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Apple Sends Another MobileMe Apology E-mail and Extension

macrumors.com — Amidst the rocky .Mac to MobileMe transition last week, Apple made one other mistake that it is now apologizing for. Apple had been preauthorizing charges up to 121 GBP to European customers who signed up for a free MobileMe trial. For debit accounts, this preauthorization charge may actually remove that amount of money from the customer's availabl

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  • lquid, on 07/19/2008, -4/+21LOL
    Apple wants our money? You don't say...
  • taizoshiozaki, on 07/19/2008, -2/+12That's about US$241 right ? How did they come up with that number ?
    • dyranios2, on 07/19/2008, -5/+2lol maybe a price increase has been leaked or something
    • WaveRunningNakd, on 07/19/2008, -1/+5typeo?
    • drewpost, on 07/19/2008, -3/+2It's only $241 B/C the dollar is so weak.
    • grassiness, on 07/19/2008, -1/+1"Apple had been preauthorizing charges up to 121 GBP to European customers."

      Our european currency is still € aka. Euro. WTF has Europe to do with GPB?

      This reads like

      "Apple had been preauthorizing charges up to 121x Pesos to U.S. american customers."
      • ricodued, on 07/19/2008, -0/+3The original site that reported it was The Register, which is a British website.

        Obviously, to help readers more easily digest the information, the amounts were converted to localized..er.. localised units.

        It's like saying, "Mexican government accidentally charges $2.2 million in overdue taxes to five-year-old."
      • grassiness, on 07/19/2008, -3/+2Aaah ok. I wasn't aware that they still have Pounds in the UK, because I thought they were a part of the european union.

      • m3mn0n, on 07/20/2008, -0/+2I'm Canadian and even I know not all EU member nations use the Euro dollar as their currency.
      • xtraa, on 07/20/2008, -0/+1There are 15 States in the EU that uses the Euro, they are aka EWWU.

        Some other members like Poland, England or Rumania don't have the Euro, because they are too poor yet and don't match the criteria.


      • abhiroop, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1I'm sorry England is too poor?????
  • Soragon, on 07/19/2008, -10/+18Well at least they are doing SOMETHING.... Unlike some companies...
  • michaelphw, on 07/19/2008, -1/+6Image of email - http://files.litfusefilms.com/stuff/michael/mobile ...
  • MacParrot, on 07/19/2008, -1/+10Apple needs MobileMe to do well for future iPhone sales and service. This is NOT the way to do it. Give the money back, offer apologies and a free year for those affected. Apple will make it back eventually but only if people stay with the service and feel any confidence with it.

    • Goblin, on 07/19/2008, -0/+3At this stage I now have four months to try out the service. I'm lucky enough to have balance to spare on my cards, but this could be nasty for people living on the limit of their cards. You could argue that they shouldn't be thinking about services like this then, but not really the point.
    • mikev, on 07/19/2008, -0/+3giving people a free year of 20gb storage and push everything is a bit much. it would be nice but i don't see any reason to complain for an additional free month
    • clharlem149, on 07/20/2008, -0/+21. they are giving the money back; that's how an authorization hold works. though they may still get complaints from people whose accounts were forced past their limits, that will have to be dealt with on an individual basis.

      2. they did offer apologies...the letter...that is the basis of this article...

      3. a free year is both ridiculous and unnecessary. this is minor damage, and an extra free 30-day period has already been provided, definitely enough time for this incident to be resolved and forgotten.

      so i'm sure people's confidence won't be wavering for long...
  • wildsnake, on 07/19/2008, -3/+7Apple didn't send me crap
  • damian7, on 07/19/2008, -11/+9Just send a few pictures of Steve Jobs nude, that should settle the fanboys
    • PabloMac, on 07/19/2008, -2/+1You're the one who brought it up.
      • synergye, on 07/20/2008, -0/+1That's what she said...or didn't say.
  • Wootstapler, on 07/19/2008, -2/+3Is it just me, or does the Calender tab NOT work on MobileMe?
  • OffPiste, on 07/19/2008, -9/+15There just seems to be no end to Apple's blunders.
    • homanh, on 07/19/2008, -1/+1I saw 0 and it made no sense that people wouldn't digg you, I swiched to detailed rating and its +7/-6 ... HAHA apple fanboys working at full force it seems. No wonder all the comments are at or near 0 rating
  • CryTekEmployee, on 07/19/2008, -20/+8Microsoft 1, Apple Gay
    • wacomwacoff, on 07/19/2008, -0/+2Apple's gay for apologizing proactively and giving their users free stuff?

