Xat.com genuine site?

square_bear

Hi

My son likes to use the Xat.com chatrooms site.

He now wants to subscribe and be able to buy 'Powers and Abilities' when chatting.

I'm not sure about all this.

I don't know how to find out info about this site.

Can anyone help?

Thanks.

Coopdivi

Perhaps I've looked in the wrong places but I've done a pretty comprehensive search of that site and no where can I found out how much it costs in real money for these powers and abilities. It seems to me that the only way to find out is to become a registered member. I've had a good look on Google as well but I'm still none the wiser.

I had a look at the Terms and this paragraph stood out: 'Under this Terms of Service agreement you must first contact xat.com to attempt to resolve any billing disputes before contacting your bank or credit card company to dispute the charges. You further agree that any billing disputes must be submitted in writing (by fax) to our billing department within one month of the invoice payment in question. By using our services You agree to the above policy and to contact xat.com before contacting your financial institution to seek a resolution. In the event you dispute charges contrary to this agreement, we reserve the right to add a $150 collection chargeback fee per transaction and to refer your account or sell your debt to a third party collection agency. We also reserve the right to take further legal action against you.'

Jeezus $150!!! Given that Zat.com are actually based in Plymouth, Devon I would hazard a guess that that statement is legally unenforceable in the UK.

http://xat.com/terms.html

http://whois.domaintools.com/xat.com

I would be extremely wary of paying for anything on this website because any reputable organisation would be transparent about the real costs of subscribing. The chat rooms I looked at didn't appear to be moderated because there was plenty of swearing. The special powers etc. just seemed to be a load of alternative smillies. Even though the Terms say that the site can only be used by the over 14s the whole thing appears to be aimed at children.

I would suggest nudging your son towards something like The Kingdom of Loathing which I used to play.

http://www.kingdomofloathing.com/login.php?loginid=a8b12bbf60e34479b9fc2a8f23394618

It's free, there's plenty of game play, there's loads of chat rooms and forums. There's no subscribing nonsense but you can pay for extra tools, powers what have you via Paypal. And they don't threaten you with $150 'fines' and debt collectors.

spud17

It also points to an accountants.

http://www.sheppardw.co.uk/

square_bear

Thank you so much for all the info.

Very much appreciated.