step 1: by using a pc log into your itune account that has the same appleid log in details.
step 2: click on your user name on the top right and go to account info.
step 3: scroll down and click on purchase history, this will give you a list of all the apps you have downloaded and that you have been charge for. in red it will tell you what and if you owed them money.
step 4: now if there is amount owing until this is paid your account will not let you download anything even if it’s a free app.
step 5: when it is paid or owing balance is gone you can now and SHOULD update the credit card details.
step 6: the pictured boxes of the types of card please click on none. this will delete your card detail
” NOW IF I WERE YOU TO AVOID THIS FROM EVER HAPPENING JUST GET AN ITUNE CARD AND STICK TO USING THAT”

I really hope this helped everyone because i know how frustrating it was.

Which is weird. But at any rate. I fixed it. My service agreement stops getting canceled now .

I’m overseas, via VPN, normally have a DPO address… unbelievable.

Like everybody else here I checked with my bank and paypal and there were no problems on their end. Tried using a different laptop, starting from scratch, out of factory settings, downloading everything for the first time, deleting cookies, emptying cache, etc, etc…nothing helped.

Tried calling Apple, of course encounter the problem many others are complaining about, no direct line to Itunes, Apple customer service has nothing to do with Itunes, only way of communicating is through email.
Although they did communicate within 24hrs in a very courteous and apologetic way (I have nothing bad to say about their customer service, it is not their fault that their “techies” can’t figure it out, sticking their heads out and getting yelled at) letting me know they had removed all blocks in my account and try in 24 hrs,…again like many others in this forum,( he even followed up to make sure my issued had been resolved) I’m still experiencing the same loop, the error message “I” got after several attempts to link 2 different accounts to itunes and getting the same old “your credit card has been denied” was something like this: “Itunes was unable to receive the verification numbers from your account, etc, etc”.

I am sending a link of this thread on my reply to the email from itunes customer service and a list of all the billing agreement numbers paypal created for it in hopes they can be entered manually and finally have my account back. I’m even going to try the Apple store at the mall tomorrow.

I am very discourage by reading all this and seeing that the issue started a long time ago and there is still new people experiencing the same problems. Obviously there is no solution to this date. I’m curious to find out how many of you out there have been problem free for a while after your resolution, (that it seams to be different for everybody).
It seams that there is no point on posting my issue here because all are experiencing the same ones, but at least I can vent and see that I’m not alone (not that I’m happy with the misfortune of all of you) but I felt the duty of posting to show others out there that this is still an ongoing issue and if I ever get it resolved you’ll be the second ones to find out.

I wish I had come across this blog before I bought the new ipod touch (to replaced the nano that replaced the shuffle) and itunes cards for Christmas for my children. I am saddened, disappointed and angry. I hope they’ll experience a Christmas miracle and can enjoy their gifts.

COME ON APPLE GET IT TOGETHER!!!! YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE A VIRUS FREE COMPUTER COMPANY AND YOU CAN’T SOLVE A STUPID BUG? YOU ARE LOOSING MILLIONS IF NOT BILLIONS OF DOLLARS NOT ONLY ON LOCKED ACCOUNTS BUT ALSO ON CUSTOMERS LEAVING TO GREENER PASTURES, NOT TO MENTION WORD OF MOUTH AND THE POWER OF INTERNET TO REACH MILLIONS IN SECONDS.

I miss buying new apps and trying them out on my iphone late at night while waiting to fall asleep :’(

I tried the iTunes prepaid card, but can’s use it through the same account as you still have to have a credit card attached to the iTunes store account. I think I can go to the actual web site, not the application and set up an account without a credit card, but don’t want a new account. I really don’t want to loose the last several years of purchase history.

I’m not as irritated with the problem as I am the lack of customer service. Anyone seen the video from Iraq with the HP printer. I’m about ready to go there with my IPOD.

Shame on Apple for such bad customer service – they are really putting the content owners interests ahead of their end customers.

It turns out the whole issue is caused by poorly coded integration between itunes store desktop application and apple store web application. I found an old apple knowledge base article which said that whenever you update account info on itunes store, it automatically updates apple store.

