Apple Tech Support Since 1995
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NetShare
Aug 16th
When NetShare became available on the App Store (the second time 8/1/2008) I bought it and downloaded it. I hadn’t even tried to set it up or use it. Within an hour of downloading it the apps on my iPhone stopped opening. So I did a restore to my iPhone which took more than an hour. Everything looked good but when I went to open an app on my iPhone it wouldn’t. So I went into iTunes and told it to not sync apps, therefore removing them. Then I syncing again to reinstall them. It didn’t work, the apps on my iPhone still wouldn’t open. I decided to delete all of the apps from iTunes, re-download them and then reinstall them on my iPhone.
Hours later I had re-downloaded all my apps except one, NetShare, why? Because it wasn’t available anymore. Apple had for the second time pulled the app from the store. Only they removed my ability to download it even though I bought it.
After sending iTunes Support a message that I was unable to re-download NetShare they sent me this reply on 8/4/2008.
Dear Rob,
Thank you for purchasing from the iTunes Store. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I am unable to add “NetShare” back to your account.
The iTunes Store is not responsible for the loss of purchases and encourages customers to back up their purchases regularly. If an item needs to be replaced, you can restore your purchases from the backup and avoid the need to purchase replacement copies of titles from your collection.
Additionally, please make back up copies of your new purchases on a regular basis. These articles explain the backup process:
How to back up your media in iTunes
http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n302392
Use a Smart Playlist to make regular backups of your music in iTunes
http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n93474
iTunes: How to backup and restore playlists
http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n93763
To learn more about purchasing on the iTunes Store, choose “iTunes Help” from the pull-down Help menu in iTunes. Click “Purchasing music, video, and more” on the right.
The iTunes Store Terms of Sale is available for your review at:
http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/us/sales.html
Thank you for your understanding Rob. We appreciate your business and look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Eric
iTunes Store Customer Support
Their reply being completely unacceptable I replied back with this message today (8/16/2008 8:09 PM).
Your reply is unacceptable. The reply is basically saying “Thank you for buying from the App Store but you can’t have what you paid for.”
I did download the app one time but due to problems with my iPhone I cleaned out my apps from iTunes because they wouldn’t open on my iPhone at the time. I then redownloaded them all except NetShare because it was no longer available.
But why is it not available to me when I bought it? I understand that it’s not for sale anymore, but I should still be able to download it. Like I can every other app I bought.
You’re letting the fact that it was pulled from the store carry more weight than the fact that a customer bought it and would like to download it.
It doesn’t even matter if I had not downloaded it or if I had downloaded it 10 times. I’ve had the iTunes store allow me to redownload music that I hadn’t backed up before my HD died.
If you’re not using the magic kill switch on this app and giving everyone who bought it a refund then I should be able to download it again.
I don’t want a refund I want what I paid for. Please re-add NetShare back to my “Check for Purchases” so I can have it back.
Thanks
Within 5 minutes of sending that message I received this email (8/16/2008 8:14 PM).
Dear Rob Jones,
iTunes has issued you a full or partial refund for your payment.
Message from merchant: memo
—————————————————————-
Original Payment Details
—————————————————————-
Date Payment Sent: Aug. 1, 2008
Amount: $10.69 USD
At first I didn’t think that I could have received a refund that quickly from a message that was 5 minutes old until I received this message from Apple (8/16/2008 8:31 PM)
Dear Rob,
Yes, I understand that you want it back, but it simply isn’t going to happen. It is no longer available. That means it doesn’t exist, thus, cannot be downloaded again. What your asking for is basically the same as going to your local car dealership and telling them that you should be able to buy a model of car from them that they stopped making and selling, just because you had one before.
Please accept my sincere apologies for any inconvenience this download has caused however. I have taken the liberty of refunding your purchase of $9.99 plus any applicable sales tax. The credit will be posted to your account shortly. Unfortunately, as I stated, I can’t add the item back to your account for download.
I hope the information I’ve provided proves to be helpful to you Rob, and thank you for your understanding.
Thank you for being a valued iTunes Store customer. We appreciate your business and hope you have a wonderful day.
Sincerely,
Eric
iTunes Store Customer Support
Wow, his analogy is so wrong I don’t even know where to begin. Apple did exactly what I said I didn’t want which was give me a refund and didn’t do what I asked for which was re-download NetShare.
Local out-going mail theft ring caught.
Feb 18th
I recently heard of the arrests of 8 people who were stealing from peoples mail boxes. Article Here
We’ve lived in this house for almost 4 years now and when we had the brick mailbox built I decided to not put a flag on it. Being a geek, my wife and I try to pay everything online. Anything that can’t be paid online I take to the nearest USPS Mailbox.
Before we moved in I already knew of the possibility of this type of identity and check theft so I decided it wasn’t worth the risk. It’s only slightly inconvient, as I’m always passing the USPS Mailbox and we mail so few things anyway.
If you put things in your mailbox for the mailman to pickup you are taking the risk of having your identity or checks stolen. Either way, you can avoid the whole thing by just not doing it. Fins the nearest USPS Mailbox and drive past it regularly to drop off your out-going mail. It’s a small inconvenience compared to the victims of the recent thefts.
James Kim, 1971-2006. How it’s affecting me.
Dec 6th
CNET article
SFGate article | SFGate timeline | Bootnetworks maps | Local News Coverage
Like James I’m 35, we were born in 1971, we graduated in 1989, I have one daughter (he has 2) and a wife, we were raised in the Louisville, KY area and we spend our days helping others with technology issues. I didn’t know James personally, but I know we would have had a lot in common.
You’re going to hear the experts talk about knowing the terrain and the weather conditions. It doesn’t matter, after waiting for someone to find me for several days I would have left for help as well. The problem is I don’t think he should be dead. He’s smart, I’m smart, we can figure things out and make things work.
I don’t know why he died. But it certainly makes me think that my own intuition to go find help would have killed me as well. Would this stop me, knowing what I know now? No, I don’t think it would. I would stop waiting and take on the responsibility myself just like James did. Like James I’m not the type of person to wait for someone to do something for me, I will do it myself.
There are a lot of things I worry about in my life and one of the most important is making sure Karen and Allyson have a Husband and Father to grow up with. So now I learn doing exactly what I know I would have done would leave Allyson Fatherless. He knowingly risked his life to help his family and died for it.
My wife has informed me that I’m required to stay with them and we will all die together, I am not allowed to leave. But I don’t know that I could.
What really gets me is that if he had stayed with them, they would all be safe now. But the problem is he did stay, for a week. How long are you suppose to wait?
People die all of the time, but for some reason his death has had a huge effect on me.
Kati, if you ever read this, I don’t think I could have stayed either, and I know you had your objections, so I’m very very sorry.
Update: I’ve been somewhat obsessed with this story and all the related stories. I’ve actually learned a lot about cold weather survival. I now have to say that I would stay with the car for many weeks before heading out.
