Why 14 year olds shouldn't run businesses

[Seraph]

Not terribly sucky, but it has gone from being mildly amusing to annoying. First off, bit of a background. It's a 14 year old running a website business, as per the title. And a bit of a disclaimer, I know not all kids are as boneheaded as this one, I just titled this for my amusement.


First encounter with him, months and months he tried to buy a premade template, and then immediately filed for a payment dispute. We smacked him on the wrist, denied the template, and simply refunded him the amount, with a nice note of "If you decided against purchasing it, then just ask us." Turns out, no, he DID want it, he just wanted to see if he could get away with buying it and then abusing PayPal's tendency to side with buyers. <facepalm>

I did a little research, found out his age, and we actually called his house to ask his parents if they knew what he was up to. No, they didn't. However, he had a talk with them, they decided to let him go for it, and he did purchase a template, legitimately.

Didn't hear back from him for a while until he IMed me out of the blue, telling me how he was committing federal offenses.

After THAT little shenanigan, he decided to "really work at his business", and place an order for a banner. Then cancel it the next day. Then place it again. Then cancel. This went on for a week or so, then he finally placed an order, but nitpicked CONSTANTLY. "Oh, can I get it more...blue? What's that little glow thing? I don't have any glow on my site. Oh you mean that's a glow there? Well it doesn't look like it. I'm going to be a designer when I grow up, so I've read a lot of books, and I know what I'm talking about." Finally got THAT out of the way.

Then, he bought one of our games. Whined and bagged the WHOLE time about being "just a kid" and wanting discounts and such.

Then, he decided to place another order for a banner. And cancel it. You get the picture. This happened another....eight times. Did I mention that at least once or twice a week, he submits a request for a detailed estimate on a template, or asks me for a list of prices? They take at least 10-15 minutes to type up, to boot. It's really getting frustrating now.

Icing on the cake? I just got a notification from Paypal a little while ago.

Hello Seraph,

We are contacting you to let you know that one of your buyers recently
visited the Resolution Center and attempted to open a dispute against a
payment. The buyer wished to dispute the payment sent on /date/
(Transaction xxxxxx). This dispute has been deferred because it
was not opened within 45 days of payment.

I checked the number and....yeah. Its him. one of his little buddies came e-running up to me to tattle that the kid apparently hoped that he could file it on the VERY last day of the window, and get his money back. If he did, great, and then he'd have gotten 44 days of usage out of the game. If not, no skin off his back, he got to keep it.

Devious little bugger.

But, I was onto him WAAAAAAY long ago, and we've actually taken quite a few precautions against him. I've literally made an answer macro set SPECIFICALLY for this kid (jacked up the price as well hehehehe), and he's not going to be able to buy any more games from us for now on. Gonna suck for him, a bunch of people are on there, asking for a new game.

[thehuckster]

I did a little research, found out his age, and we actually called his house to ask his parents if they knew what he was up to. No, they didn't.

See, this is the part that's sad. I can forgive parents who don't notice everything their teenager does on the Internet, but as soon as money is involved, they should know what their 14-year-old is buying. You can't get a credit card until you turn 18 and even if he had a checking account with a debit card minors must cosign with a guardian for a checking account with a bank. That means his parents have just as much responsibility to look at activity as the kid does.

If he used his parents' credit card and made these purchases without them knowing then wow, that's sad.

[rose_metal_nz]

Perhaps another call to the Parental Units might be in order? This guy's wasting your time and you ARE a legitimate business... Who knows, maybe they'll actually DO something ... one can only hope...

[Alpha Strike]

Seraph:

I'm a bit confused and not all that computer savvy. Without giving away State Secrets (TM) and personal information, what or how are these templates used? And if you make templates, where do games come into the picture?

[Seshat]

Seraph makes website templates, and (I presume) either she or a contractor of hers makes the games. Or they both do, with Seraph doing the art and marketing, and the contractor doing the programming.

As an example, if you look right at the bottom of any of the Customers Suck bboard pages or the Fratching pages, you'll see

vBulletin skins developed by: eXtremepixels
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2011, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.

vBulletin is the bboard code, the 'skin' - ie, the colour scheme, font scheme, and so forth, is by eXtremepixels. The combination could be considered a website template.

