Kid Rings Up $1700 Xbox Live Bill, Mom Blames Microsoft

[Kakashi on crack]

I almost feel a little sympathy for them... Until they mentioned its been going on for 6 months. One month? Ok, two months? I can sympathize that even, but SIX!?

FFS people, is it that hard to either call on the phone, or look online to check your billings and such every week or so? I mean my mother checks her bank account and such almost every other day to see where all the money is going. If I make a $2 purchase at some fast food place using my debit card it doesn't get past her. XD

 

[Super Toast]

Talk about passing the blame...

 

[Twilight_guy]

What I actually have to watch what my kid does? Dammit I gave birth and feed him and even bought him some cloths once and now I have to do more work? I think I'm just going to throw that kid in the river he's not worth it!

I would think that she would just assume that he can't handle money and ensure that the card information was removed (because she shouldn't trust her kid and obviously even in her warped thoughts know he can't make proper decisions). But why do the logical thing like request the company refund your money somehow (or monitor your credit cards better if this was over time) when you can point a finger and blame someone else. That's for showing us just how logical you can be lady!

 

[camazotz]

Well,I have mixed opinions on this subject. On one hand Microsoft has no idea of whether a kid is playing a system or the card owner (game consoles are not just for kids), on the other hand I've been thinking about this and while I've spent quite a bit on XBL over a long period of time, I'm not entirely sure what you could do to run up a bill like that so quickly. I mean what did he wind up buying?

I'll also say that I think the credit card company bears some responsibility. I say this because credit cards advertise security protections, and I've gotten several calls using my card legitimatly to make purchuses, especially in the past when I ran up a lot of my personal debt (while working, I didn't plan to become disabled)) and spent a lot of money at one time. Truthfully if she wasn't purchusing XBL stuff except for that six month period, I think that by rights the card company should have at least made a couple of calls to ask about these charges. Heck, I got a call for when DCUO verified my card by putting a $1.00 charge through to test it.

You could say that this is a responsibility dodge, but let's be honest, these cards promise customer protection, by their own standards they should have verified this change in purchusing trends at some point. One of the reasons why this exists is in case of someone like a kid using your card without your knowlege, like if your 40 years old and your teenage daughter "borrows" it to make a purchuse at Hot Topic.

Otherwise, it is pretty much her fault for not paying attention. What's more one of the big reasons why they have pre-paid cards for things like points and gold memberships is specifically so parents don't have to put their credit card information into a kid's console. This isn't even an obscure piece of information, and while entering the credit card info she should have noticed the bit about pre-paid cards (to enter the code) if nothing else. Of course it's possible that "mom" is rather dumb herself, or is running a scam. I mean one of the reasons why companies like Microsoft don't give refunds in cases like this is because of people doing things like running up huge bills, and then claiming "my kids did it" and effectively getting all that stuff for free if they provide the refund. Sure, people suffer in legitimate circumstances, but that's the problem, you can never tell in cases like this. I mean a crook in cases like this is always going to insist that they are a victim, and her going to the press (which is why we hear about this) to put pressure on Microsoft seems a little 'iffy' to me.

Yeah, I'm also feeling a bit mixed on this. One the one hand, what sort of person puts their credit card out there without being certain it isn't being charged? If this went on for as long as it did, how the hell didn't she notice a ton of Microsoft charges on her statement? There's a lot that doesn't add up here.

11 Year Olds do get a bad rap, but frankly that's the age that someone needs to start injecting some common sense in to them, or they'll just get worse with time. Why she's not coming down on him like a ton of bricks and making him pay it back, I don't know. Maybe I just hate kids and want to see him suffer?

Now, the mixed part for me is Microsoft. Those bastards make it positively impossible to make changes to your card; for the first few years of Xbox Live you couldn't even cancel an account without calling some guy in India and arguing on the phone for an hour. I also don't recall a lot of red-flag notification on their site when you enter information like your credit card indicating that the card will be openly accessible and billable anytime the Xbox is fired up and online. Not saying the woman is free of guilt here; like I said, how she managed to put her card out there without being certain of how it was to be used is beyond me, but I think its pretty evident that Microsoft does not have a lot of interest in being helpful on restricting that card's use. Sure, they have the tools for parental moderation, but they really don't put them "out there" in a way any internet/technology impaired doofus can see or learn to use them.

 

[kajinking]

Trust me when money is really tight you check your accounts OFTEN. I read my statements, I check at the ATM's, and I even have my bank's website saved to my favorites so I can check my account in less time than it takes to download a DLC. I have less than $300 so I make damn sure it stays there. That being said I do understand that as a Kid you seem to think your parents have a giant pile of money stashed somewhere they just aren't willing to share with you. However I must admit I'm not totally willing to buy that he had NO IDEA he was doing something wrong, I did something similar (although not as large) when I was young often so I know better than to take this kid at his word.

Also WHAT THE HELL DID HE SPEND IT ALL ON?! Does anyone have a list or the kids Gamertag?

 

[Krion_Vark]

"When he is in gaming mode he can't be thinking about the money. You can't put all that responsibility on a young boy,"

engage Capturing God Mode on.

If hes able to spend money hes able to take responsibility.... dang it i wouldnt have gotten away with something like this.

