Premium rate texts & the Mobile Providers

alex73

If you have every been stung my premium rate texts you know how costly it is. My wife entered a competition and was signed up to getting a 2 euro text message a day.

I firmly believe that we as customers should have the option from the start to disable premium rate texts if we choose to. All to often when we find out we have been conned out of 30/40 euros we call Vodafone/O2/3 and they say its not their issue, and to contact regtel.

Vodafone/O2/3 can provide Companies with Mobiles that have premium rate numbers already blocked, why can't they provide the same service to the public if we want it?

Fighting Irish

lol @ conned

most people are stupid, that's why these premium rate numbers exist, i have been using mobiles for at least 10 years, i've never had a problem with a premium rate number
maybe we should ban the stupid from using mobiles?

Walkman

No, We should not have the Option to Block all premium rate texts.

Same here, never got those stupid messages above I don't text those numbers. All too many people are not aware but ignorance is no excuse. Why should the mobile operators take responsibility when they have nothing to do with people getting signed up to those messages in the first place.

alex73

No, We should not have the Option to Block all premium rate texts.

Walkman wrote: »

Same here, never got those stupid messages above I don't text those numbers. All too many people are not aware but ignorance is no excuse. Why should the mobile operators take responsibility when they have nothing to do with people getting signed up to those messages in the first place.

Its easy for providers to say its not their problem, but the facts are they make 40% profit on the texts. So.. its in their interest we get duped.

dowtchaboy

My kid sister is mentally handicapped (she's in her 50's)- but she can handle a mobile phone, send simple texts and so on. She absolutely loves her phone - keeps her in touch with her brothers and sisters and cousins, and it's also a sort of safety thing.

Well - every so often she starts chewing up phone credit in days - maybe puts in €10 of her own hard-earned money every week and it's gone in 2 days. I have found it is usually the same b****rds who cause it - they run ads screaming "Free entry - win a trip to Disneyland- Free!" or whatever on TV or in the papers. Oh yes it's free - but of course buried in the fine print is the kicker - she gets a text every week telling her she can now watch 2 music videos or something (she does not understand what this is or means) and they deduct 4, 5 or 6 Euros every time they send that text. Sending "stop" to the given number did not work. I have contacted the b****rds (hard to find them) - and after they finally agreed to stop that particular time, I loaded up €10 credit - about 10 minutes later another text came in - another €4.50 or so gone! All went quiet for a few weeks but then I guess she saw another "free" competition, or one of her mates did, and off it went again.

Maybe I am wrong but I think it's that dickhead who fancies himself as Ireland First Space tourist and made all his money from conning the gullible with Irish Psychics Live or whatever?

If I ever meet him.......:mad:

1 in 4 Irish school-leavers are functionally illiterate - seriously! 1 in 4 people cannot read and understand the fine print on cereal boxes and vitamin pill bottles and legal documents - and manufacturers and supermarkets and sharks like this guy take advantage of this.
I can only hope he took the advice of his astrologer and invested everything in property and Anglo Irish Bank shares.

Walkman

No, We should not have the Option to Block all premium rate texts.

alex73 wrote: »

Its easy for providers to say its not their problem, but the facts are they make 40% profit on the texts. So.. its in their interest we get duped.

You get duped cause you up sign the to the service not the networks

drunkmonkey

No, We should not have the Option to Block all premium rate texts.

Never happened to me until I got an iphone, downloaded a free app and while banging away on the screen I hit off one of the ads on the app, suddenly stated to get texted from a nice girl in Mayo who was going to do lots of weird and wonderful things to me.
I never texted back and she eventually went away after a few weeks, but not until she had take some money out of my pocket.

Plenty of people to blame but I'll lay this one on apple's door for letting on shoite apps to the app store with the potential to defraud. I expected more from them, again.

Run_to_da_hills

No, We should not have the Option to Block all premium rate texts.

Fighting Irish wrote: »

lol @ conned

most people are stupid, that's why these premium rate numbers exist, i have been using mobiles for at least 10 years, i've never had a problem with a premium rate number
maybe we should ban the stupid from using mobiles?

Other people don't even have the intelligebnce to be stupid. :rolleyes:

Fighting Irish

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Other people don't even have the intelligebnce to be stupid. :rolleyes:

:rolleyes:

Mimikyu

No, We should not have the Option to Block all premium rate texts.

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