Shadow_Lord
Member
Didn't know FIFA was a sequel to Jurassic World
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Dad gets nearly $8,000 bill after son racks up charges from microtransactions in FIFA
- Thread starter Enter the Dragon Punch
- Start date
I'm more surprised his credit card company did not even call him about the transactions. My bank's Visa really monitor your habits and purchases. They would deny or at least call about this in my case. Either he's a really big spender or they don't really monitor at all in his case.
The teen is probably lying unless he really has some sort of impairment.
The teen is probably lying unless he really has some sort of impairment.
Kabuki Quantum Lover
Member
The kid is an ass but EA likes to encourage this shit with their army of card unpackers on YouTube.
SchrodingerC
Member
The 17 y.o. is lying through his goddamn teeth. The fool is old enough what microtransactions are and how they work.
To spend about $8000 on useless microtransactions, for FIFA of all things, is absolutely insane.
It's like people need to be beaten over the head. And then we have a million posts or threads as to why companies have all this legal speak, or have so many steps and verifications and what not. It's because the average costumer apparently needs stickers and warnings, do not put this electrical appliance in water or you will die due to electroshock.
I mean the dad said he gave his credit card to his son for grocery and emergencies, and yet the son had been using it for FIFA. Who is at fault here? Why would any credit card company or even Microsoft refund the bill? They have multiple steps and verifications for how much you're paying and for what. Stupidity is not a good defense for anything.
I agree with you. It's predatory, especially when it's for stuff that used to be covered by garden variety cheat codes.
therealminime
Member
Yeah this was on the CBC local news here tonight (smart local Ottawa boy) and all I could do was laugh the whole time.
The amount of screens and pop ups you have to go through to buy FIFA points and he didn't know he was being charged? Bullfuckingshit.That kid should be ashamed for what he did and then lying even more on top of that.
At least he was caught now. I can only imagine what his bill would be this month if the kid was still doing it. With TOTY being released all this week, it would be another $8,000.
At least he was caught now. I can only imagine what his bill would be this month if the kid was still doing it. With TOTY being released all this week, it would be another $8,000.
See it as if you go to Amazon and instead of buying 1 copy of a game, you buy 1,000 just because (no mistake or typos). Then claim you didn't knew it was going to cost that much and blame Amazon for not stopping said purchase.
It was not as if the guy here bought $8k worth of stuff by accident, he bought $8k worth in points to spend in the game, across multiple transactions. There are different sets of points with different values. You not only need to choose one, but then confirm the purchase with payment methods, etc.
starchild excalibur
Member
I don't know why, but I laughed.
webkatt
Member
I don't play FIFA so I dont know but do the parental controls actually limit this? If it's a purchase through MS Marketplace I would assume so.
Or does FIFA have a IAP for this that goes around it?
I feel bad for the dad because the purchases are probably tied to the teens email/gamertag.
If I didn't play videogames, I would assume this kind of purchase(s) would be impossible.
Also teen knew what he was doing.
Or does FIFA have a IAP for this that goes around it?
I feel bad for the dad because the purchases are probably tied to the teens email/gamertag.
If I didn't play videogames, I would assume this kind of purchase(s) would be impossible.
Also teen knew what he was doing.
TheSpoiler
Member
Can you explain how this is predatory?
Disagreeing with a business practice doesn't make it predatory. You may not like it, and you might not think it fair, but if the intent is obvious, it's no different than selling any other sort of goods.
The game isn't forcing you to spend to play it, as far as I know. It's just shitty DLC. Some of you are using some pretty hyperbolic terms to defend a parent who's son is backpedelling off a dumb decision.
I kind of see this from both sides, and everyone is to blame.
The father- any business man worth his salt would be inclined to monitor a credit card being used by a teenager. No brainer here.
The son- no way in hell he didn't realize he was racking up charges for the micro transactions. Whether he didn't understand the impact, I'm not sure, but how could he think the first time it told him he was being charged was the only one that mattered.
The business model used by both Sony and Microsoft in this regard is crazy, and not consumer friendly at all. Sure, they can't be expected to ensure all of their customers are responsible with their purchases, but things can be done to prevent issues like this.
For example, here in Canada, if you sign up for a cell phone contract, it clearly states that if your charges reach certain limits, your phone will be shut off. And the limit isn't as high as you think- it can be like $250.00 - This is in place to prevent astronomical charges from roaming, long distance, etc. Also, to protect the company from people defaulting on huge bills.
Why can't Sony and MS place default limits on "credit" on the PS/Xbox store? I realize it bills directly to your CC, so they don't need to protect themselves, but they can help protect the consumer by setting reasonable limits that can be bypassed by an adult (credit card holder) if they wish. It all comes down to what is a reasonable charge for a videogame, which I suspect is where the consumer protection stuff in the US comes from.
The father- any business man worth his salt would be inclined to monitor a credit card being used by a teenager. No brainer here.
