Purchased iBooks have disappeared from "Purchases"...

Question

Purchased iBooks have disappeared from "Purchases"...

I want to find out how to re-download a purchased iBook, but the only instructions I've found from Apple always assume that the book actually does appear in my "purchased" books. But for some strange reason, two separate books that I had previously purchased through the iBooks Store do not even show up as ever having been purchased by me.

I can look them up in the regular catalog, but they simply show the regular price, as if I had never purchased them at all. This is very strange, and I do not understand what I should do. I am definitely logged in with the correct Apple ID. There is absolutely no question that I am using the correct Apple ID. All the other iBooks I have purchased over the years appear here in my library, either as downloaded or available to download. But these two specific books appear as though I had never ever purchased them. But I absolutely know that I did. I bought them, I read them, then at some point in the last two years, they inexplicably disappeared from my purchase history.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this?? What can I do?

Posted on Apr 4, 2016 4:33 PM

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Answer 1

King_Penguin

Level 10

334,144 points

Apr 5, 2016 12:49 AM in response to BlackEyedAngel

You've checked to see if you've hidden them from the cloud : Hide and unhide purchases in iTunes or iBooks on your Mac or PC - Apple Support ? And you haven't moved countries since buying them ?

If the publisher/rights-holder has removed the versions that you bought and replaced them with new books (not just updated the existing versions) you won't be able to redownload them

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Answer 2

Apr 5, 2016 8:53 AM in response to King_Penguin

Yes, I did check to ensure I did have them "hidden". Thank you.

How do I check to see if the publisher/rights-holder has removed or replaced the versions? And why wouldn't I be able to access the old version which I did in fact pay for? If there's no way to do this, would I be compensated by Apple somehow? I guess I'm looking for any sort of redress/relief in the situation...

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Answer 3

King_Penguin

Level 10

334,144 points

Apr 5, 2016 10:45 AM in response to BlackEyedAngel

I'm not aware of any easy way to see if they've been removed or replaced - but if they are not showing in Purchased and aren't hidden (and you haven't moved countries) then it's likely that what you bought is no longer available for redownloading.

why wouldn't I be able to access the old version which I did in fact pay for? If there's no way to do this, would I be compensated by Apple somehow?

Rights-holders can remove their items from a country's store at any time (that applies to music, films etc as well, not just ibooks) - if they do that they won't be in the store for you to redownload. And no, there will be no compensation from Apple, you are only guaranteed one download of any item, if not already doing so you should be taking your own backup copy (preferably copies) of your purchases

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Answer 4

Apr 5, 2016 11:06 AM in response to King_Penguin

But the item has not been removed from the store. It's right there, clearly visible in the catalog. I can look it up easily. But instead of the "download" button that appears next to any other item that I've already paid for, it shows the "Purchase" button, which appears next to items I've never purchased.

Further compounding the mystery is the fact that these two books to which I'm referring are part of a popular recent sci-fi trilogy. One of the three books still appears in my library just fine. The other two, though, are the books in question, which have disappeared from my purchases. If your theory were correct, and the rights-holder has chosen to remove the titles for some reason, they would have definitely removed the entire trilogy. But they didn't. The trilogy is still there in the iBooks store, available for people to buy. It's just that two of the three books don't register as having been purchased by me.

Does this shed any light on the situation??

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Answer 5

King_Penguin

Level 10

334,144 points

Apr 5, 2016 11:41 AM in response to BlackEyedAngel

You've checked with the publisher, they have confirmed that what are currently in your country's store are what you bought, they haven't removed them and instead put new books in the store (which would be treated as a new purchase if you want them) ? If they have then have you tried logging out and back into the account in iBooks ?

And the trilogy is bought as a single-purchase/item, not as three separate books/purchases - and that is how you bought them (that is how it shows on your account's purchase history) ?

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Answer 6

Apr 5, 2016 11:52 AM in response to King_Penguin

I have not yet contacted the publisher directly, no. But in the iBooks listing, the "Updated" dates on one of the books is from well before the books disappeared from my library. Meaning that the version of this book which disappeared from my library is clearly the most recent version. (The other missing book was updated several months after the disappearance.) I am in the USA, and they are definitely located in the USA version of the iBooks store. Logging out and then back in again was one of the very first things I tried.

The trilogy was not sold as a single purchase. I bought the three books individually, as they were released, one at a time, over three years. (2012, 2013, and 2014.)

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Answer 7

King_Penguin

Level 10

334,144 points

Apr 5, 2016 12:37 PM in response to BlackEyedAngel

The 'updated' date should, I think, be correct in the store - the 'published' date won't necessarily be so, that is likely to be when the book was first published as an actual book.

Is it possible that the publisher had two versions of those books in the store ? iTunes Support might be able to confirm if they are the versions that you bought : https://www.apple.com/emea/support/itunes/contact.html

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