How to get real Microsoft human help for a digital purchase?

Sean Sullivan 0 Reputation points
2026-07-23T16:14:50.4366667+00:00

I had followed one of the directions to purchase Minecraft for my child, using the "Purchase as a Gift" option from the parent account. After trying to redeem it from my child's account, Microsoft blocked it because the account is for "under 18". The other way is to go into my child's account and request my parent account to purchase it. Having already purchased it as a gift, I wanted to request a refund so I can purchase it the second way. There's no way to refund it though because I attempted to redeem it, making it a non-refundable purchase. I attempted to get it resolved using the Xbox Virtual assistant and it's responses could not give me a straight answer. Every time I try to request any sort of live human support, it just gives me an error and to "try again later". I've been trying to resolve this now for over 2 hours. So now I'm stuck with the immoral option that Microsoft is presenting me: lie about my child's age on the account and removing parental protection because that child is now "18", OR make a double purchase for one instance of the game so that my child can play the game.

Further, I can't follow the guide on writing a question because it says it's down, and the tag hierarchy doesn't fit any of the descriptions that I need. Microsoft feels so criminal with how much they want to take advantage of honest customers.


[Tag moved from: Microsoft Security | Microsoft Identity Manager]

Microsoft 365 and Office | Subscription, account, billing | For home | Other
0 comments No comments

1 answer

Sort by: Most helpful
  1. Norah-L 9,110 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-07-29T07:05:54.1433333+00:00

    Dear Sean,

    I’m sorry you have to deal with this. I understand that you purchased Minecraft as a gift from your parent account, but your child’s account was blocked from redeeming it because of the age restriction. You have also been unable to request a refund or reach a live support agent.

    You can try contacting Microsoft Support through live chat by following these steps:

    1.  Go to: https://support.microsoft.com/home/contact
    2. In the search box, enter a short description of your issue.
    3. Hit "Get Help"
    4. Scroll down and select Sign in to contact support for further assistance (please sign in using a personal Microsoft account). Follow the on-screen prompts, and when asked to choose a category, select Billing support to reach the appropriate Support team.

    Tips:

    • Have the order number, purchase date, gift-code status, and exact redemption error ready. Ask the billing agent to review the transaction and advise whether a refund is available. If the contact page shows “Try again later,” reopen it in an InPrivate/Incognito window or use a different browser. In the meantime, avoid changing your child’s date of birth or purchasing another copy until Microsoft Support has reviewed the original order.
    • Support chat availability may vary by country/region, product, and support hours. If you can't get in touch with a chat agent right away, trying again later or at a different time may help.

    Hopefully your concerns will soon be addressed. Thank you so much for your patience!

    Best regards.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments

Your answer

Answers can be marked as 'Accepted' by the question author and 'Recommended' by moderators, which helps users know the answer solved the author's problem.