Dear all,
I am writing to share my case with you mainly for reference and to ask whether you may have seen something similar before, or whether you might have any advice on how to approach it.
My Apple Account has been in use since 2008, so almost 18 years, with a long history of purchases, subscriptions and Apple services.
On September 18, 2026, Apple disabled the Media & Purchases portion of my account. The only explanation initially provided was a generic reference to a Terms & Conditions violation, without identifying the specific transaction or conduct involved.
There is a potentially relevant sequence of events shortly before the restriction.
I had legitimately purchased several Apple Gift Cards through a corporate benefits program and have the corresponding invoices and documentation.
I had also placed an Apple Online Store order which I later cancelled because of the delivery timeframe. Apple refunded that order with two Gift Cards. Those Gift Cards were sent to a Hide My Email address associated with my Apple Account and were subsequently redeemed on that same Apple Account, whose primary email address is different.
The Media & Purchases restriction occurred after that redemption.
I obviously cannot know whether the two events are actually related, but the timing made me wonder whether an automated fraud or risk-control system may have interpreted the sequence differently from what actually happened.
Since then, I have gone through multiple Senior Advisors and several internal escalations, providing documentation for the Gift Card purchases.
What makes the case particularly unusual is that the account was actually reactivated more than once and then disabled again.
During one support call, an advisor manually restored access while I was still on the phone. The account was disabled again within seconds, in real time. The case subsequently went through iTunes Fraud and was then escalated to Media & Purchases, which has now confirmed the decision to maintain the restriction.
My iCloud is still fully active, but Media & Purchases remains disabled and €219.05 of Apple Account balance is currently inaccessible.
Apple is making one final attempt to have Customer Relations review the case directly, and I have also opened an ADR Center case under the EU Digital Services Act framework. My preference, however, is still to resolve the matter directly with Apple.
I am simply wondering whether you have encountered similar cases involving Gift Card redemptions, automated fraud controls, repeated reactivation and subsequent re-blocking, or whether there is anything else you would suggest I investigate or ask Apple about.
I can provide the complete chronology and supporting documentation if useful.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
