A gamer by the name of David Stebbins filed a motion in federal court in an attempt to get Microsoft to pay him $500 billion dollars after he tried to amend his Xbox Live contact with Microsoft and was ignored when he asked for legal arbitration.
According to Stebbins, the Xbox Live TOS is a standard contract that binds both the subscriber and the company equally. Therefore, Stebbin believes that he was technically equally capable to change the terms of service as Microsoft. So that’s exact what he did. He made some changes and sent the amendments with a notice to Microsoft saying “if Microsoft did not terminate his Xbox Live membership, such changes would take effect in 10 days.” Microsoft, probably laughing their behinds off, ignored the claim.
Stebbins had included a “forfeit victory clause” in his notice that stated if Microsoft did not respond within the 10 days, Stebbins would be automatically entitled to the full sum of $500 billion dollars.
Stebbins’ argument has to do with the fact hat most companies notify their customers of a change in contract terms and expect that the customer had agreed to the changes if they continue to use the service. Stebbins argues further that in his case, he sent a notice to Microsoft and said if they didnt respond within the given time, then Microsoft would have agreed with the terms and Stebbins would win. “As you probably guessed.. the Defendants did not accept the invitation to arbitrate within 24 hours of receiving it. Therefore, I automatically won on May 19, 2011, per the forfeit victory clause.”
“I’m trying to give employees, consumers, and generally, people who’ve been economically disadvantaged a new, powerful tool to protect themselves. Who needs to go crying to Congress for more workers’ rights and consumer protection laws?! We can do it all ourselves! How’s that for a motive you can get behind?!”
Stebbins also stated that he would not be presenting any documentation in paper format to avoid any “undue strain on my printer.” He instead provided a link to a youtube video that he took that showcases his contract amendments and the arbitration invitation. Unfortunately, the video was taken down.
“Honestly, I haven’t heard much from Microsoft .. although that shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. I mean, think about it: When I mail these documents to Microsoft, they won’t go to any legal division; I arranged for the mailings to be picked up by the employee that just collects regular mail! It’s quite possible that these employees won’t understand the legal significance of these documents, and know that they’re required to respond,” Stebbins stated.
This is not the first time we have heard about unhappy Xbox Live subscribers. Microsoft faced a lawsuit accusing the company of double-billing Xbox Live subscribers when they do not renew their subscription before it expires. According to the man filing the lawsuit, Microsoft’s prepaid subscriptions are “governed by vague and onerous terms of use.”
Microsoft has yet to issue a response.
