A Georgia man is filing a suit against Microsoft after receiving unwanted Xbox Live charges, Information Week reports. Francisco Garcia claims that The 'Soft sold its subscription to a minor when the boy stole his debit card to nab a $49.99 year's subscription. The worst of it came a year later, when MS automatically renewed the subscription, overdrawing the troubled father.
Garcia was hit with a $35 bank charge thanks to Microsoft's shenanigans, something the company didn't cover when it returned his Xbox Live charge. For "fraudulently [inducing] a contractual relationship for Xbox Live services," Garcia now intends to take his would-be gaming provider to court.
Francisco states that it was against Georgia law for Microsoft to allow his son, Silvario, to buy a subscription, and that not obtaining written permission to renew Xbox Live "flouted consumer regulations." Furthermore, he'll be petitioning to open the case up so others in Georgia may jump on the gravy train.
Microsoft wants the case dismissed and says it can prove Silvario lied about his age to make the payments, which is fair enough. If Francisco wants to sue someone, it should be the inventor of the debit card. Seriously though, Microsoft, what's thirty five bucks to you guys? Just pay the man his damn charge.
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Contest:
10:07 AM on 11.14.2007
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When I first had XBL with my original Xbox, you HAD to have a credit card to get XBL, and I was PISSED when it autorenewed a year later after I stopped using XBL at the time.
MS does a terrible job of notifying you that you're up for autorenewal when you submit your CC to them for anything.
I better go double check my account settings. My subscription isn't due to turn over until Feb, but it never hurts to check early.
I'll be calling at lunch.
It never ceases to amaze me the asinine reasons people come up with to "boycott" a product. I'd gladly pay for my XBL, I like being able to filter out idiots, video support, the dedicated constant hosting (some of us might want to play Madden '06, you know...), and a host of other features.
If you don't want any of that, fine, don't pay for it, but the 360 has many other positive merits that warrant purchase and being a moron because "it's not free for me!" is really lame.
Even if they offered his money back, he would no doubt say that the lawsuit isn't about the money. He would go on about standing up for the little guy against a big corporation. MS needs to fight this. Everything that happens in this country is about the get rich quick scheme and I'm sick of it.
Even if he didn't know the kid stole the card, the initial charge would've shown up on his bank statement. And like someone else already mentioned, if a %50 charge puts you in the negative, perhaps an asinine lawsuit is the least of your worries.
I'll almost surely throw down another $50 next year, but I should at least have to choice without having to go through customer support and cancel everything.
As for this man, he doesn't stand a chance. Good luck, Garcia. LMAO
Thats the way a lot of subscription services function. Well, pretty much all of them.
so that means hes over 70$ in overdraft.
Also, XBL always emails me with any account-related information. For example, I just got my notice that XBL is going to automatically renew in a month. This guy is an idiot.
also people suck at their jobs.