppleCare once, and have been in an email correspondence with an iTunes support rep since May 10. After assuring her that this was not a personal credit card problem, she started to work this with me as a system problem.

First she had me correct my billing info to include Zip+4 zip codes instead of the 5 digit zip code I had entered. She had me contact the issuer of my credit card to be sure they were using zip+4 (they were not). I corrected the address by phone with the credit card company and then corrected it in my iTunes billing account,but I still was not able to get anything from the store since all attempts were met with an "invalid address" message loop.

At that point I emailed the support rep back to report no joy with her zip code+4 fix.

I changed my city name to all caps, changed my payor source to none and was able to download a free song, so I knew progress was possible,but still could not buy anything with a credit card or PayPal, both of which had had address corrections to the zip codes.

Then I got this email fix from Apple support:

"Please look over your address in the following link:

http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/

Then we will make sure that address matches in the Apple Store and iTunes. I'll walk you through this process to get you back up and running in no time.

1) Visit the My Apple ID website at:

http://appleid.apple.com

2) If the site is not displayed in your preferred language, click the Change Language link in the upper-right corner, type the name of your language in the field that appears, then click the Save button.

3) Click the "Manage your account" link.

4) Type your iTunes Store account name (which is your Apple ID) in the Apple ID field, type your password in the password field, then click the Sign In button.

5) Click "Addresses" in the column on the left. If you have multiple shipping addresses, remove any out-of-date or duplicate addresses by clicking Delete. Also, make sure the state or province field is filled out correctly for each address. To edit an address, click Edit. Edit all of your shipping addresses and make sure the appropriate state is selected in the State drop-down menus.

6) Now click "Phone Numbers" on the left. The area codes should be in the area code fields and the phone numbers should be in the phone number fields. If an area code is missing, or if it is in a phone number field, your account information may not save properly.

7) Make any other necessary corrections, then click the Save Changes button.

8) Click Log out in the upper-right corner.

When you make your next purchase on the iTunes Store, you will be asked to review your billing information. At this point, you can change your information or simply click Done at the bottom of the screen to proceed. Once you click Done, you should be able to purchase on the iTunes Store ..."

I followed this to the letter--my address was correct in the USPS zip4 site,although they use all caps for everything and I did not capitalize the street name.

When I logged into the Apple ID site I found they had 1 addresses,one perfectly correct per USPS and another with obvious errors in the street address.

I deleted the erroneous one,saved the correct one and logged out.

When I went back to the iTunes store I was able to purchase and download an App for my iPad using my original credit card.

So making sure my address matched the USPS database, then checking the address in the Apple ID site,then going back to the iTunes store worked for me.

YMMV--I am posting this because several people indicated they had not even had a (useful) reply from Apple support.

Caroline

iOS 4.3.3