‘Won’t give me a reason’: Miami teen tries to accept $251.49 in Apple Cash payments for his birthday. Then Apple ‘steals’ the money

Electronic ways of sending money to each other’s bank accounts are extremely convenient. In fact, people born after the 2000s who have never really had to deal with cash, money orders, or checks likely do not comprehend how much of a game-changer that was.

With the advent of more non-traditional payment platforms that promise to make sending money cheaper, however, some users say they have faced sudden restrictions and an inability to access their own funds.

That’s what one TikTok creator says happened to her family when she tried to send her son birthday money through Apple Cash, Apple’s payment service. It didn’t go well.

What Went Wrong With This Apple Cash Transaction?

TikToker Lissy (@lissyjx3) called out Apple Cash in a recent video that got over 13,000 views.

“Little story time,” she says. “About a month ago now… I Apple Cashed my son some money for his birthday.”

According to Lissy, she sent her son $150. His father also sent him another $100. Then another person he knew tried to send him money.

“This person that he knew, he knows the number and everything,” she explains. “They specifically already reached out and told him, ‘Hey, I’m sending you this money.’”

But the transaction did not go through.

“The amount is not only sent, but it said it was canceled,” she says.

At the time, she says that did not seem like a big deal. Then her son tried to use the money he already had.

“My son goes about his business, tries to go use his funds at a store, can’t make a purchase at, like, the convenience store for snacks,” Lissy says.

He also tried to send the money to his sister so she could pay for him, but that did not work either.

“I, as the parent and the family organizer, because he’s in a family account for Apple Cash, then tried to retrieve the money,” she says.

All this, Lissy says, was happening while she was deployed as a military service member. When she later tried to fix the issue, she says she called Apple Support and got “the run around” before reaching the section that manages Apple Cash.

“I’m telling them his account has been restricted,” she says. “And the last transaction that happened was him trying to receive money from a number that he knew but wasn’t saved in his phone.”

Apple Customer Support Wasn’t Helpful

According to Lissy, one agent told her they could help, while another told her it would take 48 hours and that the account had to be reviewed.

Then, she says, Apple called back the next morning.

“Not only is it restricted, while it was under review, they locked it,” she says. “They can’t tell me why they locked it.”

Lissy says the company read her a prompt stating that it could restrict, lock, or close an account for several reasons, including safety, protecting funds, or “any other reason.”

“But we also don’t have to disclose that reason to you,” she says Apple customer support told her.

Lissy says she asked whether Apple could send the money back to her, since she is the parent organizer on the family account.

“Oh, no,” she recalls being told. “Once it’s restricted or locked, you also don’t have access to it.”

That got her worried she’d never be able to access her funds again.

“So you’re telling me you took my money and it’s gone forever?” she says. “You basically just stole $250 from my son?”

Lissy then shows the amount on screen: $251.49.

“You stole his birthday money, and then you won’t give it back, won’t give me a reason,” she says.

She says the only thing her son did was try to accept funds that later got canceled.

“I want answers,” she says. “Apple support, Apple Cash, Apple Pay, whoever this falls under, I need answers.”

Does Apple Cash ‘Keep’ Money From Restricted Accounts?

According to the company’s terms and conditions, it does no such thing.

Apple Cash may require users to verify their identity, sometimes because of activity the company deems suspicious. During that period, Apple Cash may lock, restrict, or close an account.

However, even if it closes an account permanently, the company says it does not simply keep the money.

“If we are unable to verify your identity, we may: (i) close your Apple Cash Account; (ii) permit you to use your Apple Cash Account until the money in your Apple Cash Balance has been spent; or (iii) allow you to continue to use your Apple Cash Account, subject to the transaction limits for unregistered Apple Cash Accounts,” the Apple Cash terms state.

Those limits in the third point have to do with how much money users can send or receive, but it doesn’t say that it keeps the funds at any point.

She Shares An Update

In a follow-up video, Lissy says her son eventually got his birthday money back.

“I just want to thank everybody for who liked, shared, and commented or tagged Apple,” she says. “My son did get his money back.”

Lissy says it took her a little while to post the update because she had been traveling and making sure her family was OK.

“But I just wanted to come out here and say thank you to everyone who shared it,” she says. “Thank you, Apple, for fixing it.”

Commenters Weighed In

In the comments, some viewers said they had dealt with similar issues.

“Happened to me as well,” one commenter wrote. “Can’t ever use Apple Pay anymore.”

Another viewer said Apple’s system can make problems especially confusing when something does go wrong.

“Apple has been the one business that absolutely has the mentality of ‘oh no problems anywhere, so there must be no simple error messages or problems whatsoever,’” they wrote. “So when you do end up with an issue, it’s soo confusing…”

A third commenter said their son’s account was also restricted, but differently.

“My sons was restricted from receiving but was allowed to spend what he had,” they wrote.

@lissyjx3 #stitch with @Lissy UPDATE! My son got his money back! Thank you all for the likes, shares and reposts! #applepay #greendotbank #applecash ♬ original sound – Lissy

The Mary Sue has reached out to Lissy via TikTok messages and Apple via email for comment.

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