I just discovered my son racked up almost $160 in iTunes charges on our credit card

[Shine]

:grr: I am livid.

It was spread out over eight different charges during the past month. WTF was he thinking??!

Did he think we wouldn't NOTICE? ! What an idiot.

When confronted, just now, he said: "I didn't think it would add up that much." Duh.

I told him he's not getting an allowance anytime soon and we're going to seriously consider some other consequences, too.

Teenagers' lack of judgment is really something to behold sometimes. :grr:

[GOPisEvil]

1. Did he at least download some good stuff?

:hide:

[Shine]

12. Here is the list I wrote down of what he told me he got:

(mind you, this is only "what he remembers") :eyes:

3 CD's by Muse
CD of sound effects
CD of flight of the condors, (some sort of ambiance music, I think)
CD of sleep ambience
song: "You've Got a Friend in Me"
song: "Play that Funky Music"
2 Robot Chicken episodes (I've never even HEARD of that show)
some song by a group called Daft Punk


When I asked him why he didn't burn copies of the Muse CDs from one of his friends, he said, and I quote:

"A, it's illegal and B, Ryan doesn't have them, anyway.".

Jeez.

[GOPisEvil]

13. Well, the Muse is good stuff.

And at least he believes in following the law. So do I, but I will burn a friend's cd if they bought it. :blush:

[CreekDog]

15. OMG

:rofl: :wtf: robot chicken!!!! :rofl:

[Elidor]

17. At least he has good taste (mostly)

Play that funky music? He musta done it for the lulz. I once bought The Carpenters' 'We've Only Just Begun,' strictly to laugh my ass off.

I don't have kids, so I can't comment on punishment, except to note that my parents would have made me rue the ever-loving day I did something like that.

[LeftyMom]

2. Congratulations, Shine.

You have the only teenager in America who actually pays for music. :rofl:

[Pierre.Suave]

3. OMG

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Fire Walk With Me]

6. LOL! Maybe the RIAA will give you a $10,000 reward for a good citizen!

I'm sorry Shine, I hope that it works out. He may be brainwashed by the association with "free" everything so long as you can download it.

[Shine]

7. LOL!

that was a good one, I admit.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. My dear Shine!

Well...for punishment...

You could take away his iPod, or whatever he has stored the songs on...

Don't tell him I suggested this!


Wow. Tough lesson, that.

[skygazer]

5. Yikes!

Time to find some sweat-inducing manual labor around the house, I guess. Since I have always heated with wood, stacking endless wood piles was always a favorite.

Sorry, Shine - that sucks. :hug:

[AlCzervik]

8. in a month? Dayam!

my daughter has itunes cards or every few months i send $20 to her itunes account and tell her "Make it last Dear".

[Fleshdancer]

9. at $0.99 per song, it's not difficult to estimate the total costs

160 songs is a lot of songs.

What I would do? Burn the songs on to disks, delete them from his iTunes (and ipod if he has one), and then give him the disk(s)once he repaid his $160 debt...whether that be through money or chores.

Good luck!

[OmahaBlueDog]

..and my daughter wonders why I won't put my CC # on her IPOD account

[harmonicon]

10. was he even allowed to use the credit card in the first place?

and don't schools teach math anymore?

[no name no slogan]

11. On the bright side: he already got ALL the good music on iTunes

the rest is shit, so he probably won't download anymore.

[The Inquisitive]

14. seeing as he's a teenager

his labor is worth about 8 bucks an hour at market value, so he owes you 20 hours of manual labor. Tell him he can either give you the cash in 1 month, or he can put in 20 hours of work as you demand it this summer. If he refuses simply confiscate something of his worth roughly that much and sell it. I pulled the same shenanigans with my parents about 5 years ago when I was 15, and that was my punishment.

[CreekDog]

16. punishment is to make him listen to the songs on *your* ipod

:rofl:

[tandot]

18. My 12-year old niece had $600 in text messaging

they took her phone away but she stole her brother's phone...and had another $800 in text messaging.

She is grounded until she is 18.

[BlueJazz]

19. I would forgive him. I'd tell him what I told my son "Ok...By the Laws of Life....

...You're allowed one really stupid mistake and not have to be punished for it....if you do something like this again the
punishment will include THIS MISTAKE also....so be careful and smart"

(so far, so good) :)