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Apple Offers Refund To Stiffed Breaking Bad Season Pass Customers
An anonymous reader writes "Two weeks ago, a man sued Apple after finding out that the $22.99 he paid for a season pass of Breaking Bad was only good for the final season's first 8 episodes. ... In light the mix-up, Apple late on Monday began informing folks who purchased a season pass for the 5th season of Breaking Bad that they are entitled to a refund in full in the form of a $22.99 iTunes credit." "Mix-up" seems an entirely charitable description.
Whoever pays $22.99 for half a season, or any other TV show, when it is available on Netflix is beyond me. Don't get me started on bluray box sets.
That's not a refund. A chargeback is a refund. With this they just keep your money and give you the illusion of getting the full value back, when in actuality it costs them cents on the dollar to do this.
I guess this is a good thing. They screwed up, and now they pay the price for it.
I don't really count a credit as a full refund. They still keep my money. But I guess you can use your credit to buy the second half of the season, so they delivered the promised goods.
Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75. -Benjamin Franklin
I really thought by this time they'd have hired someone whose only task was to stop everybody else in the corporation to piss off large sections of the customers.
Taking into account we are paying because we believe we should, while having the alternative to simply stop paying and watch everything on torrents.
They're a beggar spitting to the people who give him money.
Instead, give them what they paid for.
Why is the term mix up "charitable"? All previous seasons were a single season, not broken up into two small seasons. Is it not logical for Apple to assume the final season would be like the previous five?
The final episode is this Sunday.
That's not a refund. A chargeback is a refund. With this they just keep your money and give you the illusion of getting the full value back, when in actuality it costs them cents on the dollar to do this.
Well, on the other hand, the viewer already watched half the season. It's not like the season was a stale donut to be sent back. What the viewer got was good. Just half of what he expected.
I find the whole proposition dubious, and therefore apple is being quite generous. Not only that they aren't putting up much of a fight which is what makes it even more sincere. The customer is always right is an ideal that, when you can pull it off, makes for a good premium bussiness model. Discounters can't pull that off. So it distinguishes apple.
Personally, if it were my decision I'd fight with this customer. A season is a 1/4 trip around the sun. He got all the episodes available in that season. What he thought he was buying was Series 5 not season 5. Like how the british TV is named. If AMC had simply named them properly, Season 5 and seasons 6 or series 5 and series 6, rather than calling both season 5 there would be no ambiguity at all.
Apple is caving here not because they have to but because thats how they roll. Apples knows it's customers are loyal and they know that Apple limits their risks (which is a good reason to buy apple if your time has any value). So they look for ways to set themselves apart in that niche
If they are lucky this will turn up the heat on Amazon. Amazon probably has a lot more financial exposure to this. Will people make the demand to amazon now?
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
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The way this is being "resolved" is they jack up the price to everyone. No different than the original offer.
The class action lawsuit should continue...
I come here for the love
It's not just a refund.
The Apple email says that you get a $22.95 credit. But you keep "Breaking Bad Season 5" as well. So you could use that credit to buy "Breaking Bad The Final Season", and then you have what you thought you'd paid for. Or you could choose to buy something else instead. Customer's choice.
I'd note that this refund is happening about a week or two after Apple were sued over this. I suspect the two may be related...
For the people even complaining now:
It's not a refund, it's something else.
Apple gives you enough credit to buy the remaining 8 episodes while you get to keep the first 8, so in the end you get what was advertised for $22.99.
People should read the darn article.
Apple wasn't responsible for this clusterfuck. It was Sony Pictures TV and AMC.
AMC decided to split Season 5 into 2 halves, to extend Emmy eligibility for another year. But Sony insisted on referring to the 2 years as Season 5A and Season 5B, because that would allow them to get around having to give the actors and production staff the contractually mandated pay increase for each new season.
So we have 2 separate definitions for what constitutes a "season", depending on what provides the corporate interests the maximum benefit. They figured that they will make more money separating the DVD sets into 2 releases, so that's what they did.
Somebody really needs to go all Heisenberg on their asses....
