Did I just get $100 for being a blogger? #applefanboyagain

Last week I blogged a rant about my disappointment in Apple for not backing me up when the iPad Smurfs game charged me $99.99 for A WAGON OF SMURFBERRIES.  Clearly my six year-old had no idea what he was doing and my thought was that Apple should reimburse me and battle it out with the app maker, not have everyone who was screwed by them have to individually go after them.

At first, Apple clearly told me that I was sh#t out of luck.  Then I blogged about it, naturally.

Suddenly, I started getting more emails from Apple’s customer service.  They asked if there was anything else they could do to help me.  I emailed back:

Unless you can refund me the $99.99, I don’t think you can help me. Pretty disappointing being such a loyal Apple customer.

Then I received this email:

… I’m a Senior Advisor with iTunes. Your request has been escalated for further assistance.

I understand that you have an accidental purchase of the in-App “WAGON OF SMURFBERRIES”.

I apologize as this in-app is usually confused for play money. Anyhow I am currently working on this charge, and I hope to have an update for you soon.

Jeff forgive us for this inconvenience, but know that I am here to take care of you.

And then shortly after I received this email:

Thank you for your patience. I have reversed the charge for your in app purchase, which I understand was unintentional.

In three to five business days, a credit of $99.99 should be posted to the credit card that appears on the receipt for that purchase.

Please note that this is a one-time exception, as the App Store Terms and Conditions state that all sales are final.

To help prevent unintentional In-App purchases the following article should be most helpful:

iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch: Understanding Restrictions
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4213

I have to say, I’m very impressed that Apple ultimately changed their stance on this.  I do have to wonder if it is because I blogged about it and perhaps I was triggered at a certain influencer level.  Or perhaps they looked up my account and saw that I do in fact give Apple a lot of money each year and didn’t want me to leave them as a customer.  Or maybe I just got lucky.

Who knows, either way, I’m an apple fanboy again, though let’s be honest, this was never going to really stop me ;)