Kid spends £1,000 of his mom's money on Xbox live

Quote :

Originally Posted by Eurogamer
An 11 year-old boy has spent £1082.52 of his mother's money on Xbox Live. Who's to blame? Obviously Microsoft.

"It is ridiculous to allow someone of his age to make payments without
any checks being done," out of pocket mother Dawn Matthews told the
Daily Mail.

"When he is in gaming mode he can't be thinking about the money. You can't put all that responsibility on a young boy.

"It is impossible to monitor everything your children do. These
companies should take some responsibility. They take advantage of
vulnerable people."

Dawn Matthews presumably entered her credit card details to buy a Gold
Xbox Live membership for her son, Brendan Matthews. "I thought it was
just for his membership to play online with his friends," she said,
evidently unaware her details would be saved for convenient future
reuse.

"When I showed him [the bill] he burst into tears," Dawn Matthews
recalled. "He unplugged the Xbox and said he didn't want it any more.

"I haven't punished him because he feels bad enough and I know he won't do it again."

Brendan Matthews would have had to select and confirm the credit card
each time he bought a wad of Microsoft Points. His spending spree of
£1082.52 amounts to 126,364 Microsoft Points. Are they sure he didn't
know what he was doing?

Microsoft, in retort, highlighted the Xbox 360 parental controls. By
default, a spokesperson explained, online activity for a child's Live
account is turned off.

"A thousand pounds isn't that much to people like Bill Gates," concluded
Dawn Matthews, "but for a single mum it is a lot of money that I don't
have."

Source

Well ho-lee fucking shit. If that was me my ass would have got beat six
ways from Sunday. "I didn't punish him because he feels bad enough" -
what the shit, lady. This kid just spent a grand of your money! Whup
that boy's ass! I say he knew exactly what he was doing and he's got his
mom wrapped round his little finger.

What is wrong with parents today. Accept some fucking responsibility for
your idiot of a son, and for yourself. This is not Microsoft's fault or
your bank's fault, it's your own damn irresponsible fault for being so
frivolous with your card and for not paying attention to what your child
is doing!

People make me mad.

I can't blame the kid or the mother. I honestly believe she doesn't have an idea what is going on with xbox live. Unless you play games, you wouldn't realize that there's a ton of shit to you can buy. I don't think anyone ever reads user agreements either, and as far as the parental controls I doubt she was even aware of them.
The kid being 11 doesn't have a grasp for numbers nor managing money, so it's an honest mistake for him. I don't what the laws are in Europe, but I'm pretty sure in America she would be able to take it to court to get her money because the kid doesn't have the mental capacity for his actions. Hopefully Microsoft shows some class, and helps the lady out.

I really loved it when Bill gates said "xbox live will be for ADULTS ONLY". Back in the xbox days shit like this was not going down. To be honest im totally down to go back to the "you need a credit card to sign up" mode like the origional.

For the most part, I'd have to agree with Zombie, I doubt the kid knew exactly what he was doing. However, I will say that 11 year old kids might be smarter than we think. Times are different from when I was growing up. Kids are smarter, sneakier and all around more tech savvy which makes me think that he could've known all along how much he was spending. Also, why didn't the mom take a quick look at her credit card bills and realize that he was spending money. I mean, there's no way this kid spent over 1,000 euros in one night right?

When I was 11 I'd ask my mom every time I would purchase MS points...
The kid should've been punished and I don't think MS should help this lady.

Purely for the sake that people are going to abuse this, cause as soon the first case is won by someone...People are going to exploit it.

Zombie Toast wrote:

I can't blame the kid or the mother. I honestly believe she doesn't have an idea what is going on with xbox live. Unless you play games, you wouldn't realize that there's a ton of shit to you can buy. I don't think anyone ever reads user agreements either, and as far as the parental controls I doubt she was even aware of them.
The kid being 11 doesn't have a grasp for numbers nor managing money, so it's an honest mistake for him. I don't what the laws are in Europe, but I'm pretty sure in America she would be able to take it to court to get her money because the kid doesn't have the mental capacity for his actions. Hopefully Microsoft shows some class, and helps the lady out.

