Let a mobile in the hands of the smallest in the house should never be taken lightly. And while securing the content they consume is usually a primary concern for parents, there are other risks that can even hurt the whole family, such as in-app purchases. Thanks to these offers, a doctor had to sell his car to pay off his son’s debt to Apple.
According to information shared by a Welsh doctor, he let his 7-year-old son play a game on his iPhone for an hour and was done with a huge bill of $ 1,800 for in-app purchases.
In-app purchases aren’t for kids
Dr Muhammad Mutaza allowed his son Ashaz to play Dragons: Rise of Berk believing it would be safe because the game is free to play. But the boy almost 30 in-app purchases for a maximum of approx.. Looking at the total expenses, Mutaza thought he had been scammed, but later found out that his son had done the shopping. According to a statement to the Daily Mail.
“I have been an Apple customer since 2005, I just told the customer service manager over the phone. Well done, you ripped me off, congratulations, you managed to rip off my son. You cheated on him. “But I’m never going to spend a dime more on you again.” “
Since the purchases were legally approved, the doctor had to take on the debt in the App Store. And although Apple paid him $ 290 of total debt, Mutaza says he had to sell his car to pay the rest. And now he plans to take legal action.
Apple noted that an iPhone used by anyone under 13 should have the Ask to Buy option enabled by default. This feature allows kids to search for apps, but every time they try to buy or download something, an alert pops up on their parents’ iPhone (or iPad) asking for their permission. In this case, the notifications have been sent. However, Mutaza had posted an address that he rarely checks.
