Parent Gets ~$8K Bill for Child's Xbox Microtransactions

[GeekJump]

full time job 40 hours a week

going to high school 40 hours a week

assignments 5-10 hours a week

studying 5-10 hours a week

commute 5 to 15 hours a week

I dont want to live in the real world if the real world requires me  to work 95 to 110 hours a week. No fucking wonder kids theses days are all on redbull and garbage like that.

 

With proper time management, it's possible. I did it without needing coffee or battery ac- I mean redbull. I'll use college as an example because, no offense, college vs hs is leaps and bounds more difficult (no matter the field you end up studying)

 

My College schedule the last two years there

• 30 hours in classes (dual major and minor)
• 25-30 hours working at PT job
• 10-15 hours of internship
• 5-10 hours on assignments
• 5-10 hours commute (Lived on campus but still needed to use buses to get to some classes and work)

Doesn't include mandatory stuff like eating, sleeping, pooping, masturbation, etc. So if you really wanted to work while in HS and still enjoying masturbation and hang out times (a good time manager can do both at once), it's more than possible. kids these days are just lazy! (I sound like an old man :'( )

But back on topic

 

Even a dumb 17 yr old should realize he is spending too much money in a game. He must have known what he was doing. Also the parent's fault for not noticing the charges. All my cards and bank accounts have alerts if a certain amount of charges keeps being sent to one group in a short span. A responsible adult should have kept track of their money better. Unless they're rich and $8k is pocket change lol

[Thony]

What an asshole teenager.

[alicskysareblue]

17 years old is too old to not know about this, kid is lying and he just lost track or just didnt care how much he was spending.

Agreed id f%$&ing kill him....that kills your credit rating and can take ages to pay off

Again id f#$#Ing kill him, better say good by to Xbox and hello to paying his parents for a LONG time

With that said in the u.s minors are severely restricted to how many hours they can work no more then 3 hours on work days and no more then 8 on weekends , can't work durin school hours or past 9 pm

And as for credit card limit...thats not the parents fault, I had to deal with 7,000 in debt because a family member took out and used a card in my name, it was a bitch to pay down.

[drc00k3]

If he's 17, he knows what he is buying and he knows it's real money. It's not like its a 5 year old who doesn't understand what they are doing. If the credit card was only for emergencies and the families convenience store, they shouldn't have let him use it on his Xbox. While the bill was ridiculous and there should be a notification when you spend a lot of money, the parents shouldn't get their money back.

[sof006]

I reckon the 17 year old as a dirty little liar and needs a good smack to teach him a lesson.

 

If he was my son i'd confiscate his Xbox and access to all forms of entertainment for a month for that.  

[Noctus]

At the age of 15, I held down a full time job while attending high school at the same time. I did not have time to sit on my ass playing Xbox all day. I would suggest that the parent in this story put their irresponsible kid to work and make 'em recoup monetary losses. 

You mean a 40h or more week job yes? If so im smelling something...

[Sir Asvald]

All those drugs his momma dont know about the prolly did some flippin there to get drug money or something.. meh kids.

You cant speed 8k $ on all fifa games and their microtransactions even if you wanted to.

Trust me, they sell "fifa points" which in game currency to open player packs. A Streamer spent over £5000 on these "Fifa points" just to get the best players in the game... 

[RagnarokDel]

With proper time management, it's possible. I did it without needing coffee or battery ac- I mean redbull. I'll use college as an example because, no offense, college vs hs is leaps and bounds more difficult (no matter the field you end up studying)

 

My College schedule the last two years there

• 30 hours in classes (dual major and minor)
• 25-30 hours working at PT job
• 10-15 hours of internship
• 5-10 hours on assignments
• 5-10 hours commute (Lived on campus but still needed to use buses to get to some classes and work)

Doesn't include mandatory stuff like eating, sleeping, pooping, masturbation, etc. So if you really wanted to work while in HS and still enjoying masturbation and hang out times (a good time manager can do both at once), it's more than possible. kids these days are just lazy! (I sound like an old man :'( )

But back on topic

 

Even a dumb 17 yr old should realize he is spending too much money in a game. He must have known what he was doing. Also the parent's fault for not noticing the charges. All my cards and bank accounts have alerts if a certain amount of charges keeps being sent to one group in a short span. A responsible adult should have kept track of their money better. Unless they're rich and $8k is pocket change lol

1. college isnt high school. (I'm not saying it's easier, but you're more mature)

2. 25-30 hours isnt full time except at walmart.

 

So yes what you showed is possible but you're cutting 10 hours on classes and 10 to 15 hours on the job (which you replace with internship)

 

It's possible but it's not a good way to live. But hey I'm a slacker. I dont like to work over 40 hours and I dont even go to school so yeah.

