5 year old Danny Kitchen was playing with his parent's Apple iPad when he asked them for their iTunes password. Danny wanted to download a free game called Zombie v Ninja. Danny's parents typed in the password and thought nothing of it since the download was free. But imagine the surprise and horror that they felt when emails started coming in showing that Danny had spent the equivalent of $2,500 in just 10 minutes, making in-game purchases of keys and weapon packs that were priced in $100 bundles.
Not Hell's Kitchen, but Kitchen's Hell
While Apple did agree to refund the money, Danny did not get off the hook. When asked how he felt about the whole affair, he said, "I was worried and I felt sad." Danny also added, "I'm banned from the iPad now."
So how did a 5 year old rack up such an expensive bill in just 10 minutes? He purchased one bundle of 333 keys, one of 90,000 darts, and another of 333 bombs that each cost 69.99 GBP ($105 USD). A number of smaller purchases added up to the final total.
To avoid something like this happening to you, it is always best to go through the concept of in-app or in-game purchases with your young kids before you hand over your tablet or smartphone to them. Otherwise, you too can find yourself not in Hell's Kitchen, but in Kitchen's Hell.
Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.
Recommended Stories
Loading Comments...
COMMENT
All comments need to comply with our
Community Guidelines
Phonearena comments rules
A discussion is a place, where people can voice their opinion, no matter if it
is positive, neutral or negative. However, when posting, one must stay true to the topic, and not just share some
random thoughts, which are not directly related to the matter.
Things that are NOT allowed:
Off-topic talk - you must stick to the subject of discussion
Offensive, hate speech - if you want to say something, say it politely
Spam/Advertisements - these posts are deleted
Multiple accounts - one person can have only one account
Impersonations and offensive nicknames - these accounts get banned
Moderation is done by humans. We try to be as objective as possible and moderate with zero bias. If you think a
post should be moderated - please, report it.
Have a question about the rules or why you have been moderated/limited/banned? Please,
contact us.
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed: