Apple - iTunes Accounts

mathepac

I've been an Apple (products & technology) fan for years.

For a number of reasons I needed to register a new iTunes account with a new credit-card. Having finished the registration process a couple of days later I noticed a charge of €1.98 against my card. As I hand't made any purchases, I rang Apple to find out why.

A new account carries a charge of £1 or €1.98 to quote the Apple representative "to ensure the card has money available on it" I said I didn't see in the T&C's that there was a charge for having an Apple iTunes account. He said there was no such charge for the account as it would be refunded against the card when the account closed.

He apologised that I felt I had not been adequately informed and offered to close my account and give me back my money.

I asked what would happen if I changed the card tied to the account or wanted to use a gift voucher. He said as the account was already in existence there would be no additional charges.

However, if a new account is opened using a gift voucher, this would attract the €1.98 charge, refundable against the Apple gift voucher when the account closed.

Anyone else experience this high-handedness, Catch 22 approach to online selling? Amazon etc don't charge me anything unless I buy goods AFAIK, but watch out for the proliferation of this or a similar charge now that Apple has started.

aidan_walsh

Reserving or charging and releasing a small amount is a standard enough (though admittedly pretty crappy) practice for many companies when they check if a credit card is valid. More often than not it doesn't show on many people's account listings.

Not sure why you were told that the amount would be refunded when the account was closed, its normally processed within a couple of days at the very longest.

mathepac

aidan_walsh wrote: »

....
Not sure why you were told that the amount would be refunded when the account was closed, its normally processed within a couple of days at the very longest.

I understand all that; it's the bit about "for the duration of the account" I find puzzling - no issue whatsoever with a small transaction to test card that gets released when card checks out ok.

Zapp Brannigan

mathepac wrote: »

I understand all that; it's the bit about "for the duration of the account" I find puzzling - no issue whatsoever with a small transaction to test card that gets released when card checks out ok.

That's never happened with 2 different Apple ID's I've had?

EDIT; didn't male myself clear, I've had the test transactions but they've always been refunded quickly.

dudara

That sounds a bit odd to me. Normally these test charges are refunded to the credit card within a few days. I've never heard of the charge continuing until the account is closed.

I'd suggest contacting Apple again and speaking to a different customer service rep, as this just doesn't sound right.

dub45

Surely even a test charge should require authorisation? Testing to see if a new card has money? If it hasn't won't the purchase be declined? How do they know that all the cards registered with them continue to have money available?