[GeekJump]

1. college isnt high school. (I'm not saying it's easier, but you're more mature)

2. 25-30 hours isnt full time except at walmart.

 

So yes what you showed is possible but you're cutting 10 hours on classes and 10 to 15 hours on the job (which you replace with internship)

 

It's possible but it's not a good way to live. But hey I'm a slacker. I dont like to work over 40 hours and I dont even go to school so yeah.

 

PT= part time. My internship was a paid one so together it equals FT status. I still had time for thirsty Thursdays and bumming around on the weekend. Google Calendar/Alerts was my closest alley 

 

Once you get to college you will quickly realize, most college students are more immature than HS students . Unless you're going to be a DR or something, its the end of the road! No more fucks to give about grades lmao

 

80% of us =  'don't try, just maintain' (our unofficial motto at my school  )

[NickTheMajin]

FIFA as become a f2p?

Hope the parents did the only American thing to do and shot that console down and slap the crap out of his son... Oh wait! Slapping your kids is no bueno now, right? Then that explains a lot

 

No. One of FIFA's game modes is called ultimate team where you can either use in game money or real cash to buy packs of players and build a team to take on other people's teams in leagues and tournaments (similar to a magic online game) or just go head to head with friends. I have never really gotten into the mode myself but it blows me away how much people spend on it. I have played it a few times, never spent a real dime on packs and have a pretty competent team. I cannot understand where $10,000 is coming from. You only need 15-16 good players to fill out your roster. 

 

I have 600 some odd hours in FIFA 15 and never even touched the fucking mode. Not sure why people are blaming EA. It is certainly not made to extort money from you. They give you the option if you are too impatient to play the game to earn players. To answer Luke, no you don't start with all the players in ultimate team. Would defeat the purpose of the mode as its to build up a dream team of players. 

[alextulu]

I don't get why people like to use credit cards anyway ? I only use debit cards.

You can use a credit card to buy stuff that you can't afford, but then you'll end up with lots of debt.

Or you could use it if you need to burrow a small amount of money, but can't you just wait until the next paycheck ?

 

Linus talked about being responsible with a credit card. Being responsible means using a debit card instead.

[alicskysareblue]

I don't get why people like to use credit cards anyway ? I only use debit cards.

You can use a credit card to buy stuff that you can't afford, but then you'll end up with lots of debt.

Or you could use it if you need to burrow a small amount of money, but can't you just wait until the next paycheck ?

Linux talked about being responsible with a credit card. Being responsible means using a debit card instead.

They help build credit rating, and there is nothing wrong with them if you limit use and pay off debt on time,but that's that tends to be the problem

[NickTheMajin]

I don't get why people like to use credit cards anyway ? I only use debit cards.

You can use a credit card to buy stuff that you can't afford, but then you'll end up with lots of debt.

Or you could use it if you need to burrow a small amount of money, but can't you just wait until the next paycheck ?

 

Linux talked about being responsible with a credit card. Being responsible means using a debit card instead.

 

Credit cards only charge interest rates if you spend more than you can pay off in a month. However, every credit card offers incentives to purchase with them. Example, my Best Buy card gives me 5% back on every single thing I buy from them. So say I buy a $1000 TV. That's a $50 gift card. Then I can go right over to the app on my phone, pay the balance off and it's a free $50 while also building credit which is extremely important. 

 

And that's just the Best Buy card. There are hotel credit cards, travel credit cards and all sorts of others that can give you free hotel rooms, free plane rides, free extended warranties etc. Using a debit card is stupid. You are literally spending money and getting nothing in return aside from what you buy. If you are responsible nothing beats a credit card. 

[alextulu]

However, every credit card offers incentives to purchase with them. Example, my Best Buy card gives me 5% back on every single thing I buy from them. So say I buy a $1000 TV. That's a $50 gift card. Then I can go right over to the app on my phone, pay the balance off and it's a free $50 while also building credit which is extremely important. 

 

And that's just the Best Buy card. There are hotel credit cards, travel credit cards and all sorts of others that can give you free hotel rooms, free plane rides, free extended warranties etc.

 

I'm from eastern Europe and I've never heard of such things.

 

Now that you've mentioned this, I did a google search, and it a appears that in this region people also get these kinds of benefits, but nobody told me until now.

 

I think it's because, in this region, people don't trust banks and prefer to use cash instead.

They don't want to use credit or debit cards because in this region people have very low wages and don't want to pay credit or debit card fees. I'm talking about standard fees, not interest.

 

The credit card cashback offers only make sense if people get more cashback than they spent on card fees.

The only cashback offers that I've seen are for things that people can't afford to buy often enough to compensate for the fees, and the cashback is very small, like 2%. So, it's not worth it.

