icloud_icon_blueDue 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.

Tags: Greece, iCloud

Top Rated Comments

pedrotaquelim Avatar
131 months ago
Ugh, kick them out of the EU already!!!
It's so easy to make fun and jokes on the internet.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
springsup Avatar
131 months ago
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.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Gav2k Avatar
131 months ago
That's nice of Apple
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
spoljnr01 Avatar
131 months ago
Ugh, kick them out of the EU already!!!
Will that solve the problem? Do you know how the German economy was 60 years ago?
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mainyehc Avatar
131 months 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.
That is NOT completely missing in Greece, nor in Portugal, and nor in Spain. People in the south WANT jobs… except there ARE NONE to be seen, especially for young people. We are not lazy! We work our ASSES off when we are lucky enough to have a job, for near-slavery “wages” (I'd even say that some slaves were better off than some interns, as their owners had to make sure they survived in order to maximize their investment; nowadays, unpaid or under-paid internships are more common than not and, guess what, you either go back to your parents' place or you starve. Nice!).

Case in point: I'm friends with around twenty HIGHLY QUALIFIED people who left the country, since the economy was so botched they couldn't get a decent job anywhere (yes, not just jobs in services, but on actually sellable goods). Guessed who paid for their education? US. With OUR taxes. Guess who is benefiting from all that investment? The british, german, french et. al. Everyone, I mean EVERYONE is friends/family with at least of 5-20 young people who left recently (if I extended that count to acquaintances, the number would surely rise above 50). In 2013 alone, at least 110.000 people (in a country with a population of around 10 million) left the country… It is estimated that there are currently 2.3 million portuguese living abroad… and most aren't doing it for sport or to “gain experience”, but out of sheer necessity. Do you think that's normal or desirable by any measure?

As for the “EU solidarity”, that's a load of bollocks… CEOs and politicians were complicit with policies (including the Common Agricultural Policy), the imposition of production quotas and forceful imports in exchange for subsidies… that took us nowhere. We used to produce our own trains; now we import them from Germany. We used to grow our own food; now we import it from the EU and also some other exotic places, at great energetic expense. Our utilities were sold to the chinese. Our airports, bridges and the former telecom company, to the french. Oh, and we now have not one, but *two* highways from Lisbon to Porto (partly funded by EU-funds and loans, I'm guessing).

Sure, much of that might be attributable to a lack of democratic culture by the people (something not that hard to understand after 40 years of fascism and sub-par education). But what about the lenders, our “EU friends”? Are they exempt from responsibility? Shouldn't there have been SOME supervision? Some independent studies before throwing bags of cash so the “lazy south” could build redundant highways and all sorts of useless public projects?

I, for one, was born in 1985 and only started voting in 2003. Why should I be punished by decisions made by irresponsible politicians when I was a kid? Give me a break. Nor should the young greeks, who never voted for PASOK or ND. You people should all be ashamed to make stupid comparisons, really. But since you've brought the topic of WWII, here goes: Right now, there is a MASSIVE economic war undergoing in the world and, by proxy, in Europe. Basically we have the big capital and big finance trying to deregulate the EU markets at all costs and turn it into the new China/Bangladesh/[insert third world labour market] and Europe, out of sheer stupidity and old divisions, are letting them have their way (nay, even enhancing it!). Internally, there is a North/South (Protestant/Catholic) divide (I know this is a bit of a gross simplification, but take it for what it is) and a East/West divide (with the newcomers, still recovering from their split from the USSR, wanting to throw Greece under the bus and, ironically – and, more important, stupidly – enough into the arms of Vladimir Putin).

