Mother, 35, bans her daughter from iTunes games forever after eight-year-old racked up £1,857 bill playing Roblox in six days by setting her own fingerprint as default payment method
- Katie and Matty Phillips from Wrexham set a password for in-app purchases
- But their daughter somehow bypassed it, then splurged money on Roblox
- The couple have no idea how they’re going to pay off the huge bill
- Tried to recover cash from Barclaycard and Apple but have so far failed
A mother has banned her daughter from iTunes games forever after the eight-year-old racked up a £1,857 bill on tablet purchases in just six days by setting her own fingerprint as the default payment method.
Katie Phillips, 35, was devastated when she realised her child – who she has chosen not to name – had splashed the cash.
The schoolgirl made 255 purchases – ranging from 99p to £19.99 – in a spending splurge on the game-making app Roblox.
The couple (pictured) said they have no idea how they’re going to pay the huge bill off after their daughter racked up the massive debt
Mr Phillips, who has chosen not to name his daughter (pictured with him and her brother on the beach) was stunned to discover the huge bill
It comes despite Ms Phillips and her husband, Matty, 42, password protecting in-app purchases on their daughter’s gadget.
Somehow she worked out how to bypass the password needed to make purchases and set her own fingerprint as the default payment method.
The couple, from Wrexham, north Wales, say they are unsure how they will pay off the bill.
Pictured: The first third of the huge bill that Mr and Ms Phillips were stunned to find racked up by their daughter
The youngster racked up this huge bill after setting her fingerprint as the payment method for in-app purchases
Pictured: The end of the bill that the eight-year-old incurred for her parents after splurging the cash on in-app purchases
Ms Phillips has confiscated the iPad from the youngster until at least April and has banned her from iTunes games forever.
She said: ‘I felt sick and was in floods of tears. I was so shocked, disappointed and annoyed. It was hard to be too angry with her because she didn’t really know what she was doing and she didn’t understand.
‘We are really angry but she is innocent. She said she thought it was free. She does look sorry. She looked white when we spoke to her about it and she started crying. But she just doesn’t realise how much money she spent and what that means.’
Ms Phillips said she has tried to get money back from Barclaycard and Apple but because the card wasn’t used for fraud she’s unlikely to get any money back.