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This is basically Breaking Bad's fault for sucking at numbering their series.
Any chance they feel so charitable as to give similar returns to those who bought Season 6 and/or 7 of DW off iTunes? Or did those folks not raise enough of a high profiled stink over it?
Whoever pays $22.99 for half a season, or any other TV show, when it is available on Netflix is beyond me. Don't get me started on bluray box sets.
With most movies I have no problem waiting for them to come out on DVD. But somethings are just so good you want to see them now. One of the things about a series is that it's immersive and lasts a long time. You enjoy talking to your friends about it while the thoughts are fresh and the possibilities in the next show have your mind alive. You want to talk about it now not in hindsight. that's the thrill. Look at all the discussion sites for breaking bad.
Since it's currently the best and most engaging drama on TV, this of all examples is a case where you should understand why anyone would want to pay $22.
Also Dumbledor dies at the end of harry potter. The cake is a lie. Walter poisons Todd's Tea with ricin.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Not like any other TV shows do the same thing... *cough* futurama *cough*
"Mix-up" seems an entirely charitable description.
And your opinion seems entirely biased.
That's not a refund. A chargeback is a refund. With this they just keep your money and give you the illusion of getting the full value back, when in actuality it costs them cents on the dollar to do this.
Dude, they can use the refund to buy the rest of the season. That's all they wanted in the first place. So the refund is actually a better deal than they originally thought they were buying. They DID want to buy the whole season.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
AMC just announced that they are pulling this same crap with Mad Men next year, as well....
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AMC decided to split Season 5 into 2 halves, to extend Emmy eligibility for another year. But Sony insisted on referring to the 2 years as Season 5A and Season 5B, because that would allow them to get around having to give the actors and production staff the contractually mandated pay increase for each new season.
Also another reason was probably sales/rentals of the discs. Had they waited until the end of the 16 episodes, the DVD and Blu-ray discs would have been delayed more than 18 months after Episode 1 aired. That would be a lot of sales that they missed.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Somebody really needs to go all Heisenberg on their asses....
I'm uncertain what you mean by that.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Well, yea but, how can we make this Obama's fault?
How are they not getting the full season for what they paid now that they have a refund. They just can buy the "second half" of the alleged season for free now. That's exactly what they asked for. Think man.
Aren't Mad Men seasons already only 13 episodes long?
If you ever watched Breaking Bad you'd know "Going Heisenberg" involves copious amounts of corrosive liquid and a special type of plastic container.
Don't be surprised if, over the next year, Apple makes them start including the number of episodes or the length of the season for these passes. They don't get burned twice.
They are adding one additional episode to split the season into 2 runs of 7 episodes each. But unlike Breaking Bad, all the episodes will be filmed in one run, with AMC sitting on the last 7 for a year before airing them.
Breaking Bad originally was slated for 13 episodes in the final season, but was granted 3 additional episodes at the time the split was decided on. They were filmed over 2 years, though.
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whoooosh!
With all the corporate bullshit that Futurama had to go through since it started, I'm just glad it's still here.
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
If you paid attention in physics class, you would get the connection between "Heisenberg" and uncertainty...
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Somebody really needs to go all Heisenberg on their asses....
What does that mean? Do I kick their asses or don't I? Have I kicked their ass already? I have no idea.
Oh, screw it. I'm going Oppenheimer on their asses instead.
woosh!
If by still here, you mean until 20 days ago, then sure. The (probably) final finale aired on September 4. Well - and there will also be a crossover episodes in The Simpsons season 25.
...nothing of importance. Yes, a big corporation forced to give lots of $23 refunds is "news" (sort of), but that a teevee show generates this much buzz of any kind is, well, sad. Then again, this whole thing is dwarfed weekly by "Dancing With the Stars" and similar fake reality shows...
I'm surprised Apple caved on this one, I don't think they were in the wrong. $22.99 / 8 is about $2.87 per episode. That is pretty much the going rate. On Amazon a season pass just buys each episode as they are released. The price is the same as everywhere else but I think its more clear. The plus to amazon is if the season you subscribed to starts to suck you can just cancel the season pass and cut your losses.
