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Apple has announced that it’s to settle a class action lawsuit about in-app purchases — that could have involved more than 23 million App Store users! — by bunging the affected parties free iTune credit.
The case was brought by disgruntled parents, whose children had racked up massive bills on virtual items inside free iOS games. Apple will settle with the majority of irritated parties by offering them $5 of iTunes credit, which is not even four quid. If users can prove that purchases were made without their knowledge, though, Apple is willing to offer larger sums of credit or cash.
The case first popped up in 2011 when customers using iOS 4.3 reported massive bills, and since Apple has added more parental controls to avoid the problem. Following approval by a judge, Apple hopes to roll out the credit towards the end of 2013. Looks like it could turn out to be quite a costly mistake. [GigaOm via Verge]
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Does Apple now think the entire world exists in the Apple ecosystem?
What’s next? Will it start paying out it’s shareholders in Itunes vouchers? Maybe it will start handing out Itunes vouchers to charities?
Assumably the people in the suit are already in the ecosystem, hence the case. However I do get what you mean, I would want a full refund, not a $5 iTunes voucher!
I own a lot of apple products, I’m pissing away my money at them, give me free iTunes credit!
My niece racked up £20 worth of in app purchases on my dad’s iPad, so he rang Apple and they refunded him which I thought was pretty decent of them. He has now switched off in-app purchases, lesson learnt.
While $5 does seem a bit cheap, considering people had received massive bills which I’d assume are more than $5, the nasty bit of me can’t help but think that this is what happens when you let your kids play with your phone.