Father Sues Over Annual Xbox Live Renewal
Georgia resident Francisco Garcia has filed a class-action lawsuit against Microsoft, over the $49.99 annual renewal fee for Xbox Live online services. He claims that Microsoft improperly allowed his underage son to subscribe to the gaming service and then automatically renewed the subscription without authorization.
For Garcia, the big problem is that when the renewal was debited, his account became overdrawn. Although Microsoft refunded the subscription fee, Garcia is still out the $35 overdraft fee.
So here's what I have to ask about this:
- How did the son get the debit card number?
- He didn't notice the charge in 2005? Someone doesn't reconcile their checking account, do they?
- No renewal email? I will give him some slack here, as it's possible the email went to his son's account, who probably ignored it.
And here's one more thing: $49.99 overdrew your account? Someone's living really close to the edge.
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4 comments:
I just wanted to say that I had this same thing happen to me a few months ago. I was dating this guy who didn't have any credit or debit card and so we put the xbox live subscription on my card. We had been broken up for well over a year when I noticed I had been charged for a xbox live subscription renewal. I called immediately and had it taken off. I then wondered if I had been charged the year before because I am fairly certain that we had set it up 3 years ago. I didn't end up finding one but I didn't look too hard though and if I had to guess I would think I did get charged for last year. It was at that time I did think that Microsoft should take more care to authorize those charges. I had forgotten all about it.
Microsoft doesn't bear the responsibility to re-confirm the authorization of the withdrawal each year. Many creditors, utilities, insurance companies...the list goes on and on...offer the option to have payments made via automatic, pre-authorized withdrawal. I have several accounts of my own set up this way. Once the consumer gives the authorization, it stays in effect until the consumer changes it. It is the responsibility of the consumer to check their credit card statements and/or checking accounts on a monthly basis for erroneous transactions. If you don't, you truly have no one to blame but yourself. Unfortunate as it may be, we live in a world where we must constantly be on guard when it comes to our personal information/finances. In this case, the son misrepresented his age when subscribing. Microsoft isn't responsible for this kid being a liar. If I were in this situation, my kid would be doing the nastiest of chores to work off what he cost me. It would be a lesson learned the hard way.....but a lesson learned nonetheless.
it is not only Microsoft and companies like this, there are also porn sites doing the same thing.
Only with them it is slightly different, as they let anyone say how old they are, give them access and then after a few times bill them.
surely the governments, I'm in the UK, should crack down on companies that allow underaged kids to open accounts. Kids that are too young to actually sign a contract. These companies should not be allowed to hide behind their own rules and regulation and then rip off unsuspecting parents etc., for their own profit.
Alex.
And the father didn't notice that his son was playing online any time in the last year? Did he just assume the online feature was free. I would lay the blame on the parents, not microsoft. Rather than tieing up the courts with another frivolous lawsuit, the guy should sell a couple of his kids x box games to pay the overdraft fee.
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