The son- no way in hell he didn't realize he was racking up charges for the micro transactions. Whether he didn't understand the impact, I'm not sure, but how could he think the first time it told him he was being charged was the only one that mattered.
The business model used by both Sony and Microsoft in this regard is crazy, and not consumer friendly at all. Sure, they can't be expected to ensure all of their customers are responsible with their purchases, but things can be done to prevent issues like this.
For example, here in Canada, if you sign up for a cell phone contract, it clearly states that if your charges reach certain limits, your phone will be shut off. And the limit isn't as high as you think- it can be like $250.00 - This is in place to prevent astronomical charges from roaming, long distance, etc. Also, to protect the company from people defaulting on huge bills.
Why can't Sony and MS place default limits on "credit" on the PS/Xbox store? I realize it bills directly to your CC, so they don't need to protect themselves, but they can help protect the consumer by setting reasonable limits that can be bypassed by an adult (credit card holder) if they wish. It all comes down to what is a reasonable charge for a videogame, which I suspect is where the consumer protection stuff in the US comes from.
Thank you for saying this. I agree wholeheartedly. I'm not a fan of shitty practices, but a company is trying to sell a product. There are more ways that one to prevent this and it's all on the side of the owner of the Xbox and Credit card.
As a uk fifa player, I am taking educated guesses on the amount of time in UK currency.
Theres something people have missed out on. It takes approximately around 3 minutes to buy fifa points, it would take like 30-45 minutes to open up an amount of £16 for 2200 fifa points (guessing he didn't buy the biggest amount each time due to the packs being based on luck) but, lets say he did, therefore...
12000 fifa points is £80, it would take around 3 hours minimum to open all of the packs up.
£7,625 / £80 = 95.3 times
95.3 times x 183 minutes = 17439.9 minutes
17439.9 minutes = 290.665 hours.
290.665 hours = 12.11104167 days
I'm guessing he didn't spend 24 hours a day buying fifa packs, so it must have taken him around 5/6 weeks to gather that bill up if he mostly spent his time on fifa, and actually played the game, maybe used and traded his players and showed his friends?
Therefore how the heck did he not once notice something was wrong before that time, if he thought it was a one time transaction its a complete lie, and how did his father not even notice his account's bill has risen so much before it got to a ridiculous amount is beyond me?!
I check my accounts almost everyday for gods sakes, even after a week you'd have to buy some food or petrol for living surely and would check your accounts online?
Edit: I'm probably going too much into this, but I'm extremely intrigued how they racked up such an amount, I believe it has nothing to do with the creators of the game due to the timescale in which this happened.
Theres something people have missed out on. It takes approximately around 3 minutes to buy fifa points, it would take like 30-45 minutes to open up an amount of £16 for 2200 fifa points (guessing he didn't buy the biggest amount each time due to the packs being based on luck) but, lets say he did, therefore...
12000 fifa points is £80, it would take around 3 hours minimum to open all of the packs up.
£7,625 / £80 = 95.3 times
95.3 times x 183 minutes = 17439.9 minutes
17439.9 minutes = 290.665 hours.
290.665 hours = 12.11104167 days
I'm guessing he didn't spend 24 hours a day buying fifa packs, so it must have taken him around 5/6 weeks to gather that bill up if he mostly spent his time on fifa, and actually played the game, maybe used and traded his players and showed his friends?
Therefore how the heck did he not once notice something was wrong before that time, if he thought it was a one time transaction its a complete lie, and how did his father not even notice his account's bill has risen so much before it got to a ridiculous amount is beyond me?!
I check my accounts almost everyday for gods sakes, even after a week you'd have to buy some food or petrol for living surely and would check your accounts online?
Edit: I'm probably going too much into this, but I'm extremely intrigued how they racked up such an amount, I believe it has nothing to do with the creators of the game due to the timescale in which this happened.
Those protections are there if you want them. Most people disable them due to the hassle of entering passwords every time to confirm, a purchase.
Yeah I just realized my idea wouldn't work anyway since he was charging many small transactions, no big ones. Maybe they could cap # of purchases in a given time period by default to head off fraud, and potential spending by a minor, or someone who doesn't know better. All I know is there's gotta be a better way so we never have to read stories like this. People are dumb, and that will never change. Companies shouldn't be able to laugh all the way to the bank because of it though.
Pathfinder
Member
Why not?
Do you have any idea just how many companies in the world profit off of the gullibility and stupidity of the average human being every day? If suddenly they couldn't, the entire world market would collapse.
Buyer beware. Companies like Microsoft aren't here to teach people how to handle their own finances.
shadowfall
Member
My 4 year old niece knows about micro transactions in games. She was playing the little big planet game on my vita and knew not to buy those booster packs. I did not even tell her about it. 17 year old can drive a car and is adult. No excuses.
TheSpoiler
Member
They shouldn't, and they don't have to. The consumer has the choice to buy these things or not. In this situation, the person made the choice to buy a bunch of stupid stuff and got caught.
Humans shouldn't be dumb enough to bypass the restrictions set in place and then complain that they got screwed over after.
