Ondrej Holzman Apple has agreed to pay damages to parents whose children unguardedly purchased paid content in apps on iOS devices. In total, the Californian company could pay more than 100 million dollars (almost two billion crowns) in coupons to the iTunes Store...
A collective lawsuit was filed against Apple back in 2011. If the court approves the agreement now, the parents will receive financial compensation. However, they will probably not be paid out until next year.
Parents whose children have used In-App Purchases without permission will be entitled to a $30 voucher to iTunes. If children shopped for more than five dollars, parents will receive up to thirty dollar vouchers. And when the amount spent exceeds $XNUMX, customers can request a cash refund.
Apple unveiled the proposal last week, saying it would alert more than 23 million iTunes customers. However, preliminary approval from a federal judge will be needed before the proposal can be put into motion.
If such a settlement goes through, parents will have to fill out an online questionnaire confirming that their children made in-app purchases without their knowledge and that Apple did not refund them. The entire lawsuit concerns so-called "attractive applications", which are usually games that are available for free, but offer the purchase of various enhancements for real money while playing. And since Apple previously allowed in iOS to make purchases in the iTunes/App Store for another 15 minutes after entering the password without having to re-enter the password, children could playfully shop while playing without their parents' knowledge. This fifteen minute delay has already been removed by Apple.
Of course, children usually have no idea that they are shopping for real money. In addition, developers often make such purchases very simple - one or two taps are enough, and a bill for tens of dollars can be issued. Kevin Tofel, one of the parents, for example, once received a bill for 375 dollars (7 crowns) because his daughter bought virtual fish.
some time ago my son bought some chips for a game for about 1700 CZK. It was my fault, I didn't log out of the app store and he simply clicked it off as he played. I wrote to support, they wrote back to me that they understand and in three days I had the money back in my account
Me too. Plus, they sent me step-by-step instructions on how to set restrictions when the ipad is also used by the child :)
so not me :-(
in any case, I was pleased with their approach
outside the barrel. I wrote on the app store the day after they announced the end of application development. a day or two before, they put it on sale for half off, I think, so I bought it for both iPhone and Mac, and then they say sorry, but we're going to Google. apple support is perfectly fine. "we understand that, your money will be returned within 24 hours." I recently solved the problem with the iphone and synchronization and their approach is absolutely great and the helpline is great
sparrow app
I do not get it. I think it's about the responsibility of each person. The child does not buy an iPad and does not even have a credit card - in other words, I "bought" training for such inattention. I find it incredible to blame someone else for my omission….
It was about the 15-minute window without the need to re-enter the password.
You're right. I personally did not disclaim my responsibility in the e-mail in support of my responsibility, and Apple refunded me some EUR 60 for bananas for monkeys within three days, including a procedure to prevent this in the future. So not everyone responds with your style. Anyway, it was the second very positive experience for me in a single month with how Apple takes care of its customers. (I.e. if you were Apple and wrote to me in response to an email what is in your post, do you think Apple would rise in my eyes?)
Why does anyone even care? In app purchases can be disabled in the settings.