I’m having a non-unique issue with some unique features right now, and am trying to figure out if I’m 100% shit out of luck, or if there’s at least some glimmer of hope: My 9 year old son has an Xbox that he received for Christmas in 2017 when he was 7. We went over all the rules for use and making purchases and all that, but at the time I didn’t set up formal parental controls. What I DID do, however, was to have purchases linked through my PayPal account so whenever a purchase was made I’d get a push notification. That worked well for us for two and a half years, and the only time he made an impulse buy we immediately reversed it. Fast forward to these coronavirus days where there isn’t much for the kids to do, and we’ve been lax about his gaming time because he would get on Fortnite and other games with his friends where they would all socialize via their headsets. Not ideal, but these are strange times. Anyway, I got my credit card bill and see an astonishing number of charges for purchases through Xbox. I go and check my emails to see why I’m not getting receipts and don’t find anything. Fast forward to the bottom line, my son confessed that he was taking my phone while I slept at night, making his purchases, deleting my notifications then putting my phone back on my nightstand. So many of these purchases date back to late June and early July, outside of the 14-day window that Microsoft allows for refunds. I put in refund requests and so far have received a few denials on the older stuff while the newer stuff remains processing. My son is in deep, deep shit right now and his only hope is that I get some of this money back. I suppose I could challenge the charges on my credit card, but my research suggests that this will result in a permanent banning of my account by Microsoft. I don’t want that, necessarily, either, but if it’s something less than a permanent ban I might consider it anyway. Am I just fucked? Anyone ever dealt with this? I know it’s common for kids to get carried away with in-game purchases and that’s not unique, but what is unique is my 9 year old devised a work-around to my monitoring of his activity and I think that should count for something. Any advice? And yes, I already offered to blow Bill Gates and the Xbox, because I’m no dummy.
Probably too late unless you claim fraud with your credit card company. Imo just take all his shit away until he works it off around the house. Normally I would say make him get a job but probably not a great idea in Florida right now. Also how much was it plz? EDIT: Thought I read 14yo, definitely can’t make a 9yo get a job. Do the math and show him how many chores it would take for him to pay it off, then show mercy after a week or two of him doing the work.
I wonder how many millions Fortnite has made on kids purchasing shit without their parent's permission
Not seeing a real downside to a permanent Microsoft account ban as long as you've got a legitimate basis to dispute the charges with the credit card company (I have no idea on that question one way or another)
I think you're going to have to take this one on the chin. I don't think "My kid is smarter than me" is a legit argument for a company to void charges. Lock your phone.
You gotta put it in context If its like $100 just deal with it. If it's over $1,000 then you should destroy the xbox in front of him, record him crying and send it out to all his friends
Yeah how much? Gotta be under $2,500 Reminds me of my friend in elementary school using dial up AOL over long distance line by accident and rang up a $600 phone bill in the 90's
Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo That boy needs his as beat in addition to his gaming system destroyed in front of him.
at least you're not this guy https://www.nbcboston.com/news/loca...-makes-series-of-in-game-xbox-purchases/1711/
They sell loot boxes and shit that are $100 a pop. I mean, mobile games do...so I can only imagine something like Fortnite.
I had a kid rack up over $1000 in phone data charges in three days on a cruise to Mexico before AT&T suspended his account, but he didn't realize he was doing it My kids' xbox, steam, and switch accounts are all tied to my credit card and have been for years, but they know better than to lie to me about spending. Yours is younger than mine were when I set them up, tho. Maybe too much opportunity for a kid that hasn't had the chance to formulate a moral code yet
I’ve got the punishment part down. He’s obviously lost all of his electronics for the foreseeable future (maybe forever), and he’s been coming to work with me where he sits quietly reading books in the office or does academic work on a laptop next to me where I see the screen at all times. I want him to see what it’s like to work every day and how money gets made. He’s accepted his fate like a champ so far, but this money issue will decide whether my wife sells his Xbox and other items off to pay us (me, really) back or whether he just works off his debt.
Just thinking about how many times he had to sneak into his sleeping parents bedroom, grab the phone and fuck around on it, and get out without being detected, in order to rack up 2k in purchases is blowing my mind. I'm feeling emboldened to burglarize OP's house with his family in it.
that reminds me that dbl spends hundreds if not thousands on clothes and shoes for his virtual basketball team
My nephew did something similar with fortnite in the $1500 range. This is unfortunately probably all too common. Of course in the early days of texting I ran up a $700 phone bill so I can’t really talk shit although mine was more innocent. Not a criminal act like your son.
This does loosely remind me of a somewhat wholesome story involving my dad and my brother. My dad always left his wallet by the back door. Like that's where it went when he got home each night. Every weekend in high school, my brother and I would take a $20 out to buy beer. Sometimes $40 but we tried not to overdue it thinking we were getting one over on him. He is the kind of guy to always keep a bunch of cash on him so we figured he never even noticed. Anyways we confessed a few years ago and he just laughed and said "why do you think i kept all that cash in there?". It was our little secret from mom. This ain't one of those situations, at all.
I have some bad news: My shithead 16yo pulled the same stuff as a 9/10 yo. He is not currently less of a shithead than he was then. Not sure how a kid works off a 2k+ debt to a parent. Yikes