Apple Will Refund Some Money to MobileMe Users

[MacRumors]

After the keynote yesterday, there was a great deal of confusion around what happens to current MobileMe subscribers with the introduction of iCloud. Apple posted a Knowledge Base article full of information about the MobileMe transition, but for some it caused more questions than it answered -- especially for those who have renewed their MobileMe accounts recently.

Here's some more detailed information.

If you wish, you can cancel your service immediately and get a refund, the amount of which depends on how long ago you renewed.

If you want to keep MobileMe until iCloud comes out, you can do that and still get some of your money back. Just cancel your MobileMe service in the fall, once iCloud arrives, and you'll get a pro-rated refund depending on how long ago you renewed.

All users who had active MobileMe accounts as of June 6, 2011 have had their accounts extended through June 30, 2012 -- that's next year, 12 months away -- for free.

MobileMe will continue in its current form for that time. Nothing changes, if you don't want it to, for a year.

However, you cannot make any changes either. Users cannot get a new MobileMe account either through the 60-day free trial, or by buying a new subscription. Individual accounts cannot be upgraded to family packs and additional storage can't be purchased either.

Refunds

Now, we've heard from lots of readers who are concerned that they're getting a raw deal, mostly because they renewed their memberships recently (some as recently as Saturday or Sunday) and they are upset that people are getting for free what they paid for.

Apple has laid out another knowledge base article that covers cancellation, refunds and the like.

One, Apple will cancel and refund your full $99 subscription payment if your renewed in the past 45 days. However, you will lose all your MobileMe services immediately, and have to sign up again with everyone else when iCloud comes out in the fall.

If your account was renewed 46 days or more in the past, you will receive a pro-rated refund, based on the date you submit your request. Again, you will lose access to all your MobileMe services.

Here's the best part, though:

If you have an active MobileMe subscription and would like to cancel it for a refund, you may do so at any time.

This means you can cancel your MobileMe subscription in the fall when iCloud is released and get some of your money back. This seems pretty fair -- you'll get the full service that you paid for, and will get a little money back.

Related Links:

Apple Knowledge Base: Information about the Mobile Me transition
Apple Knowledge Base: All about MobileMe box refunds and subscription cancellations

Article Link: Apple Will Refund Some Money to MobileMe Users

 

[crisss1205]

I guess this doesn't apply to me, mine would have renewed next week.

 

[DualShock]

...

Here's the best part, though:
This means you can cancel your MobileMe subscription in the fall when iCloud is released and get some of your money back. This seems pretty fair -- you'll get the full service that you paid for, and will get a little money back.

Except for the 20 GB of storage, correct? As I understand it, iCloud gives you 5 GB for free.

 

[OllyW]

I don't think I'll bother. My last renewal only cost £15 anyway and I bought it off eBay so I've got no proof of purchase.

 

[youngsunnz]

so do you lose your me.com e-mail address permanently? or would you get a new one with icloud and e-mails transferred?

 

[duaneu]

Mine just renewed on May 7. Nice to know I can get some money back after switching to the new service.

 

[Laird Knox]

I guess this doesn't apply to me, mine would have renewed next week.

Well you could ask for your 27 cents back or just use the service for the next year.

 

[Mimpd123]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8C148)

so do you lose your me.com e-mail address permanently? or would you get a new one with icloud and e-mails transferred?

It has been asked and answers by many others. When you move to iCloud, you keep your .mac or .me email accounts. It's just a back-end server switch.

 

[kjs862]

this is all very confusing for me

what happens to all my idisk data?

also does the new iCloud manage my PDF documents for me?

 

[Savernake]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8H7)

With all due respect the repetition made this a very poorly written article. It seemed so unusual I scrolled up to see it was a new writer and made my first comment in months.

 

[Michael Belisle]

Mine expired on Saturday. I let it lapse in case something happened with iCloud. Sure was nice to wake up on Monday and see that I'd gotten a free renewal.

 

[Wolfmore]

I still don't get it. I renewed 15days ago. Will they refund by mailing me a check? Or giving $99 to my iTunes account?

 

[sandiegobrian]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8C148)

It has been asked and answers by many others. When you move to iCloud, you keep your .mac or .me email accounts. It's just a back-end server switch.

It is the word OR that bothers me. I have not yet fully switched to my me.com address. I've been using the mac.com address for a long time, and have tried to switch to me.com. As a result, I get mail sent to both addresses.

I'm really hoping that I can keep getting mail at both me.com and mac.com and not be forced to choose.

 

[Trauma1]

Or giving $99 to my iTunes account?

This is one of a few questions I have.

What happens if someone uses a MobileMe activation key today, or in the near future?
Who gets refunded in the case of a gift?
Who gets refunded in the case of another reseller?
Are there pro-rated refunds for 5GB vs 20GB users?

