So, a few days ago Apple decided to add some additional security questions “to protect the security on your account”. You’ve undoubtedly seen it by now. I blogged about it the other day. The problem is, at least for me, after I attempt to set the (ridiculous) questions iTunes pops up an error telling me the request can’t be completed.

I tried again later but the same. I tried from my iPad, the same. I tried from the Mac App Store. The same. iPhone, the same.

So, anyway, since I can no longer buy anything from iTunes I went onto the support site and filled out a support request:

While attempting to purchase an item on the iTunes store, I was asked to enter the new enhanced security questions. However, after choosing the questions, and filling out the answers, I click on ok and I get the following error message “Your Request is temporarily unable to be processed, please try again later”. I have tried this several times now and It keeps giving me the same error. As a result I am unable to purchase anything from the iTunes store. I have tried this on my iPhone and iPad too both with the same result. Each time it says unable to process request. Please help as there is an app that I really need right now

Pretty straight forward, or so I thought. Here’s the response I got back….

Dear Thomas,This is [NAME REMOVED TO PROTECT THE INCOMPETENT] from iTunes Store Customer Support team and I’m glad to help you today.I understand that you are unable to purchase as you were prompted to answer 3 security questions. I can certainly appreciate your eagerness to get this resolved and I would be more than happy to help you out with this today.

 

Thomas, from time to time, Apple enhances the security of our valued customer’s iTunes Store accounts.

I do apologize for any frustration this may have caused. These changes are not meant as an inconvenience, but rather to further help safeguard your account details and activity.

Just so you know, when a purchase is attempted from a new device or computer, the store selects, at random, two of the three challenge questions for your Apple ID to verify that you are the account owner. If the questions are answered incorrectly several times, your account becomes temporarily locked.

When your account is locked, you cannot make purchases using any device that has not previously used the Apple ID. It also prevents you from changing your challenge questions.

You are still able to make purchases using a device that was previously associated with the account.

To re-set this feature, Apple has pre-set the questions on your Apple ID. As you are not able to access your account, I can clear the challenge questions for you.

Once this is done, you will be able to sign in and add your own challenge questions. You will also have the option to enter a “rescue” email address. This option will allow you to send a message to the rescue email, should you forget the answers to the challenge/response questions in the future.

Now, in order to clear the questions for you, Apple requires that you provide at least one of the following for your security:

- the order number of one of your purchases – the last four digits of the credit card used for your iTunes Store account

And two items from this list:

- your birth date – the billing address listed on the account – the phone number on the account

Upon receiving your response, I will verify your information and clear the pre-set challenge questions.

Thank you for your understanding and for being a valued iTunes Store customer. I look forward to your reply.

Have a wonderful day!

Ok, except that’s not the problem I was having. I wasn’t attempting to purchase from a new device. I can access my account fine. It’s not asking me for the answers to the questions, it’s asking me to set the the questions. Perhaps I wan’t clear. As it took 24 hours to get a reply, the next day, by the time I got this answer, the request to enter the security information had disappeared and I could purchase from the store again. Anyway, I responded back to clarify what I needed to do. I should also point out that I did a search on twitter and numerous people were having the same problem.

Here’s my response

I’m not entirely sure that you have understood the problem that I have encountered. You said in your email…

 

To re-set this feature, Apple has pre-set the questions on your Apple ID. As you are not able to access your account, I can clear the challenge questions for you.

That is not the case. I can access my account fine. It was asking me to set the security questions for the first time, and when I had completed the questionnaire and set my answers for the chosen questions, and supplied the rescue address, iTunes was unable to connect to the server to send the answers.

This has been widely reported on both twitter with numerous people having the same problem.

This morning, I am able to purchase again as it is no longer asking me to set the security questions, so I suspect your engineers have realised that there is a problem. I can still log into my account from iTunes. I strongly suggest you contact your supervisors and ask for clarification on this issue as your solution does not seem to be for the problem I was having I can still send you the information you request if it is necessary, but I think you need to check that this wasn’t a widespread outage, because as I said, it was widely reported. I can currently make purchases, I can log into my account and iTunes no longer requests the additional security information.Yours Sincerely

Thomas Fitzgerald

And so another 24 hours passed. At this time I could purchase from iTunes again, and any request for the security questions had vanished. Here’s the email I got back this time:

Dear Thomas,Thank you for writing back. I appreciate your quick response.Thomas, I have consulted my Senior advisor, as per his advice, I would like to suggest you to sign out of your account and restart your device and then try again purchasing the app.

