Apple gives Greek iCloud users 30 days free service in light of financial crisis

Posted:
in General Discussion edited July 2015
To prevent an interruption in services, Apple is offering a free 30-day extension to paying iCloud subscribers in Greece currently unable to pay monthly fees due to capital control measures instituted in the region.




As a byproduct of Greece's recent "no" vote to financial austerity measures, and as it seeks a new bailout loan, the country instituted capital control restrictions to stave off a potential cash exodus and utter financial collapse. Among commercial and private financial limitations, the blanket bans prohibit lenders like credit card companies from settling debt with international processors, which in turn affects services like Apple's iCloud.

In early July, Apple sent out emails to Greek iCloud subscribers warning them that paid-tier cloud storage services would be downgraded to standard 5GB allotments if monthly fees were not paid on time. The company has since decided to offer its own form of relief.

According to a follow-up email received by Greek website iPhoneHellas, Apple is giving customers a pass and will not attempt to charge cards on file until 30 days after an iCloud account's normal renewal date. It appears Apple's extension is a one-time deal, as the email notes users might need to reduce their reliance on iCloud storage if subsequent attempts for renewal fail.
Dear iCloud customer,

To prevent interruption in your iCloud service during the current fiscal crisis, and to make sure you have access to your content, we've extended your iCloud storage plan for an extra 30 days at no additional cost.

We won't attempt to charge you for your plan until 30 days after your original renewal date. If we are unable to renew your plan, you may need to reduce the amount of iCloud storage you use. Learn more >

The iCloud Team
Greece's capital controls not only affect iCloud storage plans, but also App Store payments including certain in-app subscriptions. Under the circumstances, and barring olive branches extended by individual companies like Apple, Greek users with month-to-month online payment commitments have little recourse but to whether the storm.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 169
    bahrbahr Posts: 3member

    I wish there was a $2 a month tier, or otherwise a way to share data on their family accounts. One or the other would work wonders. 

  • Reply 2 of 169
    Pitiful! Why not extend it to every person in the world who is, or thinks they have financial problems? If you can't afford the luxuries of life, do without them. This is a great lesson for Greece and everyone who gets into credit card debt.
  • Reply 3 of 169
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member

    That's very generous of Apple, but I hope that this is just a one-time thing. If there is still an issue in 30 days, then just cut them off. No exceptions. Let the EU kick them out, I don't care about Greece. It's about time that they act like responsible adults and not spoiled children.

  • Reply 4 of 169
    Pitiful! Why not extend it to every person in the world who is, or thinks they have financial problems? If you can't afford the luxuries of life, do without them. This is a great lesson for Greece and everyone who gets into credit card debt.

    You forgot to stamp your little feet in self-righteous indignation. Why does everyone who has nothing to lose always demand everything from those who do? Oh yes, I forgot: the "you deserve it" streak that is defining aspect of American society.
  • Reply 5 of 169
    apple ][ wrote: »
    That's very generous of Apple, but I hope that this is just a one-time thing. If there is still an issue in 30 days, then just cut them off. No exceptions. Let the EU kick them out, I don't care about Greece. It's about time that they act like responsible adults and not spoiled children.

    Yes, because it's like that: spoiled children. Must have given you a special rush of excitement with the now well-known photo of a Greek pensioner slumped outside a bank, crying at the whole situation and his inability to withdraw money for his wife. Because 5 years of austerity for the Greeks to a comfortable, upper middle class person in America can only be satisfied with petty vindictiveness, and phony pious outrage.

    You people have very little decency left, and are thoroughly convinced that your sh*t doesn't stink.
  • Reply 6 of 169
    joshajosha Posts: 901member

    Very nice of Apple, but I hope The Greeks don't keep asking for extensions as their  Gov has been doing to the Eu.

    Greece is in a very sad situation.  I expect even those with money may be having trouble getting access to it.

     

    Too bad for those  who loaned big money to Greece, they will surely be big losers.  :embarrass:embarrass:embarrass   :???:

  • Reply 7 of 169
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member

    When the power cuts out and people are scrambling for food, this will be meaningless.

     

    But destroying the Eurozone and EU is the best thing to happen to Europe in decades. Three cheers for Greece, saviors of a continent.

     

    Originally Posted by Elian Gonzalez View Post

    Must have given you a special rush of excitement with the now well-known photo of a Greek pensioner slumped outside a bank, crying at the whole situation



    WAAAA THINK OF THE ELDERLY WAAAA

     

    Do you have a reply that isn’t a fallacy? Greece cooked their books to get into the Euro (they’re thinking about suing Goldman Sachs, in fact), now Europe is reaping its just reward for letting that happen.