What was really happening when itunes store displayed the CC declined message was that it was trying to update apple store’s information to match, but the apple store account info has different options and validaiton than the itunes store accounts info (in my case the apple store doesn’t have an option for my country, Jordan). So when a validation error was encountered by itunes desktop app as it was trying to update apple store information, it just falls back to displaying credit card declined simply because the apple programmers did not bother (too lazy I guess) to take the validation error from the apple store and display it in itunes.

So what I did was open apple store account management, change my email and save. Then open itunes login with the new email, then itunes will ask me to re-enter account info (not just billing info) this allowed my cc to be accepted immediately.

Me: US credit card, US billing address, logging on at the moment from the UK.

My other option suggested by apple is to buy gift cards and redeem it. I DON’T LIKE THAT OPTION. Fix this issue already.

you would think that at least paypal would work since it does all the checking and verifying for itunes. this is obviously a code issue and they need to have this resolved

CONDITION: your (formerly) valid credit card information should be remained and never be modified in your profile; you should NOT try to update it because of those annoying messages, and you can confirm this if you have no problem with updating previously purchased apps.

Solution: Send an email to iTunes Store Customer Service(http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/contact.html).
In my case, problem was solved in just 2 dyas, and now I have full access to purchase any apps as usual before. What they said was

“I understand that you have been unable to purchase from the iTunes Store. The account maintenance team has resolved the issue. If you have any difficulty signing in and making purchases with your account, please reply to let me know. I apologize for any frustration this has caused. Thank you for being a valued iTunes Store customer.”
, and I got the problem solved after receiving this email.

I’d also tried every work-around I got from here, and unfortunately, had no good result back with them, and, you know, work-around is just detouring at the end. That’s why some of you guys had stuck in infinite loop again after trying work-around. You have nothing to lose with sending an email to Apple.

Hope this would help.

HD

Thanks kiddo!

My solution came after a lot of trial and error.

- This applies only when you know the credit card you are using is valid.
- This doesn’t require you to change to a different credit card, meaning you can use the same one you’ve been using all along.
Part 1
In the settings area on the iPhone, iPod, or iPad, select “store”.
Select view account. (You’ll be requested to enter your password)
Touch anywhere In the payment and billing address section, touch the payment info box, to bring up the edit screen.
Touch the credit card, which will show a selection wheel listing all acceptable credit cards.
Select none (this removes the credit card associated with your account)
Select done. (Just to make sure you’ve completely finished with these changes and they have been set, close out completely, all the way until you get back to the device’s ‘settings’ screen)

Part 2
Go back to ‘veiw account’
This time you’ll see something like ‘no credit card associated with this account’ in the area where your credit card info used to be. (I you still see a credit card on the account, go back and repeat the steps in Part 1.)
Touch anywhere in the payment and billing section to bring up the selection wheel.
In the edit screen, enter your credit card information (You can use the same one you just remove) and touch ‘done’. (If you are taken back to the account info screen and you see no ‘payment method declined message’ you’re golden, if not the original card is still associated with the account. I’ll mention another solution you can try for this if you have more than one device associated with this account.)

Touch done, to get out of the account information section.

You should now be able to purchase from the iTunes and app store as before.

NOTE: If you have more than one device associated with the account, you’ll need to perform these steps on those devices as well.

NOTE: If the steps above didn’t work and you have another device associated with this account, try this solution on that device.

I’ve used both of these solutions, on my iPad and iPhone

This problem happened to me twice out of the blue just a day after I had successfully made a purchase.
I’ve used both methods.

Hope this helps!

Example- I am living in South Korea. I am American. I first registered or am trying to in South Korea. I cannot register to the US store but apparently they are saying I can register for the South Korean store.

This is a huge downfall of the whole system… Who the @#$# thought that up? I am attempting to register to the South Korea store.. I will let everyone know about my progress on that….

Just sent in a helpdesk ticket to apple so we’ll see what happens within 48hrs.

Since I don’t have a server in the States, I had to go screen share via iChat with someone running OS X 10.5. I signed into my iTunes (on their screen), validated my credit card, and voilà, I was good to go. I was then able to use my iTunes account successfully where I am (not in the U.S.)

I think accessing the app store from my iPad will throw a wrench into iTune’s validating process, so I plan on adding content through my computer (tried and trusted method) for the time being.

They also will not acknowledge that it’s a systemic problem. Of course.

The lady DID say that this issue has been resolved with MOST customers. We’ll see.

