Habbo Abuse

Littlelady35

Hi - I wondered if anyone else has encountered this problem and if there is anything else I can do to reclaim my money.
My 12 year old son has been using the Habbo site during the school holidays, the site is free to join so I didn't see a problem, however there is an option to telephone a premium rate number to gain credits, he has amassed a telephone bill in excess of £150 by doing this. I was horrified when I found out and have now put a block on my phone so that no premium rate numbers can be called, obviously disciplined my son (who was unaware that the cost would be so excessive), I have emailed Habbo but have received only an automated response. Their site states that the amount of credits are monitored so that excessive use is minimised, I wonder what figure they put on excessive use!

:mad:

andyrules

I'm not sure what you can do about the bill, there'll be some advice about that from others soon no doubt, but are you aware that the Habbo site has had some cases of children being groomed by predators posing as children? There was a thread about this recently, I'll try and search it for you.

andyrules

Here's the thread - worth a read.

I'm not suggesting this is happening, just want to make sure you are aware!

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=508103&page=4&highlight=habbo

Money~Bunny_3

Another thread about kids running up phone bills using Habbo:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=222646&highlight=habbo

Wretched site! :mad:

Cerenia

I used to use Habbo Hotel, and thier CS is ATROCIOUS (can't spell sorry). I used to use my account a lot, had even paid a little for credits (this was back when it was brand new and the big thing), and I forgot my contact details, and the email i'd registered with was my school email (which expired as soon as I turnt 16). I spent 3 months sending emails, and i got the same answer back, automated, nothing personal at all.

As for credits, I don't know how it works now, but that was an option before, but they used to have a big warning saying "Make sure you have permission of the phone bill payer", which couldn't be missed, but its highly likely its changed a lot.

I used to get people trying to get my details for MSN, my phone number etc a lot, and even had one sending some 'nasty' messages through my habbo pod - I reported all of them, didn't see anyone getting banned. I gave up eventually, starting using other chatrooms instead, where things were monitered by REAL people.

changkra

If the premium rate number is for age 16 or 18 or over you can complain to ICSTIS for a full refund. As well as that if he is underage for using the premium rate number if his age is not checked the company have no right to expect you to pay plus they can be fined by ICSTIS. Complain like mad, the chances are you will get a refund.