When it was launched it sold for $49.99.I bet 99¢ is its true value. I have no idea how they've managed to sell it for $25 before.
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$25 golf app for 99 cents today 7/31
- Thread starter Simgar988
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Probably just a few copies sold at that price, so they halved it to $24.99. Why they put it down to .99 for "today" is anyone's guess (it's not National Golf Day or anything). But they should honor anyone's request for a refund if they purchase(d) it today thinking they'd be charged the advertised sales price. I assume they will.
A rangefinder will cost so much more, even a crappy one. $25 even $50 is quite the discount.I bet 99¢ is its true value. I have no idea how they've managed to sell it for $25 before.
the store says $24.99 now
Yeah, its only 11:50pm. Thats on the east coast too.
Oh well, I don't golf anyway, but I might sometime.
Everyone needs to understand that as a developer we can't just make apps "unavailable" for download yet still be available.
We also can't post a price of $.99 and charge $24.99.
This is Apple's problem as they are always a few hours behind what we do. I'm sorry that you guys had some issues with this app, but you should do your best to not blame the developer.
We also can't post a price of $.99 and charge $24.99.
This is Apple's problem as they are always a few hours behind what we do. I'm sorry that you guys had some issues with this app, but you should do your best to not blame the developer.
Not sure you understand this situation. Why do you believe that Apple decided to change the price of a day-long sale halfway through? I find that harder to believe than that the developer had a change of heart and decided to put the app in an "modify" mode, thus making it unavailable for download at the advertised price. Are developers unable to do this? When the developer changes price, are you saying they have no power when the changes occur? That seems at odds with other day-long sales that I've encountered.
Reply from the iTunes Store and my reply...
Apple's reply to my email:
On Aug 1, 2009, at 1:51 PM, iTunes Store wrote:
Dear xxxxx,
I hope this message reaches you in good spirits, my name is Kenyon and I'll be more than happy to assist you with your request today! I understand that when you try to purchase "ViewTi Golf," you receive a message indicating that it is being modified. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
From time to time, the iTunes Store updates the items in the catalog to ensure the highest possible quality for our customers. It's possible that "ViewTi Golf" is being updated and is therefore temporarily unavailable. Please try again in 72 hours. If you still are unable to purchase it, please let me know.
I hope you continue to enjoy the iTunes Store, and thank you for being a loyal customer.
Have a great day!
Sincerely,
Kenyon
iTunes Store Customer Support
http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/ww/
Please Note: I work Tuesday-Saturday, 11:00am-8:00pm CST
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to assist you.
Customer First Name : xxxxx
Customer Last Name : xxxxx
email : xxxxx
Web Order # :
Support Subject : App Store
Sub Issue : Troubleshooting Applications
See additional info below
OS version: Mac OS X 10.5
Country: US
iTunes version: iTunes 8.2
iTunes account name:
Specific request: I have another App Store related question (explain below)
Device: iPhone 3GS
Item title: ViewTi Golf
Details:
I have tried numerous time to buy this app at the $0.99 sale price on 7/31/09. Every time I get a message saying "The item is being modified. Please try again later." Is this a bait-and-switch?
My reply to Apple's email:
The app was not being updated. The issue is the price. The item was listed for $0.99 (on the App Store and in the item description which said "for today") but couldn't actually be purchased. It is my understanding that later in the day some people were able to download the app but were charged $24.99 even while the app was still listed as $0.99. There would be serious legal ramifications if this were standard practice to list a deceivingly low price and then not honor that agreement or charge more. This is an active topic of discussion on several message boards. The App Store and the developer should honor the listed sale price for all who tried to purchase this app.
Apple's reply to my email:
On Aug 1, 2009, at 1:51 PM, iTunes Store wrote:
Dear xxxxx,
I hope this message reaches you in good spirits, my name is Kenyon and I'll be more than happy to assist you with your request today! I understand that when you try to purchase "ViewTi Golf," you receive a message indicating that it is being modified. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
From time to time, the iTunes Store updates the items in the catalog to ensure the highest possible quality for our customers. It's possible that "ViewTi Golf" is being updated and is therefore temporarily unavailable. Please try again in 72 hours. If you still are unable to purchase it, please let me know.
I hope you continue to enjoy the iTunes Store, and thank you for being a loyal customer.
