Man gets charged twice for iTunes song, sues Apple for $5M

In what some might say is a slight overreaction, a man in the US is taking Apple to court for US$5-million after it charged him twice for a song on iTunes.

The class action suit alleges that Apple “double bills” for purchases made on iTunes with “troubling regularity”.

Robert Herskowitz filed the suit after buying an Adam Lambert Song from iTunes for US$1.29 before being charged again. After he lodged a complaint, Apple reportedly sent Herskowitz the following response:

Your request for ‘Whatya Want from Me’ was carefully considered; however, according to the iTunes Store Terms of Sale, all purchases made on the iTunes store are ineligible for refund.

This policy matches Apple’s refund policies and provides protection for copyrighted materials.

The man claims that the terms of agreement for iTunes don’t say anything about this policy and that it has “resulted in substantial numbers of Apple customers throughout the country having been double-billed by Apple.”

Herskowitz’s suit alleges breach of contract, breach of faith, unjust enrichment, unfair competition and business law violations. He also alleges that the company’s “illegal” policies also affect sales on the App Store, the iBookstore and the Mac App Store.

While the suit may seem like an overreaction, it would probably be a little hypocritical for Apple to say so. Late last week, a US judge said he’d had enough of the Cupertino-based tech-giant’s “frivolous filings”.

In 2011 Apple spent US$100-million in legal fees fighting the likes of Samsung, HTC, and Motorola in court.

Man, this sort of feels like one of those cases you want no one to win.