Zamano

legend73 · 30-04-2009 1:56pm

I'm guessing that if someone was to put my number in to a website, you recieve a message giving the T&C's and if you agree you're opted in. I would simply not agree, or unsubsribe like what I do with unsolicited emails.

If what you are saying Paddyo is that they sent a message that said you are subscribed without any provication then you would be spot on (that is illegal), that is exactly what my niece said, but when the facts came out she was lying, she had opted in and had confirmed the service.

The process of getting a refund was fairly painless as she was a minor, but the time wasted because of her story telling was what was really annoying.

as forest gump said, thats all i've got to say about that.

Hydrosylator · 30-04-2009 7:20pm

legend73 wrote: »

I'm guessing that if someone was to put my number in to a website, you recieve a message giving the T&C's and if you agree you're opted in. I would simply not agree, or unsubsribe like what I do with unsolicited emails.

You keep having this problem where you assume that everything is always above board where the actions of the premium text companies are concerned.

Maybe you're naive or you're digging your heels in for the sake of it. The fact is you're talking like companies never do anything wrong, and all your arguments omit the possibility that in any of these cases, the company could be in the wrong.

You say yourself that you've never had this problem because you never use any premium services (because you're not a numpty). This suggests to me that you have a deep distrust of them, which seems at odds with some of your statements here.

The fact is my auld lad's been using the Met office's weather text service for years without any problems.
When he used a voting service on an RTE show, which I add, was explicitly labelled as not being a subscription service, on a state broadcaster, the problem began.

The problem was that he began receiving service texts which bore no relation to anything he had used, and for which no evidence of subscription could be provided. Indeed, his phone statement disproved that he had ever subscribed. The service (Ztarot I think it was) was run by the same company who apparently provide RTE's text services, Zamano.

So either they had a foul up on their end (maybe their resources were under strain) or they deliberately harvested phone data for premium spamming purposes.

I agree with you that the best approach to this problem is never to give your number to anyone running such services.

My reason is that these ****ers can't be trusted, and the law is far too often on their side.

Bob Z · 30-04-2009 11:36pm

legend73 wrote: »

I'm guessing that if someone was to put my number in to a website, you recieve a message giving the T&C's and if you agree you're opted in. I would simply not agree, or unsubsribe like what I do with unsolicited emails.

If what you are saying Paddyo is that they sent a message that said you are subscribed without any provication then you would be spot on (that is illegal), that is exactly what my niece said, but when the facts came out she was lying, she had opted in and had confirmed the service.

The process of getting a refund was fairly painless as she was a minor, but the time wasted because of her story telling was what was really annoying.

as forest gump said, thats all i've got to say about that.

Is it possible your niece wasnt lying? These things are a bit confusing. Intentionally so i think

foggy_lad · 01-05-2009 12:00am

Bob Z wrote: »

Is it possible your niece wasnt lying? These things are a bit confusing. Intentionally so i think

most people only subscribe by accident because of the underhand tactics of the companies involved.

legend73 · 01-05-2009 9:32am

Compaines do make mistakes all the time after all they are full of people. Look at all the accusations, insuiations & assumptions in this thread from all in sundry including myself.

legend73 · 01-05-2009 9:36am

foggy_lad wrote: »

most people only subscribe by accident because of the underhand tactics of the companies involved.

According to this article they have over 500,000 subscribers - clearly that would mean this topic would probably bring down boards.ie if that was the case.

http://www.finfacts.com/irelandbusinessnews/publish/article_1011906.shtml

Hydrosylator · 01-05-2009 1:03pm

legend73 wrote: »

According to this article they have over 500,000 subscribers - clearly that would mean this topic would probably bring down boards.ie if that was the case.

http://www.finfacts.com/irelandbusinessnews/publish/article_1011906.shtml

Actually, according to the article, it was Red Circle, who Zamano acquired, that had over 500,000 subscribers, and those divided between UK, Australia, USA and Ireland. It the subscriptions were divided evenly by population, however unlikely, Ireland would have less than 2% of those subscriptions.

