I suppose the xbox people could've been less sarcastic and a bit nicer about it. However, you really can't expect to make changes to another persons account, without that person's authorization.

I would've cancelled the account and got a new card, simple as that.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if she tells ex-boyfriend to stop using her number, and he doesn't, he's committing credit card fraud, isn't he?

Oh, how I love X Box live, and the endless spammy emails they send me, even though I no longer even own the X Box 360, and have canceled the account associated with it.

I love the emails all the more for their complete lack of any way whatsoever to unsubscribe from them. Down at the bottom, where one would typically locate an unsubscribe link in an email from a reputable company, there's a awesome little blurb:

"As part of the Xbox LIVE service, we will be sending communications to you via e-mail, periodically. You are receiving this member services update as part of your Xbox LIVE subscription. "

Sounds a lot like "Yeah, we're gonna keep spamming you, and because you canceled your account, there's no way for you to stop us. Nyah nyah nyah."

Yeah, that should be straight-up credit card fraud. Even if you hand someone your credit card and watch them write down the number, it's illegal for them to use it without your permission.

What's more, I'm pretty sure it's also illegal for Microsoft to accept payments with a card that haven't been approved by the owner- much in the same way that retail stores (very popular places to use credit cards before the internet came around, and I'm thinkin' after as well...) require a signature as a form of proof that the true cardholder is using the card, approves of the transaction, and has been informed of the charges before they occur.

@banks: lol, took the words right from my mouth... err keyboard. i've been trying to get them to stop spamming me as well, to no avail... long story short, the 360 has been replaced by a wonderful wii and i will never purchase another product from m$.

One word, unprofessional.

She can't honestly expect a company to make changes to another person's account. She must have authorized the card's use on that account at some point (if she contends she never authorized any charges to that account with that card ever, then its a very different situation). She needs to get the credit card number removed my her ex. If he doesn't, and continues to use her credit card, then it is a fraudulent charge and she can have it removed. Once the account is charged back, Xbox will suspend his account.

Cancel the card and do a chargeback?

Fraud complaint? Sure.

Against XBOX Live, not the ex-bf.

You have informed them that you have terminated your consent for them to continue charging your account. Their wilfull and continuous use of your credit card number without your authorization likely puts them on the wrong side of their merchant agreement with VISA/AMEX/MC.

This is 100% accurate. Microsoft flat out refused to remove my credit card information, and this is par for the course for them. I ended up changing every field I could in their service to "FRAUDULENT CHARGE IF USED", and setting the expiration date to the end of the month which would make it invalid. Rest assured this is the last time I ever pay for anything using XBox Live.

Of course, after I changed my information I received a temporary authorization $1 charge. Wahoozlerz.

well she should simply tell ex-bf to change the card # by a certain date or she calls the credit card co and reports fraudulent charges, his choice...see how simple...:-)

Clearly the thing to do is cancel the card, and dispute the charges.

I don't see what the problem is other than a) Microsoft's credit card policy is crap (you can't remove cards from ANY Live account). b) Don't give out your credit card number to your boyfriend.

Wait, since it's your credit card on the account then technically isn't it your gamertag? It's an original xbox tag right? Cancel it.

Don Roberto says: However, you really can't expect to make changes to another persons account

neobolts says: She can't honestly expect a company to make changes to another person's account.

Man, that threw me for a loop.

I have had the same problem with XBOX live. I added my Credit Card to buy some MS Points and one Month XBOX live gold access, it never once said that this charge was recurring everymonth!!! and I thought I was paying JUST for one month! In the end I had to cancel and the I asked them to remove the credit card to which they said...

Hello
Thank you for writing Xbox Customer Support!

Thank you for your inquiry. We understand that you have inquiry on how to delete your credit card from your gamertag or Xbox Live account. Unfortunately Sten, there's no way to delete the credit card you that you attached to your account, if you don't want to be billed in your credit card you can purchase pre-paid subscription.

