Kid Racks Up £1150 Xbox Live Bill, Father Blames MSFT

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fenix1186

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I'm pretty sure they have parental controls on the xbox for a reason. It also has the ability to restrict store purchases. I have no sympathy for the father. Pay the bill for your lack of parenting.
 

fenix1186

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[citation][nom]peroludiarom[/nom]I'm a developer, and I don't agree that Consoles like XBox, that are made for children's mostly, have click-buy function. MS should fix this asap, and they are for blame.[/citation]
Made for children?? Maybe you are talking about the Wii... Remember the avg age of a gamer is like 36-37?
 

john_e

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I don't have xbox or never used one except when my nephew came to hook it up and play some games with me. However that being said, how on earth do you not notice you're being billed on credit card for 6 MONTHS?????? If it was just 1 month i could understand but 6 Months? Common really??? Hate to see this guy personal finances.
 

jay2tall

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I have a PS3 not XBox, but we have the same option to save credit card information to make purchase extremely easy. I have a 9 year old son and have chosen not to save any CC information. I purchase Playstation network cards at Walmart or I can add cash to my wallet by going online. I did not want my son accidentally purchasing something without my approval. I also monitor what games he plays and he has his stack and I have mine. This is just another case of bad parenting, or learning the hard way as a parent. Why do parents, really adults in general, in this day and age find it necessary to blame someone else for their mistakes. Just man up, accept responsibility and correct your action.

Also, I noticed he bought an Xbox so his son could play Call of Duty, but "He didn't realise it was costing real money". So how old is his son? I'm sure he shouldn't be playing an M rated game. Parents don't pay attention to what there kids are doing these days as long as they are occupied they don't care. My wife is a therapist and works with kids with ADHD , ODD, autism, etc. While autism completely doesn't apply here, but when kids are diagnosed with ADHD and especially ODD, don't let them play super violent videogames they shouldn't be playing in the first place. You want to really ramp up a kid with Oppositional Defiant Disorder, stick him in front of the tv and have him kill people for hours on end. Sorry for my rant.

M$ not at fault, bad parent bad.
 

egmccann

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I can see both sides, to a point. There SHOULD be a password (even optional, but enabled by default) before making purchases, sure. However, *HE* should have been watching his money far better.

Hell, if anything he missed a great parenting opportunity - namely, teaching his kid *about* money. But I guess he'd have to be aware of it to begin with.
 

cirdecus

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Ok, so the father gave Microsoft his credit card information and never knew real money was involved?? Come on.

I also think its interesting that they don't mention the age of the kid. 15 years old? He obviously knows it costs money.

This is the father's failure here. You don't give your credit card number out ANYWHERE without knowing everything you can about the system you're giving it to. You don't just blinding fill in the blanks and walk away. He should've also taught his son/daughter a bit more respect, because there's no doubt that kid knew it cost money and didn't give a #(%$.

Bad money management and bad parenting imo. Microsoft isn't responsible.
 

5teviewonders

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The guy's got a point. There should at least be security options. It's not like his kid's gonna have a credit card so it's gotta be his. In which case you'd want some security.
 
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steam also will allow unrestricted purchases if you store your cc info to your account. thats why you either use vouchers, or one-time cc charges.
 
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What is the purpose of selling content for "points" other than to make it feel like you are not spending actual money? It's intentionally deceptive.

Granted, *most* adults should be able to see through that scheme, but Xbox is marketed to children.

This guy has almost zero chance of getting his money refunded purely on the merits of his complaint. The media attention may change those chances significantly. However, a real positive outcome would be a change in the way that digital content is sold on Xbox, PS3, etc.

Transparency benefits everybody.
 

Camikazi

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Father messed up a bit, first for not checking and seeing what his son was doing and second for not making his child's account a CHILD ACCOUNT. You can link your child's account to a main one that you control and that will make it so any purchases the child tries to make will have to be authorized by you before it can go through, this is how I have my nephews account.
 

eddieroolz

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Multiple lessons seems to be in order for this father:

1. Watch your credit card...
2. Watch your kid...
3. If your kid is too young to have his own credit card, he shouldn't even be playing Call of Duty in the first place. It's a M rated game, dude.
 

kinggraves

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I guess he forgot to read the enclosed instruction book!

[citation][nom]Cirdecus[/nom]Come on.I also think its interesting that they don't mention the age of the kid. 15 years old? He obviously knows it costs money.[/citation]

Considering what an irresponsible bonehead the father is I doubt the kid does understand the concept of money. Not MS' fault, not at all, not one bit. This is why we need warnings not to swim with your Xbox. Take them to court, own them completely, and leave them with the legal fees. Give this kid the education the father isn't capable of, that things cost money and that you can't sue away your problems. He'll be 16 soon, so he can get a job and help pay it off.

 

ziggs

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Here's an idea:

This kid sounds like he is about 12.

Don't let him play Call of Duty.

I played Sim City and Roller Coaster Tycoon when I was around 12.

 

xrodney

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[citation][nom]nopenip0955[/nom]steam also will allow unrestricted purchases if you store your cc info to your account. thats why you either use vouchers, or one-time cc charges.[/citation]

Thats true to some point, but steam still require you to click/confirm several times before doing charge to your card. If I remember on xbox all you have to do is single click with no confirmation required what so ever.
 
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Interestingly I just had something similar happen with my own son. Now the difference is that I noticed immediately that I have been charged $30 for 2000 MS points. I called them the next morning and arranged it so my card would be removed from the account at the end of the billing cycle. (My son also paid for the 2000 points with his own money)

But here's the thing. I'm good with computers. And my son wasn't even aware that he was making a purchase. Call of Duty 4 has "coins" that allow you to get upgrades. You earn them through doing missions and what not. So I can understand the confusion.

Also, I know you can setup a child account. But my son is 16. And a child account can't play COD. (And, yes I realize it's rates 18A+) :p In the end, I absolutely have to take responsibility for my own actions, but MS "does" make it way way to easy to charge stuff. (No confirmation or even a notification...)

And I can confirm trying to remove your credit card from the account is a pain. (Hence why I had to call Microsoft) Even finding their support number was a bitch...

Think I might try a PS3... at least their network is free.
 

Cazalan

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Working as intended. Only a fraction of the users will actually file a complaint. Microsoft makes a killing. This is how all the pay as you go style things work.

It's not just Microsoft though. Look how easy it is to charge CC without even signing these days. Gas stations, redbox. If the charge is under $20 you don't need any confirmation at the point of sale.
 

Kami3k

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[citation][nom]john_4[/nom]The father must be a liberal. Always someone else's fault is their policy and also sue, sue sue happy they are.[/citation]

Why am I'm not the surprised the dumbest comments I've read so far today are from the same person.

There's your steam comment, and now this. I look forward to how stupid you can get.
 
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