Microsoft's digital moon money is the subject of a new lawsuit from Philadelphia attorney Samuel Lassoff. Lassoff's class action suit alleges that Microsoft ripped him off when they charged him real money for rainbow dollars, and that he was charged for purchases he did not complete due to faulty downloads.
The attorney believes that Microsoft "engaged in a scheme to unjustly enrich itself through their fraudulent handling" of his Xbox Live account. He also claims that he is but one of "hundreds" of customers to be stung by Microsoft's willingness to charge for services not rendered.
Microsoft's strawberry sugar coins is stupid, but I can't quite understand what's happening here. As far as I'm aware, if you buy a product from Xbox Live and the download fails, your account can always redownload it at a later date. Unless Lassoff's account is locking him out of games he purchased, of course, then he has something to complain about. Don't think I ever heard of that happening, though.
If we could sue Microsoft just for having a crap currency system, however, you can count me in.
Microsoft Points Draw Class Action Suit [InformationWeek]
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Contest:
9:40 AM on 01.26.2010
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Sony and Nintendo do the same thing. I think I have like 50 MS points, .50c on my Sony Wallet, and 50 Nintendo points left.
500 MSpoints...$6.25
1000 MSpoints...$12.50
2000 MSpoints...$25.00
5000 MSpoints...$62.50
Is this new, or did I miss something? Seriously, who is so rich and wasteful enough to buy MS points 5000 at a time? Im thinking this might be a sign of something bigger coming via digital distribution.
Also Dead rising is now available via Games on Demand for a whopping $19.99 If you're going to buy this game... do yourself a favor and buy the capcom 3 game bundle thats available for the same price.
^^^Strawberry sugar coins^^^
@Mizzougrad01
Yeah that's new although I think it includes taxes whereas before it just gave you a price and taxes were factored afterwards. Digital taxes. Never thought I'd see the day.
Another day another stupid lawsuit. Good luck with that guy. Suing Microsoft for something so stupid. Have no shame or are you just rich and bored?
Seriously though, I bought 500 the other day because I really needed a Rock Band 2 song, and I still can't believe how stupid they are for not using direct translations. Just make 100 points = $1. That will fix everything.
Slight difference in that anything above £5 on PSN is taken out as is, i.e. £5 is the minimum 'wallet' increase. Probably something more to do with transaction costs in that case.
Wait...nevermind.
If you don't get the conversion rate, you're an idiot. If downloads don't complete, either redownload them or call Microsoft if there's a problem. Somehow I doubt this guy bothered to call MS to get this fixed.
If you preload your wallet or use PSN cards, then yes. I make all my purchases direct, so I only pay exactly what I'm charged, with no spare change lying about on the account.
Seriously though, I still 'lol' at Microsoft Points trolls. Because apparently people are stupid and can't tell that $1 is 80mspoints. MATH IS HARD!
I am seriously at a loss as to how these currencytards get to these retarded numbers in their points balance. I've had and used my 360's Marketplace since it launched FIVE YEARS AGO and have never had leftover points. My balance currently stands at $3 and I'm waiting for something good to use it. When I *do* use it, I'm not going to have a random number left. Where is all this oddly-priced DLC I keep hearing about?! Last I checked EVERYTHING on the XBLM was priced in multiples of 80.
Sorry to rant, I'm just past the point where cutesy names for MSP isn't funny anymore. Its just sad that gamers can't do math so they need simplification.
Oh and inb4Xbot. If Sony had similar, I would defend it as well.
Easier to bank at the end of the night when all the cash is already up front at the token exchange in bill form. Then it's just a matter of emptying and replenishing the tokens.
Adding funds to the Wallet is $5 minimum, however you can proceed with checkout and purchase directly a $.99 Avatar without having to add funds.
I like points, there is always a sale. I have to wait for the bi-annual PSN sale to get a discount.
It's been that way for a while now, but you can still buy them in 400 point increments if you get them from any retailer (Amazon, etc.).
