The witch hunters at the Daily Mail have caught wind of how an 11 year old boy rang up over £1,000 on his mother’s credit card by purchasing items from Xbox Live.
Eighteen months ago she inputted the credit card details onto Xbox Live so her son could play online, but because the details were saved onto the Xbox he then used her card to download extras.
“The bank and Microsoft are blaming each other and no one is helping me,†says the mother.
I’m not surprised nobody is willing to help – if I spent £1,000 on Xbox Live I’d be forced to pay for it too. The mother feels angry because it’s “too easy†for a child to buy the items online.
Clearly Microsoft’s parental controls do not exist.
But here are things I find confusing: what bank only sends out credit card bills every 18 months? Isn’t it the card holder’s responsibility to check their charges? And how could the son not realise that charges were being made? Mircosoft Points have to be added to the account first during which the card holder’s details are displayed clearly. Could he not read his mother’s name? Could he not see that the monetary value – shown in pounds and pence – of the Microsoft Points?
Incidentally, the child is not being punished.
I’d like to the see the age ratings on some of the games he has been playing, as from my experience it’s mostly adult-orientated games that have DLC.
Just think – if she’d popped down to GAME and brought a subscription card none of this would have ever happened.