As Red Circle specialise in supplying porn to mobile phones, I'd agree that those subscriptions would be brought about by a different kind of fumbling to accidental texting.

However, this is no indicator of the success or otherwise of Zamano's in-house texting services. Neither it is an indicator of what strategies they may employ to profit from those same services.

legend73 · 01-05-2009 3:39pm

As far as I’m aware all premium txt services are all governed by the same regs and rules, so it doesn’t matter if it’s a txt or porn or games or ringtones, chat services etc. They all have the same opt in methods and opt out methods.

So far as that article it is over 1 year old and the two companies are now 1 in the same. So the services people subscribe to could come from either entity in the exact manner.

OK so looking at Zamano pre Red-Circle. % is actually based on mobile units per capita, of which Ireland is higher then both Oz the UK in 2007. For Zamano to generate revenues of 24.7 million in 07 they would need to have sent 10,000,000 txts at €2.50 or 190,000 a week - that is the number of subscribers they have. I don’t know the breakdown of Oz, Eire and UK actually works. But on a per capita of mobile phone, it would be more like 5-6% attributed to Irish traffic. But being an Irish owned company I'm even guessing that they do a lot more than that here. 5-6% would only be 9,000-11,000 subscribers which seems low to me considering the comreg stats.

After writing this I read that Zamano are more of an application provider, so they would make maybe 10% of the charges, so you can actually times everything by 10. That would mean 90,000-110,000 Irish subscribers at a guess.

mobile per capita
http://www.nationmaster.com/red/graph/med_tel_mob_iel_percap-telephones-mobile-cellular-per-capita&date=2007
Zamano revenues
http://www.zamano.com/investors/investor-news.html
Phone subscribers
http://www.mxtelecom.com/uk/smsg/premium/ie
According to this website in Sep 2006 there were - 4,372,000 phone subscribers in Ireland for that month!

I 100% agree with the point that the way they go about getting business is questionable, but it is up to the consumer to read the fine print. Try buying a house in this country! It is buyer beware. So pocket phoning, not knowing you signed up for a subscription are not the problem of the companies involved here. People have to grow up & take responsibility for there actions and be aware that the world is not a fair place. 5,000,000 Irish phone subscribers at this stage can't be all getting duped it would be a conspiracy to match how Bush got 2 terms let alone 1 in the Whitehouse.

For those that have been subscribed without consent should take the bastards to court, TV, Radio & make sure they have the proof to back it up.

I'm also thinking that seeing how they somewhat doubled the revenues in 08 that is attributed to the Red-Circle subscription numbers and acquisition.

Anyway - long w/end awaits, enjoy and dont be subscribing to a service from a poster in the mens rooms at the pub!

conner · 02-05-2009 12:29pm

legend73 wrote:

For those that have been subscribed without consent should take the bastards to court, TV, Radio & make sure they have the proof to back it up.

Unless Irish law is completely opposite to UK law I think you will find the onus would be on Zamano and the Network Operator to produce evidence of a valid sales agreement.

condra · 03-05-2009 6:55pm

Personally, I would like to see all premium telephony services completely outlawed.

They are barely legal scams as it is, and they profit from vunerable members of society- stupid people, horny/lonely/drunk men, and naive kids.

It's an utterly cynical and deplorable way of making money.

Raiser · 07-07-2009 7:10pm

I did a small bit of digging and 20 seconds later discovered that the evil spawn that became todays Zamano was nourished from the payslips of you and me both via Enterprise Ireland and and then sheltered similarly in our stunning Digital Hub.......

- I'm sickened; In my opinion there's a better level of decency and integrity in Mountjoy & would like to see Zamano's crooks spend some time there.

My Missus was robbed blind after voting on some RTE TV show competition etc. and I am disgusted that this daylight robbery is allowed to continue to this day.

