Tuesday 26 March 2013

Sorry, But You're Too Dim To Be A Cop...

Doug Crossan, 48, said he was horrified when his credit card company informed him of the amount his son had spent on the games in Apple’s online App Store.
Oh, here we go again! And this kid's thirteen, so even less excuse for the parent to whinge about it...
He says Cameron was unaware he was being charged for the purchases and wants Apple to refund the cash. But the technology giant has so far refused, so Mr Crossan believes that by reporting the purchases as fraudulent his credit card company will have to foot the bill.
Bit dodgy, surely? Isn't making a false report to the police a crime, if you do it knowingly? And...you've just confessed in the MSM!
Mr Crossan, of Clevedon, Somerset, said yesterday: ‘I am sure Cameron had no intention to do it, but I had to have a crime reference number if there was any chance of getting any credit card payments refunded.
‘In theory the local police station would contact me and ask for Cameron to come in to be interviewed. I could make it difficult, of course, and refuse to bring him in, and they would have to come and arrest him.’
Gosh, he knows a lot about police procedures. Does he watch a lot of tv?
...he is a PC with Avon and Somerset Police.
Well, hold on a doggone minute! Surely the Professional Standards guys will be down on him like a ton of bricks!
Mr Crossan logged the details of his MBNA Virgin credit card with Apple when he used his son’s device to download music.
Cameron then racked up more than 300 purchases on games such as Plants vs Zombies, Hungry Shark, Gun Builder and N.O.V.A. 3.
Many of them are free to download but users can buy in-game extras. In one game Cameron had purchased a virtual chest of gold coins costing £77.98.
 But wait, don't you need a passw...

Oh.
He would have had to key in a password before each of the purchases was processed.
 Riiiiight. Ooops! Daddy should have a few words..
When his father confronted him, Cameron quickly confessed but said he did not know it was costing money as the games were initially free.
 Ooooh, I perceive the undeniable aroma of bovine by-product! I'm not familiar with these games, but the ones I play always contain a warning that you must confirm you're purchasing stuff with real money.
Apple has refused to cancel the charges, citing parental responsibility and pointing out that iPads contain password locks to prevent accidental or unwanted purchases.
 Good for them!
But Mr Crossan said: ‘I am a father of a studious, polite and sensible 13-year-old who has been duped after uploading free children’s games on his iPod and iPad.
‘Our son is mortified to think that this has happened. I wonder how many others there are in the UK that have suffered at the hands of these apps?’
 Well, not those who read the T&Cs and act responsibly, so that should be OK.
Of his decision to report Cameron to Action Fraud, Mr Crossan said: ‘Really I just want to embarrass Apple as much as possible. Morally, I just don’t understand where Apple gets off, charging for a child’s game.’
Well, for one thing, they are a company. They exist to make money. Just like the police exist to protect society, and not from people's own stupidity, either.

I suspect you'll be hearing about this from your bosses. Dim cops are acceptable, even ones that are so dim they give Constable Savage a run for his money, but what the police force of 2013 can't have is cops who aren't media-savvy.

And, with your rush to the papers to advertise your utter stupidity to the entire world, that's you.

6 comments:

Twenty_Rothmans said...

With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, I despair at the amount of money I cost my parents due to my stupidity when I was a teenager.

They wore it, no doubt believing that I would learn from my mistakes (I did), never make another mistake (I did) and be tortured by guilt in middle age (I am).

But shop me to the filth to save them some money? They'd have taken a murder rap for me.

I wonder if PC Crossan has given his bank details to BARRISTER MR AJUBA to reclaim his $100,000,000 (ONE MILLON DOLLARS) he won on the lottery?

wpc jilted said...

yeh but sum is jus lookin dim wen i no they is realy educatid like wot i is

NickM said...

"Many of them are free to download but users can buy in-game extras. In one game Cameron had purchased a virtual chest of gold coins costing £77.98."

a virtul pot of AU for GBP78 is almost the ort of thing Gordon Brown would buy.

Wigner's Friend said...

Couldn't organise a frame up at a Downing St gate!

Anonymous said...

As predictable as a Melvin bore-a-thon (see above) you have to read between the lines on any Daily Mail anti-police story Julia.
He hasn't reported his son to the police at all,he has reported him to Action Fraud.This is a new organisation set up by the banks in conjunction with the government to help cut fraud.It acts as a filter before the police get involved.They are also going to investigate some of the cases themselves.In my opinion it has been set up to cut the amount of fraud reported and massage crime figures down.It's one crime that's going through the roof and the govt are hoping the banks will swallow most of the loss.

Anyway back to the PC.I might not have handled this situation the same way but I think he is hoping to embarrass the company into giving him a refund.
Incoming......
Jaded

JuliaM said...

"With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, I despair at the amount of money I cost my parents due to my stupidity when I was a teenager."

Oh, me too! Technology seems to have made everything easier to do, though!

"a virtul pot of AU for GBP78 is almost the ort of thing Gordon Brown would buy."

SNORK!

"He hasn't reported his son to the police at all,he has reported him to Action Fraud.This is a new organisation set up by the banks in conjunction with the government..."

Sorry, Jaded, not buying this. He quite clearly refers to police action. He's an idiot. Defending him doesn't help your cause.

And why should Apple be 'embarrassed'? What have they done?