I definitely see the potential of people getting "creative" with activation codes and refunds in the immediate future. Apple was pretty slick with the iPhone bumpers refunds. If you paid for it with a credit or debit card, it was automatically refunded. So if they decide to do this, the people who did not get their MobileMe activation key through Apple are going to get screwed.

This might end up being more than a hassle than it's worth.

 

[jonessodarally]

The bigger issue here (so it seems) is people like myself who have had an AppleID for quite some time, then signed up for MobileMe.

If iOS 5 has you sign in with your AppleID to keep track of music/app purchases, etc... but you have a different account for your email/contacts/calendars through MobileMe... there doesn't seem to be a decent way (at this point, at least) to merge the two accounts.

for reference, here's some people explaining the issue better:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/15351517

 

[macbookairman]

I hope they keep pumping out more Knowledge Base articles about the transition, because I still have a lot of questions, and none of the MobileMe support agents know anything more than I do.

I really want to know what is going to happen with iDisk. Its slow, but it works for backing up some important files. I'm also interested in what will happen with Galleries. I don't use that as much, but I use it occasionally and would hate to see it go.

Edit: I just want to add that what jonessodarally said right above this post is a huge issue for me as well, and something I've been concerned about. Apple really needs to publish some sort of solution to this, or a way to merge accounts.

 

[unobtainium]

The bigger issue here (so it seems) is people like myself who have had an AppleID for quite some time, then signed up for MobileMe.

If iOS 5 has you sign in with your AppleID to keep track of music/app purchases, etc... but you have a different account for your email/contacts/calendars through MobileMe... there doesn't seem to be a decent way (at this point, at least) to merge the two accounts.

for reference, here's some people explaining the issue better:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/15351517

This. So much this.

I hope Apple has figured out a way to do this in a tidy manner. It would really suck to lose all of my iTunes ID data, OR all my MobileMe data. As it stands, seems like it would be one or the other.

 

[Trauma1]

Now that I think of it, MobileMe activation codes aren't tied to a serial number or any other unique identifier. So a refund would most likely go to the end user.

 

[cms2]

I can't remember when I renewed, but I really don't care if I get a refund... if iCloud, unlike MobileMe, actually performs its essential functions, and does them well and in a way that I don't constantly have to check to keep running, I'm happy. I'd pay another $99 to have that. Seriously, MobileMe, how hard is it to keep iCal on two macbooks synced? Half the time, when I enter an event on one, it shows up as a generic "New Event" entry on the other.

 

[iphoneblack]

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What I dislike the most is.. ppl will open many free accounts. Look at gmail...
Apple should charge 99 cents a year after first year...

 

[dasmb]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

What I dislike the most is.. ppl will open many free accounts. Look at gmail...
Apple should charge 99 cents a year after first year...

Except that the whole point is syncing with your iOs and MacOS devices. You likely won't be able to sync one device account to multiple iCloud accounts, which would make a second account little more than an email address -- assuming they'd let you make one without tying it to SOME iDevice.

 

[dawnrazor]

This is good news

I will continue to use mobile me until iCloud is up and then jump to it and get a refund. I only renewed 2 weeks ago.

I'd still like to know if there is going to be something akin to the gallery for photos. And iDisk for uploads and downloads, which I use extensively for sending clients things that are too big to email.

Presumably, the find my iPhone part of Mobile Me will remain in some form.

Lastly, will there be a web presence for iCloud, like the mobile me site?

Questions questions. I pray that Apple don't **** this up again and it proves to be a seamless transition.... it's amlot to ask I think

 

[truz]

I entered a key which renews next month. If I cancel do I still get to use sync for bookmarks and @mac.com and @me.com email accounts for 3 users?

 

[Trauma1]

I entered a key which renews next month.

When did you enter it in? I tried looking now and they seem to have taken down the renewal link.

 

[DocNYz]

I still don't get it. I renewed 15days ago. Will they refund by mailing me a check? Or giving $99 to my iTunes account?

If you click on the information page linked in the article it explains that based on how you purchased it, it'll be a check or go to a CC etc ...

I hope they keep pumping out more Knowledge Base articles about the transition, because I still have a lot of questions, and none of the MobileMe support agents know anything more than I do.

I really want to know what is going to happen with iDisk. Its slow, but it works for backing up some important files. I'm also interested in what will happen with Galleries. I don't use that as much, but I use it occasionally and would hate to see it go.

Edit: I just want to add that what jonessodarally said right above this post is a huge issue for me as well, and something I've been concerned about. Apple really needs to publish some sort of solution to this, or a way to merge accounts.

I'll hate to lose iDisk for sure, but I can deal - there are tons of other options now.

Losing galleries however is going to be a major, major problem if that happens. They're one of the easiest and best ways to share and store super high quality images in a streamline and gorgeous interface. I've set up several for friends'/relatives' weddings so that everyone there can upload and download pics/videos in HQ in one place. If they get rid of them I'm going to ****ing kill somebody.