Child runs up nearly $1400 debt on FarmVille

a 12-year-old boy in the UK made more than 900 GBP worth of in-game purchases in FarmVille last month. The child did so without his mother's knowledge, combining 288 GBP of his own savings with 625 GBP worth of credit on his mother's credit card to make the purchases. For those of you reading this in the US, that's nearly $1400 USD.

"The first use of my card was on 14 March" said the boy's mother, who wishes to remain anonymous. "I discovered it on the 29th and the card was stopped at that point. Any transactions after that date were already in the system, so what I thought was a 427 GBP spend turned into 625 GBP over the next few days."

Given that the card was her responsibility, neither Zynga nor her credit card company will refund the money. When confronted about the incident, her son admitted guilt and explained it was because"they had brought out good stuff that I wanted." HSBC, the mother's credit card company, said it would consider refunding the balance if she decided to file criminal charges against her son. "Obviously the idea of a stupid farm simulation jeopardising his future earnings is not something that I want to consider," she said.

Facebook has since removed the child's account. Whether this was at the behest of the mother or simply because he has violated the age rules of Facebook (13 and older only) remains unclear. Either way, consider this a lesson learned about the dangers of "free" Facebook games and the errant ways of youth.

LINK

LOL @ FarmVille....People actually pay for that stuff? :?

I've never played farmville, didn't even know you could buy stuff. Silly child.Brainkiller05

HSBC, the mother's credit card company, said it would consider refunding the balance if she decided to file criminal charges against her son. forza420

Sounds like a game created with SW in mind. :twisted:

[QUOTE="forza420"] HSBC, the mother's credit card company, said it would consider refunding the balance if she decided to file criminal charges against her son. RedruM_I

[QUOTE="Brainkiller05"]I've never played farmville, didn't even know you could buy stuff. Silly child.forza420

Sad really.

I need to try the game lol. So many people playing it I feel like I am missing something big. It is free but just a microtransaction game right?

[QUOTE="forza420"] HSBC, the mother's credit card company, said it would consider refunding the balance if she decided to file criminal charges against her son. RedruM_I

[QUOTE="forza420"][QUOTE="Brainkiller05"]I've never played farmville, didn't even know you could buy stuff. Silly child.BuryMe

Sad really.

I need to try the game lol. So many people playing it I feel like I am missing something big. It is free but just a microtransaction game right?

SilentlyMad

I am pretty sure you can skip this one, we'll give you shout the next big waste of time kicks in.

[QUOTE="forza420"][QUOTE="Brainkiller05"]I've never played farmville, didn't even know you could buy stuff. Silly child.BuryMe

Sad really.

[QUOTE="forza420"] HSBC, the mother's credit card company, said it would consider refunding the balance if she decided to file criminal charges against her son. RedruM_I

So he spent $1400 and has a deleted account. OuchEmperorSupreme

My sister loves FarmVille. Although, I don't care for it.

[QUOTE="EmperorSupreme"]So he spent $1400 and has a deleted account. Ouchforza420

She shouldn't. With how scams and identify theft are these days, taking 2 weeks to check your account is just lazy and stupid.

and so conveniently happening around the time of the facebook south park episode,lol.mtradr43

I finished watching that South Park episode about 30 seconds ago. I come on here and this is the first topic I see. lol

Really never understood the appeal of that game. Or Facebook, for that matter. Guess both just don't click with misanthropic narcissists

It's very easy to get tricked into buying stuff in a free game for a child. Don't let Your children on facebook >_< or even on the internet unsupervised.
I can't understand how people on gamespot consistently choose to side with companies against customers.
Can't FarmVille cancel the account and refund? I mean he didn't buy anything physical and this is an exceptional case. Wouldn't that be the humane thing to do? It's even free publicity for FarmVille.

It's very easy to get tricked into buying stuff in a free game for a child. Don't let Your children on facebook >_< or even on the internet unsupervised.
I can't understand how people on gamespot consistently choose to side with companies against customers.
Can't FarmVille cancel the account and refund? I mean he didn't buy anything physical and this is an exceptional case. Wouldn't that be the humane thing to do? It's even free publicity for FarmVille.

KungfuKitten

But here, the mother should have been more aware. She went two weeks without checking her credit card ballance. In this day and age, that's just irresponsible.

She could have put an end to it after a week, or even less than that

[QUOTE="KungfuKitten"]

It's very easy to get tricked into buying stuff in a free game for a child. Don't let Your children on facebook >_< or even on the internet unsupervised.
I can't understand how people on gamespot consistently choose to side with companies against customers.
Can't FarmVille cancel the account and refund? I mean he didn't buy anything physical and this is an exceptional case. Wouldn't that be the humane thing to do? It's even free publicity for FarmVille.

BuryMe

But here, the mother should have been more aware. She went a month without checking her credit card ballance. In this day and age, that's just irresponsible.

She could have put an end to it after a week.

Ah, another person suck into facebook and destory.