I am in Iraq and this blows. I keep checking back hoping Apple will pull their head from their A$$ but no luck so far.

Why didn’t I just stay with Samsung? This sucks.

The fact that I can’t even use the iTunes gift card I specially went out and bought after all else failed is the most fustrating thing to me.

The only responses I have had from iTunes customer service are two emails that the issue has been “flagged for follow-up”.

Over a two week turn around time for an issue obviously affecting a large number of people is unsatisfactory to me.

I just bought my iPad on Sunday in the States and then flew back to China on Monday. I had no idea that you couldn’t buy apps in China. I guess it does say it in the fine print, but it’s kind of ridiculous. I”ve already put about 6 hours into trying to solve this. Looks like many of you have put in more. I really need Pages for my work.

Anyway, I’m wondering if you have someone in the States buy you a gift card and then get the info from them and then use it overseas to buy apps…would it work?

I reported the issue on Sept 2. and got the standard response. I then got an email on Friday saying it was fixed. I immediatly went in and downloaded some apps I was looking to buy. I went to bed – got up – and in the morning it was all blocked again.

I don’t know what my reaction should be. An iphone without an ability to buy apps, rent movies – or do anything on it but make calls – well – that is just a cell phone and I don’t have to pay 400 plus for one of those. My next phone will clearly be an Android device – no walled garden. At least then I can comfortably buy my apps and spend my money in peace without big brother watching and waiving a finger at me because I happen to be working abroad for a month.

The email said:

Hi *****,

John here. Thank you so much for your patience while the iTunes Store researched this issue. It looks like your credit card company is having an issue communicating with the iTunes Store.

I have good news for you. I have taken this to a senior advisor and we have done some work on your account. It has been found that this issue has been resolved. Please try again in 24 hours.

If you continue to have issues in 24 hours, please feel free to reply to this email and let me know.

Have a great day, ******.

Sincerely,

John
iTunes Store Customer Support

Please Note: I work M-F, 9-6PM (EST)

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to assist you. You may receive an AppleCare survey email; any feedback you provide would be greatly appreciated.

My name is Michael from iTunes Store Support. I understand your credit card being declined and you cannot make further purchases at this time. I know you must be looking forward to having all this taken care of, and I’ll be happy to help you with this. If you would like to purchase from an iTunes Store in a particular country, you must have both a residential address and a billing address in that particular country. Items on any particular country’s iTunes Store are available only for distribution to customers who use a credit card, debit card, iTunes Gift Certificate, or iTunes Gift Card issued in and for that country. For example, the U.S. iTunes Store can only sell to U.S. residents using credit cards or debit cards that were issued in and for the U.S., or U.S. residents using iTunes Gift Certificates or Gift Cards that were purchased in the U.S. I’m sorry you ran into trouble with your iTunes Store purchase. To purchase music on the iTunes Store, you need to refresh your account information in your user profile. Your time is valuable, so I would like to point out that there are several steps to take for this to be done correctly. I’ll walk you through this process to get you back up and running in no time. 1) Make sure you are using the latest version of iTunes. It can be downloaded free of charge at the Apple website: http://www.apple.com/itunes/download 2) Open iTunes. 3) From the Store menu, choose Sign In. 4) Enter your account name and password then click Sign In. 5) From the Store menu, choose View My Account. 6) On your Apple Account Information page, click Edit Payment Information. 7) On the Edit Payment Information page, select the None radio button to completely remove all your credit card info. 8) Click Done, and then click Done again. 9) From the Store menu, choose Sign Out and then close iTunes completely. Once you have removed your credit card info, follow these steps: 1) Using your web browser, go to the My Apple ID page at: http://appleid.apple.com/ 2) If the site is not displayed in your preferred language, click the Change Language link in the upper-right corner, type the name of your language in the field that appears, then click the Save button. 3) Click the “Manage your account” link. 4) Type your iTunes Store account name (which is your Apple ID) in the Apple ID field, type your password in the password field, then click the Sign In button. 5) Click “Addresses” in the left column. 6) Edit your addresses and make sure the appropriate state is selected for all of them, then click the Save Changes button at the bottom. 7) Next, click “Phone Numbers” in the left column. 7) Ensure your phone numbers are formatted correctly (i.e. the area code is correctly typed into the area code field). 8) Click the Save Changes button. After you have updated your billing and shipping address, follow these last steps: 1) Open your web browser, and navigate to the Apple Store Online: http://store.apple.com 2) At the main window, choose the option to Review Your Account. 3) Log in with your iTunes Store account name using the same password you use in the iTunes Store. 4) At the Your Account screen, choose the Change Account Information option on that screen. 5) Enter your credit card billing information, including the shipping address information. 6) Choose the proper county for your address. Click continue. Your account will then be updated, and a pre-authorization amount will temporarily be charged to your credit card (which will be automatically removed). Once your account is updated, close your web browser. 7) Launch iTunes. Your iTunes Store account should work normally. If you continue to experience this issue, just reply to this email and include any more information you may have discovered. I trust the information that I have provided will be helpful to you in resolving this issue. If you have any further questions, please reply to this email and I will be happy to assist you again. Sincerely, MichaeliTunes Store Customer Support Please note my schedule is 8AM to 5:00PM(EST) Sunday to Thursday. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to assist you. You may receive an AppleCare survey email; Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Interresting aspects:

