Feel bad? Don't, this has nothing to do with technology. This has everything to do with not giving your freakin' pre-teen son your creditcard. That's asking for trouble.Caramel Frappe said:
Dad Blames Microsoft for Son's Xbox Live Spending Spree
- Thread starter The Wooster
- Start date
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If you've only used your card to pay for Microsoft points then it can easily be removed from the Xbox though the Account Management screen.
The only time you can not remove it is when it is currently tied to an active Gold subscription. Now that is understandable if the account is set to automatically renew. What I do find shabby on Microsoft's part is that you can not remove the card if automatic renewal is turned off.
In the latter case you must wait for the subscription to expire before you can remove the card.
Honestly though I think there are too many "are you sure" screens when buying something from LIVE. The thought that crosses my mind on occasion is "damn it, stop asking me if I want to spend my money and just take it."
Heading back to the topic I find it hard to believe that the Dad in this case was not checking his credit card statements. Even if he didn't go over them with a fine tooth comb surely he would have noticed that his balance was changing by large amounts each month.
With identity theft being a growing crime people should check their statements.
The only time you can not remove it is when it is currently tied to an active Gold subscription. Now that is understandable if the account is set to automatically renew. What I do find shabby on Microsoft's part is that you can not remove the card if automatic renewal is turned off.
In the latter case you must wait for the subscription to expire before you can remove the card.
Honestly though I think there are too many "are you sure" screens when buying something from LIVE. The thought that crosses my mind on occasion is "damn it, stop asking me if I want to spend my money and just take it."
Heading back to the topic I find it hard to believe that the Dad in this case was not checking his credit card statements. Even if he didn't go over them with a fine tooth comb surely he would have noticed that his balance was changing by large amounts each month.
With identity theft being a growing crime people should check their statements.
There are a combination of factors in this story:
~The age old kids excuse of "I didn't know" still works with some parents; because parents are paying less attention to what their kids do in their off time or while the parents are not home than they used to, gaming consoles and TVs are seemingly replacing proper care when the parents are also occupied (it is not an absolute, but true in many cases).
~Some online subscription services are automatically renewed, my most educated guess is that the father set up an online account for the kid using his credit card, it's possible that the father was unaware that XBLA cards could be purchased to restrict his sons spending. [I only use the PSN cards for my purchases online, that way I know exactly how much i'm spending and how much I have left, and so my credit card information is not on their site]. The father likely purchased the system for the kid but let his son set it up and the kid would not have put the parental controls on his own system.
~To the people who are trying to bring up the Doom/Resident Evil argument, they are not realistic shooters (well, the early RE games are certainly not), MW and CoD are, you aren't shooting monsters or the undead, you are shooting people, there is a difference (at least in my eyes). Yes, the father should have been aware of what games he has purchased for his kid (the content) or what games the kid has and been at least trying to montior what he is playing.
One thought I would like to know is how did the kid rack up that big a bill, how much do the map packs on CoD cost anyway? And what the heck is so fascinating about FIFA that you would spend additional money on it?
~The age old kids excuse of "I didn't know" still works with some parents; because parents are paying less attention to what their kids do in their off time or while the parents are not home than they used to, gaming consoles and TVs are seemingly replacing proper care when the parents are also occupied (it is not an absolute, but true in many cases).
~Some online subscription services are automatically renewed, my most educated guess is that the father set up an online account for the kid using his credit card, it's possible that the father was unaware that XBLA cards could be purchased to restrict his sons spending. [I only use the PSN cards for my purchases online, that way I know exactly how much i'm spending and how much I have left, and so my credit card information is not on their site]. The father likely purchased the system for the kid but let his son set it up and the kid would not have put the parental controls on his own system.
~To the people who are trying to bring up the Doom/Resident Evil argument, they are not realistic shooters (well, the early RE games are certainly not), MW and CoD are, you aren't shooting monsters or the undead, you are shooting people, there is a difference (at least in my eyes). Yes, the father should have been aware of what games he has purchased for his kid (the content) or what games the kid has and been at least trying to montior what he is playing.
One thought I would like to know is how did the kid rack up that big a bill, how much do the map packs on CoD cost anyway? And what the heck is so fascinating about FIFA that you would spend additional money on it?
I gotta agree that it seems more like the Dad and kids fault rather than Microsoft's. Although it would help greatly if you had to type in a password. Once the data is saved then you just need to click "buy" and "Yes I am sure I want to buy X" and it charges the account. It would help if you had to enter a password or something.
True, it might help, but remember this story about in-game purchases on iOS, when you do need to input a password : http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/107662-Eight-Year-Old-Girl-Blows-1400-on-SmurfberriesDandark said:
If a parent isn't careful about their child's use of technology they've entered their credit card details into, there's going to be trouble. In this case, although there wasn't a password option, there were account settings that would have to prevented this.