I reserve the right to hold a personal opinion on business practices of this nature and to express said personal opinion

http://www.thedigitalhub.com/enterprise_research/enterprise_case_study1.php

DigitalHub/Enterprise Ireland Site wrote:

Zamano, a leading provider of digital entertainment to mobile devices, was founded in Dublin in 2000, and has been located in The Digital Hub since January 2004. Initially locating in the Digital Depot building, a business incubator run by the Digital Hub Development Agency, and Enterprise Ireland, Zamano are one of the first significant digital media companies to graduate from The Digital Hub’s incubation space and enter the “high growth scaling division”.* From humble beginnings in 2001 Zamano grew and by the time they moved to The Digital Hub’s incubator space in January 2004 they had 16 employees. Zamano benefited from enterprise support from both Enterprise Ireland and The Digital Hub. According to John O’ Shea, MD of Zamano, “The worst thing you can do is take out a long term lease on an office and then in a year you’ve outgrown it and have to get a new lease and infrastructure”.

With the flexibility to scale with greater ease Zamano’s profitability continued to increase in 2005 and their total number of employees was by now 23. The company was placed second in the Deloitte Fast 50 Rising Star category, a ranking of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in Ireland. In 2006 Zamano moved out of the Digital Depot’s incubation space to a new office in The Digital Hub at 4 St. Catherine’s Lane West. This move, facilitated by The Digital Hub, allowed Zamano to “focus on running the business”, while The Digital Hub put together “the right infrastructure: putting desks, phones and net access in place” according to O’Shea. Their Digital Hub location has also provided Zamano with near at hand customers from the Digital Hub’s enterprise cluster of like minded companies – they have 5 customers in the vicinity of the campus – and can remain close to other potential customers and suppliers of their products and services

In 2006 Zamano expanded into the Australian market and significantly they floated on the alternative investment market (AIM) in London on the 31st of October. Zamano’s admission to AIM raised the profile of the company, and it was followed by their listing on the Irish Enterprise Exchange (IEX) on 26th of February 2007. Importantly Zamano’s IPO has aided further strategic acquisitions, the most recent being Red Circle Technologies Limited, their fifth acquisition and second in 2007 alone. 2007 also saw Zamano rank number 2 in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50.

Zamano continues to expand into new territories and increase investment in new technology. They are currently focusing on the scaling of their SMS business, the ongoing development of new WAP services and the growing demand for 3G mobile video services. Zamano can avail of doorstep access to leading edge research that The Digital Hub offers: They are currently taking part in a mobile TV project which is facilitated in The Digital Hub by the Digital Media Forum, with the express intention of bringing various stakeholders together to look at the wider possibilities and issues of Mobile TV and how it can appeal to a wide audience. Zamano now employ a staff of 37 in The Digital Hub. Zamano is now a leading provider of mobile services to UK, Australian and Irish mobile operators, such as Orange, Telstra, O2 and 3 Mobile among others. Beside these business partners, some of Zamano’s other customers include RTE.ie, Vivas Health, and Buy and Sell. This fast growing Irish Digital Media company is just one example of the enterprise focus of The Digital Hub. Zamano has benefited from not only the state of the art office and ICT infrastructure, but also from the business opportunities The Digital Hub brings.

Zamano, 4 St. Catherine's Lane West, The Digital Hub, Dublin 8, e. sales@zamano.com, t: +353 (0) 1 488 5820, www.zamano.com

* As defined by Enterprise Ireland

Raiser · 07-07-2009 7:14pm

Please excuse the secondary post - but this deserves its own space:

http://www.the-scream.co.uk/forums/t25727.html?&highlight=zamano

And this:

http://www.tribune.ie/news/home-news/article/2008/dec/14/digital-hub-firm-given-grant-is-hit-with-200k-fine/

Tribune wrote:

A COMPANY given grant aid of €311,000 by Enterprise Ireland has been fined more than GBP£200,000 in the UK in relation to so-called "premium text services".

Zamano Limited, which is based in the Digital Hub in Dublin, has had 13 adjudications made against it by the British regulator PhonepayPlus.

However, the company, in which Enterprise Ireland is still a significant shareholder, said that while it had paid the fines – all of the money had since been recouped.

It said all of the adjudications involved third-party providers and that Zamano had not been the subject of a complaint since this summer.

So-called premium text services have proved controversial and involve mobile phone users registering for ringtones, quizzes, competitions, games and other services.

Many mobile phone owners believe that it is a once-off service only to discover later that it actually operates on a subscription basis.

Consumers are frequently billed up to €10 a month even if they are not actively using the service and then have to personally cancel the service.

Zamano said they had instituted a review of operations this year and were now actively turning away business who would not sign up to their code. They said they had not been the subject of a complaint since this summer as a result.

A statement said: "The premium rate services industry in which Zamano operates in the UK is regulated by PhonepayPlus and Zamano is obliged to follow its Code of Practice.

"Over 100 million text messages are sent from Zamano's technology platform annually, either directly from Zamano to the end user or indirectly by a number of third party service providers operating on Zamano's platform. Despite such high volumes just 13 adjudications have been made by PhonepayPlus relating to breaches of its code of practice".

consultech · 07-07-2009 7:28pm

In ironic fashion my mother came in to me today in a panic as she has topped up twice in 3 days and had her credit pillaged to almost zero both times. She's been receiving these random texts about "games" for the last week (7 in total - she doesn't have a clue about "stop" - nor should she have to to be honest). She never signed up to anything.

I told her to get on to Vodafone and regtel and find out whats going on. Apparently a company called "Pengo.com" is taking credit, following on from a competition that was entered on the late late show almost a year ago. They are apparently owned by "Emexus"?

"mBlox" is apparently the company that owns all of the 5 digit premium numbers that have been mandating my mother's account. Regtel have told my mother that they will track the company at fault and contact her within 7 days. It sounds like she's gonna have an awful pain in the arse with Vodafone and Regtel getting her money back, to the tune of €17.50 approx.

El Camino · 13-07-2009 6:26pm

A new bill has been published in the last week or so which is going to give greater powers to ComReg and RegTel to supervise and regulate this area... About time!! Hopefully this increased regulation will result in a clamp down on these awful practices.

http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/bills28/bills/2009/5109/b5109d.pdf

Raiser · 13-07-2009 11:05pm

El Camino wrote: »

A new bill has been published in the last week or so which is going to give greater powers to ComReg and RegTel to supervise and regulate this area... About time!! Hopefully this increased regulation will result in a clamp down on these awful practices.

http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/bills28/bills/2009/5109/b5109d.pdf

My Sister got stung by these scumbags yesterday - I'd love if they were someday forced to pay back all the proceeds of their 'crime' retrospectively - utter w@nkers; they should be locked up :mad:

- In my opinion the scum out there beating and mugging folk on the street have more decency and honesty......

And why does RTE et al continue to go along with it? Its their programmes and crappy quizes that seem to kick most of these off. Although as they do charge €160 per household via the TV license to screen utter drivel day after weary day they are not too far from the daylight robbery bracket themselves......

foggy_lad · 14-07-2009 1:03am

on a similar note what is that new "play tv" thing on tv3 every night all about?

is it that they cant sell advertising for after midnight so they host a phone-in scam aimed at some of the most vulnerable of society? €1.50 per call and you are not guaranteed to get through as there is only one open line?

MullingarMan · 08-08-2009 1:08am

Just want to log myself as someone who has been fleeced by the dishonest practices of Zamano and it's other names.
Thievery and deceipt is an appropriate description.
Can I convert my anger into action?

Bob Z · 08-08-2009 3:30pm

MullingarMan wrote: »

Can I convert my anger into action?

No

blueirishangel · 09-08-2009 12:29pm

Celldorado have nothing to do with Zamano.

MullingarMan · 16-08-2009 6:42pm

blueirishangel wrote: »

Celldorado have nothing to do with Zamano.

Thankyou Blueirishangel,
I was sent a number of texts from SMS Short Code 57151.
The text ended by 'ie.celldorado.com'. Regtel (as per their website) report that this is the code of Service Provider 'Zamano'.
They (Regtel) also note the phone number for Zamano as (01) 5260014.
On the Celldorado contact page the phone number for Ireland is listed as 01 526 0014

It is a remarkable coincidence that two entities that have the same phone number have nothing to do with one another!

MullingarMan · 16-08-2009 7:03pm

In my previous post I noted that Zamano have a SMS short code of 57151 registered with Regtel. The phone and contact address are listed as (01) 5260014 and Info.IR@blinckmobile.com.

Zamano also have another SMS code listed with Regtel - that is 57030 - however Regtel have a different phone number and email address for this code - 0818 300048 and cs@zamano.com .
Zimano also has another SMS code = 57252 . . . and another, 57175

blueirishangel · 16-08-2009 9:17pm

Have you phoned Zamanos customer service?

http://zamano.com/contact.html

They should be able to help you and will refund you if money has been taking unfairly.

My brother has dealt with them before and got a cheque in the post.

MullingarMan · 16-08-2009 10:53pm

I was treated unfairly. I have phoned Zamano's Customer service. I was treated in an adverserial manner. I am still waiting for the cheque in the post.

I see Zamano shares on the ISEQ went up on Friday August 14th 2009 by 11.4%. That was following the trading of 4 (four) shares on the day. That was a trading of shares worth less than €0.80 (80 cent)! ! !

The market capitalisation of Zamano is €14.6M
- trading at €0.180
- however it gains €2M (market capital. = €16.6M) in 'paper value' if someone sells two shares and another someone buys two shares
- giving an overall trade of 4 (four) shares on the day
- at €0.205

So are Zamano shares a good buy?

ludwit · 25-08-2009 1:22pm

While my phone keypad was unlocked I unknowingly accessed Planet 3 on my 3 Mobile phone.

At the top of Planet 3 is an advert for FUNMOBILE. Again while my phone was unlocked this was selected and went through to the FUNMOBILE website. On the website there is only one link which is to subscribe. Shortly after this was accidentally pressed I received a text message from FUNMOBILE saying I had subscribed to their services at 4.50E a week and 1.50E a text message.

Cabaal · 25-08-2009 3:03pm

ludwit wrote: »

While my phone keypad was unlocked I unknowingly accessed Planet 3 on my 3 Mobile phone.

At the top of Planet 3 is an advert for FUNMOBILE. Again while my phone was unlocked this was selected and went through to the FUNMOBILE website. On the website there is only one link which is to subscribe. Shortly after this was accidentally pressed I received a text message from FUNMOBILE saying I had subscribed to their services at 4.50E a week and 1.50E a text message.

That'll teach you to leave your mobile unlocked, now set the lock time to 1min and you won't have this problem in future.

Its not FUNMOBILE's fault

jor el · 25-08-2009 4:11pm

ludwit wrote: »

While my phone keypad was unlocked I unknowingly accessed Planet 3 on my 3 Mobile phone.

