Billed $388 For Gameloft "Free" Cell Phone Games
I was stunned when my Bell Canada cell phone bill was hundreds of dollars more than the usual price. When I enquired with Bell what that was about it, it turned out to be from the cutesy "free" Gameloft kids games my 3-year-old son was playing. I had to deal with a very rude and condescending Bell Canada customer service representative called Angelo, then on another rude one (most of them were OK prior to dealing with those two individuals).
What I found out was that Bell wouldn't waive the fee and that I'd have to arrange that with Gameloft. So I went through a tedious process of sorting it out with Gameloft which, I have to acknowledge, was much more polite and helpful than Bell representatives Angelo. The pompous turd at Bell even refused to relay my message to Bell that I think its too easy for small children to unwittingly spend a lot of money with "free games" on cell phones. He even had the audacity to imperiously start lecturing me on "The way this business works..." before I cut him off and said, "...is the money comes from customers such as myself." Gameloft did require me to provide proof of my son's existence which was annoying but at least their representatives were polite about it. And the entire sum was refunded. Anyway, I learned a few things:
1. Bell Canada sucks.
2. Just because a cell phone game is "free" and obviously designed to appeal to small children doesn't mean that it won't cost you a lot of money via sneak "in app" purchases (which is borderline legal at best, if not illegal).
3. Disable Gameloft in app purchases. I don't let my son use my cell phone at all any more.
What I found out was that Bell wouldn't waive the fee and that I'd have to arrange that with Gameloft. So I went through a tedious process of sorting it out with Gameloft which, I have to acknowledge, was much more polite and helpful than Bell representatives Angelo. The pompous turd at Bell even refused to relay my message to Bell that I think its too easy for small children to unwittingly spend a lot of money with "free games" on cell phones. He even had the audacity to imperiously start lecturing me on "The way this business works..." before I cut him off and said, "...is the money comes from customers such as myself." Gameloft did require me to provide proof of my son's existence which was annoying but at least their representatives were polite about it. And the entire sum was refunded. Anyway, I learned a few things:
1. Bell Canada sucks.
2. Just because a cell phone game is "free" and obviously designed to appeal to small children doesn't mean that it won't cost you a lot of money via sneak "in app" purchases (which is borderline legal at best, if not illegal).
3. Disable Gameloft in app purchases. I don't let my son use my cell phone at all any more.
Project HERE.