Apple Cooks Up Refund Over Breaking Bad Season Pass Trickery

“Yeah, bitch!” – Jesse Pinkman The best TV show in the history of TV is coming to a close, and that sucks. But Apple is now giving fans one reason to rejoice. Except it’s somet...
Apple Cooks Up Refund Over Breaking Bad Season Pass Trickery
Written by Josh Wolford
  • “Yeah, bitch!” – Jesse Pinkman

    The best TV show in the history of TV is coming to a close, and that sucks. But Apple is now giving fans one reason to rejoice. Except it’s something that never should have been an issue in the first place. No matter.

    Apple has just issued a $22.99 credit to all iTunes customers that were forced to pay twice for a season pass of Breaking Bad season 5 – once for the first 8 episodes and again when the final 8 episodes began to hit the service.

    Apple does in fact split up the 16 episodes of season 5 into two season pass packages – “Season 5″ and “Breaking Bad: The Final Season.” Some iTunes customers who paid the $22.99 for the season 5 pass (in order to benefit from the bulk buying discount Apple gives for buying season passes instead of individual episodes) were also made to pay another $22.99 for “The Final Season.”

    It’s safe to say that most of those customers figured they’d be receiving the entirety of season 5 for their money – not just half of it. AMC is most definitely marketing these final eight episodes of Breaking Bad as the second half of season 5…and also as the “final episodes.” Actually, it’s kind of a clusterf**k. That’s what happens when you split up one season and throw a year in between the halves.

    Apple’s double-charge prompted outrage, and then eventually a lawsuit that claimed Apple acted in a ““deceptive, fraudulent” manner.

    Here’s what Apple’s email to iTunes customers said (via The Verge):

    Dear Customer,

    We apologize for any confusion the naming of “Season 5” and “The Final Season” of Breaking Bad might have caused you. While the names of the seasons and episodes associated with them were not chosen by iTunes, we’d like to offer you “The Final Season” on us by providing you with the iTunes code below in the amount of $22.99. This credit can also be used for any other content on the iTunes Store. Thank you for your purchase.

    It looks like Apple chose to avoid the future headache of litigation and decided to just give Breaking Bad fans what they wanted. I mean, next Sunday’s finale is going to devastate everyone anyway – Apple surely doesn’t wish to pile on.

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