A mother was landed with a £1,300 bill after letting her seven-year-old son play a 'free' zoo app on her iPad - not realising his menagerie of virtual animals had a very real cost.
Heidi Drager says she had no idea that the virtual creatures - bought with golden coins in the Tap Zoo game - were actually costing her money.
In fact, it was only after four days of the lad playing the game that the 32-year-old from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, realised what was happening.
While the app had been free to download, there were a series of in-app purchases which are said to range from 69p to £79.99 -- and she'd not disabled in-app purchases before passing the iPad to the youngster.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Drager said: "Poor Jack was crying his eyes out because he didn't realise he was doing anything wrong.
"It is not his fault. I think people really need to be aware that this is happening. A lot of these free apps are directed at children."
While the mother insists she read the terms and conditions and there was nothing about any costs, there is a warning at the top of the Tap Zoo page on the App Store.
However, despite this, Apple has agreed to refund the bill -- though they warn other parents to restrict app downloading and turn-off in-app purchasing.