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

[Danpascooch]

They don't take advantage of vulnerable people, just stupid people. As well they should. Good ole american moms, passing the responsibility on to the corporations. I wouldn't even go so far as to blame the 11 year old kid, although he had to have known wtf he was doing to rack up 1600 DOLLARS worth of crap. Blame the mom for being ignorant enough to leave this stuff in his control. If you put yer CC on anything, do yer damn research, and know just what the liabilities are.

edit: oops, guess they aren't american. just acting like it (yes i'm american, i just know our kind all too well)

Congratulations, you get +10 irrational bigotry points for making a sweeping generalization about a nationality of people while at the same time being wrong on every level possible!

regardless as to whether i was wrong or not about the location of the parent involved (which i clearly, if you had read, mentioned in my edit), it doesn't change the fact that it's true about us americans. call me a bigot, i call myself a realist.

What is true about "us Americans" exactly?

That's what I don't get, are you saying all Americans are stupid, all Americans don't pay attention to their kids? All Americans misplace blame?

Whichever one it is it's still wrong and stupidly bigoted, not every American is the same, and just because you are one doesn't mean it's alright to assign a character flaw to all of them.

 

[Bre2nan]

I don't really blame the kid for this. It could honestly be his fault, and we only really have his mom's side of the story, but the kid could just be really bad with money. My brother's 23 years old, and he can't live on his own or anything because he just can't manage his money. Give him a debit card, and he'll spend every penny he has at the mall in a single afternoon.

The mom is the real culprit here. Just because you thought that the debit card was only for the subscription fees doesn't mean you shouldn't still be checking on stuff like this. If money is as tight in that household as she's saying, she should be checking her balance on a regular basis and watching for any unexpected charges to her account. Charges for DLC or XBLA or whatever should look the same on the statements as the monthly subscription fee, so if there's too many of those, something is wrong.

If it allows the kid to make these kinds of charges to the mom's card, than the console really shouldn't be hooked up to the Internet. Sure, if you take away his Xbox Live, he'll ***** and moan, but he should be taught that he did something wrong. Parenting: some of these people should try it sometime!

 

[Nargleblarg]

"It is ridiculous to allow someone of his age to make payments without any checks being done."

Exactly, I mean what kind of mother would give her kid her credit card number and- oh wait, she's referring to Microsoft?

I'm sorry but I have to say that I just had to slam my head on my keyboard and begin to cry when I read your comment.

 

[Woodsey]

"Sadly, nobody has figured out yet how to make parents automatically default to "pay attention to what your kids are doing.""

You know what? Fuck that.

MS have been charging me for XBL on a monthly-base, without asking permission and giving the impression that I was only going to pay for a month before being asked again, and the only way to cancel this little fucking scheme is to go out of my way to call them.

I HAVE TO CALL THEM TO GET THEM TO STOP TAKING MONEY FROM ME.

How about the fucktits call me?

Woodsey's 'bout to get medi-fucking-eval.

Thats what a one month recurring subscription means. Just like that mother your not allowed to blame your own ignorance on microsoft. Sure it sucks that you have to call them to cancel the subscription but thats what you get for not paying attention or reading it properly.

It's 23 lines down in 28 lines of terms and conditions, and it's simply called a 1-month membership, not a 1-month recurring subscription.

 

[vansau]

While id hate to be sexist, many women are bad with money, and this sort of reinforces that notion.

You really thought that was a good idea to write, man?

 

[Drakane]

My biggest issue is.. its over a 6 month period in time. If she has to watch her finances so closely, how did she not noticed the charges 6 months ago and inquire about it then?

 

[Irridium]

"Sadly, nobody has figured out yet how to make parents automatically default to "pay attention to what your kids are doing.""

You know what? Fuck that.

MS have been charging me for XBL on a monthly-base, without asking permission and giving the impression that I was only going to pay for a month before being asked again, and the only way to cancel this little fucking scheme is to go out of my way to call them.

I HAVE TO CALL THEM TO GET THEM TO STOP TAKING MONEY FROM ME.

How about the fucktits call me?

Woodsey's 'bout to get medi-fucking-eval.

It's in the T&C bro. Like most subscription services (See WoW)

In WoW when I buy a 2 month card, it gives me 2 months. No more, no less, and it doesn't continue charging after the 2 months.

Also, in WoW its pretty painless to cancel your subscription. Its an absolute pain in the ass to cancel your xbox live subscription. If feels like its specifically designed to piss you off just enough so you'll just leave it and deal.

This is not a good thing. I don't care if they say its what they can do, its fucking bullshit, and the fact that people just lie down and take it is terrifying.

 

[Mrsoupcup]

How about she sells the Xbox and the kids games to pay for it? Seriously the kid deserves it. I got grounded for 2 weeks for spending my dads 50 bucks. But 1700 dollars? I would have been off to military school. Lessons learned: kids don't have a concept of money. That's why so many teenagers end up owing fuck loads of cash to credit card companies.

 

[SweetLiquidSnake]

How about instead of flinging blame around like dumb ***** look at yourself and think maybe I should watch my fucking kid a little more carefully. Shes probably some cougar that goes around prowling for young men and leaves him unattended for hours.

