Blocked by Apple Support: 403 Forbidden on getsupport.apple.com?

[macnvrbck]

I've been working with apple on a case yesterday via chat and got disconnected many times.

I really beat their servers up trying to get someone again and it looks like they are blocking me.

I've cleared caches, renewed my DHCP, but yet to actually unplug my modem to get a new IP address.

How do I get around them blocking me out on the support link?

 

[Edward Taggart]

Same here. I was doing the same thing working on a case to get my Son's MacBook Air fixed and now all I get is the 403 error on their website. I've rebooted my firewall, cleared caches, tried different machines, no luck. If I VPN to work it works fine coming from a different network. It seems they decided to block me. I guess this is one way to reduce your support volume!!

 

[TiggrToo]

I really beat their servers up trying to get someone again and it looks like they are blocking me.

What on earth were you doing?

 

[paulmic1981]

Oh wow, I have the exact same thing. I thought they dont want to help if you are outside of the USA. If I use a VPN or a different Internet Connection I can access getsupport.apple.com.

I wonder why they are blocking....

 

[ApfelKuchen]

I seriously doubt they're actively blocking anyone. This is an internet connection/web page/server issue. If you're trying to revive chat from an existing chat, then this can be a sign the previous chat expired. Go back to the main support page and start over. Sometimes you may need to do a Settings > Safari > Clear History & Website Data. Occasionally, it may be a temporary system issue at Apple. It's not a conspiracy.

 

[carcarano]

I am having the same problem. I live in the U.S., and I just go to getsupport.apple.com, and I get this message " 403 Forbidden. Apple" and that's the only notice it gives me. I tried clearing my website data, but nothing seems to work. I'm a new user on MacRumors, so I might not be doing this the right way. Please reply to me if you have a fix for this.

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

Same issue. The Opera VPN can usually get around it.
[automerge]1592316764[/automerge]

I seriously doubt they're actively blocking anyone. This is an internet connection/web page/server issue. If you're trying to revive chat from an existing chat, then this can be a sign the previous chat expired. Go back to the main support page and start over. Sometimes you may need to do a Settings > Safari > Clear History & Website Data. Occasionally, it may be a temporary system issue at Apple. It's not a conspiracy.

Didn't help.

 

[Broko Fankone]

The same thing happened to me after trying to resolve a case with support. Authorized service damaged my laptop and the PR agent on the phone explained it was "normal wear and tear". Today, I get 403 specifically on the support page.

It most definitely looks like an IP block done by them. As soon as I try to open the website on my mobile phone network the block is gone.

So, cheers to Apple support. When the customer is not happy with your bs response - just block their IP - problem solved.

 

[Fishrrman]

Broko wrote:
"Today, I get 403 specifically on the support page."

Something you could try (no promises):
- Download the EPIC privacy browser. It's designed to hide your IP address from the website to which you're connecting.
- Turn the VPN proxy protection on (green icon in browser menu bar)
- Try accessing that page again.

 

[BigMcGuire]

You do realize that most of the techs working the support desk wouldn't have network administrator level permissions to go in and block specific ip addresses right? Apple makes way too much money to ever waste its time doing something like that, risking bad publicity if they did this to someone with at least competent network knowledge because it could be proved...

I'm a manager at a company and while I have all the permissions to do that, most of the tech support personnel don't even have admin privileges to their own computers let alone the domain.

Don't you think some lowly paid tech support person would want to get $ by leaking that Apple does this? lol.

 

[Broko Fankone]

Nah, I think it's more likely a faulty automated system of some sort. I think it might have been triggered when I changed region to USA (i'm not in USA) to access additional support options to view my ticket, because locally the system claimed it doesn't exist. On the USA version it does exist, though.

Or it could be a problem with networking, that's true.

Doesn't change the fact their support sucks, or at least it did for me.

They most definitely could block an IP if they want to, though. It doesn't have to be done by the support person.

Funnily enough I did talk to support over phone because I still had an email asking me to schedule a call and after the call I can enter the site again, lmao.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I have had terrible results trying to use Apple telephone Support. Agreed there. .

 

[Saturn007]

Have had incredibly good experiences with Apple phone support, especially on Saturdays. Several times connected with a higher level, savvy, helpful, friendly tech guy.

 

[TiggrToo]

The same thing happened to me after trying to resolve a case with support. Authorized service damaged my laptop and the PR agent on the phone explained it was "normal wear and tear". Today, I get 403 specifically on the support page.

It most definitely looks like an IP block done by them. As soon as I try to open the website on my mobile phone network the block is gone.

So, cheers to Apple support. When the customer is not happy with your bs response - just block their IP - problem solved.

No.

Your IP address today may well not be your IP address tomorrow. This is even more true with mobile.

Apple are not going to be so petty as IP block you. Any blocks like that would have to be done by a network tech, probably corporate, and applied to Cloudflare, or whoever they're using.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Broko wrote:
"Today, I get 403 specifically on the support page."

