Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Geeky stuff

Ds1(9) has spent £305 on his google account, linked to dh's credit card.

54 replies

Oblomov · 10/09/2013 18:49

That's it really.
Sad
I don't know what else to say.

We bought ds1(nearly 10) a Nexus 7 for Christmas. He wanted Minecraft. In order to buy that, you have to set up a google account, which dh did, and do to that, you have to give your credit card details.

We also bought Funamo, as a parental guidelines settings. Obviously we have done something wrong, or not set it up correctly, because it has failed us.

Credit card arrives for July. In the last 3 days there are innumerable transactions, to websites we don't recognise. wierd sounding places. we ask ds1, say did you buy these by accident. He denies everything.

We go to our credit card company. it is disputed, then passed to fraud dept. then they come back to us, saying they think it was us and we must contact the websites.

we spend hours talking to our credit card. and hours researching.

Then the August bill comes in. 1st 3 days, inumerbale other transactions.
last 3 days of july, plus, first 3 days of august, add up to a total of £305.

dh looks through his google account. we see it all now. superman and spiderman games. £13.99 and £17.99. some cancelled. some appear to be the same game bought 4 or 5 times.

Dh and I are more upset at the lies. But my mum says once you say no, it is almost impossible to admit the truth later, especially for a 9 year old.

Then we look in his internet history.

There are other things that he should have not have downloaded. 'The joy of sex'. Dh and I are horrified.

There is worse still. But I have to go..

I have spoken to the school.

I know not what to do.
I am so angry with myself, that I allowed this to happen.

What a mess.

There is more to tell. I will have to come back.

I don't even know what to do with him

This month, our 3 car insurances and the home insurance are due. We don't have enough saved, as we normally do, to pay for these.
And then , this £300 on the top, we are going to struggle to find.

OP posts:
meditrina · 12/09/2013 06:49

I think you need to remove the credit card details (and reload and remove if you agree to make a purchase for him. Check all the security restrictions (don't know way round a nexus, but you need to add password protection to certain actions, and disable in-app purchases totally. You need to check all the parental controls and add a filter such as K9.

JakeBullet · 12/09/2013 06:50

Don't be too hard on yourself OP, these things happen. Have a good read through anything you can find about parental controls or unlinking the credit card from the account.

As for porn (if that's what it was) and The Joy of Sex, don't overly worry, as someone else said, it's the modern day equivalent of taking the book down off the shelf and laughing at the pictures. Obviously he is reaching an age where he is beginning to get curious.....perhaps a friend has told him about things. Plenty of age appropriate books that he can just sit and read.

Am so glad they refunded all the money.

valiumredhead · 12/09/2013 07:01

I wouldn't be too hard on him personally the fact he bought repeat purchases looks like he didn't know what he was doing. It's clear he's not ready for it though but I think you have to take some responsibility tbh.

My friend's son did the same and apple refunded over £1000. He didn't realise that some of the games weren't free. He's a lovely boy and was distraught, there's no way he did it on purpose and she should have been more careful.

So I wouldn't be so quick to be angry about the lying as he might not actually realise what he's done.

LtEveDallas · 12/09/2013 07:08

DD did this with the iPad. She bought coins for games. Apple were fantastic and refunded us, but it gave us a kick up the arse regarding passwords.

I hate these games so much. I think the makers rely on stuff like this happening - I mean, what kind of person would spend multiple £74.99's on 'coins'? I think they are irresistible to children - stupidly DD hardly ever played the game she bought them for, she just kept clicking and inserting the password.

We didn't sell the iPad, but she was banned for a time and now my password is so complicated that even I have trouble remembering it!

Great of google to refund you. It's nice to hear of another decent company - I mean, they didn't actually have to do it (if you read their T&Cs). I have a lot of respect for Apple (and now google) for doing so.

exoticfruits · 12/09/2013 07:10

It is good that you got the refund- use it as a huge learning curve for both sides. Make sure that in future he has no way of paying online.

Gracie990 · 12/09/2013 07:17

To be fair to your son, I bought a few program's on our tv without knowing Grin I'm not SN, they just don't make it obvious harassed mum

Just sell the nexus and chalk it up.

I did read about a dad who's child ran up a huge bill, he contested it and won....

valiumredhead · 12/09/2013 07:33

It was coins that my friend's son bought. Apparently you get some free and then the option to buy more.

teta · 12/09/2013 07:43

my dc's did the same on my DVD's kindle fire.I was furious and complained to Amazon and they agreed to refund.I really do think this whole thing is totally immoral.I don't believe my younger ones knew they were being charged real money.We have now password protected the kindle.

valiumredhead · 12/09/2013 07:51

What would you very for a second hand nexus? Just put it away until later or you use it would make more sense imo.

valiumredhead · 12/09/2013 07:51

Get not very

stayanon · 12/09/2013 07:52

There have been a lot of articles, written and news, criticizing google chrome
I have it and it stores passwords without being asked

Stoppicking · 12/09/2013 07:58

I don't know about the nexus, but my 8 year old has an ipad he can only purchase through his 16 year old's sibling's itunes account, and that account can only be uploaded with funds by purchasing the itunes cards sold in shops, there is no credit card linked to the account at all.

Maybe this is something others may want to consider - i.e. my 8 year old has to ask before anything can be purchased and the maximum that can be spent is whatever has been purchased on the card (i.e. £50) - I don't know if google sell similar cards in supermarkets.

