Apple account terminated, not excited abt iPhone 5 anymore...

[VulchR]

I broke the rules and they won't let me get away with it!

It's such a silly rule - why doesn't apple allow transfer of purchases from one store to another? I'd be willing to bet it's about tax 'minimization'. I also wonder how Apple could enforce this fairly given the prevalence of VPN's.

 

[kaielement]

My guess is it has something to do with legalities of other countries not really Apple. But This is just a guess.....

 

[moosquared]

You gotta read the terms and conditions. See South Park Season 15 Episode 1. Steve Jobs through Tim Cook will turn you into the Human CentiPAD.

LOL. Yes, finally watched that episode.

I broke the rules and they won't let me get away with it!

No need to be a smart assed about it. I did admit that I'm at fault and that I am in violation of the rule. Of course I'm pissed that they block my account. If they have provided the same amount of contents in all of their stores, I won't be making a fuss. But they don't. Apple brought in their devices into Indonesia and yet refused to provide a decent service for us here.

 

[ucfgrad93]

Apple brought in their devices into Indonesia and yet refused to provide a decent service for us here.

Yes, I'm sure it is just Apple hating on the Indonesians. It has nothing to do with the authors, publishers, Indonesian law, etc.

 

[Geckotek]

1. Actually the fact is both stores have circa 600k apps.
2. Quality is very subjective.

The existence of apps that jack your personal info isn't subjective. The fact is the Android app store is laden with cheap crappy knock-offs of actual quality apps (not that the quality apps aren't there too) and apps that are there specifically to steal your data. The Apple walled-garden is actually a good thing for these reasons.

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Yes, I'm sure it is just Apple hating on the Indonesians. It has nothing to do with the authors, publishers, Indonesian law, etc.

That may be true, but most consumers arenot privy to this and as a result will lash out at Apple. Does Apple have anything explaining limitations in other countries to inform customers? This would be helpful I would think.

 

[SR71]

It shouldn't matter whether I was using a credit card or gift card. Apple provide those gift cards as one of the payment option. I'm still a paying customer. The problem is because I'm accessing US iTunes service from outside the US. They "use technologies to verify your compliance".

Apple definitely stated it in their agreement (which majority of us never bother to read) and I can't blame them. I'm just upset that they're blocking non-US customers and only provide a half-ass service to the rest of apple users. There are millions of iTunes users in the US alone. I'm sure I'm not the only one with the same problem.

Why not open up another US iTunes Account and this time don't add a credit card on it. Set it up without a credit card, and from then on, just use iTunes Gift Cards. How will they know you aren't in the US if you've got nothing on file with them? Or am I missing something? Either way, good luck!

 

[Geckotek]

Why not open up another US iTunes Account and this time don't add a credit card on it. Set it up without a credit card, and from then on, just use iTunes Gift Cards. How will they know you aren't in the US if you've got nothing on file with them? Or am I missing something? Either way, good luck!

They can track it in other ways. If he does this, he'll need to make sure he uses a US proxy.

 

[ChristianVirtual]

Why not open up another US iTunes Account and this time don't add a credit card on it. Set it up without a credit card, and from then on, just use iTunes Gift Cards. How will they know you aren't in the US if you've got nothing on file with them? Or am I missing something? Either way, good luck!

To my understanding that's what the OP did. But Apple detected a foreign use. Do they start checking IP Adress ? Understand they check credit card adress and provided invoice adress. But are they doing more mea while ?

 

[rman726]

The existence of apps that jack your personal info isn't subjective. The fact is the Android app store is laden with cheap crappy knock-offs of actual quality apps (not that the quality apps aren't there too) and apps that are there specifically to steal your data. The Apple walled-garden is actually a good thing for these reasons.

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That may be true, but most consumers arenot privy to this and as a result will lash out at Apple. Does Apple have anything explaining limitations in other countries to inform customers? This would be helpful I would think.