To bring it to court would cost as much as just paying it off. I hate court.. seen wayy to much of it

Not saying she would have to go to court, but I'm pretty sure she could win her case easily. I know recently some kid racked up like an $80,000 or some astronomical phone bill via text messages because he had no idea of his actions, and Verizon gave the money back to the family. People fight these types of cases all the time with their credit card companies or with whatever service, that's why they have customer service departments to deal with these incidents. I have on more than one occasion had to do the same thing to get my money for some frivolous charge I was oblivious to. Not necessarily the same thing, but someone broke into my room while I was sleeping my freshman year of college and stole my credit card number. It was a week later when I noticed someone purchased $900 worth of shit off of Amazon and itunes. Being the mega business that Microsoft is they should be able to refund it easily.

This reminds me to stop auto payment for my Xbox account.

see, It IS the mothers fault though, How about checking things out before you put your credit card number into something!?

Then once you understand it, Tell the kid, and explain it to him BEFORE you let him start playing, how is this hard? Would you hand your kid a gun, then later after he shot someone be upset at the gun company for not going out of their way to let you know that the item is a gun, and can kill or hurt people/things? People just expect to be protected now, How about you look the fuck out for yourself!

Like alot of fair rides or just fun things to do, bungee jumping, and shit, its dangerous, thats why its a rush, thats why its fun, you have to understand the consequences before doing it. You set up a slide or swingset on your property, A neighbor kid comes over to play, gets hurt, And YOU get sued? its bullshit. Explain to your kid, he's mortal, explain that people get hurt doing normal everyday things all the time. and explain most the time its the "Victims" fault.

People fucking piss me off man. Be responsible for your shit.

The best way to punish this kid is make him stay up day and night till he spends all the points he bought. Then after that spank him for every dollar he spent. Buy him ice cream after all that then throw it in the trash in front of him. Lock him in a closet for 10 years that might be enough.

I think he's probably spent the points. Otherwise why would he have gotten them? From the story when i read it I thought the kid was just watching alot of movies, or downloading alot of music. Could have been buying movies, and also games and shit. He probably saw something he wanted, tried to download it, and then when xbox told him he didn't have enough points he just clicked the "Add more" option.

You know, I read this story last week and going back over it now I still feel the same way. Outrage over the fact that people (I say people in a general sense, not pointing out anyone here) are feeling sorry for the Mother AND outrage over her attitude about there not being a system of "checks" in place. Ok, on the one hand I can see her point on the "checks" not being in place, even though there are some parental controls for the system. That being said, I can't help but feel a level of...can't think of the word...let's just say a level of "grr" at the woman for not having sense enough to do some checking on her own. In today's society with the level of technology we have in place, to not do so on something (especially if you KNOW your credit card info is there) is borderline idiotic. I've said it before and I'll say it again...whatever happened to personal accountability.

And about the child "not knowing" what was going on...
Look, I've been coming to these boards for a LONG time even though my current name has only been active for a year. Alot of you gents (and ladies) are very intelligent and often put thought into the words you speak. Having said that though I can't totally agree with that statement and have to ask (with a chuckle as I type this)... are you drinking? My roommate has two children and when she first moved in her youngest was 10. He was more aware of things than he should have been actually. So to say that he wasn't aware of what was going on is laughable. Besides like the article says, and anyone who has bought ms points knows, you get prompted about it as you do it. It was probably more like the mother didn't know what was going on (which I still say she could have easily done some research), to which the child was aware and instead of asking his mother if he could, he skipped that part and did it anyway because he knew the answer would have more than likely been no.

Hell, I'll even share a story with you about my childhood.
I remember when I was around six or seven, an episode that took place at a grocery store with my mother. We're in the check out line and I see this large bubble gum piece that looks like a hamburger. I told mom I wanted it. She said no. I proceeded to put it in my pocket anyway. On the way to the car I took it out and chewwed on a piece of it. Immediately my mother asked where I got it from because she distinctly rememberd telling me I couldn't have it. I began crying because I KNEW, I had done something wrong. Did my mother say "aww, that's ok son"? Umm, in a word, no. She proceeded to give me a proper whipping right there in the parking lot. Took me by the hand, and marched me back into the store. Asked for the manager. Had ME apologize to the manager of the store, paid for the piece of gum, then took me home to where I got another proper whipping AND was grounded to my room for the next two days.

