Im just curious if anyone else has had issues with MS deciding to bill people or take money out of their account for no apparent reason.

Seems Im not alone, there are a few dozen pages and sites out there that have documented small amounts (And sometimes large) coming out on peoples statements that at first they thought was their children buying xbox credits, but then turns out they werent. Theres a fair bit of debate out there on accounts getting hacked etc.

However my issue is a little different.

I was subscribed to live for a year. a 12 month subscription. In that time I changed debit card. As near the end I wasnt using live, I didnt bother updating payment details, even though MS sent me a dozen or so emails letting me know soon I wouldnt be able to use live.

Then Halo 3 was out, and a friend got me it for my birthday. I paid for another 12 months of live.

A few days later, I check my online statement. BILL.MS.NET has taken £39.99 out of my account, twice.

So, I phone the free) xbox live support number, get a bad line with a bad accent talking to me, who claims theres only 1 transaction on their system, and near the end of the conversation lets slip about sometimes when they try to charge a card and they cant, when the payment details are updated, they charge the new card for the old amount. I was a bit shocked at that, and proceeded to call the bank to find out if there were two transactions on their system.

There was, they told me to phone the support again and if I didnt get a decent answer, call the bank and sort out a payment dispute.

So I did, as MS still was adament that there was only 1 payment, I was told to email a screenshot of the statement to a support email address and Id hear back from them in a week.

I didnt hear back, so am now awaiting news from Barclays on the progress of a payment dispute.

Im praying to god what ive heard about them taking the money they couldnt get out before, and it being in their TOS, is false. Im also prepared to start down the route of Usury if it is.

All I can think is surely it is Usury to charge a years subscription for something that you couldnt actually use as they obviously suspended the account. Im hoping if barclays cant sort it, phoning MS up and threatening some kind of legal action might help. I know its only £39.99 (couple that with the £10 that ETGS just took out of my account even though it should have been cancelled over a year ago) and its about 1/4 of the money I have in my bank right now!

I dont have an M$ account, or an Xbox but its usually best to keep track of stuff like this. Companies do pull things like this at times and M$ arent the only ones. Problem is they usually admit the problem and sort it immediately.

Good job I have no credit cards lol. I have to buy it in stores and activate it by entering a code.

In any case dude they will not have a leg to stand on when the bank contacts them rather then you they will back track faster then a speeding bullet and you will get your cash back

My credit card is on Lives system for buying points, Ill keep an eye out for this. Cheers.

An update
Got a letter through today from the bank, theyve credited me the money though it could be 4-6 weeks before its officially "Closed"

Woo, sticking it to the MS haha.

glad i dont use my cards on live, i buy the vouchers