      No, not really.
      • CryTekEmployee, on 07/20/2008, -2/+1husbands do the same thing after they cheat on their wife.
  • bicycleman, on 07/19/2008, -16/+5Apple is gay all around. Only simpletons follow and use MAC. I prefer to use my brain instead of "fooling" a MAC to do something.
  • dcollins, on 07/19/2008, -3/+6Billing subscriptions seems like the simplest thing to me. I don't get how coders for these huge companies are always screwing it up.
    • naden, on 07/19/2008, -1/+1Apple sells billions of dollars a year to millions of customers with millions of cards and millions of addresses. But yeh I'm sure you could do it all yourself with RoR and some duct tape.
      • dcollins, on 07/19/2008, -0/+2Sorry if saying something bad about apple killed your boner for them for a second.

        And yes its pretty easy. You have a database with customer info and the day of the month they need to be billed. Run a daily task that bills all the users whom owe money that day. Wow that sounds hard.
      • naden, on 07/19/2008, -2/+2Apple runs the largest SAP installation in the world which has to deal with the myriad of different country tax rates, credit card models and downstream payment/infrastructure providers. All while maintaining a SLA that needs to be much better than just a daily job.

        If you think your stupidly simplistic model would actually work then clearly you about 10 years old and have never worked on a large scale system before.
    • bjornski, on 07/19/2008, -0/+2By hiring people who will work for as little as possible.
  • striker1211, on 07/19/2008, -11/+2Who uses a debit card online anyway? OH yeah, teens and people who don't understand preauthorization procedures, that's who.
    • waydee, on 07/19/2008, -0/+6What?

      I'd wager a lot of people use a debit card online since they're accepted everywhere and everyone has one if they have a bank account.
    • Me1000, on 07/19/2008, -0/+4Or people who dont want to use credit to buy everything?

      People who have bad credit?

      People who dont live pay check to pay check because they cant pay their credit card bills?
      • damian7, on 07/19/2008, -3/+1Who the ***** said you live pay check to pay check by using credit cards?

        I use a credit card because I find it much more convenient and my current service gives me a nice detailed report about my purchases and is a lot safer to use than debit.
      • bjornski, on 07/19/2008, -0/+1My debit card does the same thing, without the interest or service fees.
    • sirbeta, on 07/19/2008, -0/+2A lot of people use their debit cards. I use debit cards from time to time for online purchases depending on my credit card balance. I really don't see the problem for single random purchases. I should be able to trust that the company I'm giving my information to is at least competent when it comes to billing.
      • bjornski, on 07/19/2008, -0/+2For those purchases, I go get a pre-paid gift card from my bank.

        Same thing as a debit/credit card, but with no direct connection to my bank account info. And they're free, as long as you hold an account at the bank. Use it just like a Visa, because it's issued by them.

        Gift cards rock.
  • notahat, on 07/19/2008, -0/+5They did it to Australian customers too. I got the email. My trial is now up to three free months from the original one.
  • davidwasman, on 07/19/2008, -13/+8Getting real tired of all the Apple bashing on Digg. This site USED to be Apple friendly, and now it's a cavalcade of negativity towards the company and its users.

    Look, Apple is being pro-active. VERY pro-active. Unlike MS, Apple admits their faults, fixes them, and moves on. MS took how long to finally admit the ring of death on the X-Box? Even then it was a soft admission, barely visible on the radar. And what about holes in Windows they still haven't patched this many years later? Or how about Live.com/Hotmail and all it is missing? They charge for extras on that service, too...but no one seems to bitch about that.

    Point is, you people need to lay off and realize THEY ARE ONLY COMPUTERS. I haven't met one Apple fan who got on his knees for Jobs, or better yet--bashed a Windows user.

