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Apple Sends Another MobileMe Apology E-mail and Extension
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a couple of years ago i paid for a carphone warehouse contract (£30 a month for 600 minutes and 500 texts). They only gave me 75 minutes and 25 texts and told me to carry on using my phone as normal and they'll refund the difference. For 6 months i was getting phone bills of £150 plus (which they took out!). I phoned them every week for about an hour (10p a minute) and every time they promised to get it sorted.
In the end i cancelled the direct debit as they had charged me around £800 before working out the difference.
What did they do?
Sent the debt collectors round.
I started the direct debit again, was on the crappy tarriff for another 6 month paying a fortune then at the end of the 12 months they said that they'd worked out that they owed me £80 pounds and for my year of inconvenience, hundreds of pound in call centre charges and about 5 letters of complaint and being over charged by about £600 what did they give me?
A £5 voucher to spend in store on accessories!
They still owe me £600 but no matter how hard they try, they won't give it to me. I gave up about a year ago.
Think yourselves lucky MobileMe isn't run by a company like Carphone Warehouse!
In the end i cancelled the direct debit as they had charged me around £800 before working out the difference.
What did they do?
Sent the debt collectors round.
I started the direct debit again, was on the crappy tarriff for another 6 month paying a fortune then at the end of the 12 months they said that they'd worked out that they owed me £80 pounds and for my year of inconvenience, hundreds of pound in call centre charges and about 5 letters of complaint and being over charged by about £600 what did they give me?
A £5 voucher to spend in store on accessories!
They still owe me £600 but no matter how hard they try, they won't give it to me. I gave up about a year ago.
Think yourselves lucky MobileMe isn't run by a company like Carphone Warehouse!
so it seems to me that if this authorisation mistake has negatively affected the available balances on current accounts (if they gave their debit card numbers), then it is indeed a serious matter and the point set out below does not take that into account.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2408
"Why is Apple extending subscription periods?
The transition from .Mac to MobileMe was a lot rockier than we had hoped. We will be extending subscriptions by 30 days to customers free of charge to express our appreciation for their patience during the transition period.
Am I eligible for the 30-day extension?
You are eligible if one of these applies to you:
you were a .Mac member whose account was active as of July 9, 2008
you are a new MobileMe member who created your account on or before July 15, 2008 at 7:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time"
Go through the small claims court (that is what it is called in Scotland). Take legal action against someone high up in the company for lost monies. The person you cite must turn up court on the day allocated to your claim. The thought of this will cause them to change their attitude.
Cheers for that. I might just do it. I've gotten over it now, and it was so stressful I never wanted to dig it up again. I wonder if it's too late? How would I prove anything? It was online bills only and carphone never had a record of ANYTHING!
Cheers, i'm looking into it.
I certainly hope that I am not affected by this. I started my MobileMe trial two days ago and there certainly isn't $100 in my bank account for them to mess around with. Infact, I believe the account I used only had $15 in it. It's not going to be a pretty sight if I start seeing charges for this...
Yeah, once you've p*&sed someone off by screwing/overcharging them, especially when the funds may be held for a month, you are not going to see them back as a customer. It's really sad Apple botched this launch so badly, it looks like a promising product idea.
i don't know what department at apple screwed up this time but it makes me certainly worried about the 1-click buy feature at itunes or the .mac auto renew.
i used to trust apple more with money related things than most other companies but now i'm not sure if they are any better.
sad
btw: if this had happened to microsoft or at&t then everyone here would be gloating (comments like: it's your own fault if you deal with a sh%tty company like that)
i used to trust apple more with money related things than most other companies but now i'm not sure if they are any better.
sad
btw: if this had happened to microsoft or at&t then everyone here would be gloating (comments like: it's your own fault if you deal with a sh%tty company like that)
It's not quite that simple. A debit card is linked to your bank balance - if your available balance has changed the money has gone.
In the UK most people pretty much live off their debit cards - if their balance goes negative they're screwed. Can't get money out of an ATM, can't pay for anything.. it's a major deal.
Also *every* transaction that they honour in that state incurs a punitive bank charge. Your gas bill my clear but they *will* charge you - don't think you'd get away with it because you 'really' have the money left. They don't distinguish between 'pending' and otherwise... as I and many other people have found out to our cost.
This is yet another rediculous mistep for Mobile Me. Now that I have tried to get all of my contacts to use my ".Mac"/MM email addy, I like many expect Apple to get this stuff right ASAP. Contacts and calendars are still not syncing on my iPhone. It is terrible service.
However, I also offer this advice, don't ever, ever use checking accounts for things like free trials, special orders, or the like.
Credit cards and the ability to dispute charges are always the way to go. Then the hold(s) placed on accounts to not affect the balances of your actual money.
