What’s the worst that could happen if you redeem an Apple Gift Card, that too one of value as high as $500 (approximately Rs 45,000)? For an Apple developer, it led to the blockage of his Apple ID and eventually went on to bring his entire Apple ecosystem, thus depriving him of access to all his data. What’s even worse is that Apple’s customer support has no solution to the problem, and is only encouraging creating a new Apple ID.
Dr. Paris Buttfield-Addison, a respected author of technical books on Apple’s Objective-C and Swift programming languages and co-organiser of the long-running `/dev/world` developer event, revealed in a recent blog post that his 25-year-old Apple ID was locked without warning or detailed explanation after he redeemed a $500 gift card from Apple.
A flawed Apple Gift Card led to a disaster
According to Dr. Buttfield-Addison, the issue stemmed from attempting to redeem a $500 Apple Gift Card, purchased from a major brick-and-mortar retailer, to pay for his 6TB iCloud+ storage plan. The card code failed, and he was soon locked out of his account.
As a result, he reached out to Apple support representatives, who reportedly suggested that the gift card was likely compromised, triggering the account ban. Despite providing the purchase receipt and serial number, Dr. Buttfield-Addison’s account was flagged as “closed in accordance with the Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions.”
Disabled Apple ID leads to catastrophic consequences
With the Apple ID no longer accessible, the fallout has extended far beyond the loss of his personal media and paid services. Dr. Buttfield-Addison estimates the damage at over $30,000 worth of unusable hardware. His devices, which include his iPhone, iPad, Watch, and Macs, have been rendered largely non-functional, unable to sync, update, or properly operate, effectively transforming them into costly paperweights.
In a post on Hey.paris, the developer says that he was being signed out of iMessage and barred from accessing crucial Apple services, including his Apple Developer ID. His core digital identity, containing terabytes of family photos and his professional message history, is now inaccessible.
“This isn’t just an email address; it is my core digital identity,” he wrote. “I have over $30,000 worth of previously-active ‘bricked’ hardware.”
Apple Support unable to provide help
Furthermore, Dr. Buttfield-Addison described his interactions with Apple Support as “terrifyingly dismissive.” He claims staff refused to provide specific details on the ban, arguing that “an additional escalation won’t lead to a different outcome.”
The most concerning advice offered by a Senior Advisor was to simply “create a new Apple account.” Dr. Buttfield-Addison argues this solution is “technically disastrous,” as creating a new account could be interpreted as circumventing a ban, potentially leading to a permanent blacklisting from the Apple Developer Program, which could be a serious threat to his professional career.
As part of a new update, Dr. Buttfield-Addison noted that someone from Executive Relations at Apple has reportedly contacted him and is looking into the case. While his story has gained traction, it seems that Apple is unable to help. “No luck so far, and not looking good. Anyone got a good lawyer to send them a letter and/or help me sue them?,” wrote the developer in a second update.
