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Apple Will Refund $32.5M To Settle In-App Purchase Complaints With FTC

Posted by Soulskill on from the kids-don't-care-how-much-it-costs dept.

coondoggie writes "Apple today agreed to refund at least $32.5 million to iTunes customers in order to settle FTC complaints about charges incurred by children in kids' mobile apps without their parents' consent. 'As alleged in the Commission's complaint, Apple violated this basic principle by failing to inform parents that, by entering a password, they were permitting a charge for virtual goods or currency to be used by their child in playing a children's app and at the same time triggering a 15-minute window during which their child could make unlimited additional purchases without further parental action."

10 of 252 comments (clear)

  1. They should require refund window by Lumpy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    When I buy an app and discover it is a steaming turd, I should be able to click to remove it and get a refund within 15 minutes. That way the parent should see the charges and then reverse them easily. Granted if the parent is too stupid to check why they are getting 30 email alerts in a row after little johnny jumped on the ipad... That's their own fault.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    1. Re:They should require refund window by UnknowingFool · · Score: 4, Informative

      Apple batches the charges as it reduces processing fees for credit cards. If you buy 2 $0.99 apps, it costs them less to run it as one $1.98 charge with two items in the invoice than two separate charges.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    2. Re: They should require refund window by ackthpt · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Because everyone is required to have a constant, always on internet connection tethered to them every moment of their lives?

      Haven't met anyone under the age of 30 lately, have you?

      Like in particular kids. If they can't, like, stay connected then they would simply die, like!

      I'm sitting at an intersection watching high school kids go by and at least 60% of the girls have a phone in their hand, which they are looking at.

      There's a skyrocketing market for behavior modification counselling if ever there was one.

      so, you think Justin's egg throwing was merited and you had to share that with all your friends ... let's work on why that is so important to you ...

      --

      A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    3. Re:They should require refund window by david_thornley · · Score: 4, Insightful

      When doing something that I knew would bore my young son, I'd often give him something to do. If I'd had an iPhone back then, I would have sometimes found a game I thought he'd like and hand it over. I wouldn't monitor him closely in those situations; if I were going to pay that much attention to him, I wouldn't need something to distract him.

      Now, suppose I downloaded and paid for a game. Game purchase authorized. What Apple didn't in general tell people is that that authorization would last past the initial purpose, unless the user dug deep in Settings to turn that feature off. What the game app probably didn't say was that it had in-app purchases that would be tempting to young children. It would be really, really easy for a parent to think he or she was handing something safe to the child without realizing it. Note that, given situations that involve young children, spending five minutes to research something that appears safe isn't always going to happen.

      Young children don't understand money. Enough adults have problems thinking of credit purchases as actually spending money on something. I distinctly remember not understanding money as anything except bills and coins.

      I have absolutely no sympathy with people who write apps like this, that are designed to siphon money from busy parents who don't fully understand technicalities.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    4. Re:They should require refund window by immaterial · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I know I can't figure out my AT&T bill, no matter how I try. I imagine Apple has imitated that art.

      It is truly complicated.

    5. Re:They should require refund window by dk20 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Spoken as a parent?

      So your logic is apple has no fault here even though they approve every app, and these apps with in-app purchases are approved for kids?

      I know, apple is settling because they are correct but feel like handing over some money to reduce their cash balances and its in their shareholders interest?
      PS. There is a huge difference between "owes you money" and "a refund".

  2. I'll believe it when I see it by vinn01 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Apple was pure evil about this. I got my kid an iPod touch a few years ago. I set him up with his own AppleID, and loaded his iTunes account with a generous iTunes gift card. I told him that there were lots of free apps and he should save his money by playing the free apps.

    A couple months later he complained that he could not download any more free apps. I checked his account and he had spent his entire iTunes gift card. You need money in your iTunes account to download a free app. He got very upset and pleaded with me that he had only downloaded free app and he had not gone crazy downloading high priced junk.

    I was able to generate a detailed listing of his iTunes purchases. All the gift card money has been spent on in-game purchases. He had no idea that he was purchasing anything. He showed me. The game would ask if the player wanted something (more time, more bullets, more lives, etc.) and ask for the AppleID password. It was entirely unclear that he was spending real money. No sales receipt was ever generated. I complained to Apple and was told that they don't control in-game purchases and that since we didn't buy anything from "Apple", they could not refund anything. I'm sure that didn't stop Apple from collecting fees on the in-game app purchases.

    Will my son get his gift card money back? I doubt it.

    1. Re:I'll believe it when I see it by Penguinisto · · Score: 4, Informative

      You need money in your iTunes account to download a free app.

      1) They changed this behavior at least since 2010 - you don't even need a card (of any type) to open an account nowadays.
      2) App Store and iTunes are two different entities.
      3) If the kid is younger than 13 or so, why the hell did you not control the password?
      4) FYI: kids at that age lie. A lot.

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
  3. why need an password for free apps? needs more by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    why need an password for free apps? needs more control like say no password for free / updates and or an pin / password for buying stuff.

    I think cable vod systems now have the free stuff not need to use the same buy screen with a price of 0 that PPV VOD gets.

     

  4. 15 minute authorization window closed long ago ... by perpenso · · Score: 4, Informative

    Game purchase authorized. What Apple didn't in general tell people is that that authorization would last past the initial purpose, unless the user dug deep in Settings to turn that feature off.

    I believe this was fixed long ago in an iOS update. The app authorization no longer works for in-app authorization. Once in the app a second authorization is always needed for an in-app purchase. This second authorization for the in-app purchase does seem to create a window of approval for subsequent in-app purchases, however the original app purchase no longer creates such a window. In any case the parent is aware that the app has in-app purchases.