Apple iTunes
Extra $3 Deducted From iTunes Balance Beyond $5.33 Upgrade Price

On Jan 15th I had an iTunes store account with over $34, which had all been credited from iTunes cards, primarily purchased from Best Buy.
On the 15th I purchase a software upgrade (3.1.1) for my iTouch. With taxes the purchased amounted to $5.33, however the iTunes store deducted not only the $5.33 but an additional $3 which they didn't show on the invoice.
I probably wouldn't have noticed but I was planning on another purchase so was watching the balance carefully. While this isn't 2 $50 gift cards, it appears another way to "ripoff" an number of accounts (i.e. $3 times 1 million accounts = $3M).
Apple never "shows" any running balance against purchases, just your new balance - therefore it is impossible to demonstrate your previous balance. It also never shows an account balance on the email notification of a purchase. I don't know of any other system where your running balance against purchases isn't available, but just right to extorte small amounts from existing accounts, especially if the accounts didn't have credit card information with them.
I tried to contact iTunes Store and Apple Support but neither system allowed me to submit! I am rather technically literate and it certainly wasn't a problem on my end. Not sure there is much to be done, but would certainly caution everyone to closely monitor their iTunes Store accounts and watch for unaccounted for deductions.

Company: Apple iTunes
Country: USA
State: California
City: Cupertino
Site: apple.com

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