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Teenager runs up bill unknowingly
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amother
Dodgerblue


 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2015, 6:51 pm
My brother is a great kid and a good learner. I gave him a credit card to use. I also give him spending money. I told him to call me before he charges anything. He charged a couple of times and told me after if he couldn't reach me. The amounts were around $10 a month.

When I went to pay my bill today, I found he charged several hundred dollars worth of games for an iPhone in the last week. He told me he bought weapons in the game that were $5.99 and he doesn't know how the bills got so high. Some of these charges are for over $33.

1. Anyone have any idea if the bills have to be paid if a minor was deceived/confused ?

2. How do I resolve between my brother and I? If I tell my father he will flip out at both of us. He says I spoil my brother. My brother turned over cash I had given him. He offered me his piggy bank. He offered to work for me at $5 an hour. Be told me not to give him anymore money because he didn't deserve any.
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imasinger




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2015, 6:59 pm
Sometimes if you contact the game people, they are nice. It's worth trying. It's also worth calling the credit card company and pointing to which charges were not legit.

Your brother wants to do teshuva. How can you help him?
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MagentaYenta




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2015, 7:15 pm
Even when you buy games, the charges are itemized prior to check out. I'm having difficulty understanding how he was unaware of the charges. Technically you are on the hook for them. If it were me, I would explore his story a bit further. When I shop at sites other than Amazon I always get an email confirmation of my purchases. Did you or he ever receive one? I'm guessing one may have been sent to his iPhone.
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mummiedearest




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2015, 7:32 pm
I have a policy: NEVER purchase anything in-app. you can only be charged for those if you have a credit card linked to your app-store account. I only use free apps, so no credit card link. if he wants to purchase apps/in-app purchases, he should have a separate pre-paid card linked to his own app-store account. please discuss this with him. it's easy to rack up in-app bills.

other than that, why are you giving him spending money/credit card?
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amother
Dodgerblue


 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2015, 7:40 pm
mummiedearest wrote:
I have a policy: NEVER purchase anything in-app. you can only be charged for those if you have a credit card linked to your app-store account. I only use free apps, so no credit card link. if he wants to purchase apps/in-app purchases, he should have a separate pre-paid card linked to his own app-store account. please discuss this with him. it's easy to rack up in-app bills.

other than that, why are you giving him spending money/credit card?


I didn't understand your first paragraph. I give him the money/credit card to help him out.
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amother
Dodgerblue


 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2015, 7:47 pm
MagentaYenta wrote:
Even when you buy games, the charges are itemized prior to check out. I'm having difficulty understanding how he was unaware of the charges. Technically you are on the hook for them. If it were me, I would explore his story a bit further. When I shop at sites other than Amazon I always get an email confirmation of my purchases. Did you or he ever receive one? I'm guessing one may have been sent to his iPhone.


Thanks. He said he got the confirms. He said he didn't realize how high they were adding up.
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Mom23gs




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2015, 7:49 pm
Many games you can get from the apple store have the option of in app purchases, on top of the initial cost for the game. That's the main way app developers earn money. They charge a nominal initial fee for the game, often 99 cents, and then get you on the in app purchases. He can turn this feature off on his ipod.
In addition, if you are giving him your cedit card to use to buy apps, your email should be the one registered at the apple store, so you get receipts of purchases. Lastly, it is a better idea to just get him an apple gift card, with a set limit to spend, if you want to help fund his purchases. You dont want to run up a credit card debt paying for apps.
Chances are you will be responsible for his purchases. Apple always asks for a permission and a password before allowing a purchase to go through.
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mummiedearest




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2015, 7:50 pm
ok, let's clarify. he said he bought a weapon in the game he was playing. lots of games that are available for smartphones allow you to purchase things while playing. so say he was playing a game in which he is a soldier. the game will provide a certain gun and perhaps a specific amount of ammo for his use. if he wants to get more points/advance to the next level, a better gun might be helpful. there are buttons you can press while playing the game to purchase extras. this is done in children's games, too, which is why it is so common for parents to get huge surprise bills like this. kids (and adults) don't always realize they're spending money, or they don't add it all in their heads while playing.

now, I have a smartphone. I have games for my kids, and they do allow the kids to make purchases while playing games. however, the purchase cannot go through if you don't have a credit card saved to your account with the online store. so I let my kids play their games, and whenever they press the button to buy stuff, a bubble pops up asking to set up a credit card on my account (if I'm already logged in). we close the bubble and continue the game. I also have some games that I like to play that allow purchases. there are times when it is very tempting to spend the money, because I want to get to that next level. but I know that if I link a credit card to my account, we will have lots of mystery charges. so I take the long way to the next level or don't play the game. there are many free games out there, I don't buy any.
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MagentaYenta




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2015, 8:04 pm
amother wrote:
Thanks. He said he got the confirms. He said he didn't realize how high they were adding up.


IMHO if he is not mature enough to add up his total purchases I'd have a hard time giving him permission to charge on my CC. It sounds like this is going to be a rather costly lesson for you to learn.
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amother
Dodgerblue


 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2015, 8:07 pm
mummiedearest wrote:
ok, let's clarify. he said he bought a weapon in the game he was playing. lots of games that are available for smartphones allow you to purchase things while playing. so say he was playing a game in which he is a soldier. the game will provide a certain gun and perhaps a specific amount of ammo for his use. if he wants to get more points/advance to the next level, a better gun might be helpful. there are buttons you can press while playing the game to purchase extras. this is done in children's games, too, which is why it is so common for parents to get huge surprise bills like this. kids (and adults) don't always realize they're spending money, or they don't add it all in their heads while playing.

now, I have a smartphone. I have games for my kids, and they do allow the kids to make purchases while playing games. however, the purchase cannot go through if you don't have a credit card saved to your account with the online store. so I let my kids play their games, and whenever they press the button to buy stuff, a bubble pops up asking to set up a credit card on my account (if I'm already logged in). we close the bubble and continue the game. I also have some games that I like to play that allow purchases. there are times when it is very tempting to spend the money, because I want to get to that next level. but I know that if I link a credit card to my account, we will have lots of mystery charges. so I take the long way to the next level or don't play the game. there are many free games out there, I don't buy any.


