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[King_Richard]

A follow-up to this article from January 11, 2016.

Xbox bill refunded after Pembroke teen racks up $8K in charges

A Pembroke, Ont., dad is "very pleased" that Xbox has refunded more than $8,000 in in-game purchases that his son racked up on his credit card before Christmas.

On Dec. 23, Perkins got a bill for $7,625.88 after his 17-year-old son used his credit card to make in-game purchases for one of the FIFA series of soccer games. He later noticed previous Xbox charges, bringing the total to $8,206.43.

Perkins said his credit card company told him there was nothing it could do about the bill — unless he wanted to have his son charged with fraud.

Xbox also initially told him in an email that the bill would stand.

On Monday, Perkins said Xbox refunded all the charges.

I personally did not expect Microsoft to refund him due to the fact his son would have agreed to a pop-up or whatever confirming the funds. But it's good publicity to refund, as well, in this case anyway.

 

[Steverulez]

Good guy Phil Spencer helping out a family man!

 

[Captain Zyrain]

What on earth can you spend that much money on in FIFA? (I've never played, genuinely curious)

 

[Wario64]

Is he gonna allow Xbox back in his home now?

 

[Lagamorph]

I don't think they should have refunded really. Good publicity, but a bad decision overall.

 

[TripleSun]

$8k in FIFA in-game purchases? Holy shit.

 

[Shuggananas]

watch it happen again "by accident"

 

[metareferential]

Good for the father, but still, his son is a prick.

 

[Steverulez]

What on earth can you spend that much money on in FIFA? (I've never played, genuinely curious)

You can buy card packs for playing in Ultimate Team, thats probably what he spent it on

 

[Megatron]

Awesome! Lesson hopefully learned. Good job microsoft.

 

[backflip10019]

What on earth can you spend that much money on in FIFA? (I've never played, genuinely curious)

The card bullshit meta-game. It's the same reason so many accounts were hacked.

 

[Lashley]

Pleased for the dad, but the son is a prick.

No idea why parents allow their details to be saved.

 

[LiK]

lucky guy. now he should learn to put a password on his Xbox

 

[darkinstinct]

watch it happen again "by accident"

Pretty much. Did he get to keep the cards he bought?

 

[Megatron]

I don't think they should have refunded really. Good publicity, but a bad decision overall.

I'm sure you would feel differently if your kid did something similar. It was the right thing to do. The fact that you can spend $8,000 In Digital trading cards on a game that goes obsolete In 12 months is horrifying.

 

[Steverulez]

Pleased for the dad, but the son is a prick.

No idea why parents allow their details to be saved.

Back when I was younger it wouldn't have been that difficult to get my parents card details and save them, I imagine its a similar thing for many kids.

Obviously its up to the kids to actual responsibly (as I did!) but I can see why its relatively easy to get them on there

 

[bigkrev]

Still calling bullshit on a 17 year old not knowing he was spending real money, but happy for the dad that they are getting the money back.

I don't play Fifa or on Xbox One, but if it's anything like Madden on PS4, it is very obvious you are spending real money each and every time you make a purchase.

 

[Kill3r7]

Good outcome for the Dad but terrible precedent for MS moving forward. For the people asking FUT and MUT are huge money makers for EA.

 

[Backlogger]

It's crazy to me that its even possible to spend that much on a game. Glad Xbox did the right thing here.

Always make sure your purchases require a password that only you know!

I have kids and short of stealing one of my credit cards and setting up their own Xbox account there is no way they could do this.

 

[ps3ud0]

That 17 year old is one hell of an actor

ps3ud0 8)

 

[Devilgunman]

Good forward thinking by MS. Give up $8K now to keep customers and make more money out of them in the future.

 

[Linkyn]

While this is definitely a nice move, it does also set a dangerous precedent. To be honest, I think that micro-transactions in retail games should cap out and fully unlock at an amount that does not exceed the original price of the game. You'll still get whatever small amount most people were willing to spend, and the unfortunate few that would otherwise be baited into potential financial ruin have a failsafe in place.

 

[JetSetRadio]

It might be better to limit ingame purchases to 999/account and not give refunds.
Or would there be people willing to spend more?

 

[Keyser Soze]

What on earth can you spend that much money on in FIFA? (I've never played, genuinely curious)

Try to watch this all the way through

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VO-FxrHRuk

 

[RealityCheque]

Good PR for MS. Total fucking do-over for the dumb shit "kid" (cough-teenagerwhoabsolutelywouldknowbetter-cough) and his even dumber Dad.

Put a fucking password on your Xbox purchases and quit expecting someone else should pick up the bill for your ineptitude. I wonder if MS will receive a flood of similar requests tomorrow?

 

[Fahzgoolin]

Good guy Phil Spencer helping out a family man!

The article didn't even mention Phil, does it?

