child runs up huge xbox debt!

Last edited:
The kid was 11 years old. I was fully aware of what money was at that age and what I should and shouldn't do with somebody else's card details let alone my mothers!

An 11-year old isn't some baby, it's an age where you can comprehend fully what is right and wrong. The boy should have been belted.
 
Until I tried setting up child accounts for my kids, I would have been absolutely with MS on this,

But my experience so far has been appalling, the whole family safety thing is pants..

All I want to do is
1. Have my account for me, so I can play any game, buy what I want, but not let the kids have access to it obviously.
2. Set the kids accounts up, lock theirs down to 12 rated games, no downloads etc, but be allowed on XBL to talk to their cousins/friends..

So, from my account, I set up the 2 kids accounts, linked them to mine, jumped through all the hoops, and by default the whole system is retarded, in fact, I haven't been able to sort it out yet..

Can someone help me out, or confirm that it is as bad as it looks, I'm specifically looking at a few points,
1. I can't stop my kids switching profile to mine, they don't have to enter a passcode, it just logs straight into my account, how do I stop them switching profiles without entering the passcode?
2. Further to #1, the only way I can stop anyone downloading something once logged into my profile is to turn off XBOX live access, which obviously renders the console useless, as we all want access to live. As a parent account, I can't set the same restrictions as the kids, or am I looking in the wrong place?
3. The 'age' ratings for content is for the whole console, I have to lock it down to the lowest common demoninator for the kids, and then keep entering a passcode whenever I do anything, which is just very annoying..

So what am I doing wrong?

There is an uber flaw in this if a kid can switch unabated to my account, then unless I've disabled XBOX live access on the whole console, they can go and waste my points..
 
Lucifurr said:
Give Xbox pass code a go. Here is some more details:

Link
Click to expand...

Awesome!! That sounds like the main hurdle overcome, but why-oh-why isn't that switched on by default when family settings are 'on'..?

I think the 'ratings' thing is a no-go, it seems to be console wide, which is annoying, my kids are 4/6, if I lock it down to the lowest rating for them, absolutely everything I try and select needs a passcode due to the rating!

Flippin PITA!

[edit]
The passcode is perfect,

I can see that a parent that 'thinks' their Xbox is safe because they've set up the child accounts etc, is by default still open to anyone (inc kids) switching to their account and spending all their money.. It was only that I checked the switching between accounts etc and tested what I could/couldn't do that I spotted the default settings didn't offer me any useful protection..
 
Last edited:
Lucifurr said:
Good stuff, glad to be of help.
Click to expand...

:)


The next realisation is, if my kids where a bit older, and I wanted to be super 'anal' about ratings etc, and I had a 10 and 12 year old, then you are also in a pickle..

You can only set the entire consoles rating to the lowest setting to catch the 10 year old, but when the 12 year old wants to play a 12 game, they can't without the family safety passcode.. which you wouldn't give them of course..

Not only that, but if you want to add a new profile, and you've correctly blocked this in family settings, rather then ask for a passcode to progress as other 'blocked' features do, you have to go and temporarily enable this again (or turn off family safety), and remember to turn it all back on again afterwards, it's such a faff that if it where any other 'software' you deem it not fit for purpose on the grounds it's so obtuse and inconvenient that most reasonable people would just not bother..

It's not exactly helping out people that aren't so 'savvy' is it.. and it's a PITA even if you can manage to find your way around the console..
 
Nodiggidy123 said:
tbh i wouldn't let my kid go online unsupervised so it just goes to show.
Click to expand...

think thats a bit rich

1) Firstly mum thought it was probably a 1 off payment - so no harm in that at all

2) Its not like you can get pron on xbox live - its gaming and thats it (and possibly movies...but again I doubt there is anything hardcore....but could be wrong) - not like giving unlimited pc based internet access

3) Surprised it wasnt showing up month by month on the cc statement - why did MS suddenly bill after 18 months?

4) as somoene else stated - not everyone is tech savvy (I just had to talk in detail about Kindle's to my parents who are otherwise incredibly clever, but even the obvious to us had to be explained - and both my parents are pretty darn clever even if I say so myself)

edit - and just for clarification, the flat Im talking about dont have any computers, or any at work, or anything in them (I know its hard to believe but its true), the only thing even remotely close is a sky box (which is shared)
 
Last edited:
Demon said:
:)


The next realisation is, if my kids where a bit older, and I wanted to be super 'anal' about ratings etc, and I had a 10 and 12 year old, then you are also in a pickle..

