In shocking news, a father was forced to sell the family car after his son had played a mobile game and spent £1,300 for in-app purchases.
The incident took place in North Wales, UK. Muhammad Mutaza, a 41-year old consultant endocrinologist, was shocked when he received several emails for purchases ranging from £1.99 to £99.99. At first, he thought that this was spam, but later was petrified when he saw the multiple transactions amounting to an enormous total.
Muhammad’s 7-year old son Ashaz had downloaded a free iPhone game named Dragons: Rise of Berk. The entire transaction amounting to £1,300 was for only an hour of gameplay so that Ashaz could maintain his progress in the game. This incident led Muhammad to force to sell his car to pay the bill
In an interaction with Daily Mail, Muhammad, who was shocked and concerned with the game, pointed out that the free version of the free version of the game allowed unlimited purchases to players aged so young. Any person, including children, could partake in as many transactions as they wanted to, with no limit. Considering the game is meant for toddlers, with the method of purchasing becoming so simple, it gives the children too much purchasing power.
After complaining about this incident to Apple, the company responded by refunding Muhammad £207, which was nothing at all! The remaining bill still amounted to around £1100, which he still had to cover. With such a huge outstanding bill to cover, Muhammad was forced to sell his family car, a Toyota Aygo.
Muhammad now wants to take this incident to court and contest the charges. The argument made by Muhammad is that the company is tricking children into gaining money and that a free game, especially meant for young children, should never allow unlimited transactions of such a high amount. The free-to-play nature of the game led him to believe that this was not possible at all. This incident might highlight the lack of checks in place to limit the purchasing power for consumers, specifically, games meant for children.
In a statement made by Apple to Daily Mail, they claim that there are many safeguards protecting children from purchasing, such as password protection and other features. Muhammad claims that his son might have seen his password once and then memorized it. What will happen with this case is yet to be seen.
What do you think of such instances? Do you think Muhammad has a valid claim against Apple? Or do you think Apple already has enough safeguards in place? Should anyone be allowed to make such high costing purchases within an hour?
Harsh Mahaseth is an Assistant Lecturer at Jindal Global Law School, and a Research Analyst at the Nehginpao Kipgen Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Jindal School of International Affairs, O.P. Jindal Global University. He is currently a Fellow at Kathmandu Tribune.