Something you could try (no promises):
- Download the EPIC privacy browser. It's designed to hide your IP address from the website to which you're connecting.
- Turn the VPN proxy protection on (green icon in browser menu bar)
- Try accessing that page again.

Epic is a great browser. It is much faster than Safari and comes with default features Safari should already have.

 

[gnasher729]

Status 403 does not indicate that you are blocked. It indicates that you used a URL that would lead to something that end users are forbidden to ever access. Any user in the world going to that URL would get the same status.

So either you accessed a url that nobody is allowed to access, or the website developer should be sent on a training course (unlikely) or there is some server error producing an incorrect status code.

 

[Broko Fankone]

Status 403 does not indicate that you are blocked. It indicates that you used a URL that would lead to something that end users are forbidden to ever access. Any user in the world going to that URL would get the same status.

So either you accessed a url that nobody is allowed to access, or the website developer should be sent on a training course (unlikely) or there is some server error producing an incorrect status code.

That's not true, I could access the site on my mobile network but not on my home network from the exact same device.

 

[Sohail Jafar 🏴]

It started last night when I tried to get Apple Support for University deals. I wanted to ask on chat, which I got through to, to ask about certain deals that were up for students.
When I wasn't getting into chat with anyone I decided to go to bed and try on my iPhone. It asked for which apple product I'm referring to and I put in my MacBook series code but it said that it was "invalid" and so I backed out of that page and all of a sudden I got a "403 Forbidden, Apple" error. I thought maybe it's because I got out of the page when it was trying to to do something technical, however, I tried going through support again and it didn't work. I was concerned, as the same error keeps on coming up.

Now, today, and I tried again on the website and still, the same error came up. I tried just before this chat for my MacBook safari to see if it would be just an isolated incident, yet my MacBook also showed me the "403 Forbidden, Apple" error.

I can, however, access the support page through ExpressVPN. I just don't know why my home server won't let me on.

 

[Broko Fankone]

I think it's some form of automated feature that assumes you are doing something you shouldn't for some reason and blocks you.

Honestly, I have NEVER, ever had this happen on any network before without a reason. In so many years, Apple support is the only site that has done this. 403 forbidden is a blocking error and while I doubt someone at Apple is manually blocking us, I do believe it is automatic and triggers by some unknown factor.

Support over the phone told me it's probably "my home network" but that's a bit of a bs answer. It's definitely not my home network as there isn't a single website on this world that has behaved in such a way, giving me 403 one day, then not the other day, then 403 again after that. You get 403 when the website blocks you in some way, it's as simple as that. Why it happens is beyond me, but it's definitely not normal and it's definitely not a problem of the user networks.

 

[Peter Franks]

Epic is a great browser. It is much faster than Safari and comes with default features Safari should already have.

It's not great for video on a lot of sites for me, it doesn't play mostly, Is there a setting I don't know about on there that needs to be turned off.

Out of curiosity,... why is there a 'clear browsing data' on Epic when there is no viewable history, as far as I can see. Didn't think it recorded a history. And if I ever try and search anything from their help dropdown, it just takes you to the Google Chrome help page which is largely totally unrelated to Epic.

 

[gnasher729]

That's not true, I could access the site on my mobile network but not on my home network from the exact same device.

In that case see the end of my answer: "The website developer should be sent on a training course (unlikely) or there is some server error producing an incorrect status code".

 

[4sallypat]

Sounds like Apple servers are having issues translating web pages like a DNS issue?

Or better yet since many people are having this issue, a DoS attack onto the Apple web servers ? ?

 

[MoPiou]

Hello,
I have the exact same problem. They have my iPad Pro in repairs.
I wanted to pay for repairs but the confirm link ? I not working.
I tried several time to contact support. It doesn't work. I refreshed then all I was getting is error 404 Forbidden.

I had an appointment call this morning ( I took it yesterday) I have someone on the phone probably not in France. He said he was redirecting me to another advisor or staff... I waited... Music. ... Silence.... They hang up on me....

I don't have solution. I want my iPad Pro back or pay their 521 euros but I can't do it. They are not letting me do it. Any solution? Thank you.

 

[chrfr]

Hello,
I have the exact same problem. They have my iPad Pro in repairs.
I wanted to pay for repairs but the confirm link ? I not working.
I tried several time to contact support. It doesn't work. I refreshed then all I was getting is error 404 Forbidden.

I had an appointment call this morning ( I took it yesterday) I have someone on the phone probably not in France. He said he was redirecting me to another advisor or staff... I waited... Music. ... Silence.... They hang up on me....

I don't have solution. I want my iPad Pro back or pay their 521 euros but I can't do it. They are not letting me do it. Any solution? Thank you.

Only Apple can resolve your situation. You need to continue trying to contact them.

 

[MoPiou]