DS racking up £350 XBox Bill

[user122397743]

I have just checked my credit card statements over last 3 months and discovered various XBox Live payments totalling just short of £350!!

I recall inputting my details a while back because I agreed to pay for a couple of items but he has clearly forgotten/chosen to ignore where the money is coming from and has totally taken the piss.

He has no savings of his own to repay so how do I deal with this?

What age is he? If he's old enough to understand, then he's old enough to repay you. So, he gets a job, or he doesn't get pocket money until he's missed the equivalent amount, or you sell the XBox.

If he's very young, then XBox may refund some of the money if you contact them and explain.

In either case, no more XBox until it's sorted.

Does he get pocket money? He needs to repay this money.

I'm assuming he's not very young given that he is able to do this himself. Any time that we have bought a game for DS on the X box we remove the credit card details afterwards. He's pretty sensible, but all kids do daft things.

Your responsibility. Your credit card, your lack of awareness.
What rules did you put in place before he started gaming? Did you tell him to ask you every time before he purchased something?
It’s the same as having a stash of sweets and treats, letting him help himself a couple of times, not checking for 3 months and then being outraged the stash is empty.
Set new rules, make it clear why they are needed, don’t backdate them. Start fresh today. Learn from the regular posts here on exactly the same problem.

I'd sell the Xbox and any games to help recoup some of the costs.

Confiscate his booty first (Xbox)
What ground rules did you set?

Can't help with the bill that's already been run up, but in future you might want to go with adding gift cards to the account rather than using a credit card. I do this for myself since I don't want to get sucked into spending lots on games.
Supermarkets sell them or you can buy online from various places... but it means that your dc can't spend more than they have permission for.

Sorry, I should have prefaced my post by assuming that you had already told him not to spend money on games. If you hadn't set down any rules, then, unless he's older than 14 or so (and therefore should be expected to know he shouldn't do this), I think you'll have to take it on the chin, and set the rules going forward.

totally take responsibility for my lack of awareness. He is 13 and was told in January not to buy anything else but stupid me I didn't get round to removing my card details

Talk to Xbox, play dumb they may refund some of it but just like any financial responsibility you need to lay down strict rules.
If he wants to be trusted with a full live account that means no unauthorised bloody spending.

Sell the Xbox

This is why I exclusively use Microsoft points on our Xbox.

I wouldn’t sell the Xbox unless you really need to recoup the funds, but I would confiscate it for .

Stop pocket money and devise a way he can ‘earn back’ Xbox time quicker. So for example, no pocket money and no Xbox till the £350 is paid off, but if you pick up additional responsibilities then that will build up.

I’d also move the Xbox to a public room particularly if he gets an attitude about the punishment.

Has he actually admitted it? My ds had his account hacked and they spent £300 on my card.
He was on the bus to his dgm at the times he was meant to have been playing.

Bank confirmed address purchased from was miles away and Xbox refunded me.

Same as AprilShowers. My son's account was hacked and the hackers ran up a sizeable bill also while my son was on the bus with me!
I reported it to Microsoft/Xbox people and they refunded me.