 

 

Also, in developed countries, why would a bank allow people to get more cashback than the bank gets in return as fees ?

Maybe, they're preying on people who cannot control themselves and end up with lots of credit card debt.

Maybe, people with lots of debt are subsidising people like you, who can control themselves. Maybe this should be stopped.

 

Just like games with microtransactions are preying on people who can't control themselves

 

Of course, I might be wrong, but it sounds like it's too good to be true. Whenever somebody tells me that I can get money for free, I get very suspicious.

If banks had good intentions, then they would offer incentives for debit cards, not credit cards.

[NickTheMajin]

I'm from eastern Europe and I've never heard of such things.

 

Now that you've mentioned this, I did a google search, and it a appears that in this region people also get these kinds of benefits, but nobody told me until now.

 

I think it's because, in this region, people don't trust banks and prefer to use cash instead.

They don't want to use credit or debit cards because in this region people have very low wages and don't want to pay credit or debit card fees. I'm talking about standard fees, not interest.

 

The credit card cashback offers only make sense if people get more cashback than they spent on card fees.

The only cashback offers that I've seen are for things that people can't afford to buy often enough to compensate for the fees, and the cashback is very small, like 2%. So, it's not worth it.

 

 

Also, in developed countries, why would a bank allow people to get more cashback than the bank gets in return as fees ?

Maybe, they're preying on people who cannot control themselves and end up with lots of credit card debt.

Maybe, people with lots of debt are subsidising people like you, who can control themselves. Maybe this should be stopped.

 

Just like games with microtransactions are preying on people who can't control themselves

 

Of course, I might be wrong, but it sounds like it's too good to be true. Whenever somebody tells me that I can get money for free, I get very suspicious.

If banks had good intentions, then they would offer incentives for debit cards, not credit cards.

 

Its not too good to be true. Enough people fuck it up and pay interest that the responsible people reap the benefits. It's free money essentially if you are on top of the game. 

[alextulu]

Enough people fuck it up and pay interest that the responsible people reap the benefits.

 

And you are comfortable benefiting from other people's suffering ?

 

You might say: "what do I care, it's not my fault that other people can't control themselves"

 

But it's not that simple.

The problem with debt is that, when a person goes into debt, a lot of times that person is not the only one affected, sometimes it affects his/her entire family.

 

Just like in this example, where the son did something stupid, and now the whole family has a big problem.

And you might say "well, good, that's what stupid parents deserve", but what if he has a brother or sister who's completely innocent.

[HarmFull]

Thanks EA

[thedigitaldoctor]

http://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/mobile/pembroke-father-gets-full-refund-for-xbox-charges-1.2751498

Looks like they got a refund from Microsoft.

In a statement, a Microsoft spokesperson says "...Microsoft may occasionally choose to provide a one-time refund in cases of minors making purchases without parental permission. These refunds are for a very small number of users in exceptional cases, and they will only be granted once in a lifetime."

[Jdogbf]

http://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/mobile/pembroke-father-gets-full-refund-for-xbox-charges-1.2751498

Looks like they got a refund from Microsoft.

 

Yep. http://www.tweaktown.com/news/49931/teenager-spends-8000-fifa-microtransactions-dad-gets-refunded/index.html

[LinusTech]

And you are comfortable benefiting from other people's suffering ?

You might say: "what do I care, it's not my fault that other people can't control themselves"

But it's not that simple.

The problem with debt is that, when a person goes into debt, a lot of times that person is not the only one affected, sometimes it affects his/her entire family.

Just like in this example, where the son did something stupid, and now the whole family has a big problem.

And you might say "well, good, that's what stupid parents deserve", but what if he has a brother or sister who's completely innocent.

I am very comfortable taking my credit card benefits.

The bulk of the burden falls on the retailer who is paying a couple percent on top of the transaction.

If they offer a cash or debit discount I'll take that too.

It is super not my problem if someone else cannot control their spending and frankly we are better off having the OPTION to have fast, easy access to credit than to abolish it just because some people have too much debt.

[alextulu]

we are better off having the OPTION to have fast, easy access to credit than to abolish it just because some people have too much debt.

 

I don't want to abolish the credit card. It's the combination of benefits and credit cards that's the problem, not the credit cards by themselves.

 

Those benefits are not designed to encourage good behaviour, their sole purpose is to encourage people to overspend and go into credit card debt.

 

I only use debit cards because I don't want to support this system.

 

If retailers and banks had good intentions, then they would give people benefits for debit cards instead.

 

That would increase the sales of retailers, without causing people to go into debt.

 

Or, at the very least, they could give people the same benefits for both credit and debit cards.