iPod Redeeming free song codes

[Applespider]

OK - through a combination of various giveaways, I've got over 70 song credits sitting in my iTMS accounts - they've been redeemed from the codes over the past few weeks (and some were added by Apple support directly).

My question is does anyone know how clever the codes are in terms of when the expiration date is? I have some indefinite codes, some use by 31 July codes and some use by mid-March ones.

Is the iTMS clever enough to use up the ones with the earliest expiry date first?

 

[Doctor Q]

I've tried and failed to figure this out.

 

[Applespider]

I've tried and failed to figure this out.

Yikes... then there's no hope for the rest of us!

I guess I'll just have to see what happens if I get through them all by 31 July or see if the total drops by x amount when I hit mid-March...

 

[Doctor Q]

I suggest submitting a form here (bottom of page) and asking them directly. And let us know what they say.

 

[devilot]

I tried redeeming a code that had an expiration date in July as well (was it the slurpee cup?! Mine was) and the iTMS told me it was already expired.

 

[john159]

where can i find these song credits ?

 

[JasonReid]

My guess is that once you get it entered in itms it wont expire.

 

[killuminati]

My guess is that once you get it entered in itms it wont expire.

I don't think so becuase once you enter the code, a screen comes up telling you the expiry date.

This is a great question that I have always wondered myself, I am interested in hearing the answer.

 

[Applespider]

Update...

Just as an update, I did mail the iTMS support with my question and got back a cut and pasted guide to 'how to redeem codes' with the note that I should enter my codes before they expire and the suggestion that I should enter as I needed them.

So I wrote back and gave an example of what I was talking about. And pointed out since I had a several codes that I preferred to have a song balance in the iTunes store rather than codes lying around in a drawer.

So today I got another answer back saying that I need to use them before they expire. Well...duh... I know that. I'm asking what bleeding order the iTMS uses them in so I can avoid losing 10 codes later this month.

We'll see what comes back.

In the meantime, since I'm not going to use 70 other tracks just to use up the 10 that expire next week, I guess I can test it empirically if my balance drops by 10.

 

[2nyRiggz]

You can always help me and give me 2!! ....but wow are you at a blank for songs?...it always happen to me when i get a chance to buy i could never figure out what i want.



Bless

 

[Applespider]

You can always help me and give me 2!! ....but wow are you at a blank for songs?...it always happen to me when i get a chance to buy i could never figure out what i want.

Except that gifted songs come off a debit/card rather than a free song balance since it doesn't get charged until the person redeems the song - and the free song might have expired/been used.

My problem is that most of what I want is albums which the free songs don't count against - and if there are 'album only' tracks, you can't even just pay over the odds.

I'll use them all up no problem by the end of July when most of the credits run out. It would just be a slight struggle to do so by the end of next week.

 

[Applespider]

And an answer (in just 3 hours)

I apologize for the previous miscommunication. To answer your question, when you purchase music using free song credits, they are used in the order that they were redeemed on the account. The iTunes Music Store will not prioritize using the credits that will be the first to expire. Per the terms of the promotion, any songs remaining in your account after the expiration date will be removed.

Seems slightly illogical (and un-Applelike to not use the commonsense approach of using up early expiring codes first) - perhaps I'll have to try keeping a note of codes and only using them when I need to. Still, it's only 10 tracks or so that I'll lose - better than rushing through 70!

 

[Doctor Q]

And an answer (in just 3 hours)...

Good job being persistent until you got an answer to your actual question. At least you can now tell what the real deadline is, as long as you keep track of when you redeem which.

 

[iHateWindows]

does anyone know where I can get some free codes? For each legit, unexpired site, I"ll send you a Gmail invite if you want.

 

[StarbucksSam]

Good job being persistent until you got an answer to your actual question. At least you can now tell what the real deadline is, as long as you keep track of when you redeem which.

Yeah... those forms are ATROCIOUS. And they just send you back these pre-fab responses that are irrelevant, I'm amazed that they still do that junk.

 

[Doctor Q]

Yeah... those forms are ATROCIOUS. And they just send you back these pre-fab responses that are irrelevant, I'm amazed that they still do that junk.

I tried to report an error in TurboTax to Intuit and it auto-analyzed my text and sent me to a faq page with what it thought would be relevant entries, rather than accept my form. They try hard to keep you from dealing with a human being. At least Applespider saw signs of life.

 

[Applespider]

Actually, I must confess to having a reasonably good 'relationship' with the iTMS support staff. Generally when I've complained about something - a song's quality, a video not downloading - I've had a response in a day or so with a refund/song credits etc. This is the first time where it took 3 attempts to get the answer.

Next I guess is to submit feedback to Apple asking why the iTMS doesn't take account of expiry codes when it counts down your song balance... surely it would be the logical thing to do?