Xbox Live

eightyfish

Just after Xmas I was playing an on line game called 1v100 on Xbox. My free "gold" subscription ran out, and I enjoyed playing the game with my family so I purchased 1-month of Xbox live gold via the console for €7.99.

The game ended about a month ago and I haven't used the console since. This month, I got a 2nd €7.99 charge to my credit card. It turns out I signed up to a subscription service. I do not believe this was clear with I purchased it.

Anyway - Microsoft won't refund me, even though I didn't use the console for the whole month. My credit card company won't deal with it either. The amount is too small to go to small claims about, but I want a refund of the second month out of principle because I believe it was misleadingly sold and they're hiding behind terms and conditions.

And ideas?

RangeR

Step 1 : Cancel subscription

I do not know anything about XBox Live [other than I know that I will NEVER pay to play online] so I don't know how sneaky the terms are. Someone more knowledgeable will be along soon.

mayordenis

I'm sure it's written somewhere in the Terms of Service, I would reckon you won't get your money back with or without court or legal threats, best bet cancel it and forget about it.

Evolute

Sadly you can do nothing other then cancel your subscription as it is in their T&Cs.

eightyfish

Thanks, I cancelled. Misleadingly sold, I think.

Mataguri

If you scrolled through the terms and conditions which are in large letters on the screen it tells you that it is a monthly subscription service.

Whether or not you used the service is irrelevant, you signed up for a subscription service and Microsoft fulfilled their side of the agreement for the month. Besides, not reading the T&Cs of a contract is not a valid reason for a refund.

eightyfish

Mataguri wrote: »

If you scrolled through the terms and conditions which are in large letters on the screen it tells you that it is a monthly subscription service.

I still believe its misleading. "For only €7.99 inc VAT, your 1 month Xbox Live Membership will give you X, Y, Z" it says - only if you scroll down to the bottom of the separate text box after much waffle does it tell you its a subscription. It should have been listed as a recurring subscription, not a "1 month membership".

I know I didn't read the T&Cs, but honestly, who does? You expect to get what you expect to get and did not expect to get a subscription.

Cabaal

But isn't x-box a subscription service full stop?
Given its a subscription service its charged for regardless of usage

eightyfish wrote: »

I know I didn't read the T&Cs, but honestly, who does? You expect to get what you expect to get and did not expect to get a subscription.

Lots of people do, anyone signing up to stuff that involves monthly payments such as phone, mobile or broadband services....if you don't bother to read it then you can't complain really when they enforce the conditions you agreed to

eightyfish

Cabaal wrote: »

But isn't x-box a subscription service full stop?

Nope.

Cabaal wrote: »

Lots of people do, anyone signing up to stuff that involves monthly payments

As I said I didn't realise it was s subscription. I had bought 1-month memberships before, by buying a card, and after a month it expires. I did not realise that when you do this via CC it renews each month. They did not make that obvious. "1 month membership - €7.99 " is not the same as "€7.99 per month subscription"

Nody

Sorry but the moment you hear membership you should always think subscription, this is not only relating to Xbox live but to ANY service any where.

Jev/N

This is from beside the subscription for 1 month membership

Your membership will automatically renew to a monthly membership at the then current price, unless you change your renewal or cancel before your membership ends. Pricing details can be viewed in the Account Management area of your gamer profile. For information about changing or canceling your membership and your membership refund policy, go to www.xbox.com/live/accounts.

Caveat Emptor and all that jazz, especially when you're giving out your CC details

eightyfish

Jev/N wrote: »

Caveat Emptor and all that jazz

Yeah, I know. But you need to scroll down a list of text to see that when you but the 1 month on the console. I'm happy to admit I didn't read the T&Cs, and I should have, but considering the 1-month cards, and the way the item was described, I genuinely did not think it was a recurring charge. Call me naive if you want, but I've never been caught out by anything like this before, and I've never signed up for something expecting it to be something it was not.

Look- I don't play games, I don't use the Xbox a lot, I just enjoyed playing this quiz thing with my family, and I bought what was described as a 1-month membership but turned out to be a subscription. You may disagree with me, and I may not be aware because I'm not a gamer, but in my eyes they are different things.

TEMPLAR KNIGHT

i also pay by credit card and it does say its a subscription membership, just cancel it and you should be grand