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Are Apple gift cards safe to redeem?

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Re: Are Apple gift cards safe to redeem?

#101

Post by ferguess_k »

sigseg1v wrote: post #22
oidar wrote: post #7

I'm glad that got resolved for Paris, but what the hell is a normal person supposed to do. Not every one has that kind of public reach to get a satisfactory resolution. First he had understand what happened technically, then he needed a public platform to tell people about it, then that writing needed to get reposted by others, than PR needed to get involved. Not something that's going to happen for a normal user. Ap…

Agreed. A situation similar to this happened to me with Steam over a payment issue with their service. They banned me even though I had thousands of dollars of games and an account since Sept 2003. I had to go to my bank and escalate multiple times to get letters providing the info steam wanted about my account and credit card to prove it was legitimate. Eventually after contacting them enough times they said they wo…

Buy from GoG instead. It's better. At least you can download the install files and don't need to install any 3rd party software to login to play them. I have 200+ games on Steam but I have ceased purchase on Steam.

Re: Are Apple gift cards safe to redeem?

#102

Post by csomar »

SoftTalker wrote: post #94
csomar wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but what the hell is a normal person supposed to do. Not store their data in their iPhones. Period. I only store temporary data and photos I wouldn't care about.

Well, not only in their iPhones. And not in the same cloud storage provided by the phone. The only backups you really control are the ones in your possession, so you must keep offline local backups of anything really important to you. The big marketing point of cloud storage was that you would not need to worry about owning and maintaining local storage, but they conveniently downplayed the fact that they could lock…

Actually in this case, the danger is in the cloud storage not the phone's. The user still can access/use his phone, just not the cloud-connected functionalities.

Re: Are Apple gift cards safe to redeem?

#103

Post by csomar »

colechristensen wrote: post #23

Recent customer service experiences: - HN banned me for being a robot! (I'm not) dang unblocked me 1 hour 4 minutes after an email (thanks dang!) - A Marriott hotel clerk booked me a duplicate room instead of using my third party paid reservation After 45 minutes on the phone on hold and arguing with robots, I got a person who hung up on me in the middle of investigating the issue, I issued a credit card chargeback b…

Thanks. Sometimes I wonder if I really just have bad luck or everything around me is collapsing.

Re: Are Apple gift cards safe to redeem?

#104

Post by unbalancedevh »

Apreche wrote: post #18

The real problem is that companies do not offer any accessible, powerful, and intelligent customer support. Even if they have real humans to talk to, they simply follow a script. Those agents do not have the ability to investigate a situation or the power to use their discretion to take meaningful action. We should impose, by law, the following rules on all companies that offer accounts to their customers. 1. If they…

> We should impose, by law, the following rules on all companies that offer accounts to their customers.

When the services that a company provides gets to this level, it starts becoming like a public utility. If it's not possible to participate in society without using such a service, then the services should be governed like utilities are.

I wouldn't be opposed to having actual government-provided services for things like e-mail, text message, and discussion forums at a very basic level. Then (in the US anyway) we could apply the government restrictions on privacy and freedom of speech, with laws governing the oversight and implementation. Of course there would be major details to work out to prevent misuse, corruption, etc.; but it could solve the problem of losing your essential on-line identity -- as long as the government has any interest in you at all for something like expecting you to be able to send/receive an e-mail in order to pay your taxes, then they wouldn't ever cancel your account. 3rd-party services would still be possible, but then they could do whatever their business model supports, and caveat emptor. How people can expect businesses services like Facebook to comply with their personal expectation of free speech is beyond me.

Re: Are Apple gift cards safe to redeem?

#105

Post by inejge »

Apreche wrote: post #18

The real problem is that companies do not offer any accessible, powerful, and intelligent customer support. Even if they have real humans to talk to, they simply follow a script. Those agents do not have the ability to investigate a situation or the power to use their discretion to take meaningful action. We should impose, by law, the following rules on all companies that offer accounts to their customers. 1. If they…

> If they block/ban/close/suspend a customer account they must provide habeas corpus.

* evidence

"Habeas corpus" is not a lofty expression for evidence, although people sometimes use it as such. It's a procedure for challenging one's detention before a court.

Re: Are Apple gift cards safe to redeem?

