Mobile phone "subscription services" rip-offs continue unabated

national | consumer issues | opinion/analysis

Wednesday February 21, 2007 10:09

by Jim O'Sullivan

Over the past few years operators have been allowed to exploit mobile phone owners by misleading them into "subscriptiopn servcies" where they are exploited. Its time to call a halt.

Over the past few years operators have been allowed to exploit mobile phone owners by misleading them into a "subscription service" which then allows the operator to systematically take money from the phone owners call credit. The most common has been the one where the phone owner orders a ringtone or a wallpaper unaware that a condition of sale is "memebrship" of a "subscription service" which will take money from their call credit at regular intervals.Young people and new phone owners are particularly targeted. RegTel have received many complaints yet the rip-off is allowed to continue and we see a variation of the ploy as phone owners wise up to the scams.

There is a promotion currently running by IVT which places ads in the Irish versions of the British red tops, TV3 and surprisingly, RTE. Each paper, magazine or TV ad offers a different prize such as Trips to New York, Trips to Premier League football games, Trips to the Algarve, 50" plasma TV's, Tickets for a Rugby match etc. All these prizes have been seperately advertised during the current month of Feb, yet only one will be drawn for and this is done without any independent observer present. So if you are a Mirror reader and you think you have entered a draw for a Premier League football game, your chances of winning such a prize is remote as this prize may not even be drawn for this month. When or indeed if ever such a prize will be drawn is entirely up to IVT, however to stay in the "game", IVT will take €2 every 4 days from your call credit.( That is €15 per draw and nowhere do the ads state the true cost of each entry) IVT neglect to say what prize will be drawn for in any particular month. In addition much of the text of the ads is misleading, one actually stating that great prizes can be won "every week" when in fact the draw is monthly.There is no controls in place to ensure that a fair percentage of the money taken in will be repaid out in prizes. It's a licence to print money in fact.

RegTel are supposed to be regulating the activities of these operators but instead of doing this they have spent the past year building barriers between themselves and phone owners. If you ring the number provided to make a complaint, you are routed to an answering service that can only advise that all complaints must be made in writting. And despite clear evidence that phone owners are being misled en-masse, RegTel confine their actions to each individual complaint.

Many suggestions have been forwarded to RegTel which would protect phone owners from exploitation, yet they continue to sit by and allow this situation to continue. The Minister for Communications has also washed his hands of the matter and hides behind the excuse that a "Regulator" is in place and it is his responsbility to act. The problem is of course that the said "Regulator" is part of the "self regulation" business that has flourished under the laissez-faire economic policies of the present government. This is part of the "everyman for himself" ethic that informs all this govermnments fiscal policies.

With an election around the corner, phone owners should seek assurrances from prospective candiddates that this preying on phone owners will stop and the best way to do that is to ensure that operators cannot take money from call credit unless the phone owner clearly agrees to the transaction on EACH AND EVERY occasion. Should a phone owner not reply to a prompt for payment then no money can be removed. There are many other simply ways that phone owners can be protected from these predators, it only requires the will to want to do so. At present all the rules favour the Operators and this must change. Phone owners are being duped out of thousands of euro every year . Surely its time to call a halt.

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Comments (7 of 7)

faulty fone

by marc.f

Sat Jul 14, 2007 18:35

come_on_2002 at hotmail dot com

i am a meteor bill pay customer. i got a upgrade at the start of march. since that time i have had to send my fone into repair 4 time. my the terms and conditions on the meteor policy i was meant to recevive a new fone after its 3rd repair but i am been told by meteor that it is not aloud. they said that they will let me sign a new 12 month contract but after all the pain and hassel they have caused me i want to change net works but they are saying that i have to pay a fee for bracking there terms and condtitions.
if they have broken there terms and conditions first for not replacing my phone after its 3rd repair should i be liable for the fee for breaking the the contract on my end?
many thanks
marc