It is one of the exceedingly rare things on TV that actually deserves the hype that it generates.
Equal parts riveting drama, tense action, and Shakespearean tragedy, with just enough black comedy to keep viewers sane. Quite possibly the greatest show in the history of the medium. No exaggeration.
Will be really hard to see it gone after this Sunday's finale, but kudos to the writers and actors for going out at the top of their game, rather than milking a great show into mediocrity ala M*A*S*H*.
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Apparently Apple knew that I was /planning/ to get the current season of Breaking Bad (I hadn't yet purchased the season pass) and so gave me a credit for the season anyway. Did anyone else get a preemptive credit ?
Carl P. Corliss
It's all greed.
It's why I have no qualms in having my MythTV box at a friends house recording it for me and I get the files sent ot me via dropbox automatically.
Screw them. I give my buddy $10 a month for the box to sit there on his CATV and power.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
I'm sorry, the correct punchline was "I'm uncertain where you're going with that". But thanks for coming in, and please take a copy of our home game.
Nope. Season 5 wasn't going to be the last seasion. They didn't give you an extra 3 episodes, they robbed you of 10 episodes of the blue stuff. They royally screwed up the negotiations with Gilligan.
You can really tell in the last few episodes just how much they're having to pack in, with little breathing room.
AMC are pissing in your pocket and telling you it's raining.
Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
Vince Gilligan himself thought that 4 seasons would be enough to tell the story he wanted to tell, as late as 2010:
http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching/posts/interview-breaking-bad-creator-vince-gilligan-post-mortems-season-three
Every interview I have seen with him since the show started said that the show by its very nature (terminal cancer) was going to be kind of self-limiting as far as length of run. Do you have a source where he says that there were ever plans for a full-length season 6?
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It was their decision to redefine "season" that led to the confusion. In reality, they tried to get advertising spread over two years by offering shorter seasons.
I bought Season 5 from Google Play-- HD version. Same exact issue-- got screwed on season "six" and have been required to buy individual episodes as they come out...
Google, you listening? Where's my refund?
Apple didn't set up the season like that. End of story. AMC / Sony did. End of Story. Apple is being the good guy here and refunding people to maintain customer loyalty in a situation where the content publisher made them look bad. I'll bet any money Apple will make content publishers have to provide more clear definitions of what is being purchased with season passes in the future.
Where's the justice, where's the consumer choice, where's the deterrent effect of an appropriate penalty for breach of contract?
It doesn't cost Apple anything, and depending on the respective profit margins involved, it may actually increase their profits. But remember, what's good for Apple is good for the nation. (Apparently, Apple is the new GM. Otherwise, why did the US federal government back Apple over Samsung in the SamurIP Wars.)
Oh, the humanity!!
Somebody needs to doubt them? I believe that's already been established but only within certain probability... maybe.
...but Breaking Bad's "season break" was 11 months. I don't see how it was at all unreasonable for Apple to be given the benefit of the doubt for treating this like a new season. Because, effectively, it was. It's not like Apple reset the toll between two episodes a couple of weeks apart or anything.
This was a lack of attention on Apple's part, but let's be honest here and call this a stupid marketing stunt on behalf of AMC, too.
Except that Apple didn't decide to charge for the second half of the season separately, that was entirely on AMC. Guess what, if you bought season 5 of B.B. on Google Play, Amazon, or your Xbox, you only got the first half as well. Because AMC decides what is sold. Only difference is if you bought it via any of these other sources, you're still shit out of luck and will have to pay out of pocket to get the second half. Apple is trying to be the good guy here, giving its customers what they originally thought they were purchasing despite AMC's alternative motives to milk as much money out of the final B.B. Season as possible. I know that's hard for you to wrap your Feeble Apple-Hating Mind® around, but it's the simple truth of this specific matter. Now fuck off.
Its true:
"Robert did not take the news well. He jumped on Fergusson and tried to strangle him. Although Ferguson easily fended off the attack, the episode convinced him of Oppenheimer's deep psychological troubles."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Robert_Oppenheimer