Apple issues pre-emptive refunds to customers who bought fake Cuphead app

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Cuphead
Apple has gone out of its way to make up to customers.
Photo: Studio MDHR

Apple has taken swift steps to make up to customers following the recent counterfeit Cuphead app, which appeared in the App Store this week without permission from the popular game’s developers.

Rather than customers having to request refunds for the fraudulent app, Apple is pre-emptively offering them to everyone who bought the app. It’s a nice “make good” for a situation that could have been embarrassing for the company.

Apple’s make good

Cuphead email
The email Apple sent out to customers.
Photo: Touch Arcade

The retro-inspired Cuphead arrived on consoles back in September, and immediately became a massive hit — thanks to its combination of addictive gameplay and vintage 1930s-style graphics.

This week it was ported to iOS, although it didn’t take long for people to realize that it was a scam, charging money for a poor knockoff version that pretended it was the official version. “There is a Cuphead imposter app on the iOS store — this is a scam,” developers StudioMDHR wrote on Twitter. “We are working on removing the fraudulent app ASAP!”

It was an unfortunate incident, not least for Apple, since its acceptance into the App Store followed closely on the back of another app pretending to pretending to be created by MyEtherWallet.com — one of the internet’s leading services for storing ETH and other crypto currency — rose to the top of the App Store rankings, only to be exposed as a fake.

Given Apple’s “walled garden” approach to the App Store, which curates apps far more thoroughly than rival services like the Google Play app store, it looked like Apple had messed up by allowing a fake app into the store.

Apple has demonstrated why it’s got such a good reputation for customer service, however. Not only has the Cuphead app been swiftly removed from the App Store, but Apple has also issued refunds to everyone who bought it. The story was first reported by the good folks at Touch Arcade, who write:

“Is this the start of a new policy at Apple, or just a way of putting out a slightly more embarrassing fire than usual? Whatever the case, it looks like whether or not you wanted a refund for the curiously elaborate imitator, you’re probably getting one. It’s a great move from Apple and honestly more than I think any of us was expecting them to do. Now go out and spend that newly-found money on some sale-priced apps!”

Good work, Apple!

Source: Touch Arcade

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