 

[Nitty_Grimes]

$8000 but did he get a team of the week Messi card?

 

[Mr. Giggles]

Dude is 17....17 years of age

Good on Microsoft I guess but no way his son didn't know he was being charged real cash.

Put a password on that pronto

 

[Kayant]

I don't think they should have refunded really. Good publicity, but a bad decision overall.

Yep sadly just opens up the chance for other irresponsible people to try and just lucky.

 

[ffdgh]

They didn't have to do that but it's cool that that did.

 

[Steverulez]

The article didn't even mention Phil, does it?

As with everything at Xbox I'm sure Phil is the man sitting in his Xbox branded Game of Thrones inspired chair pressing the button to issue the refund

Spoiler

It was a joke

 

[Stumpokapow]

What on earth can you spend that much money on in FIFA? (I've never played, genuinely curious)

EA builds all of their multiplayer modes around slot machine-like gambling components these days.

 

[KingBroly]

Dude is 17....17 years of age

Good on Microsoft I guess but no way his son didn't know he was being charged real cash.

Put a password on that pronto

If I was the dad, I'd take the Xbox, the games, etc. and sell them all.

 

[JackHerer]

17 years old?! No way that is unintentional and I wouldn't have blamed MS for refusing a refund in this case. Good for the Dad that they made the exception here. Hopefully he makes some changes and at the very least keeps the CC away from his jerk son.

 

[chadskin]

Now how to win back Snoop Dogg.

 

[Mr. Giggles]

If I was the dad, I'd take the Xbox, the games, etc. and sell them all.

Yup, discipline is lacking here.

Son needs to learn a lesson

 

[Shuggananas]

EA builds all of their multiplayer modes around slot machine-like gambling components these days.

#NotGreedy

 

[JetSetRadio]

It could have been dad too while using coke and drinking whisky.

 

[jelly]

Luck lucky kid. No way did he not realise. I think the Dad was playing dumb too in hope of a refund.

I wish Microsoft wouldn't do this, the rules need changing, government oversight of these game features, age barriers even without a credit card attached, cartoon looking or a videogane isn't a pass for introducing kids to gambling etc. Platform holders implementing spending guards.

 

[Lagamorph]

I'm sure you would feel differently if your kid did something similar. It was the right thing to do. The fact that you can spend $8,000 In Digital trading cards on a game that goes obsolete In 12 months is horrifying.

I probably wouldn't give my 17 year old son my credit card with a limit of over $8,000 and then not supervise what he's doing with it.

What's horrifying is that the kid was stupid enough to do it in the first place.

 

[metareferential]

Try to watch this all the way through

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VO-FxrHRuk

The best thing about it is that higher rated players don't actually impact your performances.

EA's just too good. They've created a stupid lottery that racks in millions.

 

[scamander]

If I remember correctly the kid even used his own credit card. Who in their right mind would give a 17 years old a credit card with such a high limit?

 

[dragonyeuw]

Good PR move by MS, good on them. Now the dad needs to thank whatever God he believes in and ensure it never happens again.

 

[Madness]

I'm sure you would feel differently if your kid did something similar. It was the right thing to do. The fact that you can spend $8,000 In Digital trading cards on a game that goes obsolete In 12 months is horrifying.

If you have a credit card and have it tied to accounts, you can theoretically do anything. How is buying FIFA shit any different than buying $10,000 dollars worth of stuff on Amazon, or the App Store or anything? Also, it makes no sense to say it's the 'right' thing to do, which is morally subjective. Microsoft did nothing right or wrong in the first place. A teenager lied to his dad and used the credit card given to him only for grocery emergencies to buy tons of shit on FIFA. When the dad found out, he blames Xbox for it. The right thing to do here is to eat the loss and chalk it up to poor parenting, giving someone who clearly has no clue how finances work, a credit card with a larger than $10 grand limit.

 

[SkylineRKR]

That kid is 17 years old and mentally stable? MS shouldn't refund.

Its like stealing from your parents. Just stay the fuck out.

 

[Chezzymann]

If I was the dad, I'd take the Xbox, the games, etc. and sell them all.

I'd go further. Keep selling his shit until I got my $8000 back. If that means his bed, it means his bed.

 

[Jumeira]

Theres no excuse for a 17 year old. But, the generous Phil chimes in to restore peace and put the focus back on the stupid kid.

 

[Icefire1424]

I'll give MS credit for that one. Was a nice gesture for something they didn't have to do. It was the right call to make though.

 

[NinjaCoachZ]

That kid is 17 years old and mentally stable? MS shouldn't refund.

Its like stealing from your parents. Just stay the fuck out.

The dad doesn't deserve to be screwed over because of something his immature son did. For a lot of people $8000 is no joke.

 

[The Dutch Slayer]

That was a nice PR move by MS, but not needed just a dumb kid and a stupid parent not using parental controls.