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Vs. losing $5000. Blank CDs are cheap and hey, at least you have a backup!

C'mon buddy, that's a very realistic solution. Burn to CD.

That's all fine and good, except burning to CD and re-ripping later results in a not insubstantial loss of audio quality. Considering it seems he is working with old iTunes files with "Fairplay" and not iTunes Plus files (because those are DRM free, there would be no issue), the files are only 128k AAC to beging with. Burning them and re-ripping them is not an acceptable solution.

I would e-mail "Steve Jobs" as mentioned. Then write a REAL LETTER. You'd be amazed how much more attention a real letter gets as opposed to an e-mail or phone call.

If all that fails, I would definitely pursue legal action.
 
That's all fine and good, except burning to CD and re-ripping later results in a not insubstantial loss of audio quality. Considering it seems he is working with old iTunes files with "Fairplay" and not iTunes Plus files (because those are DRM free, there would be no issue), the files are only 128k AAC to beging with. Burning them and re-ripping them is not an acceptable solution.

Well you're buying poor quality audio in the first place (not that the current 128-256k AAC is terrible). But if you're going to all of a sudden be a quality snob, you wouldn't be buying lossy music in the first place.

If you want to minimize the generational loss, only rip from CD in a lossless format once you've burned them. At least in this case you are "preserving" the original quality you had in the first place -- whether that's an uncompressed CD or a 128k AAC.
 
:eek:

That's a bit extreme, especially when the OP said this ...



On eBay. The warning bells are ringing there. Someone is getting rid of them for less than they're worth. Unwanted gift? Ask for the receipt. Yes, it was £200, but the codes are obviously duff. Calling customer services and emailing them is reasonable action. Complaining about the seller of them to eBay is reasonable action. Making this a national issue is such an over the top reaction, that i'm struggling to comprehend it. The mind boggles.

I see this kind of thing all the time and I've considered selling gift cards like this myself. Someone gives you a large(ish) gift card... say $100+ to a store that you aren't interested in. It's not that uncommon to dump it at a small loss to get some cash you CAN use.

Common sense would seem to suggest that Apple has every right to invalidate all purchases made WITH the ill-gotten funds. Going back in time and essentially confiscating all prior purchases is just BS. That's one of the fundamental flaws of DRM in my eyes, the vendor has you buy the b@lls forever. This would be like accidentally paying for some auto repairs with a counterfeit $20 and having them confiscate the whole car.

If it were me I'd try to get this story on the front of every Apple and tech-related website I could. I'm sure lots of sites like HardOCP that rip on Apple regularly would love to front-page some negative Apple press. Then if they don't respond I'd go the small claims court route.
 
I'm not the OP, but I found this thread while looking for a solution for my problem...which is identical.

I have over $800 bucks in iTunes store purchases on an account that's been literally "disabled" just this evening with no explanation other than a vague pop-up window which directs me to a page with irrelevant info.

So far, I've sent a couple emails to Apple and am still waiting for a reply. I'm a little...disillusioned with Apple at the moment. sorry. :mad:
 
Solution!

SOLUTION

If you have an IPOD or IPHONE that still has ALL of your music
google sharepod, it allows you to pull music from your IPOD and put it back onto your computer!

it's pretty nifty but thats all I can offer, unless you didn't store any of your music on your ipod....which is REALLY slim
:D:D:D:D
 
Don't blame the Victim, blame the big corporation!

I don't buy music from Apple because of this very issue of the DRM BS. CDs are far better quality and you have an instant full quality backup.

Apple's abuse of the customer these days is not surprising. Too much arrogance for their own good.
 
I've never understood

why anyone "buys" music from the Itunes store.

Why pay when you don't get ownership? And what you get (until something screws up & you have to repurchase all your music) has crappy compressed sound quality?

I play all my music through Itunes but I buy it on disk. I've got the disks safely archived and the music on a dozen different computers.

Maybe I'm missing something but the Itunes store sure seems, to me at least, like a transparent scam designed for suckers
 
why anyone "buys" music from the Itunes store.

Why pay when you don't get ownership? And what you get (until something screws up & you have to repurchase all your music) has crappy compressed sound quality?

I play all my music through Itunes but I buy it on disk. I've got the disks safely archived and the music on a dozen different computers.

Maybe I'm missing something but the Itunes store sure seems, to me at least, like a transparent scam designed for suckers

Because some people (like me) tend to lose or mess up CDs.
Because some people (like me) tend to listen to music in the background, when compressed sound quality doesn't matter that much.
Because some people (like me) don't own expensive headphones or speakers, also further negating the issue of the compressed sound quality.
Because some people (like me) don't consider a CD worth $17 when I can get it legitimately for $10.

iTunes may not be for you, but it works great for some people (like me).
 
Because some people (like me) tend to lose or mess up CDs.

Because some people (like me) don't consider a CD worth $17 when I can get it legitimately for $10.

iTunes may not be for you, but it works great for some people (like me).

You're math seems a little odd.

I just glanced at the hundred or so cds on my Amazon wish list and the average price seems to be around $11 and the average # of tracks around 15 & goes up to 30 or so.

I suppose you could claim you only buy the tracks you want but my experience is that the tracks I end up most valuing are rarely the ones that first catch my ear.

I also am bad at taking care of disks- that is what I do value about Itunes- I load them onto the hard drive uncompressed & them store the disk.

Much safer than anything stored on computer. I have a RAID array packed up for Drivesavers right now.

And if you buy the music at full quality current you are less likely to find yourself buying it again if someday you get a better system.

Whatever, I just can't make sense of the Itunes store- not cheaper, less durable, lower quality (even if you don't see the point of quality now)

If you buy the music at full quality
 
iTunes-exclusives is the only reason I buy from iTunes, and even then I buy very rarely. But the convenience is probably a big factor for most.
 
why anyone "buys" music from the Itunes store.

