I love my iPhone, I really do, except for that pesky auto-correct, but that’s another post.
Fiona also loves my iPhone, she loves playing games on it. Her favourite game is TapZoo and I figure, why not? It’s creative, she designs a zoo, acquires animals, breeds them, makes money from them, etc.
Here’s the rub. She has to earn coins and stars to pay for all the animals, breeding and zoo paraphanalia. OK, you think, she must earn them during the game some how, right? Well, yes and no. Coins are easy to earn, but stars? Not so much. I guess Tap Zoo is like Farmville and those other facebook games I blocked. She could get stars and coins that way but she doesn’t have a facebook account yet, I’m making her wait until she’s at least 5 (good mommy). So, I tried to help her out. You can earn stars by downloading other games, some free, some for a fee. Naturally, I wanted the free ones. So there I went, getting Angry Birds Lite (I’m the only iPhone owner on the planet who doesn’t play that) and others. To do this I entered my iTunes store password. WHICH MY PHONE STORES UNTIL IT GOES OFF! WARNING! MAY DAY! Do you see where this is going?
Here:
WTF! She bought $72 worth of coins and stars! And I paid for Angry Birds and Monkey Flight even though I thought they were free! It’s extortion my friends, beware!
It would be amusing if it were, say, I don’t know, maybe $4.99! But $85, I don’t think so. I’ve emailed iTunes store but I’m not holding my breath. Apparently all sales are final and I didn’t read the terms, did you?
Another warning, she already acts like an addict, throwing fits when I ask her to stop playing and give me my phone back dammit please. It also causes strife between the girls as Fiona is a hog and Sophie feels neglected (that is also another post).
Here is my little addict breeding her lemurs.
Update. I got my money back in a one time refund. They will not do it again. Time to figure out how to change my settings so it doesn’t happen again.
Damn…you should have dumped the girls with Nancy and been in Cuba with me! Rats…
it scares me how much I would love this
honestly I would rather another little one than a trip to Cuba.
Call the doctor
No word from Apple yet, maybe my message didn’t get through? They say 48 hour turn around and it’s been longer. Maybe I have to phone, I hate phoning!
Thanks for all the tips on changing my settings and getting giftcards (several of these were on facebook instead of here…comment here dammit).
The addiction factor is worrying, a bit…..as soon as I get home she wants my purse….to get her fix…see how many coins she’s collected and how much garbage she can clean up to get more coins…YIKES is right.
Nancy, I was thinking you could take her and cover her expenses….she needs lots more stars to buy a dolphin, she really wants a dolphin. And Tracey, you can have the other one, then I could be hangin’ in Cuba with Sara. What do you say?
Hahahahahahahahahaaaaa…. good one. 😉
how many weeks of allowance deduction to cover this one?
YIKES
I hate these moments…….. If take her to the orphanage you still have the other matching one
This post is so true I have an iphone and my 6 year old is ADDICTED. It’s awful. He throws a FIT ( and he is not the fit throwing type) when ever I cut him off.
Hope Itunes hears your plea!
🙂
Hey Rach,
I have made sure to not have any fun apps on my phone so I can sit in peace while I play Scrabble (my own personal addiction). Basically, I have the “no-fun” i-phone. My hubby has “good” games on his so his is the one vulnerable to being thrown across the room in the tug-of-war that happens between our two young daughters. Still, no games involving money or downloading other apps (I think).
Kenya
Precisely why I have major freakouts when I see my youngest on my iPhone (or sneaking the iPhone of a friend who has let him play all the time on it).
Danger, Will Robinson!
I hope iTunes comes through for you and cuts a mom some slack but I suspect they won’t be so accommodating. 🙁
Check this story out! Yesterdays Washington post!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/07/AR2011020706073.html
If you go into settings you can disallow app downloads, that’s what I do, so it’s safe for my kids to play with. My 12 year old daughter has an iPhone (wait! don’t judge me yet! it’s a twice handed down phone, first my husbands, then mine, then given to our daughter for Christmas, AND she babysits and pays for her own bill) and we have also taken off YouTube, Safari and Downloads this way. We have to put in a passcode before she can do any downloads.
I’ve hear about this! Fortunately, I locked down my phone so it can’t access any of that. It’s almost unbelievable, and a warning to all parents (myself included) who occationally hand over their phones.
Holy!! Balls!! I was just about to pout over not owning a “fancy phone” like the rest of the modern world, but suddenly I’m feeling better about my crappy flip phone, and my $25/mo cell phone bill. Geez!! (I’ve got my fingers crossed that you’ll get your cash back though! Hoping…)