Parents have been left upset after discovering that their 6-year-old son managed to spend over $16K on his favorite game via in-game purchases.
As 41-year-old Jessica Johnson from Wilton, Connecticut, revealed, her son George, 6, used her iPad to spend thousands on his favorite video game – Sonic Forces.
According to the stunned mom, her son made a series of purchases and racked up a bill of $16,293 after buying ‘golden rings’ bundles available at the price of up to $99.99.
The problems began back in July when Jessica first noticed that her credit card was charged $2,500 by Apple. While she allegedly didn’t recognize the charge, she didn’t think much of it until her bill reached over $16,000.
Believing that fraud was at play, the mother contacted her bank and filed a fraud claim only for the bank to inform her that the billed amount was legit and that she should contact Apple because they couldn’t do anything about it.
After reaching out to Apple, the mom discovered that the skyrocketing amount was due to a series of purchases in Sonic Forces – her son’s favorite video game.
While the mother requested her money back, Apple reportedly refused to return the funds because she had already missed their 60-day refund window. In addition, she was informed that she had failed to switch on the child-proof setting on her device.
“The reason I didn’t call within 60 days is because Chase told me it was likely fraud — that PayPal and Apple.com are top fraud charges,” Jessica said.
“[They] said, ‘Tough’. They told me that, because I didn’t call within 60 days of the charges, that they can’t do anything.”
The mother went on to claim that the company had no sympathy for them even after she told them her family wouldn’t be able to pay mortgage thanks to the massive bill.
“They’re like, ‘There’s a setting, you should have known’. Obviously, if I had known there was a setting for that, I wouldn’t have allowed my 6-year-old to run up nearly $20,000 in charges for virtual gold rings,” Jessica added.
Following the issue, the mother has spoken out in a bid to warn other parents about such incidents and the dire consequences they might have. She also insisted she believes that the fault lies in Apple and not her son.
“My son didn’t understand that the money was real. How could he? He’s playing a cartoon game in a world that he knows is not real. Why would the money be real to him? That would require a big cognitive leap,” she said. “I may have to force this kid to pay me back in 15 years when he gets his first job.”
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Replaced!