Randolph I wrote previously about an expensive experience with In-App Purchases (IAP) running rampant, to the tune of almost four hundred dollars. This follow-up contains some good news.
As part of the conflict resolution protocol, Apple’s customer service representative, known only as Az, was very quick to offer assistance. My mother-in-law didn’t respond to his original emails, so I took the time to write back on Monday afternoon and received a reply later that evening.
For certain reasons, Az was only able to refund what amounted to $270, or 70% of the original amount. Taking into account my mother-in-law’s original intent of spending $34.99 for coins for this game, the refunded amount is closer to an 80% refund, no questions asked.
Thank you Apple Canada, and thank you Az, for taking this complaint seriously. I don’t think much will come of the problem with IAP in the long run, considering the highest revenue generators in the App Store (six of the top 50 grossing apps on the Canadian store, as of this writing, are slot machine style games), but at least Apple is responding to complaints in a fair manner.
I would still like to see these two changes in the Family Sharing feature:
- approval of all purchases, no matter the age of the family member;
- notification of in-app purchases exceeding a certain limit (e.g. $50)
If you have any IAP horror stories, feel free to leave a comment or find me on Twitter at @rabryst.