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Apple has locked my Apple ID, and I have no recourse. A plea for help

hey.paris

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Re: Apple has locked my Apple ID, and I have no recourse. A plea for help

#221

Post by cerved »

Dracophoenix wrote: post #176
userbinator wrote: post #49

To paraphrase an old saying: Live by Big Tech, die by Big Tech. After nearly 30 years as a loyal customer I've heard others say this (and was a "loyal advocate" of Windows for around 2 decades myself), but the reality is they simply do not care. You are merely a single user out of several billion . Many of the reps I’ve spoken to have suggested strange things That almost sounds like some sort of AI, not a human. But…

> I've heard others say this (and was a "loyal advocate" of Windows for around 2 decades myself), but the reality is they simply do not care. You are merely a single user out of several billion. What changed your outlook? Did you get burned by Microsoft?

Probably they tried a real operating system.

Re: Apple has locked my Apple ID, and I have no recourse. A plea for help

#223

Post by supriyo-biswas »

pflenker wrote: post #213
x3sphere wrote: post #32

It's just insane that a gift card redemption can trigger this. What's the rationale? It would make more sense if they just locked the person out of redeeming gift cards or something, not the entire account. But reading horror stories like this is is why I only use the very bare minimum of any of these cloud services. Keep local copies of everything. For developer accounts, I always create them under a separate email…

I don’t mean to defend this, but I know from experience that gift cards are frequently used for money laundring. The laws against that are very strict, incentivizing companies to overshoot and block false positives. At the same time, AML solutions tend to be a closely guarded black box which simply tells you to block a customer, finding out why is pretty difficult. To add more to the problem, some anti money Landry s…

> The laws against that are very strict, incentivizing companies to overshoot and block false positives.

On that note[1] is a good read (Cmd+F: "suspicious activity report"), although this specific case is about gift cards, but the AML/T&S etc. space is remarkably similar.

[1] https://www.bitsaboutmoney.com/archive/debanking-and-debunki...

Re: Apple has locked my Apple ID, and I have no recourse. A plea for help

#224

Post by elondaits »

otterley wrote: post #156

Out of curiosity, why did you buy and redeem such a large gift card instead of paying directly? And was this a form of payment that was unusual in light of your account history?

Back in 2015, I traveled to the US and wanted to buy a Macbook Pro at the Apple Store. The configuration I wanted wasn’t available in Apple Stores, and I couldn’t buy it online because at that point there was some limitation in the online store like they only took US credit cards, or something.

At the Apple Store, the employees suggestion (a more senior one, who was consulted) was to buy a gift card for the computer’s cost (~$1500) and pay at the online store with that. I didn’t do it because buying “virtual stuff” for that amount seemed crazy (this was a huge amount of money for me, at the time).

Re: Apple has locked my Apple ID, and I have no recourse. A plea for help

#225

Post by dimaulupov »

Beijinger wrote: post #9

Since your money is gone, I would file a complaint here: ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission): The primary enforcer of gift card laws, ensuring businesses comply with the three-year minimum expiry, clear terms, and fair practices.

It is saturday! Guy had a trouble during non-business times and advice to make a complaint to ACCC? People who unlock accounts do not work on weekends, it is not front line of support who works all the time. What happened with giving a chance to people (which is Apple consists of) to actually do something before complaining to 4 letter agency? Also ACCC will not deal with such complaints. It says right on their home page.

Re: Apple has locked my Apple ID, and I have no recourse. A plea for help

#226

Post by jackvalentine »

inkyoto wrote: post #175
cthalupa wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> do not involve lawyers in vast majority of cases and encourage self-representation instead. Sure, but if it's a corporation, who is going to represent the corporation besides a lawyer? In the US, some states explicitly do not allow a lawyer and require a different officer of the company represent them, but plenty do allow lawyers. If Paris is taking Apple to the tribunal, there's no single human equivalent to Paris…

> Sure, but if it's a corporation, who is going to represent the corporation besides a lawyer? Under common law, lawyers (in the US sense) are not required on either side in the case of handling a dispute or a small claim. Specifically in Australia, the company would have a complaint department, and the case would be dealt with by a complaint officer, not a lawyer. If the scope of the case exceeds the tribunal's auth…

Hi, I’m closely involved in xCAT cases for my Australian organisation.

We send an in-house lawyer to represent us at every mediation and hearing.

Every complaint that goes to an official body is dealt with by the lawyers at that point. Only if they complain directly to us does our “complaints department” handle it.

Re: Apple has locked my Apple ID, and I have no recourse. A plea for help

#229

Post by dev_l1x_be »

left-struck wrote: post #204
subscribed wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had Amazon close my old, almostt-unused account in Amazon-in-another-country because I dared to add a new payment method. I proved them who I am, that the new payment method (virtual card from a well-known organization) is mine, everything. After lots of back-forth I've been informed their decision is final. I HAVE NOT BREACHED TOS. I wish I has a major law company behind me to force them to admit that. Very happy…

Honestly, good riddance. Just abandon that company and everything they touch.

If you can…

Re: Apple has locked my Apple ID, and I have no recourse. A plea for help

#230

Post by dev_l1x_be »

stavros wrote: post #203
x3sphere wrote: post #32

It's just insane that a gift card redemption can trigger this. What's the rationale? It would make more sense if they just locked the person out of redeeming gift cards or something, not the entire account. But reading horror stories like this is is why I only use the very bare minimum of any of these cloud services. Keep local copies of everything. For developer accounts, I always create them under a separate email…

It would make more sense to stop offering gift cards, which make zero financial sense for the consumer, but why stop offering a lucrative product that people buy because they're bad at logic, when you can just shut down accounts and greatly inconvenience people at no cost to you?

It’s a financial gimmick. The company realizes the income immediately while service is rendered later. This has positive impact on the finances.
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