For further assistance, please don't hesitate to write back or call Xbox Phone Support

Sincerely,

I will never pay Microsoft via credit card ever again!

Dispute the charge with the credit card company. Continue to do this every time ex uses the card.

Well hell, they won't let me take two credit cards off my own XBL account! I tried to do this just this week. Frustrated because the default payment option in the 360 Dash is always a card I no longer use (and one I don't even have any more), I called MS after not being able to figure out how to delete it from the billing.microsoft.com site.

Absolutely no help on the phone, other than how to change my default billing option - and I am not even sure that worked.

What we, as consumers, need in order to have real recourse, is physical addresses of all the organizations we do business with. It doesn't have to be the ones that actually concern us. It could be the personal addresses of the executives, for that matter.

Just someplace to vandalize to ensure that not fixing shit will cost more than fixing it.

I called the credit card company and told them that I would no longer do business with them if they allowed any transactions from microsoft. I explained that I payed for the xbox live service and that I asked microsoft for my credit card to be removed from the account because of security reasons and that they refused to do it. The account representative closed the account and issued me a new card and added the notes to my account about my problem with Microsoft and that I did not want any further Microsoft transactions taking place; and that if they did take place that I would close out my account permanently.

Make sure you flag your account and make sure your representative adds notes to your account. If they refuse to do so; close the account permanently and write/fax/email a letter to the corporate division letting them know why they lost your business.

Escalate, escalate, escalate...

It really does work with M$ billing. First dispute the charges, but after that get on the phone with M$. I highly suggest a headset if possible.

Some tips:

Get the reference name for each person you talk to. Get the complaint number. Do not be afraid to warn them you will have to look for help from your state if M$ is allowing fraudulent charges after you told them to remove the card information.

I love my xbox, but I hate M$'s billing. I only use prepaid card for their services at this point which unfortunatley limits my play options, but that is preferable to being over charged $500 in one month due to a billing error...

No, I am not the slightest bit bitter. I swear.

@stenk

"...if you don't want to be billed in your credit card you can purchase pre-paid subscription."

According to the 3 guys I talked to (who were polite at least), after the pre-paid subscription expires, the account will automatically latch on to the credit card for its money suckling. Joy.

After dealing with this problem for foolishly using my credit card for my 360 account, I did find a way to "remove" a credit card from a Live account.

Just another sketchy MS move that the media loves to overlook for some reason. I guess since its not anti-ps3 no one cares.

@Chef:

Thats right Chef. I forgot to tell you that I had to let my Credit Card expire and request a new Credit card for this nightmare to end! At that stage I did not know about this site!

Thanks for the info about removing a credit card! It will I am sure, help some poor mugs out there!

I've had similar problems removing credit cards from XPLAY live I didn't want them to use. Its seems irresponsible to simply not allow a person to remove credit card information, especially in light of their hacked servers a few months ago.

Microsoft sarcasm...déjà vu? These guys need better one liners.

Anyway, as far as the credit card thing, that's completely idiotic on Msft's part. Do a chargeback, report them to cc company for fraud, and request a copy of all cs conversations from Microsoft. For the conversations it helps if you have the specific dates, times, and names of cs reps so they don't just give you the run around.
Ultimately leave it up to your cc company to duke it out with Microsoft, you shouldn't have to.

Anyone know what happens if you use one of those "disposable" credit card numbers when you first sign up? They behave much like a Purchase Order, once they are used the first time, only that merchant may charge to the card, and the customer may go on-line and adjust both the amount available and the expiration month for the unique number.

So many of these stories, this one-time-use number thing should be in widespread use by now.

Some less scrupulous banks will actually continue to honor recurring electronic transactions against your account even if (a) the card expires, (b) you report it stolen or lost, (c) you tell them you want to close the account.

