Teen’s $54K Bar Tab: Judge Puts Majority Of Liability On Credit Card Company
A 16 year old teenage boy in Japan stole his father’s American Express credit card and went on a wild spending spree one night with a friend back in 2010.
The boy and his friend racked up a bill of 54 thousand American dollars or 5.5 million yen.
The money was spent on expensive alcohol and exorbitant fees to gain entrance into high end nightclubs in Kyoto, Japan. The boy and his friend enjoyed the high life on his father’s dime for the evening surrounded by beautiful women.
As shocking as this story is, there are new updates in this story that you may find even more shocking.
A judge has now ruled that the boy is not responsible for his wild night of partying and entertainment. The judge has placed the blame in the laps of the credit card company and the high end nightclubs that provided the boys services.
Japan Daily writes:
Presiding Judge Hashidume said that American Express bore partial responsibility for the charges since they didn’t do anything about so many large and clearly suspicious charges. He also pointed out that American Express clearly hadn’t properly verified the identity of the card holder. Additionally, since the kid was only 16 years old, he obviously couldn’t enter into a legally-binding contract, let alone enter and drink at such adult establishments.
The boy will not have to pay back any of the fees. The boy’s father will be responsible for only 800,000 yen of his son’s party tab.
Kids stealing their parents credit is nothing new. Earlier this a a 5-year-old in the UK stole his parents credit card and racked up an astonishing 3,500 charges on iTunes.
According to multiple reports, Greg and Sharon Kitchen handed over their App Store password so their son could download the game while they entertained friends on Sunday.
“Danny was pestering us to let him have a go on the iPad. He kept saying it was a free game so my husband put in the passcode and handed it to him,” Sharon told The Telegraph. “It worried me when he asked for the password but I had a look at the game it said it was free so I didn’t think there would be a problem.”
Teens and Credit Card Debt Statistics
Why are kids in just a rush to pull out the credit card. Statistically by the time they’re young adults, their credit card debt wil already be stagerying.
According to Yahoo article from 2009, By the time a high school student gets to college he or she is already toting nearly $1,600 in credit card debt, which increases through out their college years as the need arises.
In case you haven’t heard of them, “cabaret clubs” (or “kyabakura” in Japanese) are basically hostess clubs, where attractive women are paid to sit, drink, and talk with customers. Unlike hostess clubs, kyabakura charge based on time, so the goal, obviously, is to entice patrons to drink as much as possible. Which probably sounds exactly like paradise to a 16-year-old with his father’s credit card. (photo courtesy F.U.S.I.A. assistant on assignment
)
Source:
Japan teen runs up $54k bar tab on dad’s credit card
http://news.ph.msn.com/regional/japan-teen-runs-up-dollar54k-bar-tab-on-dads-credit-card-2
Court invalidates Y4.8 mil bill after teen takes dad’s credit card on tour of hostess clubs
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/court-invalidates-y4-8-mil-bill-after-teen-takes-dads-credit-card-on-tour-of-hostess-clubs
