My kids are into these "free" animal apps on the iPhone called TouchPets. They are basically animatronic dogs you can feed, play with and take care of. The apps are free to download, but of course then they give the kids all sorts of things to buy with real money: new dogs, new toys, etc. My five-year old was playing with my iPhone and somehow managed to purchase over $120 (real money) of coins for the game. I have a password, but I must have been logged in already or something, because he was able to make the purchases.
I'm not sure what Apple's policy is on this. When Apple sends you a receipt, you can click on a link to "Report a Problem". So far I've reported all of the charges, but haven't heard back from Apple. I won't hold my breath. I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't just part of the TouchPets' creators' business model, i.e., kids buying things without their parents knowledge.
At the same time, I realize it is totally my responsibility to monitor these kinds of things and make sure they don't happen. I'm resigned to the fact that I probably won't see that money back again. Some lessons are more expensive than others, and I think I got off pretty easy with this one.
**Update: Looks like I'm not the only one this has happened to. Kids Go On Expensive Buying Sprees
No comments:
Post a Comment