Apple ID Suspended, Gift Card Balance Lost!

xii4obear on 16/01/2020 - 23:03
Last edited 16/01/2020 - 23:13 by 1 other user

Apple app store balance lost permanently after account suspended due to security reasons?
I have $275 left in my balance and Apple is telling me they can't get it out after they closed my account due to 'security concerns'. I no longer care about the account but I'd really appreciate my money back!
The guy on the phone told me that he was the highest point of contact in the support chain but was unable to do anything about this situation, which is obviously extremely frustrating for me as an Apple customer. Anyone has any ideas on how I can get this balance back or am I just out of luck?

Electrical & Electronics Apple Gift Card

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Comments

  • Amaris on 16/01/2020 - 23:11

    Did they specify what the 'security concern' was?

    • xii4obear on 16/01/2020 - 23:14

      Nah, they said they can't tell me.

      • outlander on 16/01/2020 - 23:48

        The security concern has become a privacy concern

  • Geekomatic on 16/01/2020 - 23:13

    Read their TOS first. Seems pretty dodgy if this is allowed, especially w/o recourse for you.

  • salmon123 on 16/01/2020 - 23:13

    Take them to xCAT … on the face of it, it's just plain theft from apple, but I'm sure there's more to the story.

    • xii4obear on 16/01/2020 - 23:17
      +2

      What's xCAT? I bought $400 of gift cards to buy quartz in my gacha game (F/GO), that's all there is to it.

      • Slippery Fish on 16/01/2020 - 23:21
        +2

        X is your state so vic is vcat qld is qcat ect.

      • ssquid on 16/01/2020 - 23:23

        Where did you buy them from? Can you prove it with a receipt?

        • xii4obear on 16/01/2020 - 23:24
          +1

          I got them from officeworks via their call center. I have the receipts in my email.

      • brendanm on 17/01/2020 - 07:24
        +4

        Holy shit, what? You spent $400 on a mobile phone game?

        • whooah1979 on 17/01/2020 - 08:31

          Some people have too much money.

        • Bargain4Days on 23/01/2020 - 21:44

          Its a fate franchise, dont ask questions for saber

          • brendanm on 23/01/2020 - 22:04

            @Bargain4Days: Wtf did I just read? Even if I understood that string of words, it's $400. On a game. On a mobile game.

  • thewinchester on 16/01/2020 - 23:31
    +39

    Ok, so from the sounds of the language you were given by the Support Agent, this tells me they were what Apple calls a Senior Advisor - who are agents with management decision authority, and are empowered to make those decisions.

    I'll happily bet that the Senior Agent who took the call didn't send you an email in case you wanted to follow-up, as they considered the case closed.

    At this point, the technical issues with your account are considered resolved - so you have the following paths that you can take with Apple:

    A) Call back, speak to another Senior Advisor, and request that your case is transferred to Customer Relations as you aren't satisfied with the response, and you do not believe there are grounds for the action Apple has taken, and that "Apple's unjustifiable behaviour exposes them to potential liabilities under Australian Consumer Law and its services guarantees - which cannot be overriden by their Terms Of Service or Contract, especially when it is manifestly unfair and alienates the consumers rights in law."

    B) Email [email protected], where a member of Executive Relations will review the email, and decide if it needs escalation and handling by either their group, or the Customer Relations team responsible for Australia. (Yes, emailing Tim actually works - GFGI if you don't beleive me)

    If you take (B) as your option, keep a very cool head. Make sure your email outlines exactly what you want, why you want it, summarises the history including dates and times of the problem, how you were informed, what if anything specific you recall being said, and includes any reasonable information to help them consider why the action they took was in error. Or more simply, don't be a dick when sending this email.

    And remember, keep track of all the time you spend dealing with this. Under Consumer Law, companies are liable to compensate the consumer for the time they spent dealing with these issues.

    But if you don't feel like taking any of those paths with Apple, then take it to the Consumer Affairs agency in your state or territory.

    Taking it to a Civil and Administrative Tribunal is really the absolute last resort, and should only be done after trying all the steps above first.

    Best of luck.

    • dscott85 on 16/01/2020 - 23:41
      +4

      Colour me impressed, I’m guessing you’ve dealt with this kind of thing before.

      • thewinchester on 17/01/2020 - 00:15
        +6

        Consumer Law is a personal area of expertise for me, so my wading into the forums is generally on these issues.

        But my knowledge as to the workings of the fruit farm - you might say that, but I couldn’t possibly comment 😉

    • xii4obear on 17/01/2020 - 00:03
      +1

      This post is amazing.

    • pencilman on 04/02/2020 - 00:08

      Add me to the chorus of 'wow's.
      Thanks for the great info

  • xii4obear on 16/01/2020 - 23:42

    I'm currently on a call with another support agent who (after a bit of prodding) tells me that my account was suspended because (?)someone reported it for fraudulent redemption of gift cards.

    • markathome on 17/01/2020 - 00:18

      Keep pushing and get them to send an e-mail stating that the account is suspended and will not be restored.

      This email will be very handy if you need to dispute the gift card purchases with your credit card provider (only do this after chatting to OfficeWorks).

    • thewinchester on 17/01/2020 - 00:19
      +2

      Ask the agent to provide you a Send Files To Apple link, so you can upload copies of the receipts in your name, and photos of the cards.

      Should be enough to put that BS to bed after the case gets escalated to the appropriate non-customer facing team.

      And still, ask to speak to Customer Relations on the next business day to make a formal complaint about how the previous agent was essentially lazy.

      • xii4obear on 17/01/2020 - 00:25

        Unfortunately I'm no longer on the call. I've been told that 'unfortunately there is no Customer Relations team to direct you to'

        • markathome on 17/01/2020 - 00:37

          Call back tomorrow during business hours. This situation sucks.

        • thewinchester on 18/01/2020 - 18:21

          Oh they exist. But saying how I know that positively would be giving away secrets.

          Hope you get this resolved, because it sounds like you’re dealing with some people who couldn’t tell their arse from a shoe.

          • xii4obear on 19/01/2020 - 08:55

            @thewinchester: Uploaded everything, still a negative outcome. Don't think I'll be getting this resolved via Apple.

  • MS Paint on 17/01/2020 - 01:41

    Why is your balance so high?

  • MatteCar on 17/01/2020 - 01:49
    +1

    The same happened to me something like 4 years ago and they also changed my password so I couldn’t login again in my account.
    I spoke with the support which gave everything to the competent department in California. Took something like 45 days to have my account back but I had all disappeared funds refunded.

  • askme69 on 17/01/2020 - 06:58

    Who/where did you get the gift cards?

  • eggboi on 17/01/2020 - 20:35
    +2

    Man, I can’t believe Apple is using everyone’s iTunes gift cards to pay the ATO! Don’t they listen to those scam warnings??

    …just kidding, Apple has never paid anything to the ATO 😂

  • xii4obear on 19/01/2020 - 08:54

    Update:
    I thought there was hope when I called again yesterday and this nice lady gave me a send file to Apple link where I uploaded my receipts and pictures of the gift cards. Today I got an email saying that my account will not be re-enabled due to breach of terms and conditions. As usual they won't tell me what the breach is. I've sent Cook an email but I'm not holding my breath on that either. Looks like I'm going to have to talk to officeworks about this or maybe just suck it up and never buy Apple products ever again.

    • eggboi on 22/01/2020 - 12:27

      Well they either need to refund the closed account credit to you as cash, or transfer the balance to a new account for you. You could always go into an apple retail store and accuse them of theft in front of a store full of people.

  • Amaris on 04/02/2020 - 00:03

    So did you get your money back?

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