I completely agree. I was excited to finally play all the games that I play on my iPhone on my Nexus 7 when I got it. I thought that it was going to be sweet to have a 7" screen that was actually portable (I love my iPad, but portability isn't the best) that I could play those games on. But I continually find myself disappointed when I download a game that I like on my iPhone and then search in the Google Play store. What makes me laugh though is how many damn guidebooks there are on Google Play for the games that don't even exist on the platform. WTF? lol.

As WeegieMac mentioned, it's really only true in the gaming department. I have been able to find the same apps (or at least a decent alternative app) for almost all my non-game apps. But you can really just forget about the games if you are on Android. I think a big part of it is that games tend to be much more time consuming to develop. So for whatever reason (users not willing to pay, fragmentation of hardware, etc.) the developers haven't developed the same games for Android.

For me, I love mobile games. So the game disparity is a big thing for me. I guess it just depends on how you use your phone.

 

[SR71]

They can track it in other ways. If he does this, he'll need to make sure he uses a US proxy.

If I were the OP, I'd just use a US proxy.

To my understanding that's what the OP did. But Apple detected a foreign use. Do they start checking IP Adress ? Understand they check credit card adress and provided invoice adress. But are they doing more mea while ?

Ahh, I was under the impression that he had a US Credit Card on file and they realized he was no longer in the US. I'd still try doing what I said and just use a US proxy, as an above poster suggested.

 

[iFanboy]

This seems so wrong. I don't know why the support guy couldn't just give you a warning. Does anybody actually read the TOS?

Indonesians would have be one of the nicest bunch of people I've ever met. Poor, but very friendly, happy and welcoming. Not a fan of the govt though - they deported me once for some BS reason.

A warning is a kind of "don't do it again" ticking off, but OP was definitely going to do it again and again.

I have no problem with apple on this one. OP was a US customer and then emigrated. He loses access to the US store. I am in the UK, there are things in the US store I want too but can't get them.

It sucks that the Indonesian store is so poor, but apples distribution agreements with the content providers are country specific. If they let users slide they are breaching their agreements with their own content suppliers.

 

[moosquared]

Why not open up another US iTunes Account and this time don't add a credit card on it. Set it up without a credit card, and from then on, just use iTunes Gift Cards. How will they know you aren't in the US if you've got nothing on file with them? Or am I missing something? Either way, good luck!

That's what I did. I removed my credit card info and was using only gift card. I can't use my credit cards anyway, since they don't accept international card.

How will the they know? Apparently they "use technologies" to track you. Yeah, they said that in the TOA. Lol.

 

[eastercat]

It's common sense that the itunes store is limited to each country. It's like DVDs.
The only other thing I can think of to try is to use a friend's address in the US.

 

[Troneas]

yes as EASTERCAT posted, change your address to the US. This is what i do and ive been using US itunes store from abroad for over a year now.

They cant know if you are actually living and not traveling abroad if your itunes address is in the US. Matter of fact your US gift cards should not have worked in the first place if your address is not in the US.

 

[moosquared]

A warning is a kind of "don't do it again" ticking off, but OP was definitely going to do it again and again.

I have no problem with apple on this one. OP was a US customer and then emigrated. He loses access to the US store. I am in the UK, there are things in the US store I want too but can't get them.

It sucks that the Indonesian store is so poor, but apples distribution agreements with the content providers are country specific. If they let users slide they are breaching their agreements with their own content suppliers.

Yeahh... Most likely I'll do it again and again. Maybe with caution? But a warning would be nice, rather than "your account has been terminated and there is nothing we can do". I didn't know I can't do that. I'm sure none of here knew that because none of us bother to read the TOA. Lol.

I'm sure Apple has their reasons not to include Indonesia (laws, piracy, legality, etc.) but as a consumer and a loyal apple fan, it's really disappointing. Indonesia is one of the biggest mobile market in the world and apple is skipping us along with China and India. And countries with lower economies like Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam got the upgrade (I don't mean to offend, but it's the truth).

yes as EASTERCAT posted, change your address to the US. This is what i do and ive been using US itunes store from abroad for over a year now.

