A boy has decimated his mother’s debit card, amassing debts of more than £1000 on Xbox LIVE. 11 year-old Brendan Jordan of Strood, Kent, eventually totted up a bill of £1,082.52 for Xbox LIVE games and accessories – apparently without realising that it was all being charged to his mum’s card. The lady herself, single parent Dawn Matthews, had previously used the card to purchase an Xbox LIVE Gold subscription for her son, but was unaware that the card details would be then stored on the Xbox 360. “When I put my card details in 18 months ago I thought it was just for his membership to play online with his friends,” she tells the Daily Mail. “I work two jobs just to look after my family and pay the bills so I cannot afford all these extortionate charges.” “A thousand pounds isn't that much to people like Bill Gates, but for a single mum it is a lot of money that I don't have.” All of which is rather failing to wash with Microsoft, who highlight the Xbox 360’s various parental controls which exist precisely so that parents can keep an eye on their kids’ playing and spending habits. Ms. Matthews is not satisfied with the response, though, and thinks that Microsoft is at least partially to blame, saying: “It is ridiculous to allow someone of his age to make payments without any checks being done.” “It is impossible to monitor everything your children do. These companies should take some responsibility. They take advantage of vulnerable people.” Sadly, such strong words have not resulted in any kind of refund for Dawn. Poor Brendan isn’t any better off, either. His tender age and innocence mean that he’s escaped punishment. However, when shown the results of his spending spree, he burst into tears, unplugged his Xbox and said he didn’t want it any more. Oh dear... http://uk.videogames.games.yahoo.com/blog/article/22696/xbox-boy-buys-big-on-mums-card.html
read this earlier on kotaku. I mean, I suppose the mother don't have that much time to parent the kid since she's a single mother. But £1,000 on xbl, I'm guessin' that's all the kid does is play games. I can' even imagine how you could spend that much though.
it sucks but really its not xbox or microsoft's fault. kids at that age shouldn't be allowed on xbox live. What's bullshit about xbox live is that even if you get a subscription card B&M, you will still have to enter your credit card info to activate it, can't they just have a "renew" button during the sign up to make it optional.
you know what right ... kids like these piss me off ....... i grew understanding that my mum is a single parent and she doesnt have money to be wasted .... she has to work, pay bills etc and ive grown up understanding that and learnt to not ask for money or become a spoiled assed brat ......PROPER PISSES ME OFF ..... how does the kid not understand that his mother is a single parent working 2 days and all he can do is piss waste her hard earned cash that could have payed like 4 months for the water bill etc ... FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
the kid knew what he was doing... look, unlike PS you cant buy games and DLC directly for cash.. you MUST buy M$ points... and you KNOW how much your paying when you purchase points. this ijit must have bought 117,000 points knowing full well how much its costing. fell sorry for the mother, 2 jobs an all, and i remember when i was 11, i wasn't stupid so i wont even accept that as an excuse.. even an 11 year old knows £51 multiplied by more than you can remember = lots of money. typical M$ though... its cheaper to buy points from the shop.. even though your also paying for the case and card inside the case plus the stores profit.. all M$ have to do is electronically transfer the points to your account and noooo they still want to over charge.
When you put your CC on xbox you cant get it off.. period. had to wait for my card to expire lol, never again
^ same with me. But i went to buy the xbox because i thought the lag would not be a problem since ms maintains their servers. But sometime later, bought myself ps3 and now i only play that and put away my xbox. Can't afford to buy their games and crap on top of paying £40 a year for the gold suscription account.