I think that is exactly what happened. He didn't realize how much it was adding up. He charged a couple of games to Nintendo prior to this week which I let him do.

Is there anything I can do about the charges? There is a one number associated with each charge.

Should I make him repay me which I never did before? Our father is very strict and will punish him way too much if tell so I need to handle this. My brother will do whatever to make this right. He feels bad.
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amother
Dodgerblue


 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2015, 8:10 pm
MagentaYenta wrote:
IMHO if he is not mature enough to add up his total purchases I'd have a hard time giving him permission to charge on my CC. It sounds like this is going to be a rather costly lesson for you to learn.


I agree. He promised never to do this again. I took away the card. What should I do about the charges? Should I make him pay? He already gave me all his money towards the bill.
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The Happy Wife




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2015, 8:17 pm
Honestly, I don't thnk it's right to keep it from your parents. As a parent, I would want to be involved if something like this happened and I would want to be the one to decide how to handle it. I would also be very upset if my child was using someone else's credit card without my knowledge.
It's one thing to pay for stuff and give gifts to a sibling. But to give a young child regular spending money and use of a credit card without his parents knowing? Not ok. Especially if you know they don't approve.
Talk to your parents and let them handle it how they want.
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mummiedearest




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2015, 8:26 pm
your brother offered to pay it back over time. let him. and don't lend him your credit card.

I don't know about your family dynamics, but I will say this. unless your brother has a need that your parents are preventing him from getting, if your dad says not to give him money/credit card/whatever, you really shouldn't. your father has a right to make rules for his kids.
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sky




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2015, 8:29 pm
The Happy Wife wrote:
Honestly, I don't thnk it's right to keep it from your parents. As a parent, I would want to be involved if something like this happened and I would want to be the one to decide how to handle it. I would also be very upset if my child was using someone else's credit card without my knowledge.
It's one thing to pay for stuff and give gifts to a sibling. But to give a young child regular spending money and use of a credit card without his parents knowing? Not ok. Especially if you know they don't approve.
Talk to your parents and let them handle it how they want.


It really depends on the family dynamic and relationship.
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MagentaYenta




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2015, 8:42 pm
How old is this child? Is he old enough to get an after school job and repay the funds to you?
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gp2.0




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2015, 8:49 pm
He sounds like a good kid, he made a mistake, learned the hard way and he sounds really regretful. What would I would do? Absolutely nothing. I would accept the money he already gave you to teach him responsibility. But since you are family I would be moichel the rest of the money. I like the ideas of other posters, give him gift cards if you want, this way you are gifting him a finite amount of money instead of an endless one.

I don't know your family dynamics but I'm assuming there was a reason why you did this without your dad knowing in the first place. I wouldn't necessarily run to tell your dad unless there was some point to it. I disagree with posters saying you have to tell your dad. It sounds like he would blow up the whole situation even more. What's the point?
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amother
Pink


 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2015, 8:56 pm
It sounds like you're worried your father will hurt him. So don't tell your dad. Make a realistic payment plan with your brother and discuss how he plans on making the money to pay you back, or look for things you're currently paying for that he can do for free so you make back the money that way, like cleaning, mowing grass/shoveling snow, babysitting, etc. He should pay you back, that's how people learn responsibility.
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amother
Dodgerblue


 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2015, 10:58 pm
amother wrote:
It sounds like you're worried your father will hurt him. So don't tell your dad. Make a realistic payment plan with your brother and discuss how he plans on making the money to pay you back, or look for things you're currently paying for that he can do for free so you make back the money that way, like cleaning, mowing grass/shoveling snow, babysitting, etc. He should pay you back, that's how people learn responsibility.


My father knows about the credit card and the cash. He is OK with it. You are right that I am nervous about how strong my father can react. He is hard on my brother and will be upset that he wasn't learning while running up the charges besides the actual charges. He will be upset that my brother was on the iPhone. I assume he had to be on a long time to run up that much money in a week. My brother is petrified.

My brother agreed to work for me. He is a good kid and helps out a lot already. It will take him until the end of the year to pay back the money at $5 an hour. The point of the card and the cash is to make things easier for him.

Do you think he should pay back the whole amount?
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amother
Dodgerblue


 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2015, 11:01 pm
MagentaYenta wrote:
How old is this child? Is he old enough to get an after school job and repay the funds to you?


He is 14. He doesn't have time to get a job until summer. He works as a counselor. I agreed to pay him $5 an hour. Should I pay him more?
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MagentaYenta




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 23 2015, 11:07 pm
amother wrote:
He is 14. He doesn't have time to get a job until summer. He works as a counselor. I agreed to pay him $5 an hour. Should I pay him more?


If it was me I would not have him work it off. I would have him work to earn the $ to repay you, and then give the money to you. The CC company isn't going to let you work off the money he charged to your account. When a young person has to give up a considerable amount of money they earned, it's a lesson that won't be forgotten. He learns about labor, honoring debt and working for his $$. I agree with the other Imas about not disclosing to your father. I would also not give him any gift cards or spending $$ until his debt to you is paid off.
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