Hi Sieghard. When you had your issue before I took the liberty of writing to the accessibility team and they seemed to be re-affirming the refund policy for non vo apps. Below is the answer I got. Suppose it is being changed without the knowledge of the accessibility team?
Hello, Thank you for your email and feedback. We have looked into this issue and while a credit was issued to Sieghard, the response used did cause confusion. We will work with the iTunes Store Support to ensure that the correct information is sent back when a refund is issued. Curently any user can use the "Report a Problem" link from their iTunes Account purchase history, or contact iTunes Store Support via the web to request a refund for an app they may have purchased that does not work as expected with VoiceOver. Apple Accessibility -----Original Message----- From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Sieghard Weitzel Sent: Wednesday, September 11, 2013 11:34 AM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: RE: Apple App Store & Refunds for inaccessible Apps Hi Joseph, I realize that you may not know Neil Barnfather since you are I believe fairly new on the list. However, if you Google his name you will find that Neil is far from somebody who complains without cause. I experienced a similar attitude a while back and while I received the refund in the end the attitude of the iTunes Store representative I dealt with was similar. She completely seemed to miss the point and I agree with Neil that Apple should have something in place which allows for a refund of an inaccessible app without hassle. The suggestion to contact the developer is a good one, but I have often done so and not received a reply or maybe I waited for 3 or 4 days or even a week without receiving a reply, then I decided to take a chance and buy the app only to find out it was not accessible. Then maybe 3 weeks later I received a reply from the dev, but of course it is also not reasonable to wait that long. Regards, Sieghard -----Original Message----- From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Joseph FreeTech Sent: Wednesday, September 11, 2013 9:14 AM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Apple App Store & Refunds for inaccessible Apps Very smart suggestion. Let's say we all jump on this bandwagon (once again), and in the end we discover that whoever the original person this happened to was very nasty and demanding to the Apple customer service employees; hence the poor service. We're all going to be very embarrassed and not likely to take this issue up again in the future. We first need proof of a pattern of poor service and not just some single person's complaint. Joseph ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lisa belville" <missktlab1...@frontier.com> To: <viphone@googlegroups.com> Sent: Wednesday, September 11, 2013 7:59 AM Subject: Re: Apple App Store & Refunds for inaccessible Apps Hi. Is there any way you could share a letter showing how the Apple people were patronizing/unhelpful in this regard? I understand the frustration of not getting a refund for something inaccessible and how a clueless rep makes this all the more annoying, but IMO there's a difference between politely/patiently conveying a policy and being patronizing. Obviously, you can take out any names in this letter, but it would be good to see an example of this attitude. Could it possibly be this particular rep's issue and not necessarily one of Apple itself? I'm referring to the patronizing/unsympathetic attitude and not the policy itself. Lisa There is a fine line between genius and insanity and that difference is a paycheck! Lisa Belville missktlab1...@frontier.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Neil Barnfather - TalkNav" <for...@talknav.com> To: <macvisionar...@googlegroups.com>; <viphone@googlegroups.com>; "The Accessible Phones Discussion List" <blindpho...@mosenexplosion.com> Sent: Wednesday, September 11, 2013 8:58 AM Subject: Apple App Store & Refunds for inaccessible Apps The below should prove a concern to all Apple accessibility feature users, and I would urge as many of you who can do so, to please write to Apple yourselves to express your concern along the same lines where possible. (accessibil...@apple.com). For years now Apple has led the way in accessibility standards and application of methods in interacting with all of its product range. Internationally within many disability arenas Apple is celebrated as the defacto standard and is widely acknowledged as users preferred platform for persons with accessibility issues. Whether or not the App Store had an unofficial policy towards customers with accessibility needs or not, is unknown to me. What I am aware of is that where I've bought Apps which turn out not to be accessible, Apple App Store has always been prompt to refund the purchase immediately without question. Since Apple do not enforce accessibility standards, nor in anyway whatsoever offer a method of a disabled user to know whether or not an App is, or is not, accessible in advance of purchase, this seemed to be a most reasonable compromise. However, in correspondence over the past week with Apple iTunes support staff via e-mail in relation to an App I have purchased which is inaccessible, Apple's stance has been both surprising and frankly highly dismissive of our needs and vulnerability when using Apple's App Store. I have been point blank refused a refund upon this occasion, with staff suggesting that I could leave a review for the App which others could read, and or write to the developer. Whilst I understand that the second suggestion may illicit a positive response, and sometimes it does. In many instances developers haven't even heard of Voice Over let alone understand what it does and how they aught to address compliance with Apple's Accessibility API's. Of course, the best approach would be for Apple to make compliance with its Accessibility API's a requirement for all new Apps being approved to the App Store, indeed a range of other options would also work, such as; a discount on the 30% cut that Apple takes for compliant Apps, a penalty higher fee (35% etc) for those that do not comply and perhaps indicating with a marker in the App store which Apps do meet the requirements. Since Apple do none of these, despite so publicly professing to up holding and supporting some of the most well implemented accessibility innovation and support seen in the industry, it seemed like a fair compromise that Apple voluntarily and without complication offered a refund to customers who had accessibility needs where an App proved to be inaccessible. The situation now, though is that Apple is refusing in an uncompromising and frankly shocking way to refund such purchases, with patronising and unsympathetic suggestions as to how we, as blind users, go about reviewing Apps etc. I would ask that Apple firstly developed a robust policy in this regard, and secondly, reviews options as to improving the compliance uptake of developers within their iOS and Mac App Stores. So that I can convey your response to the ViPhone, Macvisionaries and other Apple Accessibility user forums promptly, I would sincerely appreciate your earliest feedback and response on this issue. Yours kindly. Regards, Neil Barnfather http://www.NeilBarnfather.com Regards, Neil Barnfather Talks List Administrator Twitter @neilbarnfather TalkNav is a Nuance, Code Factory and Sendero dealer, as well as an Apple iOS, Macintosh and Android accessibility specialist. For all your accessible phone, PDA and GPS related enquiries visit www.talknav.com URL: - www.talknav.com e-mail: - serv...@talknav.com Phone: - +44 844 999 4199 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" Google Group. Post a new message to VIPhone by emailing viphone@googlegroups.com. Search and view the VIPhone archives by visiting http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/. Reach the VIPhone owner and moderators by emailing viphone+ow...@googlegroups.com. Unsubscribe and leave VIPhone by emailing viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. 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