Series episode is not available on Apple TV

This is my latest response from yet another Rep who didn't bother to read the previous interaction I had with the Rep I was passed to her from. This is getting just sad.

At the bottom you can see my initial response to them just throwing more downloads at me, 82 in total and none of which I need. Then her response and just below this my reply back.

I can tell by your response you didn't even bother to read my problem. Thanks for wasting more of my time.

I am not missing the download, which I have repeated over and over. I am missing this episode "The Reckoning" Order No. MGFJ5WMLLG from my Purchased (iTunes in The Cloud) Section within the iTunes store and on all my devices. Issuing me another download does not fix this problem which is why I previously stated I do not need more downloads issued. It's getting very frustrating having to repeat myself over and over only to know the next Rep I get passed off to won't bother to actually read what my issue is.

Please elevate this issue to someone who understands how iTunes in The Cloud works so I can get this resolved and have the access I paid for to this episode.

Thank you.

On Oct 19, 2011, at 10:35 PM, iTunes Store wrote:

Dear Drew,

Laura here from iTunes. I would like to mention before I move on that we are all working together to help answer our customers as soon as possible. That being said, you will experience speaking to different advisors should you require further assistance.

I am sorry to hear that your purchases are not showing up as available to play. I can amine your frustration and anxiety regarding this situation. I will be happy to help.

I have taken a look and it looks like there are 86 downloads posted to your account and awaiting download, so you should be able to restart the download by following these steps on your computer ( if you are unable to download the files from your account, please reply with a screen shot and the text of any errors you have received):

1) Make sure you're using the latest version of iTunes. It can be downloaded free of charge from the Apple website:

http://www.apple.com/itunes/download

Note: Installing the latest version of iTunes will not affect your library or any items in your account that you haven't downloaded.

2) Open iTunes. From the Store menu at the top, choose Check for Available Downloads. You can also click this link to do the same thing:

https://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZFinance.woa/wa/checkForPurchases

3) Enter your account name and password when prompted, then click the Check button. Your purchase should begin downloading. If you receive an error message when downloading, try again after turning off any firewall or web-accelerator software that you may have installed.

It has been a pleasure assisting you. Please don't hesitate to write back if you need further assistance. We want to ensure that your issue gets resolved in its entirety. We appreciate your business, thank you for being an iTunes customer!

Sincerely,

Laura

Apple Advisor

iTunes Store / Mac App Store Customer Support

Please Note: I work until 9:00 PM EST today and will be back in tomorrow at 12:30 PM . Thank you for being an iTunes Store Customer!

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to assist you. You may receive an AppleCare survey email; any feedback about my performance that you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

It's STILL not there! Do you need me to provide screen captures of the purchased page within my iTunes account? I've checked the purchased page in iTunes on my Mac, iPhone and AppleTv. It's still missing! Issuing me a download does not fix the problem! The purchased page is not the purchased playlist in iTunes! I paid for this show now please elevate this to someone who understands and can fix the problem. Thank you.

I'm having the same problem with walking dead season 2. I called support after receiving a nonsensical email rreply from iTunes' support. The operator basically said they're having systemic problems with everything being overloaded and they're hoping to get it resolved in the next few days. Kind of sucky but at least he didn't waste a bunch of time walking me through pointless troubleshooting steps.

I bought my pass on my iPad so luckily I was able to AirPlay it over to the TV. I'd recommend that as a workaround if folks have another device.

Ps or another option if you want a refund is to dispute the charge with your credit card company.

I just got the apple tv after using a roku box. I used to buy from amazon. I have to say so far amazon is better for customer service. Also if you watch an episode before buying a pass they'll deduct the individual episode price from the pass so you don't double pay. I never had any issues at all viewing content. But since I have the iPad for travel I decided to switch to iTunes. Overall I'm unimpressed.

It must have something to do with forcing a change from our old Apple IDs to the email format. Last time I changed the email that is my primary contact back in April, I lost access to the remainder of the 2 season passes I had active at the time (they still haven't fixed nor acknowledged that problem). I bet they hard coded purchases to the original apple ID when they were made. Of course you can't test this because you can't use that old style anymore.

Talyien, it would not suprise me if AppleIDs were involved in the failure in some way. They've been a mess and I've managed to accumulate more than one of them over the years without really trying.