    Linux, Apple, MS, or whatever doesn't matter...it's who is behind the keyboard that matters.
    • BlackCow, on 07/19/2008, -4/+10"I haven't met one Apple fan who got on his knees for Jobs, or better yet--bashed a Windows user."

      You must be new to digg.
    • mehan, on 07/19/2008, -3/+7you getting real tired? then GTFO, whiny bitch.
      • oblique63, on 07/20/2008, -2/+1I believe the 'whiny bitch' part was implied as soon as he came off as an apple user, so please, no need for that naughty language around here...
    • blackdude, on 07/19/2008, -1/+4"I haven't met one Apple fan who...bashed a Windows user."

      Underexposed much?
    • octurian, on 07/20/2008, -1/+7"I haven't met one Apple fan who got on his knees for Jobs, or better yet--bashed a Windows user."

      "You must be new to digg. "

      New to Digg, hell, You must be new to the internet!
  • elister, on 07/19/2008, -0/+1Strange... a site dedicated to rumors, actually posting some sort of news fact?
  • ian13, on 07/19/2008, -0/+12Debit cards are very popular in the UK. Some people just like spending what they have, and knowing that in many cases its not possible to spend more. You don't have credit limits as with credit cards, so you can spend lots if you have lots.

    Preauths can however cause great problems if they send you into the negatives or over your overdraft. The bank can refuse to issue further funds (as it knows it has to honour the preauth), preventing standing orders (an automated bill payment system) from clearing and thus hitting people's credit scores for nonpayment if not quickly resolved. Additionally, you might not be able to buy something you actually are trying to buy.

    So it's actually quite a big deal for most people. At least in the UK.
    • scabbers, on 07/19/2008, -1/+3I'd have to say that if someone got stuff messed up because they couldn't absorb £121 going astray, they really can't afford an iphone.
  • Gee1004, on 07/19/2008, -2/+3AAPL: 165.15 (-6.66)
    • Virgule, on 07/19/2008, -0/+3"Woe to you, Oh Earth and Sea, for the Devil sends the
      beast with wrath, because he knows the time is short...
      Let him who hath understanding reckon the number of the
      beast for it is a human number, its number is Six hundred and
      sixty six."
  • mi2ca, on 07/19/2008, -6/+430 days is a joke. If you really want to show me something, give me at least 90 days. Rapidly losing my respect for Apple.
    • knightboat, on 07/20/2008, -0/+3Everyone gets a 60-day free trial + 30 days for service problems at launch + 30 days for billing = 120 free days.
    • clharlem149, on 07/20/2008, -0/+3losing your respect, because apple isn't giving you enough free *****? that's very sensible.
  • CMiYC, on 07/19/2008, -1/+1Dreamhost had a problem a few months ago where their billing system thought it was suddenly a year later. Many people were charged for a year's service early. In their apology email they said if a debt card caused an overdraft to contact them. They would refund the overdraft charges.
    I would imagine people in that situation were happy to get a refund+fees instead of an extra 30days of service.
    • clharlem149, on 07/20/2008, -0/+1and i'm sure that if the overdraft problem occurs apple will provide a refund as well. but we're talking about a removal of 121 gbp from the debit account of someone who was able to purchase an iphone. i have a good feeling that, for the most part, apple won't have to face this issue. and the refund part goes without saying; it's an authorization hold, so it gets refunded at some point automatically.
  • wacomwacoff, on 07/19/2008, -1/+2Apple was smart to remove all references to "push" until they've got push content working 100%. They screwed up, but at least they're being smart about talking to their customers about it.

    Unfortunately, that should've been going on DURING the MobileMe outage, not AFTER it.
  • mehan, on 07/19/2008, -4/+5so they take a pretty big chunk of money out of people's accounts for periods of weeks or even a month, and all the people get for it is a 30 day trial?
    that's pretty ***** customer service.
  • AlienMushroom, on 07/19/2008, -5/+2Apple is like a kid.
  • rotting, on 07/20/2008, -2/+1My mail boxes are still not syncing properly and it's now been a week. My calendar did start working properly though. I can't believe they charge money for this service.
  • PilotHead, on 07/20/2008, -1/+130 days of more uncomplete and buggy service? sounds like when you complain about your high drop call rate or broken phone they give you more minutes.
  •  

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