They cant know if you are actually living and not traveling abroad if your itunes address is in the US. Matter of fact your US gift cards should not have worked in the first place if your address is not in the US.

I am using US address. Even provided a valid and working US phone number. Everything in my account, screams US. I must be really unlucky to get caught then...

 

[Troneas]

I am using US address. Even provided a valid and working US phone number. Everything in my account, screams US. I must be really unlucky to get caught then...

hmm but something is not right. Apple cannot argue with you if you say you are just traveling abroad on business.


I have a friend who is constantly in and out of the US and spends most of his time living abroad. He brings me the gift cards and he too uses a US address (legit since he has a house there that he rents to someone else) and he has no problems either.

 

[einmusiker]

Apple is getting more and more microsoft circa 1999-like every day

 

[Troneas]

Apple is getting more and more microsoft circa 1999-like every day

i know.


remember when microsoft got sued all over the place for monopolising IE in their OS?


Now apple monopolizes an entire store of apps and its OK.

 

[moosquared]

hmm but something is not right. Apple cannot argue with you if you say you are just traveling abroad on business.


I have a friend who is constantly in and out of the US and spends most of his time living abroad. He brings me the gift cards and he too uses a US address (legit since he has a house there that he rents to someone else) and he has no problems either.

Sigh... Not sure what is wrong there. I haven't tried calling the apple support there because it's the weekend. I'll wait til Monday to call them. See if I can reason with them.

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone!

 

[lordofthereef]

It's easy to get upset at Apple. After all, THEY are the ones blocking you. The reality, though, is simple. They have licensing to worry about. If they don't stick to their own licensing terms, which are agreed upon by content creators, they can get into legal trouble fast. If it helps, consider the fact that the iTunes store is run at slightly above cost. Apple isn't making (much) money on this at all. They make money by keeping you a customer of their hardware. They have rules, regulations, and laws they have to abide by as well.

 

[A Hebrew]

oh well..Android has more fun apps

This sounds like a silly rule by Apple.

 

[WeegieMac]

1. Actually the fact is both stores have circa 600k apps.
2. Quality is very subjective.

Whilst quality is subjective to you, the fact remains that the App Store gets higher quality apps from top developers either first or simply at all.

And again, look at the example of Horn. Released on iOS first, works with a two year old device (iPhone 4) yet when it came to Android last week there were forums full of complaints at the limited number of devices which support it, including the Galaxy S2, which is "younger" than the iPhone 4 is it not?

Now, again my use will vary to yours, but whether you play Infinity Blade or not is irrelevant to the point that top apps from top developers go to iOS either first or exclusively.

Personally, I have spent far too much money on apps to ever walk away from iOS, not that I'm looking to. Titles like Infinity Blade II, Soul Calibur, DoDonPachi, the Final Fantasy series, the Sky TV apps (which come to Android eventually, AGAIN only supporting certain and few devices), the iLife apps ... just some examples of my own use and all top quality apps from top developers. If you don't play games often then the impact is obviously less, but there are still some examples (such as Sky TV) which simply excel on iOS, buying you're not a UK user or Sky customer, it is again as you say, subjective.

 

[Geckotek]

Now apple monopolizes an entire store of apps and its OK.

Exactly how does Apple have a monopoly?

 

[WeegieMac]

i know.


remember when microsoft got sued all over the place for monopolising IE in their OS?


Now apple monopolizes an entire store of apps and its OK.

Um, it's APPLES App Store, and developers have been PAID, handsomely, since 2008 for selling their apps via that store. Are you that naive that you believe Apple should sell Android and Windows Phone apps on its own App Store?

 

[Vegastouch]

Yes, I'm sure it is just Apple hating on the Indonesians. It has nothing to do with the authors, publishers, Indonesian law, etc.

Good question. Do you know or are you just criticizing him with no knowledge of your own? Thats the American way.