R14,000 Xbox Live bill – customer blames Microsoft

12-year old boy “didn’t realise it was costing real money”

Jeremy ProomeJuly 23, 2012

Sam Ghera, a father in Wolverhampton, UK, wasn’t pleased when he received a bill for his son’s online gaming sessions, valued at £1,150 (around R14,997)

“He didn’t realise it was costing real money,” Sam Ghera told the Daily Mail. “With sites like eBay and iTunes it always asks you for a password before you make a purchase, but with Xbox Live you just press a button and then your money’s gone.”

Sam’s 12-year old son Nik was unaware that purchasing Microsoft Points was costing actual money, and had spent up to £100 (around R1,300) in a single day playing Call of Duty and FIFA.

Ghera explained that he had registered his credit card to Xbox Live to allow his son Nik to play online with his friends.

“I went to the bank to take some money out with my credit card but the machine said I had insufficient funds. I was standing there thinking that I’d been hacked in to, but the bank came back saying they were legitimate charges.”

“I didn’t even know that it was storing my information, and even if that thought had entered my head I would have thought there would be something in place so it wasn’t so easy to spend money.”

The disgruntled Sam Ghera addressed Microsoft as the culprits.

“I contacted Microsoft but, six months down the line, they’re still saying they’re looking into it. I’m waiting for them to get back to me.”

“An apology would be nice but I’m more interested in having this problem stopped so that we as parents can stop our kids from making payments on our cards.”