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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

... to expect Apple to refund money spent by a child on in-app purchases?

95 replies

Pleb1969 · 26/02/2013 20:13

OK, not me, but a neighbour and close friend of mine had this happen to her. She let her 9 year old DD play on the Ipad on some app called Tiny Zoo or something. DD knew daddy's password and managed to empty his bank acount of £600 in 5 minutes by purchasing fairies and unicorns for this virtual zoo. Dont think she realised she was blowing actual money - the holiday money they had been saving up... Apple/Itunes will not refund it, saying they received goods and didnt breach their T&C's. Friend posts on that finance blokes (Martin Lewis) twitter account and gets blasted for being a bad parent!! Bit harsh dont you think?

OP posts:

BaresarkBunny · 26/02/2013 22:58

I saw that Martin Lewis had retweeted her and then the horrible comments she got. It was horrible

crappypatty · 26/02/2013 22:58

Ds did this within a week of getting it for Xmas, he bought extra health and lives, he spent £267 in a day.

He knew he wasn't allowed to buy music or games without asking permission. He has Autism so took what I said literally, and he didn't realise that it was real money and so he didn't ask. Apple refunded without any problems, were really helpful, in app purchases have been turned off,I removed my debit card and changed the password.

Southeastdweller · 26/02/2013 23:08

She's saying that the reason Apple gave was because of the delay in contacting them, even though she contacted them the same day. I'm even more

This all doesn't add up to me.

LaalRatty · 26/02/2013 23:09

My dd spent nearly £50 when a free game linked to £1.49 one and she went mad. I didn't realise what had happened til I checked my bank account online and contacted Apple. I fully expected to just suck it up as it was my fault for letting her play with my phone but the man who dealt with my call was brilliant and said that his job mainly involved refunding and resetting accounts. It was a lovely surprise to find I'd be getting my cash back. Apple are ace.

ohforfoxsake · 26/02/2013 23:09

The trouble is is that technically children can't have iTunes accounts. Because my children were too young to have their own accounts, we let them apply their gift card credits to ours so they could buy music and games. We thought this was a good idea so we could also monitor what they were getting. Parental controls were all set up. After reading an article on in-app purchases, I made sure I switched them off. Damn if I wasn't a day too late and In-app purchases had been made without my knowledge. DS over spent on a gift card he had been given.

Lesson learnt. New passwords set up, new iTunes accounts opened in their own names (had to use a false DOB) and bank accounts unlinked. We got round it and Apple refunded the money to give them their due, but why Apple don't provide in-credit accounts is beyond me. It would be so easy to do and save a lot of aggro.

RhinotheHamster · 26/02/2013 23:12

in addition to all the precaution outlined above, I turn my devices' internet access off before letting DD play with apps.

LaalRatty · 26/02/2013 23:12

Also I'm not an irresponsible parent. I'd downloaded the app and gave the phone to her. The password stays live for a short amount of time (not short enough imo). I have numerous fun, educational and silly apps on my phone (and dh on his ipod). They have proven to be a god send at times.

CajaDeLaMemoria · 26/02/2013 23:14

It's because their daughter knew the password.

Apple will refund if parents didn't know about in app purchases, or if it was in the fifteen minutes window. But if you give your password out, people can spend your money. Her daughter entered the password to buy things - and knew it - and therefore apple aren't treating this as a normal child's purchase. I suppose they can't be sure that it wasn't an adult.

Itsaboatjack · 26/02/2013 23:15

If they'd fallen foul of the 15 min limit after entering the password yourself then I would hope that they might refund as a gesture of goodwill - I only found out about this rule from a newspaper article. However if the child has entered the password themselves then no - it is up to you to protect your passwords and PIN numbers.

Original poster

Pleb1969 · 26/02/2013 23:21

'I suppose they can't be sure that it wasn't an adult...'

What adult spends £600 on fairies and unicorns??? They dont know how she got the password but they did not tell it to her. Dont know all the ins and outs tbh, just thought some posters on Twitter were being harsh questioning her parenting skills. Yes she got badly stung but that does not make her a bad parent. A naive one, maybe, but not a bad one.

OP posts:

LaalRatty · 26/02/2013 23:25

If that constitutes a "bad" parent (in some folks eyes) I dread to think what constitutes a truly terrible one?! Some people don't know their arse from their elbow.

Original poster

Pleb1969 · 26/02/2013 23:27

Which reminds me, my 9yr old took my iphone upstairs earlier and not got it back yet... (gulp)

OP posts:

matilda101 · 26/02/2013 23:28

Didn't the OP have another thread on here earlier asking if their 9yo could be lying about app purchases?!!.......not sure the 'my friends...' bit is true!

Original poster

Pleb1969 · 26/02/2013 23:29

Think you have me mixed up with someone else, I havent posted on here in years. I cant be the only person on here to have a 9yr old surely?

OP posts:

Knowsabitabouteducation · 26/02/2013 23:30

My DD did this a couple of years ago.

I got on the phone to Apple, and after a week of negotiations, they agreed to refund the money (£700).

We didn't have a leg to stand on wrt their terms and conditions, so were very relieved to get the money back.

Portofino · 26/02/2013 23:36

? 600 in 5 minutes I do not believe! I had a problem with the iPad and candy crush which was nowt to do with small children - just me - and Apple refunded it all.

Original poster

Pleb1969 · 26/02/2013 23:40

My only problem with Candy Crush is getting past level 135... it's a bugger that one.

OP posts:

GregBishopsBottomBitch · 26/02/2013 23:57

Oh my word, do not get me start on candy crush, level 92 is the bain of my life.

snuffaluffagus · 27/02/2013 06:57

There's just been a law suit in America about this.

www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2013/02/26/apple-kids-purchase_n_2763509.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

Imaginethat · 27/02/2013 06:59

I am surprised. This happened to me and I got a refund within 2 hrs

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