However, I'm someone who has always purchased content against an Apple ID that looks like an email address. (Specifically, it's my GMail address) and that hasn't changed with the iOS/iCloud update recently. Yet I am experiencing this bug in multiple season passes, including The Walking Dead season 2.

I am expieriencing the same problems as everybody else. I may be off base but one common thing I have been noticing is that a lot of people have purchased walking dead season 2. Everything was working great before I myself purchased season 2 of walking dead. Do you think this could have anything to do with iCloud not working right? Also what support address have you been using I would like to voice my complaint as well, to see if we can't get this problem sorted out. Thanks.

I just recdived an e-mail from an Apple representative acknoleging that Apple is working on a fix. This employee didn't offer me anything more than a response when the issues is resolved. I am taking taking this as a positive sign. Let's hope.

That is great news. Thanks for the update.

Having the same problem. Hoping they'll fix it soon. The customer support guy just basically fobbed me off and told me to contact Applecare because it was "beyond their expertise".

I am just so pleased that other people are having this same issue. I've been having it for a week and it's been driving me crazy. Apple Customer Support has been utterly, utterly useless. Just the same cut and paste replies without reading my e-mails.

Hopefully they'll start getting their crap together and fix the problem and move beyond "Update the current version of the software...."

Wow, I am just so disappointed with Apple TV tech support. After going through every single troubleshooting steps with the level 1 technician my issue was escalated to a level 2 technician who was absolutely clueless in the basic fundamentals of Apple TV. I am just blown away. I wish I had recorded the conversation - it would have gone viral. Glad I found this thread and that I'm not alone. By the way, my problem was with The Daily Show. If I purchase an episode and hit play, I can watch it. If I purchase and episode and hit menu to watch later, it doesn't appear in my purchased list.

Same problem here. Mine started with Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares and then followed over to Ghost Adventures.

Funny thing is that inbetween, I was able to download the first season of Kitchen Nightmares fine, but everything else is either "watch it now or we'll just take your money, thank you, and don't plan on being able to watch it again without paying again."

Same responce from Apple as everyone else... not reading my emails, just sending downloads of the shows to my iTunes account and then I have to stream them over to my Apple TV which still says I don't own them.

It seems like not just Apple, but sites that report on Apple news are ignoring this as well. I'm a little worried that after this problem gets fixed, all of those that purchaes shows in this iCloud limbo period are just going to be SOL.

I'm holding off purchasing any other TV until this is resolved.

I'm having the same issues as everyone else: Bought TWD Season Pass via my iPad and it doesn't play via my aTV. In fact, NONE of my season passes play via the Apple TV, which they all were doing a week or so ago--ya know, before iCloud launched. Thought maybe it was an AppleID issue, as I've accumulated a few throughout the years. Nope, not it. Thought then it was a device limitation (only 3 of my 6 devices are listed in iTunes in the Cloud). Nope. The season passes just aren't showing up ANYWHERE, nor are my single episodes.

Dear Apple: Fix this. Please.

Seems like they are aware of the issue, just got this email from iTunes support:

I've looked into this and it appears that Apple is currently working toward a resolution for the issue you have reported. You will receive an email after the matter has been investigated and further information is available.

FWIW, another unhappy customer here, unable to see this week's episode of Castle after purchasing the season on the AppleTV and successfully watching the first 4 episodes. I believe the problem is related to iOS/iCloud interaction, as I am able to see the episode on two othe Macs (running Lion with the 10.7.2 iCloud update installed) but none of my iOS devices (AppleTV 2 w/ latest update, iPad 2 & iPhone 4 running iOS 4.3.3).

There is a bit of covariance in my situation. I Recently found out that I could rename my original non-email AppleID (used for all my purchases) to an email type, so I proceeded to do so to make it work with the Lion iCloud update. I also updated the AppleTV at about the same time. I had to sign out the old AppleID name on all my devices, and sign back in again with the new ID name, and was relieved to see that all my apps, books, and music purchase still worked.

It wasn't until Tuesday (last night, 10/18) that I discovered the problem with the Castle subscription. It's puzzling that home sharing and the already-watched episodes still work on the AppleTV (clear evidence that they work on a different interface from new video downloads).

I was able to stream the episode from the Mini to the AppleTV via homesharing, so I'm not out of luck. I do hope that Apple gets it working again soon now that they have acknowledged there actually is a problem.