Minor-Purchase Refund Estimator
Unauthorized spending by a child — on Fortnite, Roblox, Steam, or elsewhere — is often reversible through the card issuer, and COPPA strengthens the case for under-13 spend.
Minor-Purchase Refund Estimator
For unauthorized spending by a child, your strongest route is a card-issuer reversal (and COPPA for under-13). Enter the details to see the path.
Recommended path
Under-13: COPPA + issuer reversal
- Under-13 spend is the strongest case: COPPA plus card-issuer unauthorized-transaction rules support reversing the charge.
Steps
- For purchases made by a child under 13, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) plus card-issuer unauthorized-transaction rules are your strongest path: request a reversal of the unauthorized charge and, for persistent in-game spending, pursue a refund through the platform’s parental-refund process.
- Contact Steam (Valve)’s parental-refund / unauthorized-purchase process with proof the account holder is under 13.
- Open a dispute with your card issuer for the unauthorized transaction (FCBA 60-day window if on a credit card; debit cards have shorter issuer timelines).
- If the platform refuses and the charge was unauthorized, the CFPB complaint portal and your state AG consumer office are escalation points.
- For context: small-claims limits vary by state ($2,500–$25,000) — usually not worth it for a single game, but relevant for large in-game spending.
Document everything (dates, amounts, the child’s account). Act quickly — card-issuer unauthorized-transaction windows are short.