My son spent over £100 on Google Play!

[BooseysMom]

Hi,
Have posted this on the Gaming topic but no response.

I am a complete gaming technophobe so please be gentle! My son, who is 8, is a massive gamer and he loves Roblox so much it's become his raison d'etre. I allow him a few pounds every week out of his pocket money to buy Robux. My bank details are on Google Play. He is warned to not go over his limit and I have password protected it. However, he changed his pass-code on his phone to fingerprint ID. Imagine my shock when I found out he had spent over £100 in one month on Robux!! I went mental and got it out of him what had happened. He had been able to pay for Robux using his fingerprint ID, completely bypassing my password control. His punishment is to have no pocket money until Xmas! He knows it was wrong and has apologised.
My issue is how the fcuk can this have happened, that the fingerprint ID bypassed my password control? Do I have a case here against Google Play, or was it entirely my fault?
It's def a warning for parents out there! My bank details are now deleted off Google Play and won't be reinstated.

If you don't know how the tech works, don't give that tech to your child.

£4 daily is a LOT and i'd suggest more monitored access to gaming, ie has to be in the same room.

An 8yo does not need a phone AND a tablet. That's overkill.

If he gets £4 could you give him £2 until Christmas and then take what is left off his Christmas present or has he got a birthday coming up that you could take some of it off, like an advance present.

Also I disagree with taking his pocket money til Christmas for something that is, in part, your fault (sorry). Kids (and all humans in fact) rise or fall to the limits expected and allowed of us. Free access to the phone and your bank details? Of course he's going to buy stuff in the game.

I don't think 'being a technophobe' is an excuse. It's not an excuse to stick your head in the sand and say 'I don't know how that works'. Google it. Tech isn't going away, so educating yourself is the only option if you don't want to end up mopping up after your kids, financially and ethically.

Depending on your bank account you can have notifications whenever money leaves your account. Ds is 12 and knows if I get a notification of spending on his games without my consent then he loses access to technology for a week.

IMO the onus is on us as parents to make sure rules are clear and have suitable rules in place when it comes to technology

I would take away his phone for good, and stop his pocket money and access to Roblox for a month.

A month is long enough at 8. And a month off Roblox will break the addiction.

Personally I would take away all access to google play away from him, and when he wants his weekly top up you can do it.

I have gamed for over 40 years and for that reason I did not allow my DS to game at all till he was 10 and then with supervision. He was not allowed a console in his room till he was 16 and after his GCSE exams.

Look at you tube videos on how to set up gaming systems safely. It’s easier than reading because you can actually see them press buttons as such if you are that scared of technology.

One thing about being scared of technology, I have found people are convinced they will break something, you as an individual are very unlikely to be able to break something if you don’t have knowledge on how to delve in to a system. I mean I did wipe a drive where I used to work, it was supposed to be impossible but I’m a bit of a fiddler and it took IT services a month to get it back.

You can’t carry on being a technophobe if you’re going to give your DC access to tech. You are a parent and you have a responsibility to get on top of this for your child and his well-being.

Yes your DS will be upset. He should be. He’s stolen £100 from you. Taking the phone away (and I would take the tablet too personally) is an appropriate consequence as he has shown you he is not mature enough to have the freedom and responsibility you’ve given him. Now that’s not totally his fault - at the end of the day he’s 8; you’ve given him freedom he wasn’t ready for; you need to take responsibility for your part in this situation.

Tech, internet access etc is scary. There are a lot of risks out there for DC. As a parent you need to step up and understand it, so you can anticipate potential issues and help him navigate this. That’s your job.

Why is it your Google account on his phone and I assume tablet too?
He is a child. it should be a child's Google account, linked to yours using Google Family Link. Then whenever he tries to download things or pay for things, he needs you to come over and approve it with your password.

Giving him access to a phone set up for an adult is why the fingerprint overrode the password. It was an adult Google account, so when a fingerprint is set up, it replaces the passwords.

Why did you set it up with an adult Google account?

Google are very easy and straightforward with this. You set up a kid's account linked to your adult account and then you have total control. Instead, you set up an adult's account and handed him the phone. This is 100% your fault.

Take the phone away. Encourage climbing trees and making dens.

If you appeal to Google Play I think they will just laugh at you. Systems are set up to make addicts of the system because addicts make money for the system. You are their perfect customer. An addicted child and a clueless-about-tech parent.

I'm afraid this on is on you. Sorry to be harsh, but you don't seem to realise the gravity of giving unfettered access to a game that is specifically designed to be addictive to an 8 year old. Get him off all the screens including his tablet. Yes, he'll kick off, but that's your responsibility to deal with. Better now at 8 than when he's a six-foot 15 year old with problems at school and personal life due to his addiction.

Unless there is a very good reason he needs a phone take it away until he goes to Secondary. Most 8 year olds really don’t need one.
I think you have to take responsibility for this one OP and be glad it wasn’t more

I think you should go on a course if you have a child who is tech savvy and you aren't as you are going to get left behind.

He is 8.
Too young to be allowed to game often and certainly for his own devices.
Ban it all, mostly as a detox say until Christmas and slowly allow some screen time appropriate to his age on FAMILY devices. He has all his adult life to be addicted to screens, many adults struggle with it. He will have to find some real fun. If he's heavily gaming, he may of forgotten how to play but he will learn again when screens aren't an option.

Why is it your Google account on his phone and I assume tablet too?
He is a child. it should be a child's Google account, linked to yours using Google Family Link. Then whenever he tries to download things or pay for things, he needs you to come over and approve it with your password.

Yes I know now! ..I fucked up at the start by letting him use my phone and Google account and so he downloaded games on there. Now please note I wasn't so stupid that I allowed him free access to everything and I monitored usage on games but missed the payments as he had put his fingerprint ID on there. Now I know in retrospect I should have set up a separate account for him so when he got his own phone, he used my Google account because all his games were linked to it.

I'm giving DH control over everything now. The phone is going and he can just have his tablet for homework and gaming but first he will have some months off as advised above.. thank you. 😊

Thanks all for all your advice.