Xbox: One gamer’s dad disheartened by shocking $8,800 bill from Microsoft
This is a rather shocking story about how some father bought his son(s) an X-Box and then got a surprise bill for $8,800.
Do you own an X-Box? If so, how do you prevent yourself from getting hit by this kind of outrageous charge?
WTH is wrong with Microsoft? Seems like they make billions and billions of dollars with all their (I’m straining myself to refrain for being ultra nasty) products.
Why in the world would then allow little people to get these crazy bills?
I’ve been looking to get either an X-Box or Play Station. This pretty much seals the deal for me. How about you?
It’s got nothing to do with the Xbox. It’s got to do with giving his son a credit card which he misused. First paragraph in the article. Try reading past the headlines next time.
"Lance Perkins, 51, bought his 17-year-old son an Xbox One a few years ago and everything was fine until his son finally decided to add his credit card details to the system for in-game purchases. Perkins had nothing to do with the console until he received a US$8,800 (AU$12,517) bill from Xbox that his son spent on online gaming.
" CTV News reported that Perkins received a bill from Microsoft in November 2015 which was around US$800 (approx. AU$1,138), but said he was away and later came to know that one of his employees paid the bill using a blank cheque signed by Perkins."
I’m not sure I’d describe someone who leaves blank checks for their employees to sign while they’re travelling “little people”.
For what it’s worth, I did indeed read the entire article and I must say that I think it’s presumptuous and just plain nasty for you to suggest otherwise.
You read the whole article, yet didn’t notice that the son had entered the credit card information into the Xbox? Instead jumping to the conclusion that you’re vulnerable to mystery charges from Microsoft, and anyone who owns an Xbox is somehow at risk?
Next time, read for comprehension then. Or look up the words you don’t understand in the dictionary.
Gee, dad, maybe Jr forfeits his credit card until the debt is paid? I’m sure all that experience playing with the xBox means he’s qualified to work in some fast food establishment.
And not only did he give his 17 year old a credit card, it apparently had a credit limit somewhere north of $10k! Unless things work differently in Australia, he should have been able to give him a card with an actual reasonable limit for a teenager, if it was only supposed to be for normal monthly expenses.
“Perkins said both his sons have credit cards which they use to pay for small things like gas.”
Yeah, it has absolutely nothing to do with Microsoft or the XBox. The son used the father’s card inappropriately. You run the same exact risk by handing your credit card to your spouse when they go out shopping. Are you going to boycott Target or Home Depot for “outrageous charges” because your spouse decided they really wanted that $2000 widget and just happened to buy it in their store?
So just as a point of interest exactly the same thing could have happened with a PS or Nintendo product.
This was a teenager who wanted the easy way with Dad’s money and blaming Microsoft for this is just shifting the blame from his (based on this situation) lousy parenting.
I agree that this is a fair criticism. OP makes several errors that imply you did not read the article. To summarize:
This is a rather shocking story about how some father bought his son(s) an X-Box and then got a surprise bill for $8,800. - Shocking to the father, perhaps. Not at all shocking to the son.
Do you own an X-Box? If so, how do you prevent yourself from getting hit by this kind of outrageous charge? - Don’t let children make unlimited purchases with your credit card. This is a bit like asking, “How do you prevent yourself from being billed by Amazon?” Stop buying stuff.
*WTH is wrong with Microsoft? Seems like they make billions and billions of dollars with all their (I’m straining myself to refrain for being ultra nasty) products. * - They sell video games. People buy video games. What is the problem?
Why in the world would then allow little people to get these crazy bills? - What business do you work for? If someone called up your business and purchased something, would you not bill them for it?
*I’ve been looking to get either an X-Box or Play Station. This pretty much seals the deal for me. How about you? * I’m confused as to why this would be your basis for a decision. Every platform, whether Xbox, Playstation, PC, or cell phone, now offers downloadable purchases. There is nothing unique to Microsoft’s business model. The fact that this person used the internet to buy video games is no different than if he used Steam, Gamestop, Best Buy, or any of a dozen other online retailers that do the exact same thing. Further, a lot of that content and money goes straight to the software manufacturer… You can’t blame Microsoft for that any more than I would buy something on Steam and then blame HP and Time Warner Cable.
Obviously Charlie Wayne has internet access, presumably through a computer or possibly a smartphone. This means he’s vulnerable to huge extra charges, because there are sites on the internet where one can rack up huge credit card charges.
I’ve got an Xbox and a Xbox Live account attached to a credit card. I know you can make on-line purchases through it.
What I’m really curious about is what kind of purchases can be made that add up to $8,800?
I’ve seen games before where you puchase in-game credits to make in-game purchases of virtual items. Are there really items that get that expensive to purchase? Is there some type of mega-weapon that cost $100 in game credits to purchase and this kid decided to buy 88 of them?
The dad is somewhat of a moron, and the kid’s either mentally disabled or a dickbag.
The way the Xbox Live stuff works is that you pay a flat fee annually for access to the service- ISTR that there are different levels of access.
Once you sign up, they have your credit card number on file. Then, when you’re playing a game, there’s what is called “Downloadable Content”. This may be additional levels / stories, or it may be spiffy purchase-only in-game gear, or it may be the affluenza-special packs where you basically pay money to get the in-game gear that the plebes get by playing a shitload and/or being good at it. Or it may be entirely (even within the Xbox universe) frivolous crap like a branded shirt or hat or something for your avatar to wear. You can just go and choose to buy it in the Xbox store for some nominal fee- $3 or something. Many games have in-game purchasing abilities as well.
NONE of them fail to warn you that you’re spending money and every one I’ve ever seen requires you to confirm your credit card info before completing the purchase.
You can also buy games via the Xbox Live store as well as music, videos, etc… But if you don’t deliberately buy anything, you just get dinged annually for the Xbox Live fee until you discontinue it.
I can easily see how someone could rack up a few hundred bucks getting a few games, and every DLC for those games. I’m at a loss though, as to how someone could spend $8800 on that kind of thing without being an absolute spendthrift and knucklehead.
There are 2 levels of Xbox Live - free, which is free, and Gold, which is something like $50/year. Either one lets you do purchases of in-game or avatar or other content. Neither requires entering credit card info - you can buy a 1yr Gold membership card at stores or Amazon and such, if you desire. Gold gets you online multiplayer gaming and a bunch of other stuff.
