Bloody Kids!

isgman

Ouch.. thats one hell of a bill for 1 Month.. our kids did the same thing many years ago.. we put a stop on pocket money until the bill was sorted, and we but a lock on the phone (it was an old "dial" type phone so fitting a lock was not a problem) there must be someway of locking a button phone. and try putting a "bar" on the "09" numbers.. Good Luck in sorting it out

rubix_76

Read this post the day before I went on AL, then while we were away found out my niece has being doing the very same thing BUT - she used her mums CREDIT CARD.

When my sister-in-law found her card in a place she didn't remember putting it, she questioned her, she denied it at first, then owned up to it.

When she looked into the IE history logs, she found that she had entered the 16 digit number, expiry, but when she came accross the 3 digit code on the signature strip. It was given a name, but she didn't know what it was, and looked it up in the help.

Answer me this, how exactly is a child ALLOWED to use someone elses card (you have to be 18 to have your own) so how can a CHILD specific site be allowed to make payments by CC. At least with the premium phone rate SOME parents will allow their kids to use the call (notice they always say - ask permission of the bill payer first)

If a petition were to be set-up I would certainly sign it !!! :mad:

rchddap1

I assume they've set the credit card thing up so that parents can plug in their details for the children to use....at least that's the excuse they'd probably use.

Still not good enough if you ask me

rubix_76

rchddap1 wrote:

I assume they've set the credit card thing up so that parents can plug in their details for the children to use....at least that's the excuse they'd probably use.

Our DS is only just 4 months old, but there is no way I will teach him how to use a credit card when he is 10 (that's how old neice is) as they need to have good money sense, which neice does not as parents are VERY well off, and so don't really want for anything, have the best cars/TVs, you know the sort.

Their kids have no money sense as they see THOUSANDS of pounds of cash and just don't appreciete what it means.

Nephew of same family ALMOST bid for a yellow Ferrari (the colour is important OK :rotfl: ) on Ebay and woke his mum and dad up and said "Mum is £xxx a good price for a Ferarri" He didn't realise what he was doing (he was 7 at the time).

There are three things on my list of things to teach my Son

1. Respect
2. Manners
3. Money sense

I will add more as time progresses, but I feel these are very important as so many people these days don't have these and they certainly don't teach their kids. They seem to be brought up on the buy now - go bankrupt later philosophy.

OK Rant over.

rchddap1

I agree with you with the teaching kids about money thing. I have 2 teenage step daughters and one of my own on the way. One of them had a strop last weekend because dad wouldn't buy her something she felt was critical to life (isn't that always the way). But she'd already borrowed from her dad to buy something else (she did know at this point that she'd need the other thing) and has been spending money on this and that. So she was told no chance until your debt is paid off. She went in a mood, and we wouldn't relent because this was our chance to teach her a bit more about money, and debt.

I was brought up with the view that I can only spend what I have (ie, pocket money, or earnings). This is what I will teach bean as it (don't know the sex yet) grow up. Borrowing a credit card with or without permission would never have entered my head. Besides...it would be more than my life was worth to try anyway.

Fortunately kids aren't daft (particularly if my 2 year old nephew is anything to go by)....but, leave a credit card lying around and at some point they are bound to give it a go.

BrokeBrunette

my DD (then 11yrs old) loved Habbo Hotel. She used to go on it and often asked me if she could pay for some furniture out of her own money. I always refused because I thought it a total waste of what little spare money she had. A friend of hers gave her some 'furni' as the kids call it (furniture to us adults) and she was really happy. She then lost the lot as someone stole it from her - I can only assume they had some sort of hacking device.

I then realised from reading some of the messages that were appearing that the site was not something I wanted the kids to use and told them they were banned from it. Luckily they have both lost interest since the ban and never bother about it. They prefer to chat to their friends on msn, which is cheaper than the phone and they are only allowed to add people they know.

I keep our PC in the lounge so I can keep an eye on what the kids are doing on there whenever I like and they know I often have a quick peep over their shoulder.My favourite comfy chair is also next to the pc so they know I am always just a glance away! It keeps them on their toes and less likely to do anything they shouldn't.

I think you handled the situation with your kids in exactly the right way toto. Good for you. I wouldn't personally sell the pc though as it would be like cutting my right arm off. I love it too much!!! lol

dawn2dusk

Toto wrote:

I have just got my phone bill and it seems my kids have been calling premium rate numbers really early in the morning. My phone bill is £236.31 for 1 month! I swear there will be murder in this house when they get home from school! I want to find out what the number is but don't want to call it because it will cost me another £1. I have told them never to use the phone without asking first and until now they have always been good. I have also told them never to call premium rate numbers, explained the huge cost AAGGGGHHHHHHHHH

Toto i have my sympathy with you ,i have had a month phone for 286.44 a few months ago. Same as you, premium numbers. i contacted BT as i thought there was a mistake. NO mistake my DS and boyfriend had been calling competion lines and some pornsites.

To say i was fuming was putting it mildly. Also very upset,that they never gave my finanicial situation any consideration.:mad:

I had incoming calls until the bill was paid and now use bt call barring facility.
Best thing i could have done. Much lower bills and peace of mind.

Morglin

I think someone's already said about this - but they used to sell home pay phones (you could use a PIN to overide in case adults wanted to make calls), but I used to leave a little money on the side and the kids could only use that amount.

I did this after being at work all day during the school holidays, and then finding out my teenage kids had been on the phone to their mates all day - and my bill was horrendous.:eek:

See if you can get one of these - that'll stop them!;)