It took a while, but Helen did respond to my email after I gave her the info she needed to forward to the engineers. She said it would take a while before hearing back from them about when things would be restored. However, about a couple of weeks later, out of curiosity, I just went into my kid's minecraft and noticed all had been restored. The pipeline is long, Helen is servicing probably hundreds of people on her own, the engineers need to service them and by the time they tell Helen it's fixed, and by the time she's able to let each person know it's been fixed, while helping others troubleshoot their own issues... so you may want to check minecraft on your own periodically if you've handed over the info they need to look into a fix.
So... has anyone gotten a fix, with all the worlds and coins restored... without having to pay up again?
It's gotten so quiet. I wrote an email, as requested, to Helen last week, but I have't heard back yet.
Yes, I second that, what is the verbiage everyone is using to get Apple to be able to redownload without paying again? Because this is the response I received from Apple when I wrote in about trying the redownload (I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to get charged again). It was a joke, they told me to contact the developer. The developer is currently telling us to contact Apple, amazing:
Thanks for contacting us.
I understand that you are experiencing quality issues with the app, “Minecraft” due to which you are unable to access the previous in-app purchases. Let me look into this for you.
For this issue, please contact the app’s developer directly, they may have more specific troubleshooting steps for their app. Use this link to contact the app’s developer:
Note: Although we mentioned third-party products in this email, Apple doesn’t recommend or endorse these products.
I am sure that the app developer will be able to assist you further with this concern. Have a good day!
Thanks,
Ganesh
iTunes Store Customer Support
http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/ww
Am I being petty and nit-picking in that I feel like we shouldn't have to go to Apple (or Xbox or elsewhere) to discuss the cost to re-download? It's a Mojang issue, and not technically an Apple issue so while I paid through Apple, Mojang should be doing the work on their end to discuss the cost of re-downloading with Apple. In this current scenario we have to work with TWO different places to get re-downloaded (without the earlier builds to boot!). Obviously I'll do what I can to get my daughter her Minecraft back, but this is ridiculous having to now work with two different companies over one company's problem. I'm still waiting to hear back from Helen, so I'll wait to see what she has to say too. I'm curious to read if anyone else has gotten their fix, and how it went.
I've written to Apple asking them to suspend the Minecraft app for sale in their Apps Store. Here's what I wrote, in case anyone is interested, until a TRUE fix is created, I encourage others to add their voice to Apple (and Xbox and wherever else Minecraft can be purchased):
I am requesting that the Minecraft app be suspended for sale in the Apps store. There's a HUGE bug on their end -purchased worlds are locked, and coins go missing (zero balance). This problem has been on-going for over two weeks and each update and fix offered does nothing to restore or resolve. It'd be irresponsible for Apple to allow new purchasers to get mired in this enormous mess. Thank you.
So done with this.
Ok, I'm back to say I tried the .16 update, and I got the free Purple pack and it didn't work. Nothing has changed. The Purple pack didn't even show up.
Zilch. Nil, Nada, BIG.FAT.ZERO
So...
(added: I also tried a commenter's suggestion to restore, but we don't have an Xbox or Microsoft account, and there wasn't a place to enter the iTunes/Apps info as suggested. So yeah, big fat nothing. My daughter is being very patient, seeing that this is so much of her (autistic) life we're talking about. I don't usually share this type of personal info freely, but it highlights how important it is to get this fix asap.)
Well, when I get home I'll try this next fix and see if it actually works. Not that I'm holding out even half a hope as none of the others (including downloading free worlds have). If it doesn't work, I think I'm going to write Apple/iTunes to request the removal of the Minecraft app for purchase for the time being. It's bad enough thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people are probably affected, it would only be good practice to prevent more unsuspecting customers to get mired in this mess as we all have.
Please add me to the list AGAIN of folks whose kids have lost or is locked out of their Minecraft worlds. We updated to .15 version for iOS (iPad), we redid the purchase, etc. but to no avail. Not trying to put the screws on, but I will say that my child, who is on the spectrum, is trying their best to remain patient. Minecraft has been one of the best things for her, it has helped her make friends, and feel on par with her peers, and now it's gone. I would hate to have to completely get rid of the game because it can't get fixed, she'll be crushed.
Just wanted to add my voice here to the mix. Same thing has happened to my daughter, everything is locked but one world, and all the coins she had and the ones recently purchased have disappeared. Zero balance. Frustrating.
iPad2 Air, 4th generation 256 gb, software recently updated v14.7.1. The Minecraft version: v1.17.11. Wi-fi: Broadband
My daughter got a new iPad Air over the weekend. The good news is that everything transferred over from her old iPad just fine. The bad news is that she is now unable to get into Marketplace to purchase more worlds. She is still able to get into Marketplace on her old iPad though. All that we see on her new iPad is: "We're unable to connect to the Marketplace. Maybe check your internet connection?"
We restarted the new iPad, Minecraft, and the internet multiple time, as well as enabled and disabled LAN. The internet connection is fine, and able to access other games and use other apps like Spotify on her new iPad. She simply cannot get into Marketplace. I've written to Mojang's customer service and both replies I received were unsatisfactory -asking me to restart, etc, and giving me instructions that don't correspond to the iPad interface. Disappointing. Was told to log out and log back into Microsoft, but she has never had to sign into a Microsoft account, and doesn’t even have one through Microsoft.
For my autistic teen, Minecraft is a big part of her life and this problem is seriously stretching her. Minecraft has been her best friend (in a world where she finds it difficult to make real friends). I truly hope Mojang will find a suitable fix soon.
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