If things go to the crapper you dispute the charges. It may take awhile, but it is worth it.
--HG
However, I also offer this advice, don't ever, ever use checking accounts for things like free trials, special orders, or the like.
Credit cards and the ability to dispute charges are always the way to go. Then the hold(s) placed on accounts to not affect the balances of your actual money.
If things go to the crapper you dispute the charges. It may take awhile, but it is worth it.
--HG
I consider debit cards the equivalent of checks, just a bit more convenient. Why not use a credit card instead? At least that means that the charge won't come due until the next billing cycle.
That doesn't change the fact that Apple screwed up, so it's appropriate that they've acknowledged a serious mistake.
The majority of the population in the UK don't have a credit card. Most people do have some form of debit card though.
Apple should be apologising here - contrary to what some earlier posters have said, this is a criminal offense in the UK, and I am surprised they are not offering something a bit more substantial because if anyone presses charges they are likely to end up in court.
Phazer
Well, yes, that's what I use a credit card for, and yes debit cards are in some ways an equivalent of cheques (which are no longer accepted in the vast majority of shops or businesses here). A lot of people don't use credit cards though because they're too tempted to spend more than they can pay back, and then the high interest rates kick in and it can be a bit of a downward spiral...Credit cards are fine if you keep track of your spending and pay off the balance in full each month, but can be dangerous if you're not careful
Anyway, if anyone does get bank charges for going overdrawn as a result of this MobileMe error, Apple really should pay them...
Actually, statistics show that about two thirds of the UK have at least one credit card. That's the majority.
While that does stink, and I would probably be equally upset.... I think Apple is going through growing pains, and may have tried to release too much at once. Once it is sorted out, everyone will be happy again. I have been through rockier times with other companies, but I still feel my Mac is the easiest thing to use, with the best apps, and I like Mobile me (Although I do not have an iphone, I am using it with my palm centro).
I am not trying to apologize or justify their mistake, but I think they got overwhelmed this weekend - trying to take on too much at once.
One thing I do credit them for it the public apologies and atleast offering to try to rectify the situation and make restitution to all those effected. Most companies would have done nothing for the inconvience, and would have (maybe) fired a few low-level employees who had little to no control over the situation (I know I worked for a few of theose), rather than the higher up ones.
On the other hand, I hope these growing pains does not put them on a path of just becoming another electonics/computer company. I would hate to see them turn into another Microsoft, Sprint, Dell.....
I am not trying to apologize or justify their mistake, but I think they got overwhelmed this weekend - trying to take on too much at once.
One thing I do credit them for it the public apologies and atleast offering to try to rectify the situation and make restitution to all those effected. Most companies would have done nothing for the inconvience, and would have (maybe) fired a few low-level employees who had little to no control over the situation (I know I worked for a few of theose), rather than the higher up ones.
On the other hand, I hope these growing pains does not put them on a path of just becoming another electonics/computer company. I would hate to see them turn into another Microsoft, Sprint, Dell.....
Maybe Apple should stop making these web things and go back to what they're good at - making iPods.
Or Macs....
I signed up for one of these trial accounts. I let my .Mac account expire years ago but still use the mac.com address as my AppleID. My new me.com account had the same name as my old mac.com account and for convenience I used the same password. While I could login through the preference pane I could not login at me.com. I went back and forth for two days with MobileMe support trying to get it to work. I finally changed the password of the MobileMe and was able to login on the web.
The lesson seemed to be that if you have an expired .Mac account and new MobileMe account with the same username and password you can't login on the web.
The lesson seemed to be that if you have an expired .Mac account and new MobileMe account with the same username and password you can't login on the web.
I agree totally with your last statement. I also get very weary when vendors do so and with good reason. It's their way of getting a hook into your account and I despise that!
Example why this practice should be banned:
Subscribed to a trial of my local newspaper to see if I would like their pdf on line format. No preview available until you signed up for a trial account. Didn't take us long to know this was not for us and we cancelled immediately, way ahead of the trial expiration. Guess what? One month later I notice a charge on my CC for this. Man I was pissed and ya know what? It took 3 damn months of my time and countless emails before I got it rectified. That sux!
Bottom line is if someone offers me a trial, I want a preview of what IM potentially buying and no hook into my CC! If the service/product is that good, then they don't need to use this gimmick/tactic!
Now as far as Apple goes, it appears this was an honest error, their doing their best to remove the pre authorizations to charge and they caught this before people were charged. And, they offer more free time. At-least they acknowledge the problem and try to make amends for it. I applaud them for that.
However, they should eliminate this crap in the future and offer a real free trial with no potential to charge what so ever. They can just automatically expire at the end of the free trial.
The consumer can then decide then if they want to purchase said service either during the on going trial if they like, or after said trial expires.
These practices to hook into our accounts are just tastless and should be banned.