Xbox live.......a cautionary tale!

[rufusindigo]

My 10 yr old son, who has ADHD, was given an Xbox and Xbox live membership for Christmas. I set it up with all the parental controls on which took me ages as I found it really complicated and difficult to understand. Once it was up and running he began to receive 'friend requests' which he told me he was unable to accept on a child setting. At his behest I changed his setting to either a teenager or adult setting so that he could accept the requests. The next thing I know I receive a bank statement that shows over £500 worth of Fifa points purchases in one month!! I had no idea that if I changed his child setting then he would be able to access the debit card I had registered to activate his Xbox live account. I have tried to take this up with Microsoft who are distinctly unsympathetic and have offered me a refund of......$13.49. I feel so stupid, as a single parent on a low wage I really can't afford this. I would seriously advise against getting an Xbox - especially with Xbox live . We were much happier with the Wii!

i get emails every time a purchase is made

i also dont link my credit card to xbox for this reason

sorry you learned the hard way, is your son paying you back? keep hassling for a refund though

Hi mercibucket, Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately, the email address that was registered with Xbox was his - so all the notifications of purchases were going to him! Another stupid mistake that I'm afraid I only realised in retrospect. I'm not sure how to get him to pay me back, other than by selling the Xbox! I've been given the run around by Microsoft but I am pursuing it.

Gosh, poor you.

I'm afraid you must be more careful love, and if you really are struggling, sell the Xbox, it may seem the only way.
You need to talk to children about not buying ANYTHING with your credit card without permission and even then you must fill out the payment.
If you really had a problem with setting up Family Safety you could have contacted someone from Microsoft to help, sorry love. :/

Every time I buy something on xbox for my kids i make sure to take the card off afterwards that way they cant use it without my permission

I hate to say this and come across as harsh. But you really should have done some research on this before hand.

ubersquiz, terribly helpful. DFOD

OP, I had something like this years ago - with online dial up internet (pay per minute, but was speedier than the fix line rental for AOL. My young teen ran up a huge bill.

I see your son has ADHD, will he understand the consequences of his actions if you sell the XBox? As someone on a restricted income I think that would be your best choice. you will really not get very far with Microsoft I think.

I'm a total online gaming addict, have been for years - but as an adult I can control my actions, and understand the consequences.

As much fun as they are, I really do sometimes think that gaming should be an over 18s activity.

If your son was getting the emails, surely he knew about this bill he was running up? I would be selling the Xbox and if he wanted it back he would be saving for a new one xx

I have just discovered that my 13 year old son has spent over £200 on XBox in a couple of weeks without my knowledge. He used his debit card and he had over £200 in his account he now has £1.37. He is in floods of tears and I am distraught. He used the money buying Fifa points and he had no idea that these small amounts had added up to so much. I think it should be unlawful for a 13 year old to spend such an amount of money without parents knowledge. Usually, when he buys things on XBox, my credit card is used and he seeks my permission - I can see from my credit card statement exactly how much is spent - there is no room for error. There must be some way of stopping XBox taking money from juveniles without their parents knowledge. Is there a way of complaining about XBox treatment of young vulnerable teenagers? Meanwhile, parents be warned - make sure that your children cannot ever give XBox their debit card details because XBox may just take all of their money without your knowledge. :-(

A 13 year old spending his own money, kinda tough luck I would say.

Lock his Xbox account down so he can't buy anything.

Lesson learned for him.

In fact, it wasn't his own money - we were waiting for a cheque to clear in his account so that he could pay money he had already spent back hence me finding out. I am taking his Xbox from him for the foreseeable future & I will endeavor to ensure this can never happen again but I had no idea that a 13 year old could use a card to spend money on Xbox - that is ridiculous - Xbox should only allow adults to spend money. I do believe it should be unlawful for Xbox to take money from children - children cannot buy alcohol on line so why should they be able to purchase rubbish like Fifa games without parents knowledge?

It's not Xbox fault though, you should have put parental controls on so he couldn't add a card.

If you don't then there's nothing to stop him adding any card if he wanted to.

Do you mean credit card instead of debit? Because you CAN'T make purchases with a debit card unless there is money in the bank, and even then you still need to enter passwords etc to access this... same with a credit card.

And I'm at you not having noticed that you were down £500 before you got your bank statement... I'f you're on a low wage then it would be a pretty massive amount to miss.

There would also be nothing to stop him adding his debit card details to Amazon or buying other things online from many many sites.

Sorry back up the OP, who are the friend requests from? Is it actual friends?

I am with uber on this.

It has been in the news so much over the last few years. It has been repeated so many times how to stop this from happening. I dont think Microsoft should refund.

We would never link a debit card to our Microsoft account because of this. If he wants membership, points, whatever, we buy online codes through Amazon, which you get immediately.

The thread is 2 years old, I doubt the op is still stressing too much about the same issue even now. But she could be :)

I totally didnt even notice that. It usually has a zombie alert warning.

Didn't even notice the date

Yes, if my son wants anything he asks me and we buy on line using codes through Amazon. The problem here was that he used his account (by using his debit card) without my knowledge. He is normally very good and does not buy things without my knowledge - he had to repay £180 and it came as a complete shock to me that he had spent all his money on Fifa points. I don't think this should be possible for a 13 year old (or indeed anyone under 18).

Re message from The ImprobableGirl - I don't know what 'op' means?

thought not!
I think the zombie alert is only for the first poster that resurrects the dead plus anncrighton has already posted the exact same thing in another thread!

If a 13 yo is responsible enough to have their own debit card and money in it to spend then unfortunately they are responsible enough to cope with the consequences! (obviously sn aside)

Op- original poster

Oh for gods sake ann take some responsibility. It's up to you to supervise your kid not Microsoft.

There is no need to EVER hook any kind of card to Xbox live.