#106

Post by NoMoreNicksLeft »

Apreche wrote: post #18

The real problem is that companies do not offer any accessible, powerful, and intelligent customer support. Even if they have real humans to talk to, they simply follow a script. Those agents do not have the ability to investigate a situation or the power to use their discretion to take meaningful action. We should impose, by law, the following rules on all companies that offer accounts to their customers. 1. If they…

Some of this sounds appealing to me, but I wonder how wise it is. I've been banned unfairly, and it would be fun to try to stick it to those who have... but then there's almost surely someone here on HN wanting to start some online game or something who would not be able to afford to comply with the law. He's just completely cockblocked by the barrier to entry.

If you try to make carveouts for him, they will still be absurdly restrictive and the carveouts will be abused by the likes of Reddit.

Re: Are Apple gift cards safe to redeem?

#107

Post by EvanAnderson »

Workaccount2 wrote: post #65
Apreche wrote: post #18

The real problem is that companies do not offer any accessible, powerful, and intelligent customer support. Even if they have real humans to talk to, they simply follow a script. Those agents do not have the ability to investigate a situation or the power to use their discretion to take meaningful action. We should impose, by law, the following rules on all companies that offer accounts to their customers. 1. If they…

The real real problem are shameless shitheads that will abuse anything to any length the run scams or malware distributions. " Yes support tech, please understand my child just died of cancer and my wife in a car accident last week and the only pictures I have of them are on my bitcoin4free@gmail.com account! " Google probably also bans thousands of accounts a day. And suddenly every single one of them needs a full h…

Dealing with fraudsters should be baked into the cost of doing business for these megacorps. A smaller business couldn't get away with this kind of "support". The largest companies should be held to the same standard.

The only way this is going to change is if shareholders hold executives accountable. Consumer protection regulation with real "teeth" that impacts the bottom line will bring angry shareholders to the table very quickly.

Re: Are Apple gift cards safe to redeem?

#108

Post by tuetuopay »

dylan604 wrote: post #72
Workaccount2 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The real real problem are shameless shitheads that will abuse anything to any length the run scams or malware distributions. " Yes support tech, please understand my child just died of cancer and my wife in a car accident last week and the only pictures I have of them are on my bitcoin4free@gmail.com account! " Google probably also bans thousands of accounts a day. And suddenly every single one of them needs a full h…

I know you're just trying to pull something out of thin air that sounds plausible, but...this would be simple to prove with a request for valid death certificates, marriage license, and a birth certificate to prove you were married, the child is yours, and that both are in fact deceased. Oh, and of course, you'll have to prove who you are as well.

Given the (rightful) outcry about handing out your IDs to private corporations in "safety"'s name, are you really suggesting providing documents even more specific about you?

We're all worried about identity fraud, and such documents are actually used to apply for an id in some countries!

Re: Are Apple gift cards safe to redeem?

#109

Post by chrismorgan »

estimator7292 wrote: post #15
DannyPage wrote: post #14

> Update 18 December 2025: We’re back! A lovely man from Singapore, working for Apple Executive Relations, who has been calling me every so often for a couple of days, has let me know it’s all fixed. It looks like the gift card I tried to redeem, which did not work for me, and did not credit my account, was already redeemed in some way (sounds like classic gift card tampering), and my account was caught by that. Obvi…

Banks frequently completely freeze accounts for no discernable reason and with zero communication, support, or recourse. You're just lucky that it hasn't happened to you. That does not mean it doesn't happen to anyone.

Depending on the jurisdiction, there may be a financial ombudsman you can appeal to. From what I have heard, Australia’s is effective.

Re: Are Apple gift cards safe to redeem?

#110

Post by Aurornis »

csomar wrote: post #73
oidar wrote: post #7

I'm glad that got resolved for Paris, but what the hell is a normal person supposed to do. Not every one has that kind of public reach to get a satisfactory resolution. First he had understand what happened technically, then he needed a public platform to tell people about it, then that writing needed to get reposted by others, than PR needed to get involved. Not something that's going to happen for a normal user. Ap…

> but what the hell is a normal person supposed to do. Not store their data in their iPhones. Period. I only store temporary data and photos I wouldn't care about.

The data in his iPhone was not impacted.

His Apple cloud account was locked until the account representative unlocked it.

The physical device was not locked, bricked, or wiped. The situation was bad, but let’s stick to the facts

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