And as much as it pains me to say it, Xzyliac is incorrect. They still charge you tax on top of those amounts! They just realized that if they sell people 100 points more per package, it leaves the consumer with even MORE leftover points than they had before!
I stopped buying these directly from Microsoft just for this reason. Almost all games (which is all I buy) run you either 400, 800 or 1200 points, and I refuse to have anything leftover afterwards. I just wait for Amazon to have one of their crazy "free money" deals and stock up then.
THEY DO!?! DUDE!
That's why I buy my points at 7-11.
I can't prevent getting redemption cards as gifts, otherwise that would be sweet.
True, I hear ya there.
You might need to check again.
Here, have a random example of Themes costing 50 and 250 points, which last time I checked are not multiples of 80.
http://marketplace.xbox.com/de-DE/games/media/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8024d5307e8/?of=5
As far as i remember those are not the only examples either, just the first ones i found.
+1 for comedy!
And don't confuse acceptance with blind loyalty. The Microsoft Points system may not be the best(paying exact amounts is, imo) but its the ONLY way to purchase content on the XBox Live Marketplace. If Sony or Nintendo had a similar points/money system(and they do, sort of, Sony's is just optional and Nintendo's is closest to a 1:1 ratio) I would begrudgingly accept it and move on. What am I going to do, NOT buy content because of some arbitrary morality bullshit? Lol, Sorry if I am a student of the STFUAJPG school of thought.
Not aimed at anyone specifically, just a general rant.
I've had 35 points just sitting on my account since April 1st 2009 when bethesda put all of their Oblivion DLC on sale for half off (except horse armor, which was double in price). I bought all the DLC, including one item whose price ended in 5. I've yet to find another item on the XBL marketplace that ends in 5. Which totally sucks. Sure I'm only losing like 40 cents here, but still, if enough people just give 40 cents to microsoft without getting anything back, thats a lot of bank that MS made without having to do anything.
Hmm. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the problem was either a) your network connection or b) your Xbox. Sure, Xbox Live goes down occasionally, but never for two or three days (and certainly not a week) at a time. Either way, your problems and the lawsuit guy's problems seem to be completely unrelated.
Anyway, I have had one thing not downlload for me. It's a tv show. The 240 MS points were taken from my account, but it will not d/l. I've tried everything I could think of and everything they reccommend, but it won't d/l. It just gives me a message "Can't download." So I don't think it's completely unheard of. Also, they won't give me my damn points back. No refund policy.
first- he's a lawyer. If he didn't have a case and research, he wouldn't be doing this.
second- MS points suck. I hate having to buy more points than i need or want. They dictate the amounts and rip us off. Would you buy anything at retail and pay %20 extra because the shop wants you to put in extra credit for next time?
No.
So why not support every damn action and movement against it?????????? It all helps, even just in the public perception.
Knight Templar- and in any retail situation that would still warrant a refund..
after writing this post i realised- This is one of the biggest unspoken arguments against digital dist. In DD we give them total control to charge and dictate to us whatever they want, come up with silly banana point schemes and not have to deal with as many pesky refunds over faults which would have been common if it was retail. etc etc (basically they stop having to deal with and respect the customer, who used to be 'always right')
Oh, if only...
30AUD, is right now about 26 USD, at 80 points a buck you guys'd get just over 2000 points for the same value.
So effectively Australia get stupid markup on MS points, unless of course you wanna buy em with a credit card at 33 bucks for 2000, which is 60.60 points per dollar. So yeah the math might be neat for you guys in America, but it's screwy here.
For example: If you go to buy something for $9.99 but only have 50c in your wallet, the PS store will let you add $8.49.
Secondly, what's wrong with points? At least that way, you can end up with discounts in two ways: in MS currency when a game drops in MSP price, and in real currency when you can snap up points card at cheaper than the going rate.
And the reason there's no common $1=100MSP tally is because MS want to be able to control prices across countries separately. Believe it or not, the US isn't the ony country who buys these :P