Kid Blew $2,500 on In-Game Purchases

Demon_Skeith

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Shameless in-game purchases aimed at kids have been in the new recently. But this five-year-old kid spent more than most: he blew $2,500 on in-game junk in just 10 minutes. That's impressive.

The boy in question is Danny Kitchen. The game is Zombie v Ninja, which is "free" for download on iTunes. When he was playing on his folks' iPad one day, he asked for the iTunes password so he could download game. Danny's parents typed it in, saying they were reassured by the fact that the game was listed as being free, and left him to get on with playing the thing.

Danny then went in-app purchase crazy, buying stacks of the $100 in-game keys and weapon packs, and racking up an enormous credit card bill for his mom. "I was worried and I felt sad," said Danny, when he found out, adding: "I'm banned from the iPad now." Too right.

Apple has agreed to refund the money. While it's nice of Apple to do that, it would be nicer still if it stopped publishers putting abysmal, money-grabbing bundles of $100 crap in games aimed at children.

source

damn, this is why kids don't need handhelds!
 
Gotta say I'm surprised they refunded him. It's a flaw that a 5 year old was able to buy that, they should have higher security.
 
This wouldn't of happen if the parents just bought him his own tablet or made a seperate account for the child which is not connected to any form of payment like Paypal, Credit cards, and debit cards.

I read similar story of a kid using Xbox Live to buy a lot of DLC with a credit card connected to the Xbox 360.
 
My brother said the same thing with his kid, gave him his phone to play games and went on to buy a bunch of stuff, which is why he owns his own tablet >_> and same thing happen when my mom gave him her kindle, went and bought $5 for stuff.


Kids do not need tablets!
 
A Tablet is cheaper than a PSP vita, and 3DS XL, so a tablet for a kid is not as expensive if you can't afford a PSP Vita or 3DS XL for kids since you can get a good tablet for $99 or less like the HP Touchpad and an used Kindle Fire. Plus, the apps are free or a few dollars.

There are iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon giftcard/voucher codes which you can buy at Walmart, Safeway, and online, so no credit or debit card is needed to put money on a tablet when you use giftcards from Apple, Google, or Amazon.
 
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