It's a template because all Rapscallion & the site management team need to do is add the logo and the site-specific information: all the rest of the background stuff is done for them.

[Seraph]

Yep, sorry for not clarifying. I get lazy sometimes and don't give exposition every time. XD

I'm a web design, I create website templates of course. There's several big parts of my business that I rely on: custom website designs, premade website templates, and premade game apps.

Custom website designs are just what they sound like, I start with a blank canvas and go from there to make someone's website oh so pretty (and witty and briiiiight)

The templates are basically just designs that I made that are pretty standard and can fit just about any setup. Cheap, but that's because its not a custom one-off design, lots of people might have it.

Games are on a side business I run, they're just little small games for a certain type of websites, which allow their users to win small rewards. And yes, I do the art and graphics for the game, someone else does the coding, and a third person does all the server side integration for the games.

Hopefully that explains everything a lot better. ^^

[Stryker One]

Custom Made

Yep, sorry for not clarifying. I get lazy sometimes and don't give exposition every time. XD

I'm a web design

Really? You are? So, what are you written in, Cobol, Assembly, Basic?

[Teefies2]

Yep, sorry for not clarifying. I get lazy sometimes and don't give exposition every time. XD

Custom website designs are just what they sound like, I start with a blank canvas and go from there to make someone's website oh so pretty (and witty and briiiiight)

West Side Story

[Hanzoku]

Honestly, just ban him from future business with you. He sounds like a massive time-waster, with the bonus suckiness of attempted fraud. Maybe refer it to his parents and let them know you're contacting the police to see if what he's doing is a crime?

[emt_cookies]

See, this is the part that's sad. I can forgive parents who don't notice everything their teenager does on the Internet, but as soon as money is involved, they should know what their 14-year-old is buying. You can't get a credit card until you turn 18 and even if he had a checking account with a debit card minors must cosign with a guardian for a checking account with a bank. That means his parents have just as much responsibility to look at activity as the kid does.

If he used his parents' credit card and made these purchases without them knowing then wow, that's sad.

I know five years ago, having a parent co-sign for a debit card was not necessarily true. It may have been because I already had a credit history and a checking account with a parent co-signer at a credit union, but a bank allowed me to open a checking account without my mom cosigning it when I was 16. My mom came to the bank with me because I thought she would have to sign.

[Seraph]

Really? You are? So, what are you written in, Cobol, Assembly, Basic?

...I was more tired than I thought!!

Honestly, just ban him from future business with you. He sounds like a massive time-waster, with the bonus suckiness of attempted fraud. Maybe refer it to his parents and let them know you're contacting the police to see if what he's doing is a crime?

He's banned in all but name, trust me, lol. If he gets the funds to honestly pay what I'm quoting him.....then I guess I'd be fine with that!

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

Sadly I have worked with many much older managers who manage a business just the same as this kid does.

[XCashier]

See, this is the part that's sad. I can forgive parents who don't notice everything their teenager does on the Internet, but as soon as money is involved, they should know what their 14-year-old is buying.

Not just money, but THE LAW. This kid isn't breaking some silly IP rules, he's breaking Federal Law with the fake SSN. And since he's a minor, that means Mummy and Daddy will be held responsible. Meaning the whole bloody family's up Shit Creek without a boat, let alone a paddle, unless Mum and Dad get off their butts and do something to stop him.

I understand letting Junior start a small business; it's a good learning experience (like Junior Achievement is supposed to be). But they really should've been keeping an eye on things, especially since he's underage and they literally are responsible. And even the smartest and savviest kids can regress and do stupid things.

Perhaps another call to the Parental Units might be in order? This guy's wasting your time and you ARE a legitimate business... Who knows, maybe they'll actually DO something ... one can only hope...

I agree with this. It's a good idea. This little fool needs to be stopped before he does serious damage.

[Andara Bledin]

Honestly, if he's really being that much of a pain, you could just report him to PayPal, since they require that you be at least 18 to use the service.

^-.-^

[csquared]

It would also be a good idea to let Paypal know that he is attempting to commit fraud using their service.