-
May 20, 2008 5:13 pm US/Pacific
-
Digg |
Facebook |
E-mail
|
Print
Call Kurtis: Xbox Live, Game Over?
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ―
Like a lot of teens, Charlie Butros could probably spend all day playing his Xbox.
"You can't talk to the enemy" he says while intently focused on the video screen, firing his virtual weapon.
But the enemy for mom could be Microsoft.
"Charge after charge after charge every month … no" says Tammy Butros.
Tammy says Microsoft, the maker and host of Xbox live, was debiting her bank account without her authorization.
She says she bought her son Charlie a one-year subscription for live-gaming online with Xbox in February.
She also bought him three thousand Microsoft points which he redeemed for online games.
All of that totaled about eighty seven dollars.
But her bank, and Xbox live, statements show that Microsoft has made additional debits totaling more than 93-dollars.
Tammy asks with frustration in her voice "I'm not confirming purchases on these so why are all the charges there?"
Microsoft also made another twelve debit attempts but those were declined by Tammy's bank at her request.
Another problem -- Tammy's sister also claims Microsoft is making unauthorized debits from her bank account since using her debit card to buy Charlie game points.
"She is really mad at this point and says what did you guys do" Tammy says referring to her sister's momentary anger.
Of course, Charlie was the first suspect, and we asked him point-blank if he himself has downloaded any games without his mother's permission.
"No. I've never used her credit card," he says confidently.
Tammy called Microsoft customer service.
She says she spent "...an hour 20-25 minutes on the phone getting bounced from dept. to dept. to dept...."
Their only offer was an apology for her inconvenience, but no refund.
She says Microsoft claimed the charges were, indeed, authorized.
"I just told the kids that's it. You're not going to have an Xbox anymore."
She was that mad.
Then she called us.
We contacted Microsoft's corporate representatives and sent them Tammy's bank and Xbox billing history as well as her sister's Xbox billing statements.
We asked them to verify the billing, refund any unauthorized charges, and delete the debit card information Tammy couldn't remove on her own.
Microsoft's public relations firm, Edelman Public Relations, responded to us in an email saying there were "...no signs of unauthorized activity..." and "...that the charges that have been made were done so by someone within the household, possibly the owner of the gamer tag," meaning Charlie.
"Game -- not over."
"I am just shocked and amazed that a company a billion dollar company like them can act like this."
Microsoft told us that it had no reports of unauthorized activity on Tammy's account, despite Tammy's calls to customer service.
We also requested documentation that supports Microsoft's position on the billing but they have not responded to that request.
However, they said it would take another look at Tammy's billing history if she can verification her son's account information.
An important observation: money would not have come directly out of Tammy's checking account had she used a credit card and not her debit card.
Credit cards give consumers more room to dispute charges and better-limit financial losses than debit cards.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)