Kid charged over $500 to a game

skeeter1

Yesterday, I got our credit card statement, and looked at the charges. Over $500 to Itunes. Questioned everyone, and it's for "jewels" for a Kim Kardashian game my 13 year old charged. To say I am mad, does not describe it.

Today, I cut off the fancy Iphone, computer, and her riding for 3 months to pay us back for it. Everyday, she's going to do a chore. She's going to live an unplugged life. So, this morning she gets all snarky with me and stared me down in defiance. She got a mouthful from me, and she's riding the schoolbus for the remainder of the year. I am soooooo livid.

What would you do to your kid to teach her a lesson about money, charge cards?

RobertT18

Call the credit card company and do chargeback, itunes account might get suspended though.

Raton

i give the kids an allowance to teach them about money. They can earn more by doing more. They then split it up into spending, charity, and savings. I never really thought kids should get money but it seems that very few know how it works and I want them to be included in that few. I also no longer use credit cards and have paid them all off. I hope they learn from example on that one and never get into credit card trouble.

confusedandalone

I think a chore a day is pretty slim. What is minimum wage in your region. I would make her work off hourly the 500 dollars she spent.

As soon as hopmework is done she would be involved in something such as raking mowing cleaning or whatever I felt like doing.

At the end of the day I would show how many hours she worked and how many hours she had left so she would know exactly how dreary the next week would be or two weeks or 3 weeks.

KateWild

I blame the gaming companies. I have heard of this before. They make it too easy for anyone to charge to a credit card. There are no security checks to ensure the one purchasing the items is over 18. If you need to be over 18 to have a credit card surely you need to be over 18 to use it.

I think gaming companies take advantage of kids and should be held accountable. If someone is a child and does not have permission from the cardholder to use the card then the transaction should be void.

Has this happened to anyone else? I don't even think the kids realise they are spending real money. It's a scam.

Kate xx

Separation of Powers

Every week, the kid starts with a balance of whatever allowance you decide, say $50....each chore, homework, getting out of bed to get to school, everything that makes an adult responsible has a value....

Homework not ready for the next day's school...2.00

Getting up late....2.00

Not washing the dishes....5.00

If they are responsible, they end the week with $50, if not, then whatever is left.

Their allowance is their pay to purchase the things they want..

"I want a new pair of sneakers!" Well, that's $100, two weeks allowance. In the long run, it pays...you stop having to buy all the crap that catches their attention and they learn that if they really want it, they will have to be responsible. It works really well when there are more than two kids. I have a few, so when the oldest would see that the younger siblings were walking away with the full-boat allowance, it motivated them. Nothing serves as a better motivator for a kid than sibling rivalry.

DesirousOfChange

I would def do a chargeback on the credit card.

She is a minor and not old enough to make a $500 committment.

Doc

Finkelstein

Whats a child doing with your own personal Credit card number anyways ?

Did she secretly steal it just so she could continue to play the game ?

I'm assuming its like Candy Crush that promotes the purchasing of more playing objects so that the individual players themselves can progress.

.

Simon

You should contact the publisher / distributor and ask for them to refund it.

They've recently had to pay out in lawsuits over this and provide better ways to block or limit in-game purchases.

GrreatTeacher

If you keep your credit card number on file for easy checkout for online retailers, the number may have already been there on the computer.

Never do this! It is better to type in the card number every time.

Loved the fact that you unplugged her. We did this once for our son at age 12 because of a bad report card. The grades came up really quickly.

Also like the idea of the kid having to work off the debt for minimum wage. At $7.25 an hour it would take 69 hours to work off a $500 debt.

Kid charged over $500 to a game

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