Microsoft's Unsueable MoneyBox

[Monkestful]

So after reading the article about how I as an Xbox 360 user can't sue Microsoft if I download their latest update here:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114601-Newest-Xbox-360-Update-Prevents-Class-Actions-Suits-Against-Microsoft

I was pretty worried. I mean, I probably won't personally want to do any suing unless they used my Xbox to burn my house down or something, but the fact that we as consumers have that kind of power over Microsoft was comforting.

But then I realized something- I can't take my credit card information off of my Xbox. At least, not through the Xbox itself. On Steam, I don't save my credit information simply because I feel the convenience of always having it there isn't worth the risks.

There is no option to do so on my Xbox, so after I bought the 3 months of Xbox Live for $9.99 in a promotion they had going on (I was unsure if I wanted Xbox Live at that point), they're going to automatically renew it for $9.99 a month- approximately $120.00 a year. The automatic renewal was marketed as a convenience thing, but it's a pretty bad ripoff when compared to the standard $50 a year most people do.

'Fine' I thought to myself when I activated the 3-month online subscription. 'I'll just cancel one or two days before the three months is up and purchase the $50 for one year one.'

But now, I can't sue Microsoft even though they're not letting me delete my credit information. If anything happened to my credit card because of Microsoft before, I would have some legal authority to be able to get my hard-earned money back (minimum wage retail is not a career I want to keep). But now, I realize that not only are they refusing to let me delete my information, but I can't sue them about screwing up with it.

So Escapist, what are your thoughts on this problem? Am I overreacting? Am I an idiot? Or is there some way to delete my stuff they I didn't know about?

 

[Kopikatsu]

So after reading the article about how I as an Xbox 360 user can't sue Microsoft if I download their latest update here:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114601-Newest-Xbox-360-Update-Prevents-Class-Actions-Suits-Against-Microsoft

I was pretty worried. I mean, I probably won't personally want to do any suing unless they used my Xbox to burn my house down or something, but the fact that we as consumers have that kind of power over Microsoft was comforting.

But then I realized something- I can't take my credit card information off of my Xbox. At least, not through the Xbox itself. On Steam, I don't save my credit information simply because I feel the convenience of always having it there isn't worth the potential risks.

There is no option to do so on my Xbox, so after I bought the 3 months of Xbox Live for $9.99 in a promotion they had going on (I was unsure if I wanted Xbox Live at that point), they're going to automatically renew it for $9.99 a month- approximately $120.00 a year. The automatic renewal was marketed as a convenience thing, but it's a pretty bad ripoff when compared to the standard $50 a year most people do.

'Fine' I thought to myself when I activated the 3-month online subscription. 'I'll just cancel one or two days before the three months is up and purchase the $50 for one year one.'

But now, I can't sue Microsoft even though they're not letting me delete my credit information. If anything happened to my credit card because of Microsoft before, I would have some legal authority to be able to get my hard-earned money back (minimum wage retail is not a career I want to keep). But now, I realize that not only are they refusing to let me delete my information, but I can't sue them about screwing up with it.

So Escapist, what are your thoughts on this problem? Am I overreacting? Am I an idiot? Or is there some way to delete my stuff they I didn't know about?

You just can't bring a class action lawsuit against them. You can still sue them.

Anyway, class action lawsuits were never profitable anyway. Yeah, the company has to pay out millions in damages usually, but there are like hundreds of thousands of people suing. You win like $10 for something that cost you $100 in the first place.

 

[NazzerDawk]

Sorry, but that's not actually the case. You see, this is a bit of legalese that they, like Sony before them, use as an excuse to stop you from using their service if you do try to sue.

Violation of a EULA simply means that they won't support your issues. This is to protect them from people that might file a lawsuit over the service, only to continue using it anyway.

 

[Monkestful]

Ah, thank you for that. I figured something was either amiss or I didn't have the whole story straight.

edit: Obviously, I'd make a terrible lawyer.

 

[Something Amyss]

You just can't bring a class action lawsuit against them. You can still sue them.

Long as you don't want it to be in public.

Anyway, class action lawsuits were never profitable anyway. Yeah, the company has to pay out millions in damages usually, but there are like hundreds of thousands of people suing. You win like $10 for something that cost you $100 in the first place.

Yay, nonsense spread around like fact!

 

[Kopikatsu]

You just can't bring a class action lawsuit against them. You can still sue them.

Long as you don't want it to be in public.

Anyway, class action lawsuits were never profitable anyway. Yeah, the company has to pay out millions in damages usually, but there are like hundreds of thousands of people suing. You win like $10 for something that cost you $100 in the first place.

Yay, nonsense spread around like fact!

What nonsense? Most class action suits end up with coupon settlements. (As in, you get no money for 'winning'.) If the class action suit does end up succeeded, the plaintiff(es?)'s lawyer gets most of the money from the settlement and the plaintiffs end up with...not much.

Example: Back in 2009, Wal-Mart was sued by 85,000-ish workers because the workers were losing on on hundreds to thousands of hours of overtime. (As in, Wal-Mart wasn't paying them for overtime when they were supposed to). Wal-Mart ended up having to pay out $40 million. Most workers got around $450-ish when they were owed thousands in unpaid overtime. So, yeah, not so spectacular.

 

[Kopikatsu]

Seeing as how I got hacked and someone used my card to buy 10,000 MSP on my Xbox account, it's pretty damn reasonable!

Happened to me too! Just last week. Fucking soccer hooligans! I didn't like soccer before but now I have a deep seated hatred for it. The no class action crap is pretty identical to what sony did after they were hacked.

Wouldn't it be magical if Microsoft were the ones doing it? If someone complains, (maybe) fix it. If they don't, woo! Free money.

Tinfoil hats...on!

 

[Trippy Turtle]

Well I'm in Australia so its all good for me. I think I would do the same in Microsofts shoes. Its not like they are deliberately doing this so they can now go and do stuff you don't like.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

I had the opposite problem. I had paid for live using a debit card that was, to put it simply, replaced. When it came time to renew, they tried to charge my old card (that no longer functioned) and failed. It was surprisngly hard to convince microsoft to take my money using a method that didn't involve creating a whole new gamertag.

Why I had to go through three representatives and stay on the phone for several hours to give them fifty bucks is a question that still baffles me.