 

If the above suggestion doesn’t work, try purchasing the app on your computer and then you can sync the app to your device.

If you have further queries regarding this issue, please reply back to this email, I am more than happy to assist you.

Again, the “solution” appears to be for a problem other than the one I was having. Anyway, it was working again, so I was willing to leave it, but then, this evening sure enough as I go to make a purchase the dreaded “please enter the additional security questions” dialog pops up. Once again I entered the required information and once again I get the same error message. I tried logging out and back in again. I even tried jun a different location on a different internet connection, all to no avail. So furiously I wrote back to support again. This time I used my inner voice:

Dear Sir I am very upset with how this support request has been handled. Each time I have communicated my problem to you you have given me an answer that is completely unrelated to the issue I am having. I would really appreciate it if you read my emails properly and take time to understand the issue or If you are incapable or have language difficulties please pass this on to someone who understands the issue. I will lay this out as clearly as I can. Here’s the problem in a series of bullet points. 1. I attempt to purchase something from the app store or iTunes

 

2. I enter my user name and password

3. A dialog appears telling me I need to enter additional security information to protect the security of my account4. The store then brings me to a place where I can select a series of questions and enter my chosen answers

5.  I enter the chosen answers and my recovery email address

6. I press OK

7. The store reports an error “Your request is unable to be processed – please try again later”

8. I wait several minutes and try again

9. Store continues to report an error

10. As I am unable to get past the request to enter the additional security information because it won’t process the information, therefore I am unable to purchase from the store. I have attached a screenshot of the error

The following are NOT problems I am having. 1. I have no problem accessing my account. I can log into my iTunes account no problem2. My Account is NOT locked. It is merely asking for the additional security questions3. The problem is NOT that I can’t purchase an app on my device but can on my computer. This problem occurs on every device I own whenever I try to make any purchase using my Apple ID

A little harsh, yes. The jab about english may seem rude but it really seems like they’re not understanding what I’m saying. Amazingly enough though, I got a response quite quickly:

Dear Thomas,

 

Thank you for responding back. I appreciate your quick response.

Thomas, if you continue to experience this issue with your account “XXXXXXX”, the iTunes Store Customer Support team will reset your password and test the account. For your security, Apple requires that you provide one of the following:

- the order number of one of your purchases – the last four digits of the credit card used for your iTunes Store account – the answer to one of your security questions

We also ask that you provide two items from this list:

- the day, month, and year of your birth – the billing address listed on the account – the phone number on the account

When we receive your response, we’ll verify your billing address, reset your password, and perform any necessary tests. Then we’ll email you the test results and your new password.

When you get your new password, change your password to one that only you know. It must also be a password that you haven’t used in the past 12 months.

I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

It still just doesn’t seem like he understands what I’ve been telling him and is just picking the nearest response off a list, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt this time, and as this is going nowhere, I just gave in and sent him the information. The best bit though is that one of the requests is “the answer to one of your security questions” which is ironic since I CAN’T ENTER THE DAMN SECURITY QUESTIONS.

And, if you change the password on my Apple ID which is also my email, how am I supposed to receive the email with the new password in it as I won’t be able to check my email? Or would that go to the new recovery email address that’s in the security questions THAT I CAN’T ANSWER.

This is the worst ever experience I have had dealing with Apple customer service. In fact, it’s the worst Apple related experience I have ever had. I’m shocked and appalled at the way this is being handled and I’m only publicising the emails and responses because I suspect it may be the only way this gets resolved. Someone needs to get their ass handed to them in Apple over the way this security upgrade was rolled out because this is just nuts.

While I think the security questions themselves are stupid, I appreciate the need for it and I have no problem entering the information, if it would let me. I don’t know how widespread this issue is but I”m definitely not alone as others have reported the same problem. So, this latest exchange will probably be a wild goose chase, and on top of everything, I’m going to have to change my password across all my devices and on my email which is a royal pain in the ass at the best of times. So thanks Apple for possibly the stupidest customer support experience I have ever had to put up with.

[UPDATE]

I finally managed to solve the problem, entirely on my own I might add. It seems that entering an email address in the optional field was causing it not to connect to the server for some reason. I have emailed back support to tell them to stop the request to change my password and examine the account, but I’m not optimistic. Here’s hoping!