Current Events > Christmas is CANCELLED for Family cause 6 y/o spent $16,000+ on SONIC FORCES!!

(+) Yeah! (+)

6 y/o George Johnson from Connecticut had secretly spent over 16,000 on his mom's credit card to buy UPGRADES for his favourite video game, SONIC FORCES and now Christmas is CANCELLED cause they have to PAY UP!!

In July, George used his mother, Jessica's Ipad and went on a spending spree in Apple's app-store buying up virtual "golden rings" costing 1.99 to 99.99 that unlocked new characters and levels

Now they can't afford their mortgage and are forced to cancel christmas..

Apple has refused to return the money saying they failed to turn the child proof settings on

41 y/o Jessica is a real estate agent who said her child's behaviour is like a DRUG ADDICT and called these games PREDATORY

She said "It's like my 6 y/o was doing lines of cocaine and doing bigger and bigger hits. These games are designed to be completely predatory and get kids to buy things. What grown up would spend 100 on a chest of virtual gold coins?"

When George was told what he had done, he offered to "pay you back mom"

Jessica, who works on commission said "How? I pay him $4 to clean his room. I didn't get a paycheque from March to September. My income has decreased by 80% because of this pandemic. I don't know about Christmas"

Her husband cares for their 2 kids full time and she works from home cause of covid-19 and didnt notice her ipad had been taken by her younger child.

On July 9, 2500 worth of charges appeared on her credit card from Apple that she didn't authorize because they were bundled together and didn't link to the game.

She thought it was fraud and called the bank and filed a fraud claim once it reached 16,293.10

In October her bank confirmed the charges were legit and said she had to contact Apple

Apple ran through a "buried list of all the charges" and noticed a Sonic icon that was the culprit

But she missed the 60 day window to claim the payments back and said she didn't call within 60 days cause Chase told her it was likely fraud and that paypal and apple.com were top fraud charges

She said "Apple said 'tough'. They told me that, because i didn't call within 60 days of the charges, they can't do anything"

She got no sy mpathy even when she said they can't afford the mortgage on their house and was told she has a setting she should have known.

She says "Obviously if if had known there was a setting for that, i wouldn't have allowed my 6 y/o to run up nearly 20,000 for virtual gold rings"

She's now warning other parents about putting child proof settings on before letting kids play on Ipads and phones as she's appaled that this is even possible in these games and apple devices are not pre-set

Jessica lays the blame on Apple and not her son stating "My son didn't understand that the money was real. How could he? He's playing a cartoon game in a world taht he knows is not real. Why would the money be real to him? That would require a big cognitive leap. I may have to force this kid pay me back in 15 years when he gets his first job"

Apple, Chase and Sega did not comment on this story

Do you think they should be forced to pay back the 16K smackers?

https://i.imgur.com/xWO7WeB.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/wtks6BT.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/7I9uhuU.jpg
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Dah parents didn't notice till now? Lol

Ah well, Live and Learn I say.

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He will singlehandedly save Sega from bankruptcy.

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BloodMoon7 posted...

Ah well, Live and Learn I say.

You can say they are hanging on the edge of tomorrow.

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How did she not know her credit card was being charged that much after one month at most

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Sucks to suck. "I didn't know" isn't a valid excuse in 2020 to get out of charges for in app purchases.

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Good. If you leave unprotected electronics linked to a credit card anywhere a child can get them, you deserve the obvious outcome of that. Her sob story is irrelevant.

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$16,000 in microtransactions?

*Koei Tecmo has entered the topic*
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Money well spent

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I have come to blame the victims for Sega's wrongdoing.

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Why is there $16k in upgrades for a game anyway?

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I would like to introduce the kid to a once in a lifetime gaming experience called Grand Theft Auto Online!

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I dont even have kids and I still know about the child proof setting. Was she even aware those games charge money i wonder

She definitely should have noticed all those charges within the window of 60 days, but also since a 6 year old can't legally use a credit card I feel that this should fall under fraud

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It sucks for the family, obviously, and it's bullshit that such stupid microtransactions are a thing in the first place (especially in something like Sonic Forces), but after years and years of similar stories being in the news every few months, I'm kinda losing sympathy for any parents who fall into this sort of trap - it's not like the fact that this can happen is a massive secret any more.

Check your fucking settings, don't store card information where your kid can get to it, and teach your kid not to steal off you.

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Fair next

Moral of the story: derp

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Full Throttle posted...

41 y/o Jessica is a real estate agent who said her child's behaviour is like a DRUG ADDICT and called these games PREDATORY

tbf, microtransactions are super predatory and definitely a problem.

Although at the same time, If i was gonna let children play with my Ipad, I'd at least make sure to remove my credit card from it.

Didnt a republican congressman introduced a bill which also had bipartisan approval to stop this sort of predatory tactics? I mean this kid is single handedly keeping SEGA afloat, but there's so much wrong doing here from both sides...

