I've had a similar experience to the OP - but in differing circumstances.
I had a subscription on my account I'd forgotten about. My CC had expired, and I didn't bother giving Apple the new one. The sub pulled, card wasn't charged - but the charge stayed on my account.
Apple then turned off all access (Apple ID, iTunes, Store etc) until the new CC was added to the account.
Once that was done, the account was available again. The sub was immediately removed, along with any others.
I have also supported Mac users with exactly the same issue, resolved in exactly the same way.
I look at this as blackmail. Apple hold an account which has fully paid up software and services to ransom until you cough up what they deem is unpaid.
I had a subscription on my account I'd forgotten about. My CC had expired, and I didn't bother giving Apple the new one. The sub pulled, card wasn't charged - but the charge stayed on my account.
Apple then turned off all access (Apple ID, iTunes, Store etc) until the new CC was added to the account.
Once that was done, the account was available again. The sub was immediately removed, along with any others.
I have also supported Mac users with exactly the same issue, resolved in exactly the same way.
I look at this as blackmail. Apple hold an account which has fully paid up software and services to ransom until you cough up what they deem is unpaid.
That, IMHO, is monopolistic behaviour.