1. If you call 1800-My-Apple about the problem your advised that the service desk cannot help you via phone this can only be corrected via Email.

2. If you have a creadit card associated with the account that is approved prior to you leaving the U.S. then your card will continue to work while overseas if downloading video or Music. But if downloading apps it fails.

3. The length of time to get at least this much in responce is crazy.

4. Will the app providers be happy with the fact that they are not going to make any money on the over 400,000 US people who are outside the US supporting the U.S. Military while overseas?

5. Having credit on ITUNES prevents you from being able to change your region. Your required to spend the ballance before changing the region. The ability to spend the ballance is hindered by not being able to provide a valid payment method. You’ll have to do the New account request.

6. The suggested action from APPLE is to get a local credit card for the country in which they are in. Yea, like that is possible being your a U.S. Citizen assigned overseas not a overseas customer living there as a tax payer.

As for use of VPN here’s what I got.

For Fun.I repeated all the steps above this time using a VPN based in the US. Well I was able to sucessfully get all the way to the last two steps. Opened the Itunes Application. selected to log-in. Entered username and password. Got the Verification is required box …Before you can make purchases, you must click OK then verify your payment information. So Clicked OK Up comes the Edit Payment information screen. Where the credit card has all but the Seurity code information. Entered the proper number. Verified the address was correct from my Bank’s statement. Country Region is United States. Select “Done” And Again Your credit card was declined. Please enter valid credit card information.

Apple is working toward blocking the VPN work around as well.

The solution of sending an email to the Apple Support does not correct the problem. It only gives the user the false hope that something is being done in the background.

What is being done in the background is Apple working on Apple’s security procedures in accordance with agreements toward liscense and copywrite fighting the capababilities of piracy and intellectual property circumvention has decided that the following has to take place to procure an application from the ITUNES portal.
1. You must be using a computer that is physically located in the US (using a U.S. Service provider)
2. Your credit card has to be valid with a US financial institution.
3. Your billing address for the institution must be based in the U.S.
4. ITUNES 10 application does not use the WWW ports most assume are being used with connecting with a VPN. ITUNES V10 actually uses it’s own ports and protocols and therefore if you selecct a VPN tool it needs to be more than just secure web browsing. You’ll have to VPN your entire connection out of your house. (All ports and protocols)

Note depending upon how the application is writted it may also require you to old school tweek and change your local computers’ Time and region settings to match whichever item it is where the VPN service is being granted from.

Rebutle (Point of this message):

There is no “solution” posted. Only facts leading to the work-around that you’ll need to ship the device to someone in the U.S. so that you can have the device acquire the application you desire every time you want another Application.

Are you currently inside the U.S.?

If so congratulations I am Jealous.
For the rest of us (most of this posting) what was posted was the email I got today from Apple tech. If you outside the U.S. you will have to get a Credit card for the country in which you are currently at and use the web site for that country.

In trying to get this worked out. For me I live in Korea. I have to navigate the Korean web page (not offered is an english translated version) where the option is “Visa” “Amexpress” “Mastercard”. So not I’m off to find a bank that will allow me to get a credit card (one of the three listed above) in a country I barely understand the language of to give me an approval for a credit card.