Bad Apple

Apple's been bad. And I've had enough.

Sound familiar? Read on.

So I've been playing some  Hearthstone lately. I haven't played for a while, but I thought it may be a good idea to start playing and checking out the new Goblins VS Gnomes cards, as well as get back in touch with some old Hearthstone friends. I was relaxing in bed one evening with my iPad and playing a few games. After some time, I decided to get some packs. After all, it's been quite a while since I got any packs in Hearthstone, and even then that was all before the new expansion came out. Cool, let's buy some packs.

I remember very well what the price of 40 packs were about 6 months ago, roughly the last time I played Hearthstone. But, knowing that the new free expansion came out, I was expecting somewhat of a hike. That was my first mistake, to make an assumption. Nevertheless, I continued into the store on my iPad to check the prices for the packs. I was astonished that the price had gone up a total of $7.99 for 40 packs!

I was really surprised. I mean, I did expect the price to go up a little bit, but nowhere near $7.99! This really made me angry; but I really enjoy playing Hearthstone and felt like 40 packs were still a better value than buying 10 or 15 and then deciding I needed more. So I went ahead and purchased the 40 packs.

Not long after that, I checked my statement from my financial institution. It turns out I was charged not $7.99 but $15.31 more than the price I remember paying when I bought the same amount of cards last. Now I was really angry - so I decided to speak to Blizzard.

A Blizzard game master told me "We charge a set amount of our packs, but we are not responsible for fees imposed by iTunes on top of what we charge. You'll have to speak with them."

I proceeded to look on my PC client and the packs are exactly the same price I payed 6 months ago! It was a difference of $15.31 between what I payed on my iPad client than what I paid on my PC client. At this point I was outraged. The fees were never explained to me, there was nothing there - the price was written not on the iTunes store but in the game!

So I contacted iTunes 4 days ago and have yet to hear from them. Trust me, I'll be updating you here on what happens. Suffice it to say this is the last time Apple has overcharged me and tried getting away with it. I used to use Apple products regularly in the past, and to some degree the company has built a little bit of loyalty with me. This is why I gave them the benefit of the doubt the first time. But this is clearly unacceptable. To charge $15.31 on top of what I should be paying, without so much as an explanation of the fees.

I'll keep you guys posted as to what happens next. In the meantime I am cutting my ties with Apple. I hate to say it, but ever since Steve Jobs passed away it has not been the same company. You might call me an Android fanboy, and you know what, you wouldn't be far off. Don't get me wrong, I hate Google+ and a few other things about Google. But overall, I feel I am being charged a reasonable price for my hardware and software and what I have meets my needs. I like it because it's simple and it works, and if that makes me a fanboy, then so be it.

Thanks for reading!