Roblox - money lost

[Sarahr22]

Hello,
I am sat in tears. not knowing where to turn. I realised today that my 8 year old has been playing Roblox (which I signed her up to do and put all safety blocks on) but has been making in-app purchases which over the last few weeks amount to nearly £2600. She didn't realise it was real money and I consider myself at fault for not checking - with all the child safety blocks on I didn't realise this would happen. I have hardly any money in my account and am not working at present. I have tried Roblox (no way of calling them just have to fill in a form), Apple (as it was on an iPad and they refused to help) and discussed with my bank that suspicious activity should have been picked up - they refused to help and suggested reporting my child for fraud. I appreciate I should have been more vigilant but any ideas or experiences as I simply don't know where to turn. Thank you

I'm really sorry. That's shit. I'm not going to be much help but I think my first port of call would be appealing to Roblox and the company's better nature and just being quite emotional and telling them exactly what happened and why and just beg for the money back basically. I know you said you just fill in a form but could you try and contact them on Twitter or Facebook and ask them to call you?

I'd really milk it with pandemic, job loss, no school etc etc and hopefully you get somewhere.

What a nightmare but try not to panic

Thank you. I hadn't thought about twitter or FB so will give them a go. I literally feel like I cant breathe as so scared about our financial situation now.

My little boy spent £160 on Roblox a couple of years ago, I filled in a form to and they refunded the money back then permanently deleted his account.

They might be taking longer to reply during this time but I’m hopeful you will get it refunded.

My youngest child (6) actually got my bank card out of my purse and bought a game on his Nintendo switch (that he already had!) for £50 and they would not refund, apparently Nintendo never will.

Good luck, I hope knowing Roblox refunded us makes you feel a little less stressed.

Go through the steps in this page to prevent in future

support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204396

Thank you. I just can’t see how they will refund that amount and it’s so stressful not to have a number to call them on. I can’t think straight or eat or focus on anything just in floods of tears.

Try Apple again. Go to their website rather than doing via the app. I once got a refund for an app (£40) with no problems.

support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204084

We had this with purchasing virtual gems and coins on Amazon. They refunded every single purchase and could not have been more helpful. I couldn't believe they could make purchases. They are kids kindles and I thought I had the settings right. Totally our fault but so easily done.

It’s the amount of money though can’t see how they will ever refund that amount. Apple put phone down on me earlier and said it was not entertaining discussion on it

Roblox have good customer care and they do all of it via email so make sure you send off that first message though I don't have a link for you but I've always found it easy enough to find.

My refund was easy because it was in advance of me using the item purchased. Unfortunately your DC has already had the fun of spending.

In the meantime contact your bank and ask for an overdraft.
Move some bills by a couple of days and/or pay for this month only by a credit card if you have one? I wouldn't normally recommend that but desperate times call for desperate measures.
Contact your local Citizen's Advice Bureau and also credit union.

Apple don't deal with refunds like this on the phone.

Both companies are keen to protect their name and brand by refunding in situations like this.

Check out the Martin Lewis money saving expert website for a vast range of advice.

Thank you all.

My son did this a couple of years ago and it was for more than your DD spent.
the roblox customer service team were fantastic, refunded it all and said it happens very often.

They had to delete and ban DS’s account as they don’t have a way to ‘remove’ the things he bought in game, but I was fine with that and just relieved to get the money refunded back onto my credit card.

Oh gosh thank you. I am just so scared. Did you just go via their support form?

Oh, how stressful for you.

Have you removed the game from her now? It might help your case if they can see you that she hasn't played the game since you found out because you've removed it.

All you can do is follow their process, so make a plan for how to manage whilst you wait for a response.

My ds spent £80 on a game can’t remember which one I was passed between PlayStation my bank PayPal and the game and got nowhere so hope you have more luck than me

Yes she is as upset as me. She had no idea it was spending money. It’s heartbreaking seeing her upset too xx

Roblox support form yes ( they are very good at customer service although It might take 24hrs for a reply) but if it was through iTunes I think Apple will have to do it. Fill out the refund form on the Apple app or website (can’t remember which one sorry but I know I had to do this for over £450 same situ regarding roblox). You’ll have to give each invoice number and date and amount I think and explain. Apple were very understanding and refunded. Then triple check you’ve got in app purchasing off. Sorry OP I understand the sick feeling but pretty sure it will end up fine they do deal with this a lot.

My friends son did exactly the same last year, he racked up over £3k, she had the full amount refunded and like others have said his account was deleted. Complete the support form.

@Sarahr22

Oh gosh thank you. I am just so scared. Did you just go via their support form?

Yes I seem to remember they got back to me fairly quickly after I filled in the online form too, it was all sorted out in a few days.

£3k poor friend must have had a heart attack. It can SO easily happen though. I dread to think if i hadn’t noticed my phone bill; it would still probably be racking up now.

Apple have a policy to refund children’t transactions - but only the one. Try them via the website and ask them to lodge a formal complaint. You could also @apple in Twitter.

I am really worried if I have to go through Apple (it was on iTunes on iPad) as they just put the phone down on me earlier and said they would not escalate it further xxx

If it is through iTunes and Robles wont deal with it, then prepare yourself.

It's best for you to hope for the best but be pragmatic and prepare for it not going your way. Make your plan for that, just incase.