Apple Gives iCloud Customers in Greece 30 Extra Days of Storage Amid Fiscal Crisis

[MacRumors]

Due to capital controls in Greece that prevent residents from making payments abroad due to the country's ongoing financial crisis, many Greek customers have been unable to make purchases through online services such as iTunes and Paypal. The emergency measure has also created a problem for iCloud users in Greece, who have had difficulty renewing their premium storage plan subscriptions since late June.

Bloomberg News shared Apple's email received by its Athens-based staff earlier this week:

"On June 30, we tried to charge your account for your iCloud space of 20GB, but there is a problem with your payment details," said one e-mail received by Bloomberg News staff based in Athens. "If we don't manage to renew your subscription, your account will be downgraded to the free 5GB space program." The user has a standing monthly payment for a 0.99-euro-cent ($1.11) payment for the storage service.

Fortunately, Apple has now sent an email to iCloud customers in Greece (via iPhoneHellas) to inform them that their iCloud storage plans have been extended by an extra 30 days at no additional cost. Apple will not attempt to charge iCloud customers in Greece until 30 days after their original renewal date, which buys some much-needed time for Greek customers while the country attempts to sort out its financial situation.

Dear iCloud customer,

To prevent interruption in your iCloud service during the current fiscal crisis, and to make sure you have access to your content, we've extended your iCloud storage plan for an extra 30 days at no additional cost.

We won't attempt to charge you for your plan until 30 days after your original renewal date. If we are unable to renew your plan, you may need to reduce the amount of iCloud storage you use.

The iCloud Team

Greek customers can still renew an iCloud storage plan with an iTunes gift card.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Apple Gives iCloud Customers in Greece 30 Extra Days of Storage Amid Fiscal Crisis

 

[Dilster3k]

Ugh, kick them out of the EU already!!!

 

[Gav2k]

That's nice of Apple

 

[pedrotaquelim]

Ugh, kick them out of the EU already!!!

It's so easy to make fun and jokes on the internet.

 

[AlexH]

Classy move.

 

[b0nd18t]

Hmm. Okay. Thanks?

 

[rctlr]

Kicking them out of the EU won't solve their problems.
A huge amount of their debt needs writing off before they can sort themselves out.

 

[spoljnr01]

Well done to Apple.

 

[spoljnr01]

Ugh, kick them out of the EU already!!!

Will that solve the problem? Do you know how the German economy was 60 years ago?

 

[springsup]

Ugh, kick them out of the EU already!!!

Sure, limiting their access to European goods, services, markets and people is really going to help them recover.

The design of the EU didn't sufficiently consider States in severe financial difficulty. This is a structural problem; you can't simply kick out any and every state which ever experiences financial difficulty. As others have pointed out, the German economy has at times been very far from its current strength.

Not only that, but they have used their industrial capacity to do some unspeakably evil things which we have also learned to overcome in the spirit of cooperation. There was a time when those acts caused the world to consider the elimination of the state of Germany altogether - a Gexit from the world, if you will.

Germany would do well to remember how much capacity for forgiveness and recovery exists in the world.

 

[Benjamin Frost]

It's so easy to make fun and jokes on the internet.

Who said he was making fun or jokes?

Greece should be kicked out. They are a parasite on the EU.

The next step will be to dissolve the Euro and the EU, both of which are remnants of the post-Second World War Policy. Neither are needed today. They both cause strife and dissension. All Europe needs is a Common Market. When that is achieved, Europe will flourish and grow healthily.

 

[Glassed Silver]

Ugh, kick them out of the EU already!!!

If any kick is needed, and even that needs debate, it'd be the Euro they could leave.
Making them leave the EU doesn't help anyone.

Knee jerk reactions after years or at least months (considering the current level of crisis) of opportunity to inform yourself about this issue's underlying principles.
The problem isn't with you expressing that sentiment even, the problem is that politicians will cater to folks like you who can't be arsed to inform themselves and hence: political "truth" and factual truth drift apart as politicians seek to secure their image as protecting their nations' interests.


Quite cringeworthy, I wish politicians listened to people more where it would profit us instead of throwing us back.

Glassed Silver:mac

 

[antonis]

Who said he was making fun or jokes?

Greece should be kicked out. They are a parasite on the EU.

The next step will be to dissolve the Euro and the EU, both of which are remnants of the post-Second World War Policy. Neither are needed today. They both cause strife and dissension. All Europe needs is a Common Market. When that is achieved, Europe will flourish and grow healthily.

There's a contradiction in this post. Why bother to kick anyone out if the next step will be EU to be dissolved altogether ?

Despite the fact that there's no such procedure that allows any member to be kicked out of eurozone or eu by the other members, many other countries should not join eurozone anyway. Eurozone was not made for a global prosperity of its members in mind, anyway. It favored the strong economies over the weaker ones from day one.

Sooner or later, eurozone will have to go towards parallel monetary which is a kind of dissolvent.

 

[iPhysicist]

Who said he was making fun or jokes?

Greece should be kicked out. They are a parasite on the EU.

The next step will be to dissolve the Euro and the EU, both of which are remnants of the post-Second World War Policy. Neither are needed today. They both cause strife and dissension. All Europe needs is a Common Market. When that is achieved, Europe will flourish and grow healthily.

You mean like the U.K.? Flourish is not a term I would associate with U.K. Economics right now.

 

[Dilster3k]

Will that solve the problem? Do you know how the German economy was 60 years ago?