All three are at fault.
1.Kid spent money he didn't have without permission.
He did not own the money, it was not his, and he utilized it without permission to do so. Violation of trust, blah blah blah. He was wrong to do that, nobody can argue that. No twelve year old is dumb enough to lack the knowledge of what a $ means. He is very irresponsible, blah blah blah. If you read from page 1 to here then you have seen enough of this to last a lifetime.
2.The Man didn't understand the technology at play.
The first thing you do whenever you get a new piece of high-end technology is learn how to work the damned thing. You find out what it can do, what is is supposed to do, and if a kid is using it, how to keep them from doing something stupid (as kids are apt to do). He also gave a copy of COD to someone who wasn't even a teenager yet... showing he didn't even understand what the ESRB Ratings System is. If he had actually done what a intelligent and responsible human being would do, namely learn how the system worked, he would have gotten something done to prevent this.
Also... six months without checking a credit card statement, or a bank account, or any of his financial information? He was asking for something like this to happen by doing that. Rule number one, you don't tempt fate, you don't count on luck for anything you can actually take steps to prevent.
Blah blah blah, again this seems to be the common opinion. Which means i am a conformist sheep doesn't it?
3.Microsoft
For letting this idiot sign up for a XBL Account and unleashing this idiot. Although they are in the business of making money, so it might be possible to forgive this. They did, as stated, create methods by which this could be prevented. They can be held at fault for not creating a safeguard to unauthorized use, but that's not a crime. Unless somewhere it is against the law. They can't however be held responsible for the kid being able to do what his father had enabled him to do by not being aware of the system's capabilities.
1.Kid spent money he didn't have without permission.
He did not own the money, it was not his, and he utilized it without permission to do so. Violation of trust, blah blah blah. He was wrong to do that, nobody can argue that. No twelve year old is dumb enough to lack the knowledge of what a $ means. He is very irresponsible, blah blah blah. If you read from page 1 to here then you have seen enough of this to last a lifetime.
2.The Man didn't understand the technology at play.
The first thing you do whenever you get a new piece of high-end technology is learn how to work the damned thing. You find out what it can do, what is is supposed to do, and if a kid is using it, how to keep them from doing something stupid (as kids are apt to do). He also gave a copy of COD to someone who wasn't even a teenager yet... showing he didn't even understand what the ESRB Ratings System is. If he had actually done what a intelligent and responsible human being would do, namely learn how the system worked, he would have gotten something done to prevent this.
Also... six months without checking a credit card statement, or a bank account, or any of his financial information? He was asking for something like this to happen by doing that. Rule number one, you don't tempt fate, you don't count on luck for anything you can actually take steps to prevent.
Blah blah blah, again this seems to be the common opinion. Which means i am a conformist sheep doesn't it?
3.Microsoft
For letting this idiot sign up for a XBL Account and unleashing this idiot. Although they are in the business of making money, so it might be possible to forgive this. They did, as stated, create methods by which this could be prevented. They can be held at fault for not creating a safeguard to unauthorized use, but that's not a crime. Unless somewhere it is against the law. They can't however be held responsible for the kid being able to do what his father had enabled him to do by not being aware of the system's capabilities.
True dat. Educate your child and he won't be confused by the '£' symbol and the words 'confirm your purchase'.Eri said:
Daily Mail. <---Stopped reading there.
The dad deserves it for not knowing what the fuck his child was doing, and the kid deserves a good slap to the face for being dumber than a bag of bricks. I'm dumb as at least half a bag of bricks, and even I had at least some semblance of knowledge about money when I was 12. Dial-up internet, anyone?
And this applies, more times than I can possibly say.Raven said:
The dad deserves it for not knowing what the fuck his child was doing, and the kid deserves a good slap to the face for being dumber than a bag of bricks. I'm dumb as at least half a bag of bricks, and even I had at least some semblance of knowledge about money when I was 12. Dial-up internet, anyone?
for once im very proud of microsoft to say "piss off your son is a moron" Also that his son shouldn't have been playing CoD.
Oh sure, blame the kid for not knowing buying stuff costs money! Cue "adults should be aware of what their kids are doing rant".
Even having a low paying job should get you more than $1000 a month. So this happened in the course of 6 months and with that the money just isn't that much after all. He also didn't spend everything on the same day. I really doubt it was the kid fault for him having no money at the end.
Still over $1000 on COD and Fifa? How in the hell does he do that?
Still over $1000 on COD and Fifa? How in the hell does he do that?
Agreed. The irresponsibility of parents who let their kids play CoD is probably at least half the reason there are lawmakers trying to stop minors from buying violent games.The Plunk said:
I know others have already said it, but the dad really should have been looking at his bank statements.