When a client comes to us for mobile development, we are ready to lead him from an idea to a working product and do not abandon him at the stage when it is necessary to publish an application. For the app to appear in the App Store, you need to fill out more than one form, stock up on documentation, and be patient. There are guides on the Internet that tell you in detail how to publish a product. But not everything always goes according to plan.

We told the story of one registration in the Apple Developer Program, which took  3 months instead of two weeks. Such nuances are usually not written about in official instructions, but everyone can face them.

Part One: D-U-N-S

What is D-U-N-S and why it is needed

The YuSMP Group team works with different companies, this time we had a project with a customer from China. We agreed that we will help the client register a developer account with Apple, and then we will publish the product.

Individual developers can get access to the Apple Developer Program almost immediately, but companies have a harder time. Registration of legal entities lasts from 2 to 4 weeks, and this is if everything goes smoothly.

In addition to the certificate of registration of the organization, you must provide D-U-N-S   Number. This is a nine-digit number-the company identifier in the D&B information database. By number, the organization can be found in the international directory. D-U-N-S is necessary for Apple to make sure that the company really exists and is not in the register of unscrupulous organizations.

The number can be obtained in different ways:

• Through Apple's personal account (takes up to 13 days).
• For a fee on the official website (it can be obtained in five days and 2 weeks will take the approval of the App Store account).
• On your own at the website (the procedure lasts up to 30 days).

Discussing options with the customer, we decided to get D-U-N-S on our own. We coped with this task — the number appeared after 30 days.

Problems that have arisen

At the time of receiving D-U-N-S, everything was not so smooth: we received comments, clarifications according to the company passed several revisions before they were accepted. But we knew how to act: perseverance and communication with technical support paid off. Once we had the number, we could continue registering in the developer program (Enrollment Membership in Apple Developer Program).

But Apple did not accept the number because the address of the DUNS organization did not match the address when registering on the site.

Thus, it is important: the company's addresses on the Apple and D&B websites must completely match, as well as the name.

We contacted D-U-N-S technical support again, got updated data, and returned to the site. Apple showed the error again.

So we have already communicated with Apple tech support. We sent a letter, attached documents, and confirmation from D-U-N-S. We convinced the employees to look at the attachments.

The company agreed and changed the data, registered a developer account. It would seem that our adventures are over.

Part Two: Account payment

To connect to the App store program, you need to pay for a subscription - $ 99 per month. Usually, the order is processed within 2 business days.

But the deadline passes, and we see that the amount has not been debited from the card. They sent a letter, attached a payment order, but the appeal remained unanswered.

We tried to make a payment with another card. Then another one. And more. Not a single amount has passed. No one responded to the letters.

After another email, we were answered: they offered to personally call and confirm the identity of the owner of the organization.

We contacted the customer and arranged a conversation with Apple. We received approval by phone and found out the reason why all payments were rejected.

Subscription to the Apple Developer Program must be paid with a card that is linked to the specified organization. Moreover, the card must be issued in the city where the company is registered.

After the requirements were met, we were able to pay for the subscription and upload applications to the store.

Conclusions

As a result, we spent more than three months connecting the account, although we were going to close the task in a couple of weeks. The complexity of this case was that the owner of the account was not in Russia, and the binding was to the department of China, where the main language is Mandarin. Because of the language, it was difficult to immediately understand the documents, there were overlays.

The business analyst of YuSMP Group, who worked with these tasks, gives a couple of practical tips:

• It is better to get D-U-N-S directly through Apple.
• It will be more effective not to write appeals to Apple, but to order callbacks. In a telephone conversation, it is easier to solve all questions here and now, rather than waiting for an answer every few days.

Even from this story, we realized that if you do not give up and show perseverance and initiative, then you can negotiate with any support and get an answer.