How the fuck are you able to spend 16k on a game and somehow theres still more stuff to buy? Havent you unlocked EVERYTHING after the first few hundred dollars?
Why doesnt she have parental lock knowing her kid uses apple apps.
Why they didnt CHECK their credit card billing after many months? Dont they get emails? letters?

It sucks that its such a big amount, but most of it could've been avoided.

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As much as I hate microtransactions thr mother fucked up in several ways and should pay for the charges.

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kid needs to be locked up

As a kid I used to joke to my mom that when I would have kids, I would be a lazy dad who wouldnt care what my kids were doing because mom was so strict with me.

Its a moot point now because modern parents like these are the laziest fucks on earth. Durr I dont wanna do anything, just give him the iPad.

Absolutely pathetic. Hope theres no way around this and she has to pay up big. 41 years old and this worthless at life. Sad.

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I feel like this would be a big issue in 2010 or so. Now this should be common knowledge.

I dont feel bad for em.

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eh he's 6, there'll be more Chrismtas's he can make bad memories for years to come

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pay up sucka

bad parenting deserves it

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JuanCarlos1 posted...

Didnt a republican congressman introduced a bill which also had bipartisan approval to stop this sort of predatory tactics? I mean this kid is single handedly keeping SEGA afloat, but there's so much wrong doing here from both sides...

How the fuck are you able to spend 16k on a game and somehow theres still more stuff to buy? Havent you unlocked EVERYTHING after the first few hundred dollars?
Why doesnt she have parental lock knowing her kid uses apple apps.
Why they didnt CHECK their credit card billing after many months? Dont they get emails? letters?

It sucks that its such a big amount, but most of it could've been avoided.

Some of these games pump out 50+ levels every month so if you keep buying lives or power ups when you fail a level, you could get it into that range pretty fast if you're just starting out. :/

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Tom Clark posted...

It sucks for the family, obviously, and it's bullshit that such stupid microtransactions are a thing in the first place (especially in something like Sonic Forces), but after years and years of similar stories being in the news every few months, I'm kinda losing sympathy for any parents who fall into this sort of trap - it's not like the fact that this can happen is a massive secret any more.

Check your fucking settings, don't store card information where your kid can get to it, and teach your kid not to steal off you.

Go do your job instead of shitposting

"We dont monitor our small child even though one of us stays home full time."

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Micro transactions are lame. But how are parents giving kids tech without looking over it or even their own finances. Not surprised to see I shall run whatever taking the opposite stance on any subject

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Full Throttle posted...

Her husband cares for their 2 kids full time and she works from home cause of covid-19 and didnt notice her ipad had been taken by her younger child.

I get that the mom was busy trying to keep food on the table and such. But they have to pay their bills every month so how could they miss the 60 day mark? And if the mom was too busy providing to the family to look into it then what about her husband? Or did he just shove an ipod to the younger kid, a switch to the older and played PS4 all day?

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Seitar posted...

I get that the mom was busy trying to keep food on the table and such. But they have to pay their bills every month so how could they miss the 60 day mark? And if the mom was too busy providing to the family to look into it then what about her husband? Or did he just shove an ipod to the younger kid, a switch to the older and played PS4 all day?

Basically she called the bank first, who said the charges are probably fraudulent, so she let the bank investigate/ remove the charges and didn't bother calling Apple.

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At first I thought it was the console game, but then I remembered the app. Wow

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fohstick posted...

kid needs to be locked up

Get this 6 year old on scared straight.

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how didnt she notice earlier
dont all digital stores send you an email every time you buy something ???

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Damn_Underscore posted...

How did she not know her credit card was being charged that much after one month at most

This.

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What the fuck would 16,000 in a Sonic the Hedgehog game even buy you.

She should have been more vigilant.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnHOavcYxzI&list=PLtHKRny2Dg4mVOQmfgk7ZT727KxOuu4z5

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Full Throttle posted...

Jessica lays the blame on Apple and not her son stating

but nobody blames the kid

anyone reading this story blames her

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Atralis posted...

What the fuck would 16,000 in a Sonic the Hedgehog game even buy you.

I have no idea?

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I'm surprised nobody said womp womp

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Good games should have a limit on how much in-game micro-transactions that can be paid for.

Street Fighter V has costumes, stages and characters but once you paid for them all, you can't spend another dollar in-game. Sure, micro-transactions are scummy in all games, but SFV handles them right to avoid this kind of predicament. The consumable items and random loot boxes use in-game currency only, which cannot be purchased using real money.

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when all yakuza games get ported to pc, everybody remember to thank this kid.

Atralis posted...

What the fuck would 16,000 in a Sonic the Hedgehog game even buy you.

A Fake Chaos Emerald

Also, what with paying the kid $4 to clean his room? Just tell your kid to clean his fucking room and teach him some responsibility in the process.

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Was it really the child, or was it the mom herself, or the husband? DUN DUN DUN

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Sonic continuing to ruin lives

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