Apple may owe you a refund for the software you’ve purchased in its iOS App Store. The company is paying customers whose children made in-app purchases on their iPhones or iPads without their consent. To claim money, users must retrieve receipts for the offending purchases, either through their email or iTunes accounts, then submit a refund request to Apple. The deadline to file a claim is April 15, 2015.
The refund is coming thanks to a $32.5 million settlement Apple made with the Federal Trade Commission at the start of the year over children’s in-app transactions. In the past, when users made an in-app purchase, it started a 15-minute window in which they didn’t have to input their password again to buy something else. Children were able to use this window to rack up huge expenses on their parents’ phones. One mother said that her daughter spent $2,600 in the game “Tap Pet Hotel,” according to the FTC. Apple received tens of thousands of complaints about the issue. The company has since added more restrictions so parents can keep their children from racking up huge bills.
Apple handed out refunds last year to settle a class-action lawsuit over the same issue. Google is currently facing a lawsuit over in-app purchases made by children in its own Google Play store.
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