  • Reply 8 of 169
    esummersesummers Posts: 953member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ElectroTech View Post



    Pitiful! Why not extend it to every person in the world who is, or thinks they have financial problems? If you can't afford the luxuries of life, do without them. This is a great lesson for Greece and everyone who gets into credit card debt.



    This has nothing to do with individual citizens financial problems or credit card debt, they literally are not allowed to send money out of country.  The banks are denying all credit cards and other payments.  If they were millionaires they couldn't renew their iCloud accounts.  

  • Reply 9 of 169
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Elian Gonzalez View Post





    Yes, because it's like that: spoiled children. Must have given you a special rush of excitement with the now well-known photo of a Greek pensioner slumped outside a bank, crying at the whole situation and his inability to withdraw money for his wife. Because 5 years of austerity for the Greeks to a comfortable, upper middle class person in America can only be satisfied with petty vindictiveness, and phony pious outrage.



    Yeah, I saw that picture. So what? Actions and decisions have consequences, and the Greeks are responsible for their current situation.

     

    The current Greek leftist politicians in charge are a bunch of morons. The Greek finance minister (the one who recently quit) accused the creditors of "terrorism". That is hardly what you would call a responsible politician. They are a bunch of clowns, and I don't feel sorry for them at all.

     

    They should pay their debts. If they wish to separate themselves completely from the EU and the rest of the civilized world, that's fine too. Whatever they do, they should do it soon.

  • Reply 10 of 169
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member

    The Greek government got their people into the mess they're in, but the Greek people themselves also had a hand in the mistakes. They voted for socialism in response to the failures of socialism. They need to be kicked out of the EU.

  • Reply 11 of 169
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post

     

    The Greek government got their people into the mess they're in, but the Greek people themselves also had a hand in the mistakes. They voted for socialism in response to the failures of socialism. They need to be kicked out of the EU.




    And it's no surprise and no coincidence that other countries that are also socialist failures have been praising Greece for their stupidity, such as Argentina.

  • Reply 12 of 169
    normmnormm Posts: 653member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post

     

    WAAAA THINK OF THE ELDERLY WAAAA

     

    Do you have a reply that isn’t a fallacy? Greece cooked their books to get into the Euro (they’re thinking about suing Goldman Sachs, in fact), now Europe is reaping its just reward for letting that happen.


    That was years ago, when the debt was 100% of GDP.  Now, after big loans that went mostly to bail out European bankers, and years of austerity, the Greek economy has collapsed, youth unemployment is 60%, and almost the same debt is 175% of GDP.  All that pain was for nothing.  Germany, which is now a powerhouse economy because their big war debts were forgiven, is leading the charge in making sure there is no writing off of any of the Greek debt, which everyone knows they can never repay.  There needs to be a real bankruptcy here, with the lenders taking their losses, and proper controls to make sure the same problem doesn't happen again.

  • Reply 13 of 169
    tbelltbell Posts: 3,146member
    apple ][ wrote: »

    Yeah, I saw that picture. So what? Actions and decisions have consequences, and the Greeks are responsible for their current situation.

    The current Greek leftist politicians in charge are a bunch of morons. The Greek finance minister (the one who recently quit) accused the creditors of "terrorism". That is hardly what you would call a responsible politician. They are a bunch of clowns, and I don't feel sorry for them at all.

    They should pay their debts. If they wish to separate themselves completely from the EU and the rest of the civilized world, that's fine too. Whatever they do, they should do it soon.

    Right like Americans have any influence on what their government actually does. We have two brands of stupid in the USA. Most of our population couldn't think for themselves to save their lives.

    We give credit like candy on Halloween. Then again we need to give credit because three quarters of the country couldn't afford to eat our government subsidized food without credit.

    Further, comments like yours are also ignorant. What part of not having access to your money are you not understanding? Electronic banking for all intensive purposes is shut down in Greece. Hardworking people couldn't pay for iCloud even if they had a million dollars sitting in the bank. The government shut electronic bill paying down with companies like Apple. Apple's customers can't pay their bill even if they have the money. That is not the customers fault. Apple is giving its customers a break and providing iCloud likely costs Apple close to nothing.
  • Reply 14 of 169
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post

     

    The Greek government got their people into the mess they're in, but the Greek people themselves also had a hand in the mistakes. They voted for socialism in response to the failures of socialism. They need to be kicked out of the EU.


     

    Yes, you see that old man crying now and feel sorry for him, but he voted for the socialist system year after year. And when the government promises something, you as a voter have to ask yourself whether the numbers add up or not. The Ancient Greeks (inventors of logic and geometry) would have questioned whether socialism could mathematically work.

  • Reply 15 of 169
    Some of the extreme sentiments expressed here are really shameful. And remarkably ignorant, borderline illiterate.

