SWNS
A policeman dad who was at his wits' end after his teenage son ran up a £3,700 bill on his iPad shopped the boy for fraud.
Doug Crossan, 48, took the drastic action because he felt he had no choice after his credit card company rang to tell him of the large balance outstanding.
His son Cameron, 13, had 'innocently' purchased apps over three months from iTunes, the download selling arm of Apple, that had cost as much as £77.98 each.
Mr Crossnan, from Bristol, checked the bill to discover more than 300 separate purchases of apps and extra software for games including Gun Bros 2, Nova 3, Plants v Zombies, Jurassic Park, Infinity Blade, Hungry Shark, and Gun Builder.
He immediately contacted his credit card company MBNA Virgin but was told he needed to pursue his complaint with Apple for a refund or report the incident to police and get a crime number so they could investigate.
Mr Crossnan said he had recently seen similar stories where families had been refunded under similar circumstances and given this he thought he had a reasonable chance of receiving a refund.
However, Apple refused to do so, saying that sales on iTunes are final. Mr Crossan was left with having to report the incident to police to claim the money back, through online crime reporting tool Action Fraudline.
This also meant his son could face being arrested and questioned.
He said: "We have asked Apple to consider our case in the same light, as the case is mirrored by him playing exactly the same free games, but Apple have refused by saying the sale on iTunes is final and no refund.
"Apple iTunes are now refusing to speak to me or give me an idea of why they will not refund. They sent me a copy of the terms and conditions stating that all purchases are final and further contact should be by way of a solicitor.
"None of us had any knowledge of what was happening as there was no indication in the game that he was being charged for any of the clicks made within the game."