THIS IS A RATHER LONG POSTING, SO PLEASE BEAR WITH ME,
I am writing this posting to share with everyone a less then pleasant experience that I am currently having with the folks at Apple’s iTunes Support.
On January 15, 2011, my wife’s iTunes account was hacked at the tune (no pun intended) $250.00. There were 5 transactions, each titled “Allowance …”, we are thinking these are for some type of online gift cards.
That same day, my wife received a call credit card company that we use on our iTunes accounts, asking about these transactions. My wife’s response was she did not authorize any of these transactions. The credit card company told us to destroy the cards, and started the dispute process.
On January 27, 2011, sent Apple Support an email stating that I was attempting to update a few apps on my iPhone and iPad; however, I kept getting the message that my account had been deactivated. About 20 minutes later I received an email, appeared to be canned, stating that my email had been forwarded to a member of iTunes Support.
On January 28, 2011, I got the first response to my email from the 27th. This email stated that iTunes had received a dispute from the credit card company, and requesting me to review my credit card statement and purchase history, and asking me to respond with my findings. I did not find anything on my account.
On January 29, 2011, I responded with the requested information, which was my account was not touched.
On January 30, 2011, I received a response asking me to supply my billing address, one of the following: the last four digits of the credit card that was in dispute, the order number of my most recent transaction, or the name of any items I have purchased using this account. I supplied everything they asked for.
On February 2, 2011, a week from when this all started, I sent an email expressing my concern over the lack of customer service as it pertained to me being informed of the status of getting this cleared up and the iTunes accounts re-enabled. I detailed the purchase history of all the Apple “I-Products” we have purchased, in an effort to show my loyalty as a customer to the Apple brand.
On February 5, 2011, I attempted to get a hold of someone at Apple that could resolve this issue that is now 10 days old. I called Apple at 800-676-2775; it was number my wife found online, after spending over an hour trying to find a contact number on the Apple website.
After wading through all the voice prompts I was able to talk with an actual human. The young woman was in the Apple Care division, not the iTunes division. She was willing to give me a hand. She listened carefully to my story and was attempting to use their in-house instant message system to get someone in the iTunes support area to help me. She did not have any luck. I expressed that I was not satisfied and that I wanted to speak with a person above her that would be able to get some traction in the iTunes support area.
After being on hold for about 5 minutes, not a big deal, I was greeted by a gentleman that was willing to take his time away from the Apple Care division to help me get a hold of someone higher in the iTunes support division. After about 30-40 minutes, he did not have any luck. He did tell me that my issue was still under review and that it could take up to another week to get this resolved.
Now, here I am typing this posting, after I received a response to my last email on February 2, 2011, three days ago. This email stated the following; it is the exact email response I received.
I want to thank you for your continued patience while Apple researches your issue. Unfortunately, we are still waiting to hear if we can re-enable your iTunes account.
I hope to have a resolution for you very soon and will be certain to notify you as soon as more information is available.
The iTunes Store is dedicated to creating a pleasant music-shopping alternative for music lovers of all walks of life. Your experience is very important to Apple. Thank you for giving Apple the opportunity to improve its services.
Sincerely,
Once again a canned response.
Is it me or does this whole ordeal just reek of a general lack of respect for customers.
Between my wife, my son, and I we have purchased a total of 5 iPhones, 1 Apple TV, 2-iPads, and 6-iPods of different types. I am estimating that we have purchased over four thousand dollars of Apple gear over the years, this does not include all the accessories, music, movies, and apps.
I am positing this email to the following sites:
http://www.ipadforums.net/
http://www.iphoneforums.net/
I am using the following handle “iCrush” on each of the above sites. Please follow this story as it unfolds. I will update it as I get more information.
I am writing this posting to share with everyone a less then pleasant experience that I am currently having with the folks at Apple’s iTunes Support.
On January 15, 2011, my wife’s iTunes account was hacked at the tune (no pun intended) $250.00. There were 5 transactions, each titled “Allowance …”, we are thinking these are for some type of online gift cards.
That same day, my wife received a call credit card company that we use on our iTunes accounts, asking about these transactions. My wife’s response was she did not authorize any of these transactions. The credit card company told us to destroy the cards, and started the dispute process.
On January 27, 2011, sent Apple Support an email stating that I was attempting to update a few apps on my iPhone and iPad; however, I kept getting the message that my account had been deactivated. About 20 minutes later I received an email, appeared to be canned, stating that my email had been forwarded to a member of iTunes Support.
On January 28, 2011, I got the first response to my email from the 27th. This email stated that iTunes had received a dispute from the credit card company, and requesting me to review my credit card statement and purchase history, and asking me to respond with my findings. I did not find anything on my account.
On January 29, 2011, I responded with the requested information, which was my account was not touched.
On January 30, 2011, I received a response asking me to supply my billing address, one of the following: the last four digits of the credit card that was in dispute, the order number of my most recent transaction, or the name of any items I have purchased using this account. I supplied everything they asked for.
On February 2, 2011, a week from when this all started, I sent an email expressing my concern over the lack of customer service as it pertained to me being informed of the status of getting this cleared up and the iTunes accounts re-enabled. I detailed the purchase history of all the Apple “I-Products” we have purchased, in an effort to show my loyalty as a customer to the Apple brand.
On February 5, 2011, I attempted to get a hold of someone at Apple that could resolve this issue that is now 10 days old. I called Apple at 800-676-2775; it was number my wife found online, after spending over an hour trying to find a contact number on the Apple website.
After wading through all the voice prompts I was able to talk with an actual human. The young woman was in the Apple Care division, not the iTunes division. She was willing to give me a hand. She listened carefully to my story and was attempting to use their in-house instant message system to get someone in the iTunes support area to help me. She did not have any luck. I expressed that I was not satisfied and that I wanted to speak with a person above her that would be able to get some traction in the iTunes support area.
After being on hold for about 5 minutes, not a big deal, I was greeted by a gentleman that was willing to take his time away from the Apple Care division to help me get a hold of someone higher in the iTunes support division. After about 30-40 minutes, he did not have any luck. He did tell me that my issue was still under review and that it could take up to another week to get this resolved.
Now, here I am typing this posting, after I received a response to my last email on February 2, 2011, three days ago. This email stated the following; it is the exact email response I received.
I want to thank you for your continued patience while Apple researches your issue. Unfortunately, we are still waiting to hear if we can re-enable your iTunes account.
I hope to have a resolution for you very soon and will be certain to notify you as soon as more information is available.
The iTunes Store is dedicated to creating a pleasant music-shopping alternative for music lovers of all walks of life. Your experience is very important to Apple. Thank you for giving Apple the opportunity to improve its services.
Sincerely,
Once again a canned response.
Is it me or does this whole ordeal just reek of a general lack of respect for customers.
Between my wife, my son, and I we have purchased a total of 5 iPhones, 1 Apple TV, 2-iPads, and 6-iPods of different types. I am estimating that we have purchased over four thousand dollars of Apple gear over the years, this does not include all the accessories, music, movies, and apps.
I am positing this email to the following sites:
http://www.ipadforums.net/
http://www.iphoneforums.net/
I am using the following handle “iCrush” on each of the above sites. Please follow this story as it unfolds. I will update it as I get more information.
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