Many apps require users to make certain in-app purchases to achieve a certain level of functionality, the concept is widely applied in games when require users to make purchases to advance levels or buy enough coins to upgrade. The story of an eight year old girl, Lily, was widely reported as she had racked up a bill of over $6,000 making in-app purchases in her favorite iPad game. She knew the password of her father’s iTunes account as she had seen him enter it when downloading apps and was able to make these purchases without him not knowing. He turned to Apple to refund the money, but the company initially denied.
The father then took his story to the newspapers. He says that Lily is only eight and hasn’t fully grasped the concept of money, adding that he was surprised how “dismissive” Apple was when he approached them with his request. Fortunately, Apple changed its mind. The company contacted him and said that they were going to refund the entire amount that Lily had racked up. Lily’s father is definitely going to be much more careful with his password around her now.