XBOX Live charging me on Friend's machine

KingMoo

I added my Visa account to my friends Xbox Live account a long time ago and soon after we called Microsoft to have them disconnect it because there is no way to do it via the Xbox or internet. It took quite a while but they ensured me that it would be gone in a month.

I have been getting charged each month and he has made purchases on Xbox live that I;m also getting charged for.

How can I get them to stop charging me short of canceling my credit card?

noir_blood

KingMoo wrote: »

I added my Visa account to my friends Xbox Live account a long time ago and soon after we called Microsoft to have them disconnect it because there is no way to do it via the Xbox or internet. It took quite a while but they ensured me that it would be gone in a month.

I have been getting charged each month and he has made purchases on Xbox live that I;m also getting charged for.

How can I get them to stop charging me short of canceling my credit card?

Have you tried talking to your friend? Cause I believe before you do any purchase online, it shows you what credit card it's going to charge.

Otherwise, I say do a chargeback on your card.

GeneralChaos

I had this problem too. Microsoft won't refund you, that's up to your buddy. However, if you ask them to cancel the subscription they legally have to do it.

Talk to your friend. I highly doubt he doesn't know what he's doing.

mspencer

Technically speaking, you did not authorize these charges on your card. There's a chargeback code for that: "fraudulent transaction, card absent environment." If your card is a check card then I believe you have three months of chargeback rights; otherwise you have six months. Don't let time run out.

Keep in mind your reversal of charges may cause your friend to violate the Xbox Live terms of service, so his account may be in trouble. Chargebacks are a huge pain for everyone involved, so if you can avoid them, please do.

My recommendation:

1) check your billing statement and find out for each unauthorized charge, how old is it? How many days away is 3 or 6 months from the purchase date, depending on your card type? Subtract about two weeks from that, for safety padding. These 3 or 6 month limits are set by Visa and Mastercard, and you don't want to talk to your banker on day 89 only to have a chargeback investigator attempt to file the chargeback on day 93 and be unable to file.
2) talk to your friend and explain the situation: he needs to know you could charge these sales back, but that would likely cause Microsoft to do bad things to his account. Friend needs to either pay you back the money that was charged, or prepare for Microsoft's wrath when you file these chargebacks.
3) Continue to monitor your billing statement, and continue to collect money from your friend as required. Go back to step 2 if necessary.
4) If step 2 was unsuccessful and the friend refuses to pay you back, go ahead and talk to your bank and have chargebacks filed. Chargeback investigators are smart -- don't just say "this was unauthorized," tell them the whole story. Write a quick letter with a couple sentences and then a bullet point for each charge. The agreement is between Microsoft and your friend, not between Microsoft and you. You did indeed authorize such-and-such charge on that first date. You did not authorize such-and-such charges on these other dates. Your friend likely did not understand that your card was on file at Microsoft, so while the payments he submitted to Microsoft were indeed fraudulent, you believe he did not actually intend to commit fraud.