Learned two lessons that day..1)stealing is bad (and I haven't done so since), and 2) we (as in the individual) are accountable for our own actions.
Not reprimanding the child PROPERLY because "he feels bad enough" is teaching him nothing other than the fact that he can use guilt as a tool to smooth over a situation. He needs to know that not only what he did was wrong, to which I honestly believe he feels AND knows that, but he is responsible for his actions. As is the mother responsible for her inaction.

This brings to mind the following story I read not too long ago:

Super Punch: Misery, photographed

Funny thing about the above story is that I, personally, feel that the parents are doing the proper thing and people are outraged over the fact that the "punishment is too harsh". Seriously people? Are we really to the point where teaching a child a proper lesson with a just punishment is taboo? No, I don't think children should be "beat" but a good whipping (there is a difference) and a strict and proper punishment can do wonders. It is possible to be touched by both a loving hand and a strict hand as there is a time and a place for both. Just don't confuse the two and coddle when there needs to be discipline. I don't know, maybe I was just raised in a different era of child rearing I suppose as I always get a little aggrevated with stories like this.

The kid had to of known he was spending money. But I have to say I got nailed by M$'s policies before. I didnt opt out of the auto renew and the credit card I used originally had been cancelled. I had to make a call to India or wherever there help center is. Spent about 2 1/2 hours and a migraine but got my money back. Although I did lose all of the DLC I had paid for previous to the auto renew. I could probably fight with them for it but its just not worth it. Does anyone actually read there terms? I know I didnt until it cost me money.

Wise words FairXChange, wise words. After reading your reply it got me thinking, maybe we do come from a lost "era." This is quite an interesting discussion we've got going on.

FairXchange just pwned everyone, please gtfo.

But seriously I think when all of us were 10, we had some sort of rationality behind a credit card and how currency works. Especially when every time you download something it tells you how much your going to spend. The kid literally had to by $50 worth of points, or buying games that clearly labeled the price. Either case, it clearly shows how much your spending.

And if the child didn't steal the card or had no knowledge of the card, that must mean that the mom must have set up the credit card to the account and didn't tell her son about how it works.

in either situation someone is a twat...

Most likely both of them are a little short of a full deck of cards.

FairXChange be preachin' it like it's real!

yeah, I had been trying to keep my live from auto-renewing on the wrong card, because I realized I changed banks the exact same week my 2 year renewal was supposed to go through, which meant I didn't have a card yet to charge the renewal to. BUT when I got online at xboxlive.com and tried to delete the old cards and get ready for the new one they wouldn't allow me to delete or change the information on my old card because they said the renewal was already on there.

So I ended up getting my account suspended for like 2 days, and then had to call xbox to get them to charge the payment to my new card. Actually was super easy once I called. But why there isn't a Remove Card option on the console itself I dont know.

Its the same way on PS3. I have a PS3 and once you put in your credit card info in. You better watch out or your fucked. As for whos fault I believe the mother is at fault. Who the hell gives a child a credit card???? I also believe Microsoft is at fault for not realizing that the its a kid we need restrictions!!!

What kind of restrictions? you mean parental restrictions where someone can set the childs GT up as a child gamertag so that they can't buy shit?

Isn't that already on there?

Is there still the restriction you need to have an email account that claims you're 18 or up to be able to have access to Xbox live gold and points?
Cause there was when I made my account, cause I had to make a new email account.

Microsoft can only do so much. They can't stop every tard.

Its funny how you can child lock any and everything these days, but most parents dont utilize it. The problem is alot of older parents dont take the time to get into or understand what they're children are doing/playing/watching, etc. If she would have taken the time to figure out how live works, she would have known to either erase her card or put in a child lock with a parent account. I dont think our generation will have these types of issues going forward but its really stupid how out of touch parents are with certain things their kids are doing.