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Apple Offers Refund To Stiffed Breaking Bad Season Pass Customers

Posted by timothy on from the we're-sorry-you-caught-us dept.

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.

13 of 215 comments (clear)

  1. Netflix by SimonTheSoundMan · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.

    1. Re:Netflix by kthreadd · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Some of us are not allowed to have Netflix, or some of the content on it.

    2. Re:Netflix by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      The last season isn't available on Netflix.

      [insert something witty for mod points]

  2. That's not a refund. by Forbo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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.

    1. Re:That's not a refund. by SimonTheSoundMan · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Meanwhile Apple can profit from the interest. It may be pennies on this single credit note, but increase that to tens or hundreds of thousand people and Apple are sure to profit handsomely.

    2. Re:That's not a refund. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      You guys realize Apple doesn't set prices or chose how seasons are offered for sale. They can't refund money they have already given to AMC. This is a good faith measure. Why are you complaining to apple when AMC is the reason this happened?

    3. Re:That's not a refund. by msauve · · Score: 3, Insightful

      But (assuming the second half costs the same as the first), the net effect is that people get more than they bargained for - they have the choice between using the credit to pay for the second half season - getting exactly what they paid for, or they can chose to use it for something else.

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    4. Re:That's not a refund. by wchin · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Bashing Apple has become a favorite past time for some people. Yes, AMC is at fault here. Apple did the right thing - I'm curious if AMC is going to reimburse Apple for the loss.

  3. Season 5 versus Series 5. by goombah99 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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?

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    1. Re:Season 5 versus Series 5. by Missing.Matter · · Score: 4, Insightful

      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.

      And if I were your customer and you said this to me, I wouldn't be your customer any longer. AMC has broken seasons in half before. With the Walking Dead seasons 2 and 3, they broke the season in two, with the first half airing Oct - Nov, and the second half airing Feb - March. If you bought the "season" pass in Oct, you got the episodes airing in March without having to pay again. Thus, anyone buying a season pass to Breaking Bad season 5 had every expectation that they would get the first half and second half, since the are all part of the same season. From the start, it was announced that Season 5 would be the last. Now all of a sudden they want to charge for a Season "6" or "5.5" to capitalize on the popularity of the show? Sorry, but customers see this bullshit money grab for what it is from a mile away. I for one bought season passes to Walking Dead and Breaking Bad for 8 total seasons. I won't be buying any more.

  4. Apple needs to go after Sony and AMC for the costs by Ellis+D.+Tripp · · Score: 5, Informative

    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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  5. Re:Apple needs to go after Sony and AMC for the co by Hatta · · Score: 5, Funny

    Somebody really needs to go all Heisenberg on their asses....

    I'm uncertain what you mean by that.

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  6. Re:Apple needs to go after Sony and AMC for the co by MatthiasF · · Score: 4, Funny

    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.