    Yes, Greece messed up. Yes, Greece will probably be better off in the long run outside the Eurozone than in it. (Greece should never have been a part of the Euro to begin with). Yes, in the short run, they'll have to put up with a lot of economic pain regardless of whether they stay or leave. But Greece leaving the Euro will be as much of a problem for the stable countries, as it will be for Greece. It will shred the credibility of the European Union. That's the reason that this has dragged on for so long.

    Lenders are not blameless. They lent money knowing there's default risk. Bankruptcy is an inherent part of capitalism (as someone once said, 'capitalism without bankruptcy is like religion without sin'), and if you choose to be a lender, that's the risk you take.

    However, a country can't declare bankruptcy unlike an individual or a company can. The only solution to this is debt restructuring, as has happened repeatedly in the past, for many countries around the world. For example, Germany could not have become the post-war economic power that it became if its debts had not been written down by creditors, and people (especially the U.S.) gave it a lot of aid under the Marshall Plan. Similarly for Brazil and Mexico in the 1980s, where debt had to be restructured. The list of counties that have done this is quite large, and I could go on with many examples.

    Restructuring means any or all of three things: write down the face value, lengthen the maturity, and/or lower the interest rate. This will be combined with fairly harsh austerity measures (e.g., raising taxes, cutting pensions, cutting government spending). It will happen in some form or the other. It's inevitable. Period. But dragging it on the way it has been serves absolutely no purpose other than to create unnecessary uncertainty in the global economy, and impact stock markets around the world.

    Let me put it this way: if Greece is kicked out of the Euro, as some of you are rooting for, it will take a toll on the stock and bond markets, i.e. our wealth, here.

    The only thing mature adults should be rooting for is a fast resolution of the problem with a quick debt restructuring. Anything else is kabuki.
  • Reply 16 of 169
    bdkennedy1bdkennedy1 Posts: 1,459member

    Haiti was a tourist attraction until the 1980's. Naive citizens put their faith in their corrupt government and had everything stolen from them.  Now they live like this.  This is what living off of government hand-outs gets you.



  • Reply 17 of 169
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Originally Posted by NormM View Post

    That was years ago, when the debt was 100% of GDP.  Now, after big loans that went mostly to bail out European bankers, and years of austerity, the Greek economy has collapsed, youth unemployment is 60%, and almost the same debt is 175% of GDP.  All that pain was for nothing.

     

    Any bailout deal they take (read: are illegally forced to take) now will push debt to 200%+ of the GDP, too.

     

    Oh, and Brussels will be taking full, direct control over the country.

     

    So you can imagine how well the Greeks would take that.

     

    There needs to be a real bankruptcy here


     

    None of this would be happening if 2008 had just been let to happen. If we hadn’t bailed out anyone, the Euro would’ve fallen then (not as quickly, comparatively, as it is now, but still fallen), bankers would have been imprisoned or exiled, and we’d be back on our feet by now (provided nothing insane had happened in response).

     

    Since that wasn’t allowed to happen, the changes will be all the greater. But I think ‘greater’ will be for the better.

    LEAD Technologies Inc. V1.01

  • Reply 18 of 169
    None of this would be happening if 2008 had just been let to happen. If we hadn’t bailed out anyone, the Euro would’ve fallen then (not as quickly, comparatively, as it is now, but still fallen), bankers would have been imprisoned or exiled, and we’d be back on our feet by now (provided nothing insane had happened in response).

    This makes no sense whatsoever.
  • Reply 19 of 169
    blazarblazar Posts: 270member
    30 days is a reasonable time to deal with their data. It's not as if a flash drive or hard drive is out if reach. Anyone that was likely to pay for an iphone probably has a drive around the house or a personal computer.

    At 15 tril+ in debt, I don't think that Americans should be lecturing europe or anyone else. We maintain our fiat currency in magical ways.

    The study of economics is literally modern day astrology with little to no real long term predictive value.

    Anyone that claims to be an economist is nothing to me except a modern day witch doctor. These are the people that politicians believe and then parrot that same nonsense to the public and public policy.

    The fact that greece is in this predicament is purely an expected outcome.
  • Reply 20 of 169
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ascii View Post

     

     

    Yes, you see that old man crying now and feel sorry for him, but he voted for the socialist system year after year. And when the government promises something, you as a voter have to ask yourself whether the numbers add up or not. The Ancient Greeks (inventors of logic and geometry) would have questioned whether socialism could mathematically work.


     

    He voted for that system year after year? How do you know? Did 100% of Greeks vote, and of that 100% voted for the socialist system?

     

    I don't feel bad for the people that voted their leaders in, but I do for the ones who voted against them and are suffering over something they couldn't control (other than cast their vote).

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