16 year old son spent £500 on online gaming

Sparhawke

_Andy_ wrote: »

Just got back from the supermarket. I was lured into doing a week's grocery shopping. Horrible company lured me into buying icecream. Will ring them for a full refund later, pretty disgraceful.

Wait until you have eaten half of it

Lip_Stick

Op... ask your son if he wants a ps4 for Christmas. When he says 'yes' as I bet he will, tell him 'Tough, should have saved your money for one.'

Seriously though, he's wasted most of that money, unable to resell games etc. He's not expecting you to pick up the tab when it comes to the next gen consoles I hope, when he's shown he could have bought one himself?

DCFC79

I bet the terms say no refunds given for the games so not much point calling Sony.

want_to_save

sorry its his money he has spent it he has earnt the right to spend it. I am an avid gamer but i buy mine on disk as much cheaper but omg chill it is HIS MONEY!!!! not yours

Flyonthewall

I think everyone else has basically covered everything - his money, his choice and no chance of a refund (not that you should try anyway).

I used to have a paper round myself. I saved a lot of money and equally I bought a lot I wanted - mostly computer, PS2 and games. This was over a few years though. Spending £500 is a lot, especially if it's within a short time, but is he saving too? If not, teach him how to budget. If yes, it's his money and at least he's not spent it all.

I would suggest that if he prefers to get games online rather than buy disks that he should get PS Plus. £30-40 a year (depending on where you buy from) and you get free games every month, plus discounts on others. With the games he has and the free games he can get he'll have plenty to be playing for a long long time.

Johnmcl7

The way I read it the OP is under the misconception that Sony have been sneaky in their selling tactics and the person has spent far more money than they realised similar to some of the highly questionable in-app purchases on IOS/Android where it costs a daft amount of money for virtually nothing. However it's not like that on the PS store where titles and costs are clearly labelled and to buy items you have to confirm the purchase where the cost is made clear.

John

ragecake

Okay.

He is a capable human being, who used his own money to buy games that he wanted, what's the problem here?

You want to ring Sony? Ahahaha, it wont work, it's not a one click thing, like app games are on android. It has multiple "make sure you want this" options, before buying, especially when using a debit card.

To be honest, It's laughable he bought from the PSN, Maybe from GAME, Or supermarkets, but it's too late now, and really, you shouldn't be taking his debit card from him, when he earned this money himself, how would you feel if someone took your money away, even though you earned it yourself?

terra_ferma

I'm not going to get into the debate, as my opinion on the matter is irrelevant, but here's some info from Citizens Advice, depending on where you are.
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/scotland/consumer_s/consumer_protection_for_the_consumer_e/consumer_contracts_s/who_can_make_a_contract_s.htm
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/debt_w/debt_help_with_debt_e/debt_how_to_dispute_a_credit_debt_e/how_to_dispute_a_debt.htm#are_you_under_18
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/consumer_e/consumer_protection_for_the_consumer_e/consumer_contracts_e/who_can_make_a_consumer_contract.htm

bagby

Chickabiddybex wrote: »

Over what period of time did this happen? I hope not all in one month as some ISPs would say it violates their fair usage policy. That's assuming you even have an unlimited Internet package. It's worth checking you haven't been charged for this as if you have my advice is charge your son for the extra!

On the bright side there are far worse things to waste money on

(Oh and introduce him to CEX, it's cheaper than downloading and he can flog what he doesn't like on eBay!)

Yes it was in two months. Son has taken responsibility for it he knows his money has gone but I still think its too easy to register your card. Seems as though you don't need to enter details each time as card was registered (now de registered).

bagby

gboom2000 wrote: »

I think you should congratulate any 16 year-old who earns enough money to pay for his computer games.

Thank you for that comment. I was quite proud of him earning his own money and the fact he had let it mount up but disappointed that school holidays, boredom, or whatever then chose to spend that amount on online games. He does realise he was stupid but I still think its too easy for kids who are not as worldly wise as some of the posters on here to spend large amounts of money.