Have a great day!
Sincerely,
Kenyon
iTunes Store Customer Support
http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/ww/
Please Note: I work Tuesday-Saturday, 11:00am-8:00pm CST
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to assist you.
Customer First Name : xxxxx
Customer Last Name : xxxxx
email : xxxxx
Web Order # :
Support Subject : App Store
Sub Issue : Troubleshooting Applications
See additional info below
OS version: Mac OS X 10.5
Country: US
iTunes version: iTunes 8.2
iTunes account name:
Specific request: I have another App Store related question (explain below)
Device: iPhone 3GS
Item title: ViewTi Golf
Details:
I have tried numerous time to buy this app at the $0.99 sale price on 7/31/09. Every time I get a message saying "The item is being modified. Please try again later." Is this a bait-and-switch?
My reply to Apple's email:
The app was not being updated. The issue is the price. The item was listed for $0.99 (on the App Store and in the item description which said "for today") but couldn't actually be purchased. It is my understanding that later in the day some people were able to download the app but were charged $24.99 even while the app was still listed as $0.99. There would be serious legal ramifications if this were standard practice to list a deceivingly low price and then not honor that agreement or charge more. This is an active topic of discussion on several message boards. The App Store and the developer should honor the listed sale price for all who tried to purchase this app.
I received a similar email from iTunes support and I pushed back. Their response:
Jessica here, from the iTunes Store. Thanks for writing back. I understand that you would like to have the sale price for "ViewIT Golf". I will be happy to address this for you.
Unfortunately, I am unable to grant this application at the sale price. The reason you saw the error message that the item was being modified was because the price of the application was being changed. I apologize for the inconvenience.
Thank you for your continued support and loyalty to the iTunes Store, we certainly do appreciate you. Have a wonderful day!
Warm Regards,
Jessica
iTunes Store Customer Support
Looks like Apple is washing their hands of this one...
Jessica here, from the iTunes Store. Thanks for writing back. I understand that you would like to have the sale price for "ViewIT Golf". I will be happy to address this for you.
Unfortunately, I am unable to grant this application at the sale price. The reason you saw the error message that the item was being modified was because the price of the application was being changed. I apologize for the inconvenience.
Thank you for your continued support and loyalty to the iTunes Store, we certainly do appreciate you. Have a wonderful day!
Warm Regards,
Jessica
iTunes Store Customer Support
Looks like Apple is washing their hands of this one...
The error message people got is what happens when something changes in the store, either a new update or a price change. So if the dev changes the price right now it will take a few hours to propagate to all of the iTunes servers, in the mean time it will tell you the item is unavailable. If you try and buy an app right after a new update is approved it will do the same thing.
The other problem is that iTunes caches everything, so that is why some people who saw the 99 cent price then bought it later got charged $24.99. It would be nice if you could disable this cache, it makes checking top 100 lists a pain.
The other problem is that iTunes caches everything, so that is why some people who saw the 99 cent price then bought it later got charged $24.99. It would be nice if you could disable this cache, it makes checking top 100 lists a pain.
I'm pretty sure that Apple will refund the diff (or the whole thing, and retrieve the download on next sync [do they do this?]) for those of us who purchased it and found the higher charge that day. In this case, though, I believe the dev holds responsibility and should somehow honor what they advertised.
Close. They became number two - second only to MLB at bat.
I think you are on to something here. Makes me dislike them even more.
to me the group owning this app must be day traders.
How can your app range from $.99 to $49.
http://appshopper.com/sports/viewti-golf
Something isn't right here
How can your app range from $.99 to $49.
http://appshopper.com/sports/viewti-golf
Something isn't right here
I wrote to Viewti and heard nothing back (nor do I expect to). They have no phone contact, and their whois is hidden (no surprise). Wrote to Apple and the reply was that they would "more than happy to refund this purchase," but that the charge has to process first; my request has been flagged for follow-up. We'll see.
Needless to say, the app did not receive multiple stars from me in review.
Also, I do golf; the developer's losing potential customers through their actions...at least half a dozen of my golfing buddies.
Update: itunes refunded the whole amount ($24.99, not the difference between that and the .99 advertised). I guess Apple agrees that Viewti was taking advantage of us that day.