A 5-year-old in England was able to rack up an impressive bill of around $2,500.
Greg and Sharon Kitchen had company coming over, so when their youngest son, Danny, asked for their iTunes password so he could download a cool new game, they tapped it in for him and left him alone to play while they entertained their guests in their South Gloucestershire, England, home.
On Monday morning, Sharon woke up to 19 emails from iTunes, listing purchases adding up to 1,710 British pounds -- about $2,500 -- from the night before. By the time her credit card company called her to check up on the charges, Kitchen had figured out what had happened.
The game -- "Zombies vs. Ninja" -- is free to download, but has a menu of add-on items that cost a pretty penny. According to his parents, Danny had invested in twelve $100 sets of 333 keys, seven $100 bundles of 333 bombs, and five $100 sets of 9,000 darts, among other things.
Apple has agreed to refund the Kitchens' money, since they contacted them about the unauthorized purchases so quickly, but the company points out that parents can -- and probably should -- turn off the in-app purchase option while their kids are playing.
"All iOS devices (iPad, iPhone and iPod touch) have built in parental controls that give parents and guardians the ability to restrict access to content, eg internet access and age rated content such as music, games, apps, TV shows, movies etc.," an Apple spokesman said in a statement. "Our parents' guide to iTunes details the steps and measures parents and guardians can take to make sure younger players have access to the right content. The first thing we recommend is not to share your password."
My question is, who would give a 5-year-old access to a password linked to a credit card in the first place?
But, for what it's worth, 5-year-old Danny says that he's very sorry that he accidentally spent so much money. He is also banned from the Ipad.
Have you ever "accidentally" spent money on apps? If your child ever did something like this, how would you handle the situation? What would be an acceptable punishment for something like this?
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