No company is going to do that, and no company should have to teach the consumer anything. It's not like society doesn't lay out how to be semi-reasonable with your money. If it were a scam or some awful practice that conned the person into buying this shit, get rid of it. But this situation is squarely on the son.
Funny that people were like "they could go to court!" when the warning signs before you buy are made so that shit does not happen.
It really isn't that difficult at all. Settings > Security preferences
Type_Raver
Member
I think we are missing the point. The fact MT reached such an incredible value is obsurd and this should be the focus! Micro Transactions are total BS and this very economy unfolding before you is unacceptable. Mature gamers which have lived through althe gaming generations would attest to this and i hope this article highlights the fraud that MT business is.
Which restrictions are you referring to, and are they set that way by default? If so that should be enough.
TheSpoiler
Member
How awful it was for this poor boy to have to pay for these microtransactions in order to buy the game! He had no choice!
It's fine to hate certain MT practices because there are many that are shit. But there are some that don't exploit people.
Anyway, that's a topic for a different day, because the whole point is that this kid bought a bunch of shit and got caught.
You can force them to put in a password, put in a card number, and every time you check out, the game reminds you that you are buying something. There's no way to be ignorant of what you are buying sans a bad description on the store number. You know exactly when you spend money.
In EA's mind, this really justify them to put up micro-transaction like this as they know that many of their audience are stupid enough to spend an insane amount of money on them. We may not do it on Neogaf, but there are thousands of people that are stupid enough to spend over $1000 on the game. I wouldn't be surprised if 1% of the audience are silent whales and victims combined. It's their fault and now EA will 100% ensure that something like this is included in the majority of their titles, and there is NOTHING any of us can do about it. Blame the gamers out there for we cannot blame EA anymore.
Bravo gamers. Bravo. Bravo, stupid lying kid. Bravo.
Bravo gamers. Bravo. Bravo, stupid lying kid. Bravo.
Demoskinos
Member
I can't feel sorry for this guy. You don't give a 17 year old a credit card that is linked to your main bank account. If you wanna give them a stash for emergencies ect get them a goddamn pre-paid visa or something and load a few hundred dollars on it.
This is just lunacy if he actually believes is son did this without knowledge. Kid is playing dumb and the father is so dumb he is actually buying his lame excuse.
This is just lunacy if he actually believes is son did this without knowledge. Kid is playing dumb and the father is so dumb he is actually buying his lame excuse.
anothertech
Member
Purchases should require a password every f*cking time. Purchases without password confirmation should be illegal.
Seriously, no matter how old that kid is, there have been charges on phones, consoles, and even pc's at my house that were made by children 7 or under. And I had to go through and figure out how to make sure purchases required a password every f*cking time I get a new device because that is not the default.
It's bullsh* and those without small children don't understand.
Seriously, no matter how old that kid is, there have been charges on phones, consoles, and even pc's at my house that were made by children 7 or under. And I had to go through and figure out how to make sure purchases required a password every f*cking time I get a new device because that is not the default.
It's bullsh* and those without small children don't understand.
ugh_the_boot
Banned
Although this family is in the wrong there should never be a situation where you can spend that amount of money in a game. The people who came up with ideas to put this sorta stuff in games know exactly what they are doing. I'd say $100-$200 MAX is what you wanna spend on a game AFTER you have actually bought it. I can't see any reason why add-ons need to cost more than that.
Free to play games can fuck off too, since microtransactions have come about I cannot think of a single positive thing they have done for games.
Free to play games can fuck off too, since microtransactions have come about I cannot think of a single positive thing they have done for games.
Megatron
Member
And how many of those youtubers are actually being paid to be marketing tools by EA?
I think you unlock players using packs, similar to collectable card games..buy a pack, get x amount of normal cards and 1 guaranteed rare or higher is the usual thing.
Occasionally I'll check twitch and see streams devoted to opening packs and the dude just sits there for like 5 hours opening pack after pack with a goal of some rare player and taking a shot every time they get a certain shit player.
Checked just now, top 4 twitch streams of FIFA16 are opening packs..
everyday math
Banned
I'm not sure I want to think about how mad my parents would've been at me if I did this. ._.
Tesseract
Banned
dad shouldn't be penalized $8,000 over useless disposable entertainment that should be free
You actually have to select the credit card before you make a purchase, your xbox account balance is always selected by default (buying things is a 15-20second process sometimes) The "kid" is a lier and the dad is an idiot. I hope Microsoft/EA don't refund them, we get a story like this weekly - people need to learn from their mistakes and stop blaming the publishers
Gambling mechanics via ramdom packs in ultimate team reel in those susceptible to gambling problems. & the younger the better.
Well stupid people shouldn't have access to stupid things
Pathfinder
Member
Should be, but it's not.
The dad needs to take responsibility for his and his son's actions. There's not enough of that kind of thing in the world right now. Everyone's always looking for a bail out or somewhere else to place the blame.
