This morning, I took my six-year old shopping with me. Isn't he a cutie? Well, to keep him busy while I compare prices, I let him play with my iPhone. Since I recently upgraded to the iPhone5, I had zero game apps for my son to play. Hence, I downloaded several free game apps for him to play with while we were in Wal-Mart.
Here's the problem: When I got home, I had three emails from iTunes, thanking me for my recent purchases. My heart started beating fast because I knew that somehow, those "free" game apps had cost me over $40 in stupid upgrades. Worse, I now had to figure out how to fix it. Just how I want to spend my Saturday afternoon.
So how did this happen? Well, once I had entered my Apple ID and downloaded an app, my phone did not ask me again to confirm my Apple ID when I downloaded the next app. I handed the phone over to my six-year old, and he made those purchases without even realizing it. It never once asked him to confirm my Apple ID (which he doesn't know or care about) since I had entered it only a few minutes before.
After several minutes online trying to track down a customer support number, Apple and iTunes refunded the purchases (thank you, Apple and "Jose" who helped me!!!!). In case this happens to you, you will have to fill out the online "contact me" form. They did call me back immediately, and the issue was resolved in less than 5 minutes (though the refund could take up to a week).
Jose told me this refund is a "one-time-only" thing and suggested the following change to my phone so this never happens again:
Settings
General
Restrictions
Require Password--change from 15 minutes to IMMEDIATELY
Though my blog is for book reviews and library ideas, I just had to pass this along. I would have changed this setting before it became a problem if I knew it would cause me such a scare. I'd rather spend that $40 on books or clothes than on stupid in-app upgrades!
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