$.99 apps being charged $1.00, apple or cc scamming us?

[ultravorx]

Well, i was unfortunate enough to receive my credit card bill, and i noticed something very odd.

Apple charge me $1 for a $.99 app. While a penny may not mean a heck of a lot to me, lets figure out some numbers here:

Apple sold already 60,000,000 apps, lets take half those apps are $.99 ones or anny price with a $.99 on it, they round up the transaction to an even number. At half the apps, 30,000,000x.01 thats $300,000!!!! extra in apples pocket!!

Now dont get me wrong, i love apple products and all, but if they are going to charge $.99 for an app, lets bill the customer at $.99.

Here is also a copy of my billing statement!

Keep in mind too it may be the cc company doing it to as some users pointed out!


Has anyone else noticed this little problem?


Frank

 

[Koodauw]

It might just be your credit card company. I know for some cards the minimum purchase is $1 so anything less than that gets rounded up. Might want to look into it. try going to a grocery store and just buying a donut or something less than a dollar. I bet you'll get the same result.

 

[GoCubsGo]

WOW! Remember Office Space (the movie)? If this is indeed the case then Apple is going to have to explain themselves.

It might just be your credit card company. I know for some cards the minimum purchase is $1 so anything less than that gets rounded up. Might want to look into it. try going to a grocery store and just buying a donut or something less than a dollar. I bet you'll get the same result.

On that note, Koodauw could be right, I never thought of it, but it sounds decent enough.

 

[Julien]

Your accusations are false. Don't have 99¢ right now but know this is what Apple is charging. It is your CC company that is "scamming" you. Here is a $2.99 that proves Apple doesn't just round up.

 

[yg17]

All of my Apple purchases are fine, including the $.99 one. Keep in mind that in some states, they charge sales tax which can push the price beyond $.99. Or, like someone else said, your credit card company has a minimum purchase.

 

[LEStudios]

That is the $1 Authorization Charge to see if your card is good it will be off but Apple does charges tax of your state, so you should see a $1.06 charge on your card.

 

[mkrishnan]

Has anyone else noticed this little problem?

Besides what the others wrote, Frank, in what state do you live? Have you checked your Apple receipt (the iTunes receipt you get by e-mail) to see if you're simply being charged sales tax?

 

[hexonxonx]

That is the $1 Authorization Charge to see if your card is good it will be off but Apple does charges tax of your state, so you should see a $1.06 charge on your card.

That's correct. I always see charges for $1. After a day they disappear and the $.99 + tax charge appears.

 

[twoodcc]

That's correct. I always see charges for $1. After a day they disappear and the $.99 + tax charge appears.

yeah, that's probably what it is

 

[JNB]

99% it's a CC Auth, absolutely nothing to do with Apple. I get those all the time filling up at one particular gas station.

The phrase "going off half-cocked" comes to mind. I just love how folks are so quick to cry, "J'Accuse!" at the drop of a hat. Perhaps the OP would consider altering the thread title to something a bit less inflammatory...

 

[ultravorx]

hey guys, your probably right about the charge of $.01 being from my cc. I never had this happen with other purchases being round up like that, I though it was apples doing.
That's why I asked if others had this problem. I guess I have to change the thread title too, LOL!!

So it must be the cc scamming me!

Frank

 

[JNB]

Again, you're not being scammed. It's an authorization, not a charge. A credit card authorization of $1.00 is standard if the transaction amount cannot be included at the time for any reason, and defaults to a simple $1.00 to allow the purchase to be completed prior to posting. The transaction (or an entire batch) couldn't be shipped real-time, and this is how it's handled. Once the transaction is fully posted, the charge will be accurate.

It's been this way for years, but we've only started seeing this "behind-the-scenes" view of the process with online (near real-time) banking & such, but by the time the monthly statements are processed, all the charges have posted successfully.

As I posted above, I've got a local gas station that delays postings by about a day, so my account shows a $1 authorization for a day after the transaction, then that disappears by the next day and the full amount takes its place. This can take up to one business week depending on the merchant, CC clearinghouse, etc.

 

[ultravorx]

This $1 charge was actually on my monthly statement, not online, I took a picture of my paper statement, this was the actual charge I received from apple.

Again, you're not being scammed. It's an authorization, not a charge. A credit card authorization of $1.00 is standard if the transaction amount cannot be included at the time for any reason, and defaults to a simple $1.00 to allow the purchase to be completed prior to posting. The transaction (or an entire batch) couldn't be shipped real-time, and this is how it's handled. Once the transaction is fully posted, the charge will be accurate.

It's been this way for years, but we've only started seeing this "behind-the-scenes" view of the process with online (near real-time) banking & such, but by the time the monthly statements are processed, all the charges have posted successfully.

As I posted above, I've got a local gas station that delays postings by about a day, so my account shows a $1 authorization for a day after the transaction, then that disappears by the next day and the full amount takes its place. This can take up to one business week depending on the merchant, CC clearinghouse, etc.

 

[iNfowarrior]

iTs all the CC and no way is it apple. I've been buying 0.99 cent songs for years. Is this the first time you've used a credit card and first time you've purchased from the app store?

Quite obviously

 

[OneMike]

I think it's the credit card authorization. I only purchased iSSH so far with a debit and they took $1 only at first then about 4 days later it just showed the $4.99.

If you even buy something from apple.com they do the same.

I think I'm going to go to target or best buy and get a itunes gift card. Hate seeing pending charges for days.