It is impossible to monitor everything your children do.

oh sure that excuse stands up for dlc content, but when hes buying new games there i think she should have noticed. To be honest i would think it would be increadably hard for him to rack up $1600 on just dlc.

If bobby kotick has his way thats the price of a single map on CoD

 

[Logan Westbrook]

No, see, what it is would be the content of the purchases.
One of the statistics shows that on average, women own 17 handbags at one time, and up to 19 pair of shoes. One for each outfit.
But then 30% of all clothing and shoes purchased by women ((on average)) is only wore once.

See, you can spend 25k and not be a bad spender. Chances are, 80% of what you bought brought you weeks or month of enjoyment. While many purchases by women ((on average)) are eather not worn, over priced, or unneeded.

Such as with the handbags. An average of 17 per female? That means there are women with more then that! And most handbags purchased ((on average)) are $42 or more.

While someone like me or you has probably spent 15-20k of gaming in our life time, our purchases tend to last longer, be used more ((when was the last time you bought a game and DIDNT play it more then once?)) and many of our gaming purchases can be traded in for half theyer value. If a gamer were to purchase 10 games, brand new for $60 a peice, and trade them in for $30-$40 a peice ((due to deals of special trade ins)) he can effectively cut his cost of gaming from $600 down to $200-$300.
Money better spent if you ask me xD

Again, that doesn't really prove anything about women. It proves a few things about you, but that's about it.

 

[yellowhead]

Wait, whenever i purchase a game on xbox live (i'm 18 and i use my own debit card for the purchases before you ask) i need to re-enter the card details every time. So when this kid wanted to buy something did he go up to him mum every time and ask for the debit card? My god woman just take responsility and admit you messed up.

 

[goldenheart323]

I can see how a kid and his parent might be confused because of the MS Points guff, which as I understand it was designed for that purpose.

I always thought that was the secondary reason for MS points. I thought the 1st was to make it impossible to buy just one game or DLC.

They always make you have extra MSP left over. They require the purchase of 1600MSP to buy anything, but most things cost 400, 800, or 1200MSP. That means you almost always have some points left over. Then, you start thinking, "I have these left over MSP. I might as well use them," & then you buy stuff you wouldn't normally bother with. (How else do you explain people actually buying items for their avatar???)

 

[lobster1077]

It'll be interesting to see microsoft's retort to this news

 

[Kanazuchi]

It's not my fault! And it sure as hell isn't my perfect little angel's fault either! C'mon Microsoft, you can spare $1700, can't you?

/slap

Punish the kid while you're at it! When I was 17, I bent the frame of my parents' Volvo by banging it into a guard rail. Sure, I only paid $500 of the $3000 repair bill, but when you're 17, half a grand is a ton of money. Guess what? I felt bad, and then felt worse that I was out $500! And I learned my lesson! I haven't been in an at-fault accident since then! Isn't that the point of parenting, to teach the kid what you can and can't do, what you should and shouldn't do?

It's like no one wants to be responsible any more. Periodically, I wonder if we got rid of all the lawyers (except the really important ones like prosecutors and public defenders) if the stupid irresponsible people would be able to bring lawsuits like this up. (Or maybe give judges the power to say "this is stupid" and just throw the case out. We can work on the details later.)

 

[Kris015]

Pfffffft that's nothing. This mom here in Denmark gave her 5-year old son an iPhone, and BAM he used 1800$ in an hour

 

[Legion]

"I put my credit card details into a machine without knowing that it could be used indefinitely by the user account without any checks, just like with any website such as Amazon, Ebay and thousands of others. It is not my fault, nor is it my child's' who would clearly see the prices labelled on each piece of content before he decided to buy them, it is purely the fault of the company that made this content available."

Is basically what she is saying.

 

[Thyunda]

How...does...wait...you can do that? Admittedly they might have put a warning on there, that the credit details are there to stay. It is true that when the kid wasn't presented with an error message or something, he just soldiered on through it.

But..they might have made the whole thing more available. You can actually do that? Really? I mean..I've been fucking about at the town centre buying Microsoft points like a dick, and you can just do it straight from the Xbox?
Screw this mum, I wanna know why I wasn't told about this!

 

[silasbufu]

"I haven't punished him because he feels bad enough and I know he won't do it again," she added. "It is ridiculous to allow someone of his age to make payments without any checks being done."

"When he is in gaming mode he can't be thinking about the money. You can't put all that responsibility on a young boy," she added. "It is impossible to monitor everything your children do. These companies should take some responsibility. They take advantage of vulnerable people."

Oh my god how can some people be so retarded? Stop fucking throwing the blame left and right and take some responsibility!!

 

[walsfeo]

So it took 18 months for her to notice? If she had brought the problem to XBOX Live's attention after one month the bill would have been much smaller I'm sure AND she might have gotten some slack from the folks at XBOX.

At the very least they would have informed her how to set her permissions before the debt was built up.

I'd love to see his purchasing patterns. The boy probably bought a few things the first month and when she didn't say anything about it started to get more aggressive with his purchases.

She's pretty Dim.

 

[squid5580]

I feel bad for her... and maybe the kid really didn't understand what he did... but still. Check what your kids are up to!

Why feel bad for her? It is her own damn fault. You give your credit card you check into the details of the service. There is nothing stopping her from entering in the number getting what she wants and removing it. I mean she obviously knew there were no checks. She used it once.