I mean, seriously! At the head of them you have Germany, of all nations, speaking of “discipline”, “trust”, “efficiency” and all sorts of crap. I mean, THE NERVE of the germans! I know very well of all the public spending shenanigans and inefficiencies they also have in their record, like the infamous and massively over-budget Berlin/Brandenburg airport which keeps getting delayed… No, I don't even have to go into those examples from the past… I, as a citizen from the EU, am probably also suffering some kind of penalty from overspending on the richer parts of the Union, and you don't usually hear me complaining about that. But I am well informed and refuse to be looked down upon just because I come from the “lazy south”. Not without a fight, at least.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NiCk- Avatar
131 months ago
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 ..
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro to Reverse iPhone X Design Decision

Monday July 7, 2025 9:46 am PDT by
Since the iPhone X in 2017, all of Apple's highest-end iPhone models have featured either stainless steel or titanium frames, but it has now been rumored that this design decision will be coming to an end with the iPhone 17 Pro models later this year. In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo today, the account Instant Digital said that the iPhone 17 Pro models will have an aluminum...
iphone 16 pro models 1

Here's How the iPhone 17 Pro Max Will Compare to the iPhone 17 Pro

Saturday July 5, 2025 1:00 pm PDT by
Apple should unveil the iPhone 17 series in September, and there might be one bigger difference between the Pro and Pro Max models this year. As always, the Pro Max model will be larger than the Pro model:iPhone 17 Pro: 6.3-inch display iPhone 17 Pro Max: 6.9-inch displayGiven the Pro Max is physically larger than the Pro, it has more internal space, allowing for a larger battery and...
iOS 26 Feature

Everything New in iOS 26 Beta 3

Monday July 7, 2025 1:20 pm PDT by
Apple is continuing to refine and update iOS 26, and beta three features smaller changes than we saw in beta 2, plus further tweaks to the Liquid Glass design. Apple is gearing up for the next phase of beta testing, and the company has promised that a public beta is set to come out in July. Transparency In some apps like Apple Music, Podcasts, and the App Store, Apple has toned down the...
imac video apple feature

Apple Launching These 15+ Products Later This Year

Sunday July 6, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
The calendar has turned to July, meaning that 2025 is now more than half over. And while the summer months are often quiet for Apple, the company still has more than a dozen products coming later this year, according to rumors. Below, we have outlined at least 15 new Apple products that are expected to launch later this year, along with key rumored features for each. iPhone 17 Series iPho...
iPhone Car Key Kia

Here's Which Vehicles Offer iPhone Car Keys

Sunday July 6, 2025 3:03 pm PDT by
In 2020, Apple added a digital car key feature to its Wallet app, allowing users to lock, unlock, and start a compatible vehicle with an iPhone or Apple Watch. The feature is currently offered by select automakers, including Audi, BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and a handful of others, and it is set to expand further. Apple has a web page with a list of vehicle models that ...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
iphone 17 pro render majin bu

New iPhone 17 Pro Renders Highlight Apple Logo and MagSafe Design Changes

Sunday July 6, 2025 8:43 pm PDT by
New renders today provide the best look yet relocated Apple logo and redesigned MagSafe magnet array of the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Image via Majin Bu. Several of the design changes coming to the iPhone 17 Pro model have been rumored for some time, such as the elongated camera bump that spans the full width of the device, with the LiDAR Scanner and flash moving to the right side. ...
iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island

iPhone 17 Models Rumored to Feature Redesigned Dynamic Island

Monday July 7, 2025 7:38 am PDT by
iPhone 17 models will feature a redesigned Dynamic Island user interface, according to a post today from Digital Chat Station, an account with more than three million followers on Chinese social media platform Weibo. The account has accurately leaked some information regarding future Apple products in the past. The account did not share any specific details about the alleged changes that are ...
apple account card feature

Apple Account Card Expanding to More Countries

Tuesday July 8, 2025 7:34 pm PDT by
Apple is expanding the ability to add an Apple Account Card to the Wallet app to more countries, according to backend Apple Pay changes. With iOS 15.5, Apple updated the Wallet app to allow users to add an Apple Account Card, which displays the Apple credit balance associated with an Apple ID. If you receive an Apple gift card, for example, it is added to an Apple Account that is also...