Well thats my question, how? I bought my little sister a gift certificate thinking that since the min age was 13 that she could set up an account. But you cant do witho ut a credit card. Any help?
Instead of giving your sister a gift certificate, which can only be redeemed by another iTMS member with their own credit card, you could have given her an iTunes Allowance. Monthly allowances can be anywhere from $10 to $200. Your sister will have to have an iTMS account of her own, but iTMS will know that another iTMS member has set her up with an allowance.
If you don't want to keep bankrolling your sister's music purchases, you can simply set the allowance to whatever amount you'd like and then cancel the allowance after a month.
unfortunatly I already bought this for her a while ago. And wasnt clear that you need a credit card. I still do not understand how apple expects 13-17 year olds to have a access to a credit card number.
Well then she'll have to use someone's credit card number to redeem the gift certificate, and until she gets a credit card or a bank check card, that card number will be tied to her iTMS account. I don't use an actual credit card for iTMS purchases myself, I use my Visa check card, which immediately deducts from my checking account.
You don't have to supply a credit card number just to sign up with the iTMS, but if you intend to download music from it, Apple has to know who's paying for it. I guess Apple's belief is that 13-to-17-year-olds will have the permission of a parent to use their credit card number if they don't have one of their own.
Sorry you didn't understand Apple's terms for redeeming gift certificates...
EDIT: Apple has to know who's paying for it, and in the case of the monthly recurring allowance, someone else is paying for your sister's (or whoever's) music. Gift certificates hook the iTMS member in to making future purchases with a credit card of their own, I guess.
And you know what? I'm totally with you... the GC policy seems to be a little misleading. On the iTMS page where you can send a Gift Certificate, it explains that GC purchases will be billed to your credit card.
I'm surprised that GC recipients would have to go through the whole account sign-up, including providing a credit card number, just to type in a promotional code to redeem a gift certificate.
Can anyone verify that people who don't have iTMS accounts prior to receiving a gift certificate have to provide a credit card number?
Is this potentially a reason why people won't like the Pepsi promotion?
- Apple does not expect kids to have credit cards, thats what Allowances are for.
- You can open an account without a CC number to look around.
- Gift certificates, such as at any store, are a hook. They get you in the store to buy more - for which you will need a credit card, which apple does assume you will have if you plan to spend money online.
- The pepsi promotion does not require a user to enter a CC number into the account to get their free song. However, you are required to set up an account.
I suggest calling apple and see if they can refund or exchange your gift certificate for an allowance. otherwise, just enter a credit card number and watch her make the purchases and then cancel the account.
I think psgamer had trouble figuring out how to do the same thing but eventually figured it out... check post at the Genius bar here and see if it helps:
How about that. From the post in that thread, it seems that entering a credit card number isn't required if you're new to iTMS and signing up just to redeem a gift certificate.
Myahmac, you'll have to try that with your sister and let everyone know the result. Hope it works for you...
Comments
If you don't want to keep bankrolling your sister's music purchases, you can simply set the allowance to whatever amount you'd like and then cancel the allowance after a month.
You don't have to supply a credit card number just to sign up with the iTMS, but if you intend to download music from it, Apple has to know who's paying for it. I guess Apple's belief is that 13-to-17-year-olds will have the permission of a parent to use their credit card number if they don't have one of their own.
Sorry you didn't understand Apple's terms for redeeming gift certificates...
EDIT: Apple has to know who's paying for it, and in the case of the monthly recurring allowance, someone else is paying for your sister's (or whoever's) music. Gift certificates hook the iTMS member in to making future purchases with a credit card of their own, I guess.
I'm surprised that GC recipients would have to go through the whole account sign-up, including providing a credit card number, just to type in a promotional code to redeem a gift certificate.
Can anyone verify that people who don't have iTMS accounts prior to receiving a gift certificate have to provide a credit card number?
Is this potentially a reason why people won't like the Pepsi promotion?
- You can open an account without a CC number to look around.
- Gift certificates, such as at any store, are a hook. They get you in the store to buy more - for which you will need a credit card, which apple does assume you will have if you plan to spend money online.
- The pepsi promotion does not require a user to enter a CC number into the account to get their free song. However, you are required to set up an account.
I suggest calling apple and see if they can refund or exchange your gift certificate for an allowance. otherwise, just enter a credit card number and watch her make the purchases and then cancel the account.
Slightly messier, but it would give her a valid account, and if you ever want to send more her way, it'll be easy.
http://forums.appleinsider.com/showt...254#post515254
Myahmac, you'll have to try that with your sister and let everyone know the result. Hope it works for you...