Series episode is not available on Apple TV

I received a response on two of my Season Passes missing last week's episodes. They didn't read my problem at all. One of them issued me 70, yes 70 downloads of all the shows I purchased on three order numbers, none of them being the missing episodes of course. I replied telling them they once again did not fix the issue and to elevate my original request as stated. These people are so completely inept. I once again had to explain the difference between the Purchased Section in iTunes and on all devices versus the Purchased Playlist in iTunes. I'm sure they still don't get it. This is really sad.

Here's a shocker. Had a new episode of a Season Pass I have to Ringer become available for download. Of course, it's nowhere to be found in the Purchased page on any of my devices though. All previous episodes are. Something has gone really screwy since the public release of iCloud. I got the email notification, I got the download but didn't get cloud access, which is the only reason I started buying season passes in the first place. So I've sent another email off this morning which I'm sure will generate some generic response about updating my software and my own ineptness. Pathetic.

Same problem here... I purchased the series 'Sanctuary' season 4 (season pass)... received an email that 2 episodes were available for download... I've only seen the first one as the second episode has not downloaded... its not available for download via apple TV, itunes, nothing... just shows I purchased just the one episode... yet I have emails, and purchase history shows I purchased the season pass...

Very frustrating...

Yes, I have opened a case to the Itunes store... probably won't go anywhere at first... but, then again, I'm a little bullheaded...

Ok Round 3 Email 10 with support. Here is thier answer on my problem.

"

Dear Jeremy,

Welcome back to Apple iTunes Store Customer Support. My name is Tushar and I'll be taking over for Alexander. I am more than happy to help you today.

I'm sorry to learn that the item did not meet the standard of quality you have come to expect from the iTunes Store. I know that you are eager to get this resolved. I am happy to assist you.

Jeremy, I have reversed the charge for "Fringe, Season 4". In five to seven business days, a credit of $49.99 should be posted to the credit card that appears on the receipt for that purchase.

I have submitted this item for investigation. Apple takes the quality of the items offered on the iTunes Store seriously and will investigate the issue with this item, but I can't say when or if the issue will be resolved. Please try again in a few weeks.

If you have any questions or require further assistance, please reply to this email.

Thank you for being a valued iTunes Store customer. Have a great day ahead!

Sincerely,

Tushar

iTunes Store/Mac App Store Customer Support "

My Reply to this Email

"

What the ****!!!

I didn't ask to have the season removed... and i am having this issue with more than just Fringe. Please actually READ what i write in these emails and you will see that.

I am unable to use the iCloud on any of my apple devices and you answer is to just take the show away from me and refund my money??

I would like you to repost the Fringe season to my account immediately and escalate this issue to a Apple ITunes Engineer. The Issue is not with the Fringe season pass rather with all season passes purchased through Itunes and the fact that iTunes is not working as expected or advertised.

When a new show is posted to iTunes I receive the show on my windows desktop itunes account automatically the download works fine and i am able to view the episode there.

However it doesn't show up in my Purchased items and I am not able to view it on any of my other devices (Mac Book Pro, iPad 2, AppleTV). I typically travel a lot for work and the season pass from Itunes including 0 Commercials is why i spent the money on these shows in iTunes in the first place.

The Season Passes that i have seen this issue with are as follows. NCIS: LA, NCIS, Fringe, and House.

If Apples Answer to this is to refund my money for the seasons that i am having issue with please Refund for all shows not just the one and I will take my money over to amazon!

I will be awaiting a reply on how you plan to fix this issue."

I recieved this response today:

Hello Aaron,

Jon here from the iTunes Store. Shivendra has stepped out of the office, and has asked me to take over their emails.

I understand that you were able to download your purchase of, "Eastern Exposure," but some purchases are missing from your iTunes in the Cloud feature. I can certainly appreciate how eager you must be to have this issue looked into, and I would be more than happy to assist you with this today.

Aaron, thank you for taking interest in the new and exciting feature, iTunes in the Cloud. With iTunes 10.3 or later you can download past app, music, TV show and book purchases without incurring additional charges as long as what you want to download is showing on your Purchased page.

That being said, some content may not be available for download again if its provider no longer offers it on the iTunes Store, App Store or iBookstore. It also can mean if an item has been modified since your original purchase. When items have been modified, customers who have purchased the item before it was modified no longer can redownload that item because the original file has been removed and replaced with a new (modified) version.

If you are not seeing the item in your Purchased list, but you can find the item in the iTunes Store, App Store or iBookstore, then it means it has been modified. If you cannot find the item in the iTunes Store, App Store or iBookstore, it means the item has been removed. I'm sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Also, please consider that you may have purchased the items from a different account. To make sure this is not the case, I ask that you review your account's purchase history. This will ensure the items not appearing in your Purchased list were in fact purchased from your account or not. To review your purchase history, please consult the following article:

Seeing your iTunes Store purchase history and order numbers

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2727

Now, I strongly advise that you follow the instructions in these articles. They explain how to create and maintain an up-to-date backup of your iTunes library:

How to back up your media in iTunes

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1382

Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751

Please be aware that Apple still strongly encourages its customers to back up their purchases regularly to avoid any lost content that cannot be recovered using iTunes in the Cloud.

I hope this information has been helpful. Thank you very much for being part of the iTunes Store family, Aaron. I hope you have a great day.

