In case you were wondering whether or not it would be a good idea to let your deadbeat roommate use your debit card to sign up for Xbox Live, Jake checks in to reassure you that no, it’s not.

Jake’s roomie skipped out on him, and now he says Microsoft won’t let him remove his account unless the roommate gives the thumbs-up. He writes:

Once upon a time I had a roommate and let him use my debit card to sign up for Xbox live as he did not have one, that was many months ago and he has since been evicted for believing going to work and paying rent was not important. About a week ago I noticed I had a charge on my debit card for $20.00 from Xbox live and seeing as I do not own an xbox I knew immediately what it was, a renewal fee for my ex-roommates Xbox live membership. So I called up Xbox Live thinking it would be an easy task to get my Visa removed from the account, turns out it’s not.

Even though the Visa is under my name and address the only way they can remove it is if I have my ex-roommates phone number or email he used to sign up for the account. I don’t have either and will not be able to find out what they are since as far as I know he still doesn’t have a job to pay his phone and I have no idea how to get in contact with him, and even if I did he probably wouldn’t speak to me because after all I was the one who kicked him out. I have talked to three representatives and all have told me the same thing so come Monday I will have to go to my bank and see if there is anything I can do from that end. Hopefully they can block Xbox Live from charging me but there is a very good chance I will never get the $20 back.

I’ve heard similar stories from friends. Microsoft certainly doesn’t make it easy to cancel Xbox Live or remove credit cards from profiles.

Calling the bank to stop the charges is a good idea. Hopefully Jake isn’t forced to cancel the card altogether. Have any of you found yourselves in similar circumstances?

(Photo: tubbynj)

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