I don't remember which bank it was (I think it was Bank One or maybe Key Bank before their CC business got bought out) but one of my credit card companies actually refused to stop paying some monthly charge where the vendor kept saying they'd cancelled me and hadn't, because I had "given prior authorization" by setting it up to hit my credit card each month.

I disputed the charge, they denied it. The card expired, they still paid the charges and billed me. I reported the card lost, they issued me a new card, but still paid the charges on the old number and billed me. Only by reducing the balance to zero dollars and then closing out the account was enough to stop the charges from going through. So I try not to do automatic anything on my credit cards anymore unless I'm damn sure about their policy on recurring payments.

Hmm I don't like to blame a victim, and Microsoft sounds like it's being difficult, but doesn't the boyfriend need to authorize the changes? If he doesn't comply with her wish, and continues to use the credit card, she can claim fraud. But.. I'm a little confused about why she gave him her credit card info. I wouldn't ask my fiancee for her credit card, nor expect she'd want to give it to me. Perhaps after we get married all our finances will be shared... Maybe I am blaming the victim. Just being careful with your credit card seems like a good idea, even involving significant others.

I've tried getting them to cancel my Live account, and tried getting them to stop the spam.

Big surprise, the "can't" do either.

I guess they'd rather pretend (and advertise) a huge number of imaginary Live members than act in a way that might actually win them some.

My only satisfaction is knowing I sold my 360 and plan on never purchasing an MS console again.

@raindog: I use disposalbe visa gift cards now and then for M$ xbox services without any issues. Just make sure you have your address registered to the card number. Some banks make you do it online, others will do it when you purcahse if you just ask.

This is why I'll never play Live again, even if they charge me; my card is due to expire here in a few months and they won't let me cancel either :/. But now what raindog is saying makes me a little nervous.@raindog:

I'm sorry, Erica is to blame here. It's unreasonable to expect a company to not charge you for something your ex boyfriend bought with the credit card number you gave him. No company wants to have to sort out domestic disputes. It's easy to try to blame microsoft, but it's clearly her fault. If she had just reported her card as being compromised in the first place, like she should have done, this would have all been taken care of quickly and easily.

#1. call your credit card company, explain the problem. tell them you contacted the merchant, but they were unwilling to help.
#2. ask to dispute the charge.
#3. cancel card and have them issue you a new one.
#4. anticipate angry voicemail left by ex when his account is cancelled with no notice.
#5. play angry voicemail for friends, family, co-workers.
#6. feel childish and petty for enjoying it a little too much.
#7. remember what a loser he was and continue to enjoy angry voicemail.
#8. think about the good times you had together...playing video games, ordering takeout, start to miss him a little bit.
#9. remember what a lying, cheating dirtbag he was and try to think of new ways to get revenge. fantasize about placing M4M ad, with his pic, email + cell, on Craigslist.
#10. feel guilty for thinking of revenge. try to forget you ever met him by staying up all night playing HALO 2.

@LAGirl: You forgot this step..
#2b. file police report for fraudulent charges at credit card companies request

They will most likely require that step if you want any kind of fraud dispute to happen.

No company wants to have to sort out domestic disputes.

@princeali99: It's not a domestic dispute. She called the company and said her credit card was no longer authorized for billing on that account. That should have been it. Why it's no longer authorized or who uses that account is irrelevant.

It's unreasonable to expect a company to not charge you for something your ex boyfriend bought with the credit card number you gave him.

If this were a one time purchase (like shoes) and the ex was authorized to use the credit card at the time of purchase, then yes. But she isn't talking about getting a refund on something she needs the new charges to stop.

"It's going to be hard to explain the situation to a credit card company."

I'd try anyway. Sometimes they're very helpful in this kind of situation.

I don't know that I'd pay to HIRE a lawyer (getting a new card is obviously easier), but being myself a lawyer, I'd definitely send a legal nastygram to MicroSoft, AND to the ex-boyfriend.

(And depending on how much you like your ex, I'd report him for credit card fraud.)