Sincerely,

Jon

iTunes Store/Mac App Store Customer Support

_______________

Needless to say this didn't solve the problem and Jon clearly didn't understand the issue so this is how I responded.

Jon,

None of those things are the problem.

I bought the episode on my Apple TV, it froze, I backed out and went to restart the episode (within a span of seconds). Instantly, the episode was no longer available to play, when I went to click "buy" it said I had already bought the episode. When I checked in my purchase episodes (in the cloud) it did not show up, but it showed up in my purchase history (within my account).

I could not download it because it was not available to download.

Additionally, I purchased a season pass of Fringe (before I updated my Apple TV) the episodes released before the update show up, but after the update they are not showing up as purchased and the option to purchase a season pass is back. When I click it - it says, "you've already bought a season pass would you like to buy it again."

So, this is a specific problem between Apple TV (since the latest update) and iTunes in the Cloud.

This is not just a problem that I am having either - there a forum on the Apple Support Community that is blowing up with other customers experiencing the same problem.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3389813?answerId=16447884022#16447884022

There are tons of Apple TV users experiencing the same issue. Entire Season passes are no longer showing up on their Apple TV's.

You can purchase a show via the iTunes store on a Mac, then go to your Apple TV and it's not there. You can purchase an episode in Apple TV and it won't remember you bought it and it won't show up in your purchase history in iTunes.

You guys need to address this from a system-wide standpoint. The added functionality of being able to play my purchased TV Shows straight from the cloud was a very welcome addition. Since the latest update that functionality has disappeared. The cloud is doing the opposite of what it is supposed to do.

I just want to tune in. Having the same problem with House series, the first episodes worked fine from Apple TV 2, they were available in the cloud. But the last episode isn't accessible - I must buy it in spite of having a season pass already. First I thought it was the update to iOS 4.4 on Apple TV, but no, I've tested with a unit still on 4.3 and it's the same so apparently it's an account/cloud/server thing. Oddly enough the latest episode IS available on my iMac - so I can download to the iTunes library and then view it on Apple TV.

@Jeremy & Lutron, Don't you love taking all that time to carefully explain your issue over and over to different reps only to have them cherry pick one or two terms out and just make an assumption? I wish Tim Cook would read the responses his Support Reps are giving loyal paying customers. I can't even get them to understand the difference between the Purchased Playlist, Tv Playlist and the Purchased (iTunes in the cloud) Section. It's like banging my head against a wall.

On another note, I hadn't been having issues with purchasing already completed seasons so I thought I'd give Big Bang Theory Season 1 a shot. I might as well have just ripped up $20.00 and threw it in the wind. I bought it on AppleTv, it went through, charged my account, appears in my purchase history and is nowhere else to be found. Didn't get the downloads, nor is it showing in my Purchases on any of my devices or in iTunes. I have yet to hear back but I'm sure they'll issue me a credit or some other "passing the buck" manuever to avoid fixing a real and serious problem.

I'm glad this thread is getting so much attention though, perhaps something will actually be done about this.

@Drew, I am just absoultly amazed at how bad Apples support actually is... I would be pleased if they just worte back with something like "We are aware of the issue and are currently working on a resolution." but instead they keep acting like it is something i am doing wrong and not a problem with the iCloud service.

Here is the latest excerpt from my dealings with them.

"As you are unable to view the items on your devices, you need to update your devices."

My Reply: "Please esclate this ticket to your next tier of support as stated in previous emails I have updated all my devices to the latest versions and that is when i started expierencing issues with iCloud and purchased season passes."

Yes, this is quite ridiculous.

It obviously is a systemic issue. You think somebody would have figured this out by now.

Truth be told, so far, I am quite dissapointed with the "Cloud" at Apple. Some parts of it are working great (i.e. Photostream, reminders, notes, calendars, contacts, etc) but other parts (Find My Friends (10 server error messages today alone) and iTunes in the Cloud) are not working.

The odd thing is iTunes in the Cloud, especially on my Apple TV was working great until sometime late last week. - probably the update to iTunes 10.5 and the Apple TV update. Then all of a sudden it just got lobotomized, as did the Support Technicians.

To have them give me pat answers, when they clearly don't understand the problem and I DO - is infuriating!

I sent Eddy Cue this email (he's responsible for the Cloud/iTunes) - you guys might want to send him some as well.

Eddy,

iTunes in the Cloud is not working with Apple TV - big time!

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3389813?tstart=0

Purchased TV Shows are not registering, disappearing, and generally messing up.

Please fix this!

Aaron Hill

Where did you get his email? And for that matter, where can I get the correct emails for any of the Apple Execs. This is extremely frustrating. I am on my second message to Apple iTunes Store support.

Here's an interesting article about the iCloud that came out on the AP today:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Review-iCloud-just-works-for-apf-1999583042.html?x =0&.v=2

The reporter is still waiting for his TV show.

Same issue for me for the last 2 nights, purchases not showing up on appleTv or check for purchases on my mac, I reported one episode yesterday and they resent it, it downloaded on the mac but appletv and itunes store still dont think I own it, keep telling me I already purchased do I want to purchase again.... what!!

Purchase history shows all the episodes, some one forgot to hook up the cable between purchase history and iCloud I think..... starting to get mighty pi**ed off.

I think someone tripped over the cable...