Why pay when you don't get ownership? And what you get (until something screws up & you have to repurchase all your music) has crappy compressed sound quality?

I play all my music through Itunes but I buy it on disk. I've got the disks safely archived and the music on a dozen different computers.

Maybe I'm missing something but the Itunes store sure seems, to me at least, like a transparent scam designed for suckers

To be fair, now that DRM is gone (for music at least) you don't have to worry about losing it all if your account is locked. The problem is still there for video and iPhone apps, though.
 
I know that the OP is gone and that this happened a long time ago, but once I got attitude with Apple I would have been on the phone with Visa or Mastercard challenging all Apple purchases since they were no longer usable. When CC companies start calling accounting departments looking for reimbursements, they seem to find solutions.
 
I've never bought anything but gift certificates directly from the iTunes store for other people for this precise reason- they have way too much control over what YOU have LEGALLY purchased from them.

Allowing customers to purchase ANYTHING online comes with a risk- one that should not be borne by the consumer alone. Apple's irresponsible and reckless purchase policies that are fueled mostly by a greed and an unhealthy desire for corporate expansion have led to this unfortunate situation, and now it's time for them to except at least partial responsibility and let the insurance companies take care of the rest.

As for your situation, here is my recommendation to you:

-Don't try to contact Steve Jobs, because you'll probably just get a long and useless reply back from a member of his legal team telling you that you are just going to have to take it hard without a reach around on this one.

-Stop purchasing things from iTunes. The amount of time that you spend jumping through their flaming DRM hoops like a trained circus animal could be better spent on a new hobby, or some other constructive activity like volunteering at a soup kitchen or reading books to school children. In my experience, things that you "buy" from iTunes can disappear if you format, or lose or damage your machine, or too much time passes, and getting them back is not as easy as Apple would have you believe.

-$5000 you say? It's very noble that you've contributed so much to all of the artists that make the music and films that inspire you and improve the quality of your life; however, the reality of the situation is that most of the money you have spent has gone to the bloated paychecks of the fat cats at the production companies, most of which they spend on expensive foreign cars, and cocaine to snort off of the backsides of prostitutes. These individuals are the reason that music and film has become less and less about artistic expression and more and more about creating the perfect formula for selling the maximum amount of homogeneous refuse. If you can say "Hollywood" without gagging and choking back vomit, then you obviously haven't watched enough Hannah Montana, listened to enough 50 cent, or seen enough candid photos of Brittany Spears' vagina.

In short, stop supporting them. Get your music and film library back, but don't spend a dime. ;))

ROW! ROW! FIGHT THE POWAH!!
 
yes yes, i have ~ 3000 songs at 320 kbps (idk if that number is good or anything)
dont pay a single penny :apple:

u could've bought some nice stiff with dat 5k
 
Don't blame the Victim, blame the big corporation!

I don't buy music from Apple because of this very issue of the DRM BS. CDs are far better quality and you have an instant full quality backup.

Apple's abuse of the customer these days is not surprising. Too much arrogance for their own good.

I got over 42,000 songs and that MPEG-4 AAC whether 128Kbps or 256Kbps sounds good. I spent probably over $10,000 on music from iTunes I can hear the difference that Analog Studios then make a CD doesn't sound good. May be at the time! Believe me I got the setup to tell! :D

3879924310_0bc6a746cc_b.jpg
 
yes yes, i have ~ 3000 songs at 320 kbps (idk if that number is good or anything)
dont pay a single penny :apple:

u could've bought some nice stiff with dat 5k

If you don't want to spend $5,000 on songs, then don't buy the songs at all. Pirating songs isn't an good alternative. Just because it's easy doesn't make it right.
 
11. Apple reserves the right to close customer accounts and request alternative forms of payment if a Gift Certificate, iTunes Card, Content Code or Allowance is fraudulently obtained or used on the iTunes Store.
Emphasis mine.

I'm not a lawyer, but this would seem to imply the need for prior knowledge of the fraudulent status of the gift card for that clause to be enforceable. There is also a statement that the cards cannot be resold (section 2 of the gift card ToS), but that would seem to lie solely on the seller, and not on the buyer.

I'd recommend getting a professional legal opinion on the matter if basic customer service (phone or written letter) fails to get anywhere.
 
ebay forbids people to resell Microsoft Windows software because of piracy) so why can't they just stop iTunes card sales? Seems simple to me.

The problem with buying anything from ebay is that you don't know what you get until you have gotten it. I have heard many stories of people getting totally ripped off on ebay purchases and I'm one of them. I just don't use ebay anymore. The 'wheat to chaff' ratio has gotten worse.

I'll sell on ebay if I really need to but so far I haven't. I don't think that ebay can (or wants) to clean themselves up. They make a commission on every sale, bogus or not. The drive to keep it as it currently is makes me doubtful of their long term status. Enough people get ripped off and ebay will die a (well deserved) death.

EDIT: I wouldn't buy ANYTHING that requires an honest seller. Coupons, iTunes cards, gift cards, etc... Heck, even DVD's and CD's too. Had a friend that ordered a set of DVD's and got copies with thick stickers on them for labels. The seller swore they were 'legit'. Yeah... ebay has turned into a back alley in New York where hawkers sell their crap to unsuspecting simps who whine when it's found out to be crap. Regarding the court avenue, if it's in the TOS agreement that the agreement is controlled by the laws of the state of California, you would very likely have to file IN California which would suck if you don't live there.
 
A number of people have posted over the past few months asking the OP whether the issue was resolved in any way; having read the entire thread, I'd also love to know what happened, so if the OP is reading this maybe you can tell us what actually happened.

Cheers and good luck
 
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