@princeali99:

It is MOST definitely NOT her fault. It is her credit card and even if it's on someone else's account the cardholder should have the right to remove his or her own information.

It is ridiculous that the only way to cancel LIVE is by canceling your credit card. That's gotta be violating something?..

there is a way to remove credit cards from XBL, albeit a very ass backwards one.

on your home PC do the following steps:

go to https://login.live.com/
(this is microsoft's windows live page)

log in using your XBL account, you might have to link your xbl account to an email account somehow, i forgot the steps.

you can edit payment stuff under billing when logged in.

it won't remove the CC completely from microsoft's servers(for what they say is security/recordkeeping reasons) but you can unlink/remove it from your XBL account and you will no longer be able to use it on the console(it won't show up when you go to buy stuff in XBL marketplace) unless you re input the card info.

I wanted to point out that we're talking about two separate issues here.

The first is Erica's culpability for her boyfriend's transaction with her card.

The second is Microsoft's practice of permanently linking a credit card to an account and making charges with it.

I think the more important one here is the second, because it brings into question what obligation a company has to dispose of credit card information when requested to by the card owner. This would look really bad for microsoft if it got into mainstream press, and I personally am a victim of it. There are no avenues you can go through to have your credit card information removed, and I'm curious to see what happens when any unauthorized charges go through on my account - which I imagine will happen.

Does anyone have contact information for important people on the Microsoft customer service chain?

Can companies really do this? I'm not sure what her relationship with her ex is but maybe just maybe she doesn't want any more to do with him and reporting him for fraud is overboard. Meeting him in court and what not will be stressful.

Can a company really deny you the ability to stop payment on an account? You will have to cancel your card if they decide that they want to keep billing you?

It sounds fairly simple. This is for an XBOX . Imagine a parent having to declare fraud on their child to stop erronous billing?

What are the consumer rights at this point? Should a stop payment /chargeback to the CC work?

heh. you think this is tough. try cancelling an aol account for someone who is deceased.

LAGirl, with the addendum from Red_Eye is the way to go. ESPECIALLY the addendum considering that a cc company may post billing from prior cards to new account #s due to recurring billing card agreements.

also, make sure you have record of trying to cancel the account with MS...your bank may need this.

Look credit cards aren't permanently linked to accounts, if its your account you have access to you can remove the credit card. Again it's Erica's fault because she gave her boyfriend her credit card for his account.

I wouldn't expect Blizzard to remove a credit card from a WoW account you dont own.

I wouldn't expect Blockbuster to remove a late fee from your credit card because you let your boyfriend use your blockbuster account.

I wouldn't expect netflix to remove a charge to your account bc your boyfriend lost the DVDs.

I wouldn't expect the cable company to not charge me for a cable bill my card is on even though I moved out.

Implicit in her authorizing her card for his account was her accepting all charges resulting from it, I'm sorry if she's too naive to read the fine print.

Recurring billing works under the assumption that the creditcard holder maintains their authorization of the charges until their consent is removed. Say for example that i chose to pay for a friends account in an online game, yet at a later date I decided to no longer pay for it yet did not have the means to cancel the recurring billing. If I contacted the company and provided them with the card information and a request for cancelation I would fully expect them to stop the recurring billing since my consent as the cardholder would then be revoked. Therefore, any subsequent charges would not be authorized by the cardholder (myself) and therefore, fraudulent. I would not expect them to turn the account ownership over to me, but I would expect them be careful with my finances.

Hi all, Erica here.

So some clarifications. First I did not give him my credit card info. This was more of a "Hey hon, can you sign me up for XBox Live" thing. I put my information into the Xbox myself. Yes, again, stupid me, I know.

Second, there is no "domestic dispute." I let him know what was going on and he removed my card info from his account himself (but thanks for playing princeali99).