Microsoft should tell her off because 1) dont be so damn careless with your credit card and 2) it clearly says "no refunds" on purchase screen. And 3) the kids 11 not 4, you can read and formulate thoughts at that age. Kids in africa have killed grown men by age 6, this kids just slow or didnt care.

 

[Mr. Omega]

For me, the first thing that came to mind was: What did he spend $1700 on? DLC? Indie games?

 

[Tim Latshaw]

She's not punishing the kid? Seriously? Yeah, of course he feels bad about blowing through a ton of money whether he somehow didn't realize it or simply got caught. Sometimes, though, the fact that "he's never going to do it again" isn't enough. Sometimes you have to learn that there are consequences to your actions so you know to be extra careful next time. At least make him do something to help pay off the bill. If you keep letting him off the hook for screwing up, he's going to grow up into someone who's never going to take any responsibility for anything!

Oh, wait. Just like the mom. Funny how that works.

 

[Dastardly]

Why would they be banking on it? this happens what five times a year maybe? Extra £5,000 for Microsoft? A company raking in billions a year they don't care too much about a £5,000 which potentially compromises their loving image of happiness.

Though I'm inclined to agree that a PIN system would be nice...

Really, companies like this are certainly banking on things like this. Not this exact thing, no, but impulsive purchases made because we don't actually have to see the money go away, or actually look at the card? Hell yes.

That's exactly the sole reason they use "microsoft points." It softens the blow and makes people more likely to spend. Also, "convenient" pay methods work the same way. It's there to remove resistance between the company and the money. What it boils down to is Microsoft (and other companies, too, they're not "evil," just smart) wants to reduce the amount of thinking you do about your purchases. As a result, things like this can happen... and hey, extra cash for M$.

Again, they're not evil. It's a legitimate, though underhanded, business tactic that uses human psychology against us. But that's seriously the exact reason they do things the way they do--it's a carefully researched and measured maneuver.

 

[dogenzakaminion]

I feel bad for the mom, not easy working two jobs and then this lands in your lap. I can't see how it's Microsoft's fault since there are several parental control methods built in.

What really annoys me though is how the mom tries to say "He didn't understand what he was doing, because he was gaming."

No, when you buy a title on XBLA you have to go into the game tab and click purchase. On Xbox you even get a second chance due to the stupid point system. The kid would've had to go in and purchase points for 1000£ with the price in £ right next to the amount of points he wanted. Having no concept of the amount and value? Sure. It being Microsoft's fault because he "didn't know what he was doing"? Bulls**t!

 

[Mittens The Kitten]

They don't take advantage of vulnerable people, just stupid people. As well they should. Good ole american moms, passing the responsibility on to the corporations. I wouldn't even go so far as to blame the 11 year old kid, although he had to have known wtf he was doing to rack up 1600 DOLLARS worth of crap. Blame the mom for being ignorant enough to leave this stuff in his control. If you put yer CC on anything, do yer damn research, and know just what the liabilities are.

edit: oops, guess they aren't american. just acting like it (yes i'm american, i just know our kind all too well)

I know you've already gotten reamed for this comment, but i think it needs to be said at least one more time that this is a pretty big screwup. As consolation, at least you were insulting your own country so you can't be accused of acting superior.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Something that's been inconveniently overlooked here: how much time passed for the child to rack up this bill? Anything more than at most a month is negligence on the mother's part for not monitoring her card. Even if you don't to online monitoring, you get a monthly statement via the good old fashioned snail mail, and since it's debit it's straight out of her account--something you tend to notice as it quickly accumulates.

If, however, it was that much within a month, well...damn, son, you better play the hell out of those games, because you sure as hell aren't getting any more for awhile.

Oh, and the store is not at fault for you buying a coat worth more than your bank account. You still have to pay them, even if you don't want the coat.

 

[kouriichi]

While id hate to be sexist, many women are bad with money, and this sort of reinforces that notion.

If you didn't want to be sexist, you shouldn't have been. While I certainly don't argue that this woman is a blithering idiot, let's take her stupidity on an individual basis, shall we, and not as an indication of the gender as a whole.

Eh, its one of those things that data seems to support.
From both personal and statiscal experiences.
Like did you know the average woman spends $25,000 on shoes in theyer lifetime?
And an additional $6117 on handbags a year? ((from the money translation of £4000))

I dont want to be sexist, really D: And im sorry if its offencive to females.
But its what the numbers show. And im a man of science.

 

[kouriichi]

While id hate to be sexist, many women are bad with money, and this sort of reinforces that notion.

You really thought that was a good idea to write, man?

No, i didnt. Infact, i knew it was stupid ahead of time.
But i speak my mind openly even if it doesnt always come out right. xD

 

[Kenjitsuka]

"I cannot afford all these extortionate charges. A thousand pounds isn't that much to people like Bill Gates, but for a single mum it is a lot of money that I don't have"

Gates left ages ago, lady...
Plus, purchasing stuff with a very clear monetary value with intent somehow does not equate to extortion in my mind. I must be silly.

Also, are you really going to pull a "omg, I am sooo decent and hardworking, so please release me from these legally binding purchase contracts my son agreed to because I enabled him to do so!"?