Oblomov · 12/09/2013 08:07

stayanon, I too, have since, recently (!!), read lots of interesting stuff.
About how, when you go to register your newly bought nexus 7, you are required to have a google account. And to get a google account, you have to register a credit card number, to GET a gmail/google account.

And we have NOW read all about google and chrome and passwords.

But, by god, were we naieve before !!

OP posts:
TSSDNCOP · 12/09/2013 08:11

That's fantastic news OP, a big relief for you after a horrid week.

Do you need to sell the Nexus now? Can you just confiscate it for a while as punishment for the fibs?

RedPencils · 12/09/2013 08:31

My DTs also 9 have both and iPod and a nexus each.
Both devices are linked to iTunes/google play account with DTs email addresses. I have full access to all email addresses (I get them on my phone). I see everything they download And sign up. They aren't allowed to sign up for anything, download anything without asking me first. They can't buy anything because I removed the cc details from all devices but there were allowed to play with them.
I have free access and check thir Internet history and YT history very regularly.
The consequences of not following the rules is a month ban. They both know this.

Inappropriate content is a difficult one. It's natural that they are curious but even relatively innocent searches 'how to kiss' brings up stuff I don't want them to see. I'm still working on that.
Much easier to control on a apple device than android (from what I've seen anyway).

I wouldn't sell the device in your shoes, but I would monitor usuage much more closely than you have been doing so far, after a lengthy ban of course.

stayanon · 12/09/2013 08:33

I wouldnt sell it either
I dont think kids realise that clicking on something costs money

MistyB · 12/09/2013 08:46

Does anyone have an idiot parents guide to how to let your kids have access to on line games but at minimal risk they could share / link to?

I think there are lessons for you and your DS in this and perhaps you should all sit down and work out what steps you need to take, what changes you need to make etc.

He has probably been either really worried or completely clueless, in either case, he needs a big hug! And absolutely fantastic that you got all of your money back!!! Breath a big sigh of relief, take stock and don't be too harsh.

Stoppicking · 12/09/2013 09:40

They have just done a segment on this on Rip Off Britain programme on BBC1 - it may be worth seeing if there's anything on the BBC website with regards to this.

exoticfruits · 12/09/2013 10:18

If I buy anything on my iPad I just get an iTunes voucher then you can't go accidentally getting games etc that you can't afford.

EasyFromNowOn · 12/09/2013 11:30

Just to reiterate, you DO NOT need to have a credit card to set up a Google account, or to activate your Nexus device.

To activate the device you need to have a Google account, which is free, and doesn't require any sort of payment method to be associated with it.

Before you can make any purchases from the Google Play store, you need to have a payment method tied to your account. This does not need to be a card, it can be one of the cards you can buy in the supermarket.

There is a setting within your Google account which means a PIN is required to complete any purchase made on the device. This is not related in any way to the Chrome browser settings for storing passwords for websites.

JilledOut · 12/09/2013 14:19

Why on earth do you need THREE cars? Do you live in the Galapagos Islands? Sell one and that will cover the bill. And sell the Nexus.

Rooners · 12/09/2013 14:25

Ob I am going to PM you. Can't think clearly enough to post but a few things I can help on x

Rooners · 12/09/2013 14:37

Just one thing I'll put here - if your child asks you to enter a password to purchase something, then you have to be aware that any purchases made in the next 30 minutes are password exempt.

I didn't know this till I looked on the google help pages. Also if you have ever paid for something online using google wallet, they will transpose your card details onto the device if it is set up using your gmail account. You won't notice them doing this - my settings still say I have not activated google wallet on any device yet a similar thing happened to me with my 10yo.

I have closed down my google wallet account I'd forgotten I had, but I still don't trust them.

Oblomov · 12/09/2013 16:08

Rooners PM Me, with her similar experience.

I just want to let you know that we had a NIGHTMARE getting our money back.
We are, of course grateful that google agreed. But it took HOURS.

We contacted Sant*nder, our credit card, immediately. Then there were 3 forms to fill out. Two of which got lost. About 8 phone calls. Then we got a letter, saying we hadn't contacted the vendor, so they were closing our case. We were on holiday.

We got back. Phoned. S*ntander wouldn't re-open it.
We phoned again. Which Vendor we said. The website is 'planet zoo-dog-dog'. There is no website. we can't trace it/ how can we contact them.

Some of the names were a bit more recogniseable.:
Wrner Bros and Gmeloft. We emailed. Again and gain. Looked them up. Tried to call. Nothing. Emails returned, or no reply.

We tried to contact google, themselves, because all th transactions, through these weird websites, did go through THEM.
Have you tried contacting google?
It is horrific.
They are almost impossible to get hold of. We tried for over 4 nights.
Link after link. Then it closes. Then you think you've e-mailed. but no response. Get another telephone number and website and e-mail
Email and email. And it goes on.

And then finally, google respond. ask for details. But you have to go into once screen to get the date, a different screen to get the company and a different one to get the amount, of each transaction. We had about 48 of them. And then you have to try and match them.
Coherently.

That bit, took me and dh, working together, over 5 hours.

Yes, google didn't need to. Because their terms and conditions say so.

But if you think I gave them a quick call and it was all refunded. please think again.
It was only through dh's persistence, that we got what we did.

2 months of work.

OP posts:
Oblomov · 12/09/2013 16:08

Typing error. we have 2 cars. sorry.

OP posts: