Lashley
Why does he wear the mask!?
Yeah, when I was a kid my mam would pay for my runescape sub (lol)
But I had the decency not to go crazy and put her in debt. Kids need to be taught some financial responsibility, and some decency.
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Xbox bill refunded after teen racks up $8K in charges
- Thread starter King_Richard
- Start date
Yeah, when I was a kid my mam would pay for my runescape sub (lol)
But I had the decency not to go crazy and put her in debt. Kids need to be taught some financial responsibility, and some decency.
That's not really true. FUT is just one game mode in FIFA and you can still play online without ever touching that. you could also just play FUT and spend the points you get for playing it. You don't have to spend any money. I've never put a single penny into FUT and played it for years.
How is that Microsoft's problem? It's his sons fault and problem, and the dads own fault for poor parenting decisions. Blaming anybody but themselves is ridiculous.
NinjaCoachZ
Member
How would you feel if this happened to you?
Sure, it may technically be the dad's fault, but especially in the canadian economy today absolutely no one deserves to unintentionally lose that much money because of a few bad decisions.
friskykillface
Banned
was gonna say kid got lucky but hes no kid, this guy got lucky they refunded money for his dad
17 year olds should have a basic concept of money and it shows dollar signs and asks you if you want to buy something on these menus
don't let your kids have systems with credit cards on it, or have parental locks.
17 year olds should have a basic concept of money and it shows dollar signs and asks you if you want to buy something on these menus
don't let your kids have systems with credit cards on it, or have parental locks.
metareferential
Member
Well, you're right, but you also happen to be the minority.
Most FIFA players are FUT players, and most FUT players eventually buy something.
Pathfinder
Member
Goes to show what some good solid public whining will get you.
A great lesson for the millennials of America.
A great lesson for the millennials of America.
crazygambit
Member
I disagree. It's not about publicity, it's about not attracting regulators. You think there shouldn't be a cap on how much you can spend on a single game in a given amount of time?
There's a reason casinos are regulated. This is just preying on weak people in the end and minors no less. I'm really surprised there hasn't been more of a push to regulate all this stuff. It has to happen sooner or later and as far as gaming companies are concerned they'd rather go for later.
In the mean time they keep making bank, even if they have to refund a ridiculous bill from time to time.
So why do Microsoft deserve to lose that much money but not the Dad? Just because they can afford it?
What if the kid had spent $8,000 at a family run store that was about to go out of business, but his purchases saved them. When the Dad found out should the store have been made to refund the money?
Doug Heffernan
Member
Not cool, that kid needs to learn a lesson, that's not how the real world works.
dragonyeuw
Member
The first bad decision was giving your 17 year access to your credit card. MS was under no obligation to do this, it's cheap goodwill/publicity for them and that's probably the underlying reason behind them doing it. Maybe this will teach the father and son lessons on parental responsibility and financial management, respectively. Clearly the son thought he was paying with monopoly money, or maybe a money tree was sprouting in the backyard. Presumably he was of sound mind, so I'm having a hard time believing that he wasn't aware of what he was doing.
You can't be cruel when it comes to punishment or it causes a complete reversal of what you want to accomplish. Force him to get a job to pay it back is what you should do.
The kid should feel VERY thankful they were refunded, though. But I wouldn't let him off the hook completely just because a refund happened.
Flame Lord
Member
Not to surprised. My brother spents a little over $1000 on fucking NBA 2K garbage and they gave us a refund.
I'm glad company's are on top of these refunds. But I think they calculate these kinds of decisions, imagine if no companies offered refunds whatsoever.
You can bet the in-app purchases will have a ton of laws put in place in that alternate scenario because there is no way to turn them off and that a lot of times the currency/content your buying is the equivalent of a lottery aka Gambling.
I'm sure game companies want to make sure in-app purchases stay as long as possible so they can profit the most they can out of it.
You can bet the in-app purchases will have a ton of laws put in place in that alternate scenario because there is no way to turn them off and that a lot of times the currency/content your buying is the equivalent of a lottery aka Gambling.
I'm sure game companies want to make sure in-app purchases stay as long as possible so they can profit the most they can out of it.
I agree... while the morality of a game allowing you to spend $8K in microtranscations is open for debate, it's more than reasonable to assume the 17-year old kid was well aware of what he was doing. As for his father, while I may not be qualified to throw around phrases like "bad parenting" since I'm not a parent myself, I can still say a credit card is something you should keep a close eye on.
crazygambit
Member
What if he wasn't? Who checks that stuff?
Don't kid yourselves, no company refunds money because they're nice. They don't want to give ammo to regulators and want this to quiet down as quickly as possible, while they continue to cash in on the other, anonymous, whales.