Yeah, but to be fair they weren't in any state to deal with those issues at the time.

They were literally bombed back into the stone age. The population was screwed, the citizens scarred, factories & not many assets available to contribute to their economy, and so on.

Now you could argue that this was all self-inflicted, however Greece currently is no where near that state, they aren't incapable...

 

[iolinux333]

Yeah, but to be fair they weren't in any state to deal with those issues at the time.

They were literally bombed back into the stone age. The population was screwed, the citizens scarred, factories & not many assets available to contribute to their economy, and so on.

Now you could argue that this was all self-inflicted, however Greece currently is no where near that state, they aren't incapable...

This is why I keep all my data in the Google ecosystem, with physical backups at home. It doesn't go away, ever, and I don't have to pay for anything over a measly 5 gigs.

 

[cheesyappleuser]

Yeah, but to be fair they weren't in any state to deal with those issues at the time.

They were literally bombed back into the stone age. The population was screwed, the citizens scarred, factories & not many assets available to contribute to their economy, and so on.

Now you could argue that this was all self-inflicted, however Greece currently is no where near that state, they aren't incapable...

Well, I wouldn't agree with that.

And if you say Greeks can't be forgiven, I'd like to ask you how could Europe forgive nazism and the death of millions of jews, and europeans, and the destruction of the continent.

So, please think a bit of how Europe was able to forgive Germany the horrors it did to this world. And, as a friendly reminder, I truly believe any German from today would despise that.

 

[TheIguana]

Well done to Apple.

I wonder if other majors are going to start doing this as well given that credit card processing is becoming a problem in Greece. Ie Google, Microsoft, Dropbox...

 

[miknos]

Sad what a crap government can do to it's citizens.

 

[TheIguana]

Sad what a crap government can do to it's citizens.

You make it sound like this is the result of one government, from one point in time... not so sure you can simplify it to that level. Not that the current Greek government is really helping the situation.

 

[spaceballl]

Who said he was making fun or jokes?

Greece should be kicked out. They are a parasite on the EU.

The next step will be to dissolve the Euro and the EU, both of which are remnants of the post-Second World War Policy. Neither are needed today. They both cause strife and dissension. All Europe needs is a Common Market. When that is achieved, Europe will flourish and grow healthily.

I totally agree with you, but let's also be honest and admit that it's not fully that they should be *kicked* out of the EU ~ I don't think they completely WANT to be in the EU.

Despite some people's desire for one world government, the EU was not a good idea. I hope and think that it will slowly dissolve. I know the Brits must be pretty happy with their decision to have one foot in and one foot out (staying on the pound).

 

[TheIguana]

Despite some people's desire for one world government, the EU was not a good idea. I hope and think that it will slowly dissolve. I know the Brits must be pretty happy with their decision to have one foot in and one foot out (staying on the pound).

There is a difference between the EU and the Eurozone. Maybe a universal currency isn't the best system for all euro states, but it is a tad rash to state that because of the current Greek turmoil that the concept of free-trade between EU states has been a net bad thing in Europe.

To toss it back to you, what would the United States look like today if there wasn't free-trade and free-movement between states? Would the US be as prosperous?

 

[gnasher729]

Will that solve the problem? Do you know how the German economy was 60 years ago?

60 years ago, Germans had been working hard for ten years after World War II, with considerable progress being made. Ten years of rebuilding houses and factories. That was one year after celebrating becoming Football World Champions in 1954. Food rationing had stopped in 1948; it continued in Britain until 1954. There was the attitude that people would create wealth out of their own power with hard work. That is something completely missing in Greece.

 

[foobarbaz]

And if you say Greeks can't be forgiven, I'd like to ask you how could Europe forgive nazism and the death of millions of jews, and europeans, and the destruction of the continent.

Are you assuming Germans support forgiving Nazis? The German post-war generation revolted against against how many Nazis were left untouched and were still running the state. As a German I'm certainly appalled and ashamed by how many Nazis were never prosecuted. Europe (and non-Nazi Germans) "forgave" the Nazis, maybe because they needed a strong Germany for the looming Cold War. I don't think there's anything noble about it.

As for Greece. There's nothing that needs forgiving. They made economic mistakes, but that's hardly appropriate to compare to Nazi crimes. They already have to live with their mistakes.

The only question is, will pouring money into Greece actually make a difference long-term. It will help short-term, but if it isn't sustainable, it's just burning money while delaying an inevitable bankruptcy That's what Germans are concerned about. Greece needs to make changes (corruption, tax evasion and inefficient government), or they will be in the same situation in another five years.

I'm all for giving Greece even more bailout money and another debt haircut, but only if they can show to make it work long term. Permanent alimentation of another country is not an option (you know … taxation without representation). So if they can't, bankruptcy is better sooner rather than later. The more debt they collect, the harder EU countries, banks, insurance companies and citizens will be hit if they eventually collapse.

 

[NiCk-]

That is something completely missing in Greece.

And how do you know ?? I lived in Athens from 2006 until 2010 and my advice is to stop eating everything that the media feeds you .. There are people in Greece who work 16 hours a day, doing 3 different jobs, to get 400 euros a month .. They can barely pay for their bills and rent and for the past 5 years they are doing the best they can to survive .. But at least those are still alive, because there are others who have nothing to eat and die in the streets ..

I'm not going to discuss if it's right or wrong to write off Greece's debt in a technology forum, each one is entitled to his own opinion .. Good job from Apple for supporting those in need ..