£60 bill from 'free' game on iPad

8 replies

TracyK · 03/12/2011 20:26

DS been playing 'free' Dragonvale on iPad. He went on and on and on about buying some jewels. Eventually I gave in and let him buy .69p and £1.29 last week. Just got emails today saying iTunes had racked up £60 odd in jewels!
He denies buying any others or putting in passwords.
does it not ask for passwords after the initial entry? has he created a recurring charge going?
any way of disputing the charges? I've emailed them and put a note on their FB page.

OP posts:

RyokoTheRedNosedLamedear · 03/12/2011 20:43

I don't think you have a leg to stand on TBH, it's up to you to read the T&C before letting your kid loose on a freemium game.

Petherwyn · 03/12/2011 20:45

Phone up iTunes - you are probably liable to pay but if you explain the situation they may refund as a goodwill gesture. They did this for my SIL when she had a similar situation.

NatashaBee · 03/12/2011 20:48

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

RustyBear · 03/12/2011 21:01

Once you've put the password in, you can buy more stuff without reentering it for 15 minutes, so it's possible to get quite a bill if you keep buying jewels.

You can disable in-app purchases in Settings - you need to go to General-Restrictions, Enable Resrictions, enter a passcode and turn off in-app purchases.
Or you can change the Require Password to 'Immediately' instead of 'After 15 minutes'

hollyonthesleigh · 03/12/2011 21:45

Have a look here,this mum had her charges refunded.

Ineedacleaneriamalazyslattern · 03/12/2011 21:50

The only problem with the payg credit card thing is iTunes doesn't take the money straight away you can actually buy things without having the money physically there at the time. I have disabled in app purchases on dds iPod touch just in case this ever happens.

Original poster

TracyK · 04/12/2011 10:04

Thanks girls. Phew £60 is better than that other £1300!
I have disabled in app purchasing now. I really need to go back to apple store for a lesson in controls to be put on my iPad.
How do you get in contact with apple, when I tried yesterday it said to contact the developer if I had a query with an in app charge.

OP posts:

niceguy2 · 04/12/2011 19:57

Yes.....I'm usually on top of these things and my DS(4) managed to run up a £10 bill feeding Girtie the f*cking giraffe virtual ice creams. I hope that Giraffe was sick!

I too now have in app purchasing turned off! lol

Flip