Premium Chat Trouble

LegacyUser

Hi all

I recently got sky and used my credit card to chat to the nice
lady on one of the chat channels.

Yesterday I got a text saying my account has been topped up with €40
and will be topped up each month. I found this distressing, it's not illegal
what they have done, but it is defo not fair.

The company on the credit card statement is Sremium Ltd.

I don't want this subscription and have tried to find out how to cancel.

AIB Credit Card centre (very helpful staff) told me to write a letter to the company and they will take it from there.

Anyone out there have any experience with this and get a result?

Thanks

Victor

Check their website.

If you have any problems check out www.regtel.ie

dudara

Not really a PI. Even though you posted unregg'd, I'm moving this to Consumer Issues.

dudara

Ste.phen

Any update on that?
I've seen a few companies do things like this recently, did you get the money back?

redpaulyd

Hi

did you get a result with this problem?

the_syco

If he did, as this doesn't allow anonymous posting, I doubt he'll write it here.

Trinity

Dont think its the same thing but i text a tarot line and soon as i was done i text STOP to the appropriate number. And also text NOMORE for good measure.

Few weeks later i was still getting texts so i contacted the provider who told me i had text stop to the wrong number. I told her that i had unsubbed to the number they had provided and if it was incorrect it was their fault. She said she couldnt find the text i had sent or they had sent me.

I casually mentioned i was going to the consumer association as what they were doing was illegal and all of a sudden she found the text!!

I had indeed text it to the correct number and i received a cheque for 48 euro in the post. If they can get away with it they will continue to do it. I'm not proud of texting the tarot line and had only done it to prove someone wrong as the same number had spouted them a load of ****e but you should be able to unsub without so much hassle.

ciarancummins

did a bit of research for a technophobe who got screwed by this. Sremium is the credit card clearing company, black dog provide the service. From the sremium website:

http://www.sremium.com/contact.html

"Credit Card Chat
The service "Credit Card Chat" is not provided by Sremium Ltd, it is provided by Blackdog. Should you have a query regarding this service please contact Lorraine Kinsella in Blackdog (Lorraine@theblack-dog.com / 0818 286600). Sremium provides the credit card processing to Blackdog and thus appears on your credit card bill.
"

HTH

foggy_lad

Trinity wrote: »

Dont think its the same thing but i text a tarot line and soon as i was done i text STOP to the appropriate number. And also text NOMORE for good measure.

Few weeks later i was still getting texts so i contacted the provider who told me i had text stop to the wrong number. I told her that i had unsubbed to the number they had provided and if it was incorrect it was their fault. She said she couldnt find the text i had sent or they had sent me.

I casually mentioned i was going to the consumer association as what they were doing was illegal and all of a sudden she found the text!!

I had indeed text it to the correct number and i received a cheque for 48 euro in the post. If they can get away with it they will continue to do it. I'm not proud of texting the tarot line and had only done it to prove someone wrong as the same number had spouted them a load of ****e but you should be able to unsub without so much hassle.

all those premium lines should be banned!! surely telling you all these lies is illegal? can they claim they were just mistaken?

droghorn

I just got out of this situation myself.

It was very upsetting to me but it's all over now.

How it works is that you ring the number on screen and
give your credit card details to access the service.

Then they text your account code to your mobile.

This is a 6 digit number, that lets you quickly access the
service and top up your account with money from your
credit card at will, no questions asked.

Then you can attempt to chat to the person
on-screen ( if you're lucky enough to get past
the tricky "press 1 for..." menus that go nowhere.)

Anyway, after you've finished your chat, your automatically
subscribed for €40 a month auto deducted from your
credit card.

This is not illegal, it is buried in the terms and conditions
that are at the bottom of the screen in tiny writing.

How you get out of is check the credit card statement first.

You don't have to wait for the statement to come in the post,
you can call your credit card providerand ask them to tell
you the name of the last company that you did a transaction with.

The company that handled my payment was called Sremium Ltd.
After doing a web search with Google and the Golden Pages,
I got their site http://www.sremium.com/ and their number and called them.

They told me that they are only the technology provider for another
company Black Dog Communications. This is the company that you are
subscribed to. Their webisite is http://www.theblack-dog.com

Both these websites give mimimum details, but to cancel
the subscription, you call Black Dog on 0818 286 660
and tell them you want to cancel. they will take your mobile
number and cancel your account.

Now, to make sure that you are cancelled, you have to try to
use the service. If when you key in your 6 digit number, the systems
says that "this does not appear to be a valid account" then you're cancelled.

I also rang them back and got them to text me a confirmation
message from a company mobile phone. They did this after two
reminder calls from me.

krudler

foggy_lad wrote: »

all those premium lines should be banned!! surely telling you all these lies is illegal? can they claim they were just mistaken?

As long as theres fools willing to part with their money there'll always be premium lines, especially the psychic and sex line ones, have absolutely zero sympathy for people who get screwed by these companies, its your own fault

foggy_lad

most of the "fools" that get sucked in by these scammers are suffering from depression/mental illness and also very vulnerable after maybe loss of family members etc and these companies take full advantage of this including telling people they have not unsubscribed when they have, anything to get money from you!

krudler

foggy_lad wrote: »

most of the "fools" that get sucked in by these scammers are suffering from depression/mental illness and also very vulnerable after maybe loss of family members etc and these companies take full advantage of this including telling people they have not unsubscribed when they have, anything to get money from you!

No, they're just fools,anyone that thinks a text message service can tell their future is clearly an idiot and deserves to be ripped off, same goes for people who ring sex lines, thats what t'internet is for;)

jor el

foggy_lad wrote: »

most of the "fools"

I don't think you can make the claim that most of the people who use these services are in some way ill, or unable to control themselves. Where is the proof of that?

BnA

krudler wrote: »

No, they're just fools,anyone that thinks a text message service can tell their future is clearly an idiot and deserves to be ripped off, same goes for people who ring sex lines, thats what t'internet is for;)

Yes, a lot of people that use these services are indeed Gobshoites. The same kind of people who would go to a Tarot reader and the like.

But very often, the people who are caught out and end up spending vast ammount of moneys on them are people who are vunerable for one reason or another. Either through lonliness, or illness or something like that.

It is very easy to be brazen and just call them all fools when you are in a safe secure happy environment yourself. But I hate to think of people who are in a sh1t place in their lives being preyed on by these scumbags.

skip20100

all in small print lads im sure .but who makes people phone or text these lines.expensive and prices are shown .i guess it pays someones wages probably not much though.:rolleyes::mad:

dudara

skip20100 This thread is over 1.5 years old, therefore I'm going to close it.

dudara