You can only set the entire consoles rating to the lowest setting to catch the 10 year old, but when the 12 year old wants to play a 12 game, they can't without the family safety passcode.. which you wouldn't give them of course..

Not only that, but if you want to add a new profile, and you've correctly blocked this in family settings, rather then ask for a passcode to progress as other 'blocked' features do, you have to go and temporarily enable this again (or turn off family safety), and remember to turn it all back on again afterwards, it's such a faff that if it where any other 'software' you deem it not fit for purpose on the grounds it's so obtuse and inconvenient that most reasonable people would just not bother..

It's not exactly helping out people that aren't so 'savvy' is it.. and it's a PITA even if you can manage to find your way around the console..
Click to expand...

Sounds like you're taking game age ratings a little bit too seriously. :p
 
my brothers mate racked up about £400 on his dads CC buying fifa UT card packs,my card is on my account and for some reason it wont let me take my CC off even tho my debit card is on,i just want rid of the CC but it wont let me take it off,so i still think microsoft are abit to blame for people spending on Credit cards when people add them to there account when they first sign up to xbox live and then when they realise microsoft charge about £16 for 3 months gold ,they try to take the credit card off but it wont let you take it off.
 
kylew said:
Sounds like you're taking game age ratings a little bit too seriously. :p
Click to expand...

:D I was being a bit hypothetical, but it just shows how ill thought out it is.

At the end of the day, MS sell to families, the whole 'family safety' is pushed as a feature, they want you to feel all secure and safe and use it as a marketing tool to help sales,

However, the reality is, it's deeply flawed in a few ways that really make it next to useless,

I can see that
1. Parents thinking they've locked it down to purchases by going through the whole child account/family safety setup (which requires some savviness) but are still left wide open as the child can just switch to their account and spend.. Nothing in the process or family center warns you or helps you to go into the very convoluted menu's and set a passcode for the account itself.. it should be part of the default setup
2. The 'rating' system is retarded, it just plain doesn't work in most scenarios' if you wanted to use it
3. The inconsistencies in the family safety centre (i.e. somethings you block just means entering a passcode at the infraction and you can continue, but others you have to go and log into the main account, then turn off temporarily the block, go and do the task, then remember to go back and block it again) makes it open to obvious accidental mis-use..

Personally, I think MS have some responsibility as well, they sell it to families, any parent will tell you, it's wholly unreasonable to expect 100% supervision of children (That's no excuse on a parent's behalf, but even a good parent won't achieve 100% supervision, it's totally impractical), and accidents happen, kids phoning the police, finding your loaded shotgun in the closet (;)), etc.. I see it as unfair that 100% of the responsibility is on the parent, when clearly all MS provide is a really badly functioning attempt at doing what needs to be done..
Lets face it, the mechanism for revoking content is implemented (DRM), the points system is handled at MS's end on their servers, so there is no excuse to not allow re-imbursement of at least MS points.. and surely the default when credit card transactions occur, is that you must key in the CVC number for each transaction..
 
Im glad you put the smiley at the shotgun comment - that might just be a little too far :)

(My brother in law just had to spend a small fortune on a proper metal shotgun cupboard for a new gun licence to be granted)
 
This kid probably has had the best time of his life, playing anything he wanted :)

Remember this £1k wasn't spent in a week or so but over a long period (over a year as someone said).

I don't see why MS should refund them at all, it's the kid and parent problem imo.
 
Another question?

Since I don't use a CC on my 360, do you need to enter any CVC or do anything when purchasing items using a credit card, or is it all automatic with no intervention?
 
That bbc article says it was over 6 months and he bought stuff because his friends had it. He knew what he was doing. How is he going to learn from his mistake? By being on the news, getting a lot of attention and not punished for stealing £1k from his mum.

Not exactly parenting 101.
 
Demon said:
Lets face it, the mechanism for revoking content is implemented (DRM), the points system is handled at MS's end on their servers, so there is no excuse to not allow re-imbursement of at least MS points..
Click to expand...

Obviously MS have ability to refund it, but why should they? The kid's had full use of the products that were purchased for months.

This isn't a one off mistake that he's made. How many MS points is £1000? Even if you're paying rip off prices it's got to be upward of 110k points?

He wasn't just buying the odd map pack because his mates were playing it like one article stated. This was a full on game buying binge that he knew he was doing. Why should MS refund anything?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom