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Unwanted Texts

evil_seed

I've been getting text messages from 57704 for the past month. I'm guessing this is a subscription service. I didn't subscribe!!!! It's from Fone Club offering free credit. The bastard texts cost almost a euro to receive and it's eating my credit. Anyone know how to stop? Should I contact Vodafone? There is no number in any of the texts to unsubscribe to this. Help please

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princess k

Hiya...generally if you text STOP to the number they will un-subscribe you...even though you didn't subscribe in the first place...it's frustrating how these people get our numbers...

dudara

Not a PI. Moved to the mobiles forum.

Cabaal

text STOP back to the number afaik,
Hardly a personal issue to be honest

also you or somebody else had to subscribe from your phone/SIM in order for you to get the texts

evil_seed

cheers for the move. couldn't find the mobiles thread. only place i could think of

Oryx

From the regtel website:

SMS Short Code Allocations - Results for Code "57704"

Short Code Service Provider Telephone
57704 Realm Communications 0818 286 606 unsub@realm.ie

Hopefully this will help you unsubscribe

Saruman

Also from the same page: http://www.regtel.ie/consumeradvice.htm
Call the number and complain about them. This will not stop others being hijacked like you unless people do something about it

chrislad

Ring RegTel on 1850 741741

J.S. Pill

Its worse than you think

57704 is registered to a company called 'relam communications'. They've been running a 'service' for quite some time now called 'phoneclub'. OP, you mentioned that you never subscribed. What often happens is, mobile owners will receive a text message for free from this company that directs the user to a WAP link. once the link is followed the user is signed up to the service. Its not something thats necessarily requested.

Under data protection legislation, the sending of text messages that direct users towards premium rate services is illegal UNLESS the user has had a business transaction with the company in the last 12 months. This is where it gets complicated. Realm communications will generally only target numbers that have been acquired by it or one of its sister companies. So essentially one your number gets on their database you're at risk of being targeted.

How do you get on their database? Realm communications is a sister company of 'Opera telecom'. If you ever see any competition lines or comment lines operated by TV3 or chanel 6 you will notice in small print at the bottom: Service provider - Opera telecom. So basically if you've ever used any of these services opera will have your number.

Is this legal? I didn;t think so at first but there must be some kind of loophole they're exploiting if they keep getting away with it. Is anything being done about it? Little. Opera/realm's practices would appear to be illegal under the data protection act but I have been unable to clarify this with the data protection commissioner (despite much correspondence). I wouldn't put much faith in Regtel to do anything about this, they have very little clout and are funded by the industry. Data protection have more power and have held opera telecom to account for similar practices see annual report (pdf) p.37. What I therefore suggest you do is send a letter of complaint to the data protection commissioner, not regtel. By all means ring regtel to get your number unsubscribed but when you do ask specifically to 'have your number removed from Opera telecom's database' or else they may just unsubscribe you this time and continue the service at another date.

Could anyone who'd had similar experiences please PM me

Sorry for being in any way vague but I really got to go to bed now;)

micks

i had similar prob i was entered into draw for 10 credit and didnt realise for 6 or so months that it cost me €2 a shot.When i found out i called O2 who nicely refunded the credit and contacted them to STOP no PROBLEMS SINCE!

J.S. Pill

micks wrote:

i had similar prob i was entered into draw for 10 credit and didnt realise for 6 or so months that it cost me €2 a shot.When i found out i called O2 who nicely refunded the credit and contacted them to STOP no PROBLEMS SINCE!

A draw? How did you enter?

Did you receive a text message informing you abut the draw or was this from a form you rilled in or what?

Don't suppose you remember the 5 digit short code? (e.g. 57700)

Mobile phone companies won't always issue refunds as it it the people operating the service that make the money. If you want a refund the phone company and regtel will either give you the phone number of the company (which are usually next to impossible to get through to) or they will contact the company for you and get them to ring you to talk about a refund (and of course the service provider isn't going to give up without a fight.

Pythia

JS Pill, that's some really helpful info you gave there. My boyfriend also got caught up in this. I suspected this was what happened but wasn't sure til now.
Thanks

ricky k

i have been bled dry by this shower. aparantly i ended up on the database of realm communications from a phone call i made to a premium rate line in 2003 i have tried on numerous occasions to be removed from all their databases but it obviously wasnt done.
i got snagged on it by opening a wap text that was sent to my phone unsolicited. got it sorted this morning. no point ringing regtel, they are useless and appear to more on the side of the premium rate provider. contact opera telecom (a sister telecom of realm communications, the owner of which went to space recently as Ireland's first space tourist on our money!) on 014661166 and do not give up until they committ to giving you a refund. they cant put it back on your phone but should be able to send you a cheque. insist that you want to be removed from all the databases, for promotions or otherwise, and isnsist that you are informed in writing that this has been done. you will have a bit of a fight on your hands to get a refund, but dont take no for an answer. insist that this "promotional" text was unsolicited.

good luck

J.S. Pill

ricky k wrote:

i have been bled dry by this shower. aparantly i ended up on the database of realm communications from a phone call i made to a premium rate line in 2003 i have tried on numerous occasions to be removed from all their databases but it obviously wasnt done

The Data protection commissioner's guidelines (based on the Data protection acts on 1988 and 2003) state that SMS messages "for the purpose of direct marketing cannot be sent to you without your prior consent unless it is from someone with whom you have a current customer relationship". The same guidelines state that "a ‘current customer relationship’ exists only where a business and a customer have engaged in business transaction within the last 12 months". As it applies to your case, this means that if you made the phone call to the premuim line in 2003, realm communications may have been entitled to send you marketing messages within 12 months of the call being made (subject to other criteria of course, for instance, the marketing messages must be related to a similar service to the one which you originally utilised). However, assuming you started reveiving these messages this year, realm communications have went way outseide this 12 month period!

ricky k wrote:

i got snagged on it by opening a wap text that was sent to my phone unsolicited. got it sorted this morning. no point ringing regtel, they are useless and appear to more on the side of the premium rate provider.

I wouldn't say useless. The people who answer the phones will generally do the best they can for you but just remember that they have limited powers.

ricky k wrote:

contact opera telecom (a sister telecom of realm communications, the owner of which went to space recently as Ireland's first space tourist on our money!) on 014661166 and do not give up until they committ to giving you a refund. they cant put it back on your phone but should be able to send you a cheque. insist that you want to be removed from all the databases, for promotions or otherwise, and isnsist that you are informed in writing that this has been done. you will have a bit of a fight on your hands to get a refund, but dont take no for an answer. insist that this "promotional" text was unsolicited.

good luck

Well done. Thats exactly how I would have went about it. Unfortunately there are an awful lot of people out there who just don't have the time, energy or inteligence to confront this company. Realm communications know this very well and make it as hard as possible for people to get their money back.

krudler

these things are the bane of our lives in customer care,every day i get at least 10-15 enquiries about getting unsubscribed from them,as far as i cansee its completely unethical and would love to give people refunds but we cant except in extreme cases,i am sick to death of people screaming down the phone at me though youd swear i broke into their house and stole the money from them the way some people carry on,people do request the services though people need to remember that,i dealt with a guy who had 2 GRAND of premium texts and calls on a single bill once,but he was getting them all himself,he even said they were for adult chatlines,like i needed to know that!

J.S. Pill

krudler wrote:

youd swear i broke into their house and stole the money from them the way some people carry on

Thats in effect what some of these companies are doing though. And its not small amounts of money as I'm sure you know.

Seanieoneill

I received a letter telling me that as a valued former customer, I have been awarded 100 Credit. I was told that if I join I will get 100 credit per month at a cost of just 40.