Microsoft has graciously refunded more than $8,000 worth of FIFA in-game purchases that were charged to a credit card owned by Lance Perkins, a father from Pembroke, Ontario. The charges reached well into the thousands of dollars after his son, a 17-year-old, purchased a number of micro-transactions in the popular soccer simulator, according to CBC News.

Perkins stated that he got the massive bill a couple of days before Christmas, on December 23, amounting to $7,625.88. After accounting for previous Xbox charges, the total bill for his credit card reached a total of $8,206.43.

The credit card had been given to his 17-year-old son for use in emergencies, as well as purchases for a convenience store that the family runs.

"It floored me. Literally floored me, when I'd seen what I was being charged," Perkins said.

Upon calling the credit card company in order to demand a refund, Perkins was told that there was no way to reverse the charges on his card. Contacting Microsoft also did not help, as the tech giant told the disgruntled father the same information, even stating that Xbox One has enough parental controls and that the charges were legitimate, reported VG Chartz News.

At the time, Perkins was faced with two choices he really disliked. Pay a massive bill for in-game micro-transactions or charge his son with fraud.

Refusing to give up, Perkins once more contacted Microsoft, stating that his son was a minor.
As for his son, the 17-year-old has told his dad that he was unaware that the in-game purchases have already reached the $8,000 amount. According to Perkins, his son told him that he thought the purchases were a one-time fee for the game.

Nevertheless, Microsoft eventually listened to the pleas of the father, stating that it would investigate the incident.

After much stress resulting from the incident, Perkins's crisis finally came to an end this January, as Microsoft has decided to refund all the charges on the account, according to Game Zone.

"Let's thank them for making that choice," he said, further stating that due to the debacle, there would never be another Xbox, or any other game system, for that matter, in his house.

Perkins also urged game developers to develop more safeguards for credit card holders.

"I hope we have warned enough people. This is not just a game when it can upset a whole family and endanger our children with making mistakes.I hope there are more safeguards put in place for credit card holders," he said.