Third, I was not really concerened about recouping a $4 charge. My gripe is with the fact that after I told a company what to do with my credit card information, the request wasn't complied with because of a fault of theirs. That is really the crux of the issue. Any request a card holder makes to a company about their card info should be complied with.

I had a similar experience with DirecTv. I was living with my boyrfriend and a roommate. I was moving out and called DirecTv to switch the account to my boyfriends name. They told me unless we were related or married it would be a $20 charge for them to switch the authorizations on the boxes to someone new.
That blew my mind...$20 for NOTHING? To keep an existing account open and change the account holder?
Couldn't I just cancel the account, then he could open a NEW one get FREE boxes, discounted service and installation? Wouldn't it make more sense for DirecTv to just switch the account?
So I called back later and told them he was my husband and they did it no problem. I told them to take my CC off the account at that time too. Somehow they missed that part and I paid for 2 months of their DirecTv service. When I discovered this, I called DirecTv and had no problem getting them to take it off the account, evern though I wasn't authorized or even ON the account anymore.
[I also still talk to the X so I got the $$ too...]

Look credit cards aren't permanently linked to accounts

@princeali99: Not according to XBOX and several of the other commenters.

I wouldn't expect Blizzard to remove a credit card from a WoW account you dont own.

Unless of course it's your credit card. Your other examples aren't even relevant to this situation.

The ex-boyfriend no longer has permission to use the credit card. Therefore XBOX no longer has permission to use the credit card for that account. To do so at this point is fraud.

Permission CAN be withdrawn. Just because you sign up for an account with a company does not mean they can keep charging the first credit card you use from nigh unto infinity.

I'm in the UK and just had a painless experience cancelling my credit card from my ex-housemate's account :)

I needed to know his name, address, phone number and e-mail and I made it clear that I wasn't him and they were fine with it. All I needed to prove who I was was the last 4 digits of my credit card!

Maybe Xbox have changed their policy?

Xbox has been charging me for over two years.
I call and cancel, but they keep charging.
At first they told me my son had to call and cancel since the account was in his name.
I told them that it was my credit card being charged.

Last month I called and they tried to get me to let my son play another month as it was paid for. I said no.
Then, they charged me again. I called and was told I was charged because they bill a month later.

I contacted the BBB online and filed a complaint.
The only way to get the Xbox Live is to look up them on BBB with Xbox Live phone number.

They keep giving me the runaround about talking to them. I just got an email stating for me to call them. They want a specific time to call, but they can call only when they have time.

so, I called Xbox Live and the operator could not do anything, as always. I was transferred to a supervisor who hung up on me.

So I replied to the email with all my information so they can't keep asking me for information. I told them to give me a specific time they would call, and I would wait by the phone.

If charged again, I will contact my bank and stop the charges. However, this costs $20 or more.

If your card is not through the bank, and a credit card company, call them. I did this once for something else. I had to fill out a form (they mailed one to me) to dispute the charges and then get it notarized.

I live in the USA, so I do not know what can be done in other countries.

Make sure when you call Xbox Live that you inform them that the credit card is in your name.

That you were not aware of recurring charges that would be charged every month.

That it is illegal for them to charge you for services you do not sign up for, and were not aware of.

Contact the BBB online. Ask for a refund of the charges. Xbox supposedly canceled my account as soon as the BBB notified them.

Check the internet for any and all sites posting problems with Xbox, and post comments. Many companies have people who search the internet for this stuff.
If they get many complaints and posts, maybe a lawyer will file a class action law suit. We probably would not get but a dollar or two, but it would cost Xbox a lot more, and they would change their policies.

Realize that Xbox Live operators are not from the US. Apparently, the calls are transferred overseas.

If you have problems understanding the operators as I do, let the BBB know. Tell the BBB in full details.
Type as if you are writing a formal letter. Using a lot of slang will make you appear to be uneducated, in which case many companies will ignore you.

If anyone else knows who else we can contact to complain, please post the information here.