Your one of many

Wed Apr 25, 2007 18:36

Hi Bren,
Glad to see you picked up the scam early. Your story is very typical and it is obvious that these operators are sending out what is called "reverse billing" texts randomly or they have bought what is called a "sucker list" from another operator which gives the number of phone owners that have used a mobile phone club in the past, possibly just to buy a ringtone or a wallpaper. RegTel are supposed to be regulating this business and they know perfectly well that there is a problem but they refuse to tackle the matter and remove the possibility that a phone owner could be abused in this manner. This can be done very simply if the will was there to do it. The problem is that RegTel is part of the business as they are a self regulatory agency. We need the Minister to intervene and stop the scams, all of them.
No doubt by now you will have read of the huge rip off in the UK by these opertors running quizzes. The situation here is in fact much worse, last year there was 6,000 complaints in the UK (Pop 60,000,000)about these "subcription services" while there was 12,500 complaints here (Pop 4,000,000) This indicates a massive problem by comparison and bad as the regulator in the UK is, ours is very much worse.The difference is that the UK has the BBC that will take up these issues while it is very difficult to get anybody here to challange the status quo. It appears that very powerful people are behind these companies.
Regarding your own specific case, you must insist on proof from the operator that you did indeed access a "service". It is possible because the advertising in this business is very misleading, although our experience from dealing with many cases would indicate that you were the victim of random texting. We have not had one case where an operator could prove the claim that the phone owner had accessed a "service". You must also insist that you receive a full refund of all money taken.

You should also mention this to your public reprersentaives, particularly when they call canvassing. We have begun a campaign to have the Minister introduce proper safeguards to bring this business to order so that people can use their phones without being concerned that a third party is entering their account and removing money or billing them.

I will send the letter we sent to the Minister to your email address for your information. In the meantime we recommend that phone owners;

1) do not respond to any advertising for ringtones, wallpapers, quizzes etc. or any offers of something for nothing, such as free call credit.
2) Investigate any texts received from unknown sources. Call your Network Provider and ask them to explain any such texts received. If the text is a "reverse billing" prompt and if you ignore it or delete it, it will go on taking your call credit.
3) Keep an eye on the phones of the young and unsuspecting. These are now being targeted by advertisements for "Playstation 3" and the like.

I will post any additional information as it comes to hand.

Reg Tel

by Bren1609

Wed Apr 25, 2007 12:03

Hi there. I recently found out I was subscribed to two of these services. I only noticed when I got my phone bill. I queried it with Reg Tel and they told me the procedure so I contacted the company who I was subscribed to and requested a call log. They told me that I had subscribed via wap to a free call credit competition. Here's the thing, I have a bill phone why would I subscribe to a free call credit competition.

Anyway, if you have any further advice here's my e-mail

brendanbrady@hotmail.com

Help for Eskimo

by Jim O'Sullivan - Community Alliance-Sligo

Thu Mar 29, 2007 17:24

Hi Eskimo. The people to contact in the first instance are;
RegTel,
Crescent Hall,
Mount Street Crescent,
Dublin 3
Ph 01 6767025
Fax 01 6767035
Email info@regtel.ie
Under normal circumstances if you simply text "stop" to the short code 5 digit number for the service provider,the guy who is taking your money, this should stop them.
What has happened to you is happening to many people. You were misled into what is called a "subscription service", you probably thought you were buying a ringtone or a wallpaper in a once off transaction however the advertisements fail to spell out that a condition of sale is that you "join" this "subscription service" and once in that, the company can enter your call credit directly and take your money, even in return for nothing. (Welcome to the brave new PD Celtic Tiger Ireland.)
Recently these operaters have started advertising Prize Draw competitions. These are twice as misleading and dangerous. The one referred to in the lead post costs €15 per draw which is supposed to happen once a month.However nobody checks. The €15 is taken €2 every 4 days so it can take time for people to realise what is happening as call credit is almost impossible to monitor.

A word of warning. RegTel are in fact a self regulatory agency paid for by the same guys that are taking your money so that is the reason that these cowboys can apparently get away with robbery. When you phone RegTel, you will find that they have now hidden behind a very plausible chap, a call service, who will give whatever advise you need. I strongly suggest that you insist that you want a refund as you never intended to "join" a "subscription service" and you have received nothing in return for money taken. If you have any further difficulty, post again and I will give you my contact details and I will take up your case for you.

freedom

by the eskimo - i want freedom

Thu Mar 29, 2007 13:57

Can anyone post instructions on how to get free of those rip-offs ?

Warning on scam

by Watcher

Thu Mar 29, 2007 13:10

Ads appearing in the Red Tops and on TV targeting children and youngsters for "holidays to Ibitza" and "Playstation 3" are just lures to entrap phone owners in "subscription services" If you answer, they will take €2 every 4 days from your call credit.The company from Dun Laoghaire that are running this promotion are failing to give full up front details of what is involved. The prizes that are being advertised may not even be drawn for. Best not to be tempted into responding at all and warn the kids to stay away from these so called competitons. They are inveribly scams out to poach peoples call credit.

can we get our money back?

by Ripped off

Wed Mar 28, 2007 12:17

Just got my daughter free from these leeches. They were taking her call credit for months. Is there nothing that can be done to stop this subscription service scam? Has the government now legalised robbery?

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Mobile phone "subscription services" rip-offs continue unabated

Comments (7 of 7)