RetrospectiveLamb
Member
If that was my kid, that Xbox is going right through the window
Nice move by MS, but totally not their issue.
dragonyeuw
Member
Presumable his dad after 17 years would know whether or not he should trust his son with a credit card? It's not MS's problem that this happened, AT ALL.
There's nothing to kid, and I made no argument that MS did this to be nice. It's cheap goodwill for them( which I said already), which happens to benefit people who didn't necessarily deserve it. MS is under no obligation to be 8k out of pocket, regardless of it being a drop in the bucket for them. And ultimately, what was gained in this? The son gets off consequence-free.
Out of curiosity, what do you propose?
Are you saying some sort of a proof of clean mental health should be a prerequisite to making a digital purchase?
Considering the father gave his 17 year old son a crsdit card 'for emergencies' the father is a prick too.
They're very lucky, and shouldn't really have been refunded. If he's old enough to be responsible with a credit card, he's old enough to know not to be an idiot and spend thousands on it.
Then don't give a credit card to your idiot son! Problem solved. People should think of the possible consequences of their actions, money shouldn't be refunded juat because people may feel sorry for them.
Phoenix Fang
Banned
I wouldn't have given them a refund.
That's what prepaid cash cards are for. A prick and a dumbass, apparently.
I guess it's not all that different from opening Pokemon card packs as a kid. But it's weird because it's digital.
Refunding was a mistake. Now, every time this happens to someone, they will cite this instance and demand a refund.
It was the kids mistake and he should have paid for it. It sucks and it's not fair to his father, but the kid had to have known what he was doing. Letting everyone off the hook only rewards this kids behavior and will make future victims wonder why MS won't refund them.
It was the kids mistake and he should have paid for it. It sucks and it's not fair to his father, but the kid had to have known what he was doing. Letting everyone off the hook only rewards this kids behavior and will make future victims wonder why MS won't refund them.
Not all stories like this about kids racking up charges will make the news.
NinjaCoachZ
Member
Honestly I absolutely get all that and that it was a moment of poor judgement on the dad's part.
I just think that nobody ever really "deserves" to be punished in such a severe manner and saying that anyone does just seems a bit off to me.
I don't have children, but if I did and they played on my (or even their own) consoles, the credit card data would not be saved in the console. If they had a credit card (for emergencies or whatever) I would be monitoring that shit on an almost daily basis (or have spending alerts or something set up). The emergency credit card is a thing I don't really get, TBH. When I was growing up we just had cash until we were old enough to get our own credit cards (and by then hopefully smart enough to not abuse them). If we ran out of money we just had no money. WTF did we really need it for anyway?
Yes. Lots of heartless people on here.
I can't possibly hate these worthless "digital goods" more than I do when I read stuff like this. These games are MADE to exploit human weakness. What they gain in return is literally nothing.
He should have been refunded, but the kid should have been given a lifetime ban by MS
Suddenly being 8k down can ruin someones life, or ruin a family, and it would have been bad press for MS to basically do that to someone over something as petty as this
Needless to say the 17 year old son has a problem, and shouldn't be allowed near any kind of game with a gambling type component
Sadly a lot of games are built around attracting these "whales" so it's something we'll see more and more of in the future
The whole model is based around fucking over people that spend thousands of dollars in a single game, and y'all are super concerned about the incentives that Microsoft have by giving a refund?
Get real. It's the PR risk that these ridiculous monetization schemes run into, and it's one of the precious few checks and balances we have on the abusive gambling nonsense that it introduces.
Let them feel the fire on their feet.
Get real. It's the PR risk that these ridiculous monetization schemes run into, and it's one of the precious few checks and balances we have on the abusive gambling nonsense that it introduces.
Let them feel the fire on their feet.
Petrae
Member
Good for publicity's sake, but that's about it. There should have been some consequence here, such as banning/locking the associated XBL account.
The only lesson apparently learned here is that making a public stink after amassing a ton of online charges has a legit shot of getting them wiped away.
The only lesson apparently learned here is that making a public stink after amassing a ton of online charges has a legit shot of getting them wiped away.
ForsakenLotus
Member
On the one hand, it's nice to see something good happen for a change when it didn't need to. On the other hand, I wonder if this will set a bad precedent. The kid is plenty old enough to know what he was doing.
Good.
Stink away. Make noise. Show how far the monetization goes. Show what can happen.
I hope the stench remains in everyone's minds.
J
Jotamide
Unconfirmed Member
Inb4 the teen does it again next month.
StrongBlackVine
Banned
Eat the loss as in financial ruin? That's a shitty way of thinking.
Nice of Microsoft to give the father a break. $8000 is nothing to them and this good publicity.
Kid learns lesson by ruining his parent's life. I'm pretty sure he learned a lesson during the course of this story.
And who cares about precedent? I actually think this micro-transaction bullshit should be regulated. This basically fucking gambling that is not age restricted.
Jawmuncher
Member
The son being 17 years old is what makes this really weird.