You have to be careful with some of their games, you have to read the fine print of some things they offer

[QUOTE="Brainkiller05"]I've never played farmville, didn't even know you could buy stuff. Silly child.forza420

True it was very stupid. FarmVille should still refund though. And the creditcard service were being incredible ****heads. I mean, they could have just said no.KungfuKitten

It's the credit card's owner's responsibility to watch its activity, and report anything suspicious. Had she done that, she wouldn't be in this position.

[QUOTE="KungfuKitten"]

It's very easy to get tricked into buying stuff in a free game for a child. Don't let Your children on facebook >_< or even on the internet unsupervised.
I can't understand how people on gamespot consistently choose to side with companies against customers.
Can't FarmVille cancel the account and refund? I mean he didn't buy anything physical and this is an exceptional case. Wouldn't that be the humane thing to do? It's even free publicity for FarmVille.

But here, the mother should have been more aware. She went two weeks without checking her credit card ballance. In this day and age, that's just irresponsible.

She could have put an end to it after a week, or even less than that

[QUOTE="KungfuKitten"] True it was very stupid. FarmVille should still refund though. And the creditcard service were being incredible ****heads. I mean, they could have just said no.BuryMe

It's the credit card's owner's responsibility to watch its activity, and report anything suspicious. Had she done that, she wouldn't be in this position.

[QUOTE="BuryMe"]

[QUOTE="KungfuKitten"] True it was very stupid. FarmVille should still refund though. And the creditcard service were being incredible ****heads. I mean, they could have just said no.KungfuKitten

It's the credit card's owner's responsibility to watch its activity, and report anything suspicious. Had she done that, she wouldn't be in this position.

And it's not inhumane to expect some one to pay off their credit card. If the limit's too high for her, she should call her bank and have it lowered.

I mean should casinos start refund people who ruin their live through gambling problems just because it's humane?

It's very easy to get tricked into buying stuff in a free game for a child. Don't let Your children on facebook >_< or even on the internet unsupervised.
I can't understand how people on gamespot consistently choose to side with companies against customers.
Can't FarmVille cancel the account and refund? I mean he didn't buy anything physical and this is an exceptional case. Wouldn't that be the humane thing to do? It's even free publicity for FarmVille.

KungfuKitten

[QUOTE="KungfuKitten"]

It's very easy to get tricked into buying stuff in a free game for a child. Don't let Your children on facebook >_< or even on the internet unsupervised.
I can't understand how people on gamespot consistently choose to side with companies against customers.
Can't FarmVille cancel the account and refund? I mean he didn't buy anything physical and this is an exceptional case. Wouldn't that be the humane thing to do? It's even free publicity for FarmVille.

St_muscat

[QUOTE="St_muscat"]

[QUOTE="KungfuKitten"]

It's very easy to get tricked into buying stuff in a free game for a child. Don't let Your children on facebook >_< or even on the internet unsupervised.
I can't understand how people on gamespot consistently choose to side with companies against customers.
Can't FarmVille cancel the account and refund? I mean he didn't buy anything physical and this is an exceptional case. Wouldn't that be the humane thing to do? It's even free publicity for FarmVille.

KungfuKitten

Lol didn't think about that, but yeah C & co would probably prefer $1400 instead of having a good public image, PR is for the weak :P

a 12-year-old boy in the UK made more than 900 GBP worth of in-game purchases in FarmVille last month. The child did so without his mother's knowledge, combining 288 GBP of his own savings with 625 GBP worth of credit on his mother's credit card to make the purchases. For those of you reading this in the US, that's nearly $1400 USD.

"The first use of my card was on 14 March" said the boy's mother, who wishes to remain anonymous. "I discovered it on the 29th and the card was stopped at that point. Any transactions after that date were already in the system, so what I thought was a 427 GBP spend turned into 625 GBP over the next few days."

Given that the card was her responsibility, neither Zynga nor her credit card company will refund the money. When confronted about the incident, her son admitted guilt and explained it was because"they had brought out good stuff that I wanted." HSBC, the mother's credit card company, said it would consider refunding the balance if she decided to file criminal charges against her son. "Obviously the idea of a stupid farm simulation jeopardising his future earnings is not something that I want to consider," she said.

Facebook has since removed the child's account. Whether this was at the behest of the mother or simply because he has violated the age rules of Facebook (13 and older only) remains unclear. Either way, consider this a lesson learned about the dangers of "free" Facebook games and the errant ways of youth.

LINK

LOL @ FarmVille....People actually pay for that stuff? :?

forza420

I could think of many better games and crap to spend that kind of money on other than Farmville. :| What a waste of money.

Am I the only one who noticed the credit card company would "consider" refunding the money if the mother brought up CRIMINAL CHARGES against her son? What an awful, sadistic business ethic they have.

I could think of many better games and crap to spend that kind of money on other than Farmville. :| What a waste of money.

DarkGamer007

Can she trade the kid to Farmville for a full refund?chicknfeet