Boy runs up enormous iTune bill in minutes


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That is disgraceful, allowing an app on the market to charge that sort of money for a game

In my opinion, this one is more disgraceful...

I_Am_Rich_sale_screen.png

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Geez, does anyone know what the app does ? Apart from make the dev rich

Here's a detailed video walkthrough...

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parents should have enable restrictions, that will make any in-app purchase to require a password. by default there is only a ok/cancel button to confirm the purchase...

It did. They inputted it so he would be quiet about it without paying any attention to what it entailed. And then this kind of thing happens.

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Here's a detailed video walkthrough...

8 people bought it without realising they were going to be charged $1k for a $1k app.... wow, and it's not even really an app

OK and who's fault is that?

Apples

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OK and who's fault is that? The kid's or the irresponsible parents?

I say the parents.

So you sit there and play all games that your kid may want to play to check for overpriced in game purchases? apple could do a lot more to protect against this, the session used to download from app store should not be linked with in store purchases (assuming that's how this issue came about i've yet to try)

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I'm surprised at how many here didn't realise that iOS games have a ?69.99 option. Every game I know of which has this free model on the iOS has this.

On the Android version of those games it's usually ?69.99 before VAT as well (for those in countries with VAT).

You all obviously need to play your The Simpsons tapped out/Hay Day/Jurassic Park/Albion/whatever games more ;)

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Well when I was younger my mother used to tell me that stupid people deserve to get ripped off. This exactly the case, the parents are stupid for not actually looking what their 5 year old is doing, they deserved to get ripped off, at least explain that buying things online is not an option until a parent is next to a kid. When I was 6 I bought an monoringtone that cost 2 bucks and was already explained to that I should not do these kind of things without asking and this kid racked up a 2k bill and now everyones blaming the dev and apple..hypocrites.

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Well when I was younger my mother used to tell me that stupid people deserve to get ripped off. This exactly the case, the parents are stupid for not actually looking what their 5 year old is doing, they deserved to get ripped off, at least explain that buying things online is not an option until a parent is next to a kid. When I was 6 I bought an monoringtone that cost 2 bucks and was already explained to that I should not do these kind of things without asking and this kid racked up a 2k bill and now everyones blaming the dev and apple..hypocrites.

$2 or $2000. Yeah, it's exactly the same as your story.

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No, but that's irrelevant, isn't it? We can talk about horrible business models, pricing, and so forth until we're blue in the face, but so long as you give a kid access to something that can pull money out of your account, whether it's 5 minutes or 5 days, you're still an irresponsible person. Considering the purchases that can be made in some games, it's definitely worth noting at least.

Fair enough but shouldn't iOS ask you for your password everytime you make an in-app purchase? In this case the father entered his password once and then got charged 20 separate times automatically.

Normally shouldn't it be that you enter your password and the game charges you (in this case $105) and then if you need to make another purchase it should ask you again for the password. I highly doubt there's a save password option (I don't use iOS). I wish the article would have posted the game name so you could see the comments / try it.

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Fair enough but shouldn't iOS ask you for your password everytime you make an in-app purchase? In this case the father entered his password once and then got charged 20 separate times automatically.

Normally shouldn't it be that you enter your password and the game charges you (in this case $105) and then if you need to make another purchase it should ask you again for the password. I highly doubt there's a save password option (I don't use iOS). That's what I'm trying to get at, this game ran up several charges in a short space of time without asking for the password again.

no, and that's part of the problem. iOS is set up so once you enter your password for a purchase there's a short amount of time (like 10-15 minutes) where charges can be made without the password

though it shouldn't this includes in-app purchases

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8 people bought it without realising they were going to be charged $1k for a $1k app.... wow, and it's not even really an app

Apples

No. The parents should know better than to give their child an iPad with their credit card number stored in it. They should have chosen the option not to store the credit card so the kid would have to ask them for it before making the purchase, so it is his parents fault and their responsibility to make sure their child doesn't do anything stupid.

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No. The parents should know better than to give their child an iPad with their credit card number stored in it. They should have chosen the option not to store the credit card so the kid would have to ask them for it before making the purchase, so it is his parents fault and their responsibility to make sure their child doesn't do anything stupid.

lol, ok, I`ll go as far as to say it is ALSO the parents fault, but if Apple stopped daylight robbery from hitting their app store, then parents could happily let their kids play a game on a tablet without worrying about being bankrupt in 10 minutes

Apple does not sh*t gold, no matter how blinded you are by their shiny iDevices

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lol, ok, I`ll go as far as to say it is ALSO the parents fault, but if Apple stopped daylight robbery from hitting their app store, then parents could happily let their kids play a game on a tablet without worrying about being bankrupt in 10 minutes

Apple does not sh*t gold, no matter how blinded you are by their shiny iDevices

that and they really need to fix the policy on where it asks for password more

only having to enter password once for a short amount of time for the app store is fine but I believe that you should have to enter your password every time you make an in-app purchase

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that and they really need to fix the policy on where it asks for password more

only having to enter password once for a short amount of time for the app store is fine but I believe that you should have to enter your password every time you make an in-app purchase

Yea definitely, I know Android has a pin for purchase but I've never paid for any in-game content so not sure if it asks every time or not

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I heard Apple refunded the money, a pretty rare move of kindness from them.

Nothing to do with kindness. I have had over a dozen refunds. Do you people really think a company like Apple would be in business if it didn't have great customer service and policies? Come back to reality.
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lol, ok, I`ll go as far as to say it is ALSO the parents fault, but if Apple stopped daylight robbery from hitting their app store, then parents could happily let their kids play a game on a tablet without worrying about being bankrupt in 10 minutes

Apple does not sh*t gold, no matter how blinded you are by their shiny iDevices

Daylight robbery? Wow. Now immoral = illegal? How about no. Apple shouldn't even have refunded the money, maybe those brainless parents think a bit more next time before handing a credit card info stored device to a kid who hasn't been thought how to behave in these situations. Also the game is 9+ whats the excuse now? "Oh everyone does it" right?

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Daylight robbery? Wow. Now immoral = illegal? How about no. Apple shouldn't even have refunded the money, maybe those brainless parents think a bit more next time before handing a credit card info stored device to a kid who hasn't been thought how to behave in these situations. Also the game is 9+ whats the excuse now? "Oh everyone does it" right?

?? Wut? :s

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Sorry. Only the first part was meant to you. Everything from Apple shouldn't is not. Should have clarified that :(

One person said that Apple refunded the money which I think they shouldn't have done in the first place. So I'll let my kid order 2k worth of MP3s from an local online store and then go complain it wasn't me so I'll just get free stuff be it overpriced or not. They tell me to go and **** myself.

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Daylight robbery? Wow. Now immoral = illegal? How about no. Apple shouldn't even have refunded the money, maybe those brainless parents think a bit more next time before handing a credit card info stored device to a kid who hasn't been thought how to behave in these situations. Also the game is 9+ whats the excuse now? "Oh everyone does it" right?

(Y) Thank you

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Well I guess I will never understand some peoples views, you know, not being brainwashed by Apple n all, wouldn't matter if Apple was funded by human trafficking to some people, the sun would still shine from their ass

"Hey your iPhone was created using the money gained by selling a 13 year old to the sex trade"

"Well, it's the parents fault, they shouldn't have let her play in the street"

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apps with in-apps purchases should not be under the 'free' category

I wouldn't mind seeing a "Freemium" category, but imagine the outrage from developers and publishers; it would never get past the proposal stage.

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