I presume you've unsubscribed now?

sant2910 · 26-09-2009 12:24pm

They have taken € 20 from my mobile. I complaint to Regtel and they asked me to contact service provider. Up on contacting the Blinck mobile customer care I received a reply form them today, it says;

Dear Customer,
Thank you for your email.
In your email, you have stated that you have not requested our service. The only way to initiate a subscription is to carry out the instructions provided to you in our advertising. Upon receipt of your confirmation message, the subscription was activated.
We have assisted you in providing the date and times your phone was used to order our service.
Given the above, we can confirm that your phone was used to order our service without your knowledge and without your prior consent.
We would like to suggest that you try and locate the third party that ordered our service, and may we suggest that you take appropriate measures to prevent this from happening again.
Please note that you are responsible for all use of your phone, even if it was not authorized by you.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions.
Yours sincerely,
John.T
Blinck Customer Care Team

What should I do now??

cormie · 28-09-2009 7:02pm

I wonder if you went into the Zamano building dressed as a courier with an empty padded envelope and got whoever was at the desk to sign for it, but what they are actually signing is the same T+C that they say everyone signs up for and just change the relevant lines, could you just go in and take stuff at will until they write STOP to you at which time you stop, but you get to keep all the paper clips, photo copy paper, chairs, plants and whatever else was there in the lobby? :pac:

Raiser · 29-09-2009 1:49pm

I like Cormies idea.

I wonder could you just walk up to them and ask them if they'd like to avail of your free service......

Then just repeatedly kick them in the face until they scream stop.

foggy_lad · 29-09-2009 8:49pm

sant2910 wrote: »

They have taken € 20 from my mobile. I complaint to Regtel and they asked me to contact service provider. Up on contacting the Blinck mobile customer care I received a reply form them today, it says;

Dear Customer,
Thank you for your email.
In your email, you have stated that you have not requested our service. The only way to initiate a subscription is to carry out the instructions provided to you in our advertising. Upon receipt of your confirmation message, the subscription was activated.
We have assisted you in providing the date and times your phone was used to order our service.
Given the above, we can confirm that your phone was used to order our service without your knowledge and without your prior consent.
We would like to suggest that you try and locate the third party that ordered our service, and may we suggest that you take appropriate measures to prevent this from happening again.
Please note that you are responsible for all use of your phone, even if it was not authorized by you.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions.
Yours sincerely,
John.T
Blinck Customer Care Team

What should I do now??

did they give you dates and times that they say you used their services? if so then you need to contact your mobile provider and get them to confirm that messages were sent from your phone at these times/dates and if not get back onto RegTel who will take action for you.

sant2910 · 01-10-2009 10:25am

foggy_lad wrote: »

did they give you dates and times that they say you used their services? if so then you need to contact your mobile provider and get them to confirm that messages were sent from your phone at these times/dates and if not get back onto RegTel who will take action for you.

Thanks foggy_lad. I contact Vodafone; they expressed their inability to provide the details. Also Blinck mobile too could not give me the details of product they sent to me. What a world...D=

foggy_lad · 02-10-2009 12:39am

sant2910 wrote: »

Thanks foggy_lad. I contact Vodafone; they expressed their inability to provide the details. Also Blinck mobile too could not give me the details of product they sent to me. What a world...D=

now get back onto RegTel and they should be able to help

May2008 · 07-10-2009 7:51pm

I recently signed up to a new 'Vodafone Simply' price plan and have been keeping an eye on my usage etc of phone. To my utter disgust I realised today that I have receiving a text from them for the last 18 months (every Friday at 16.00) at a cost of 2.50. I obviously never signed up for this and as I was on 'Top Up' pay plan until recently, thus I never saw this repetitive charge every week. However I often did wonder why my credit was eroding so rapidly and blamed my teenage children.
Is there any point in me following this up ? I googled the company and thought it very interesting that there is no email link on their site (quite bizarre for a techie company??). I plan to call them tomorrow and see if there is any way I can recoup this robbery through texting.
:mad::mad:

Thoie · 07-10-2009 7:54pm

Raiser wrote: »

I like Cormies idea.

I wonder could you just walk up to them and ask them if they'd like to avail of your free service......

Then just repeatedly kick them in the face until they scream stop.

I'd prefer if they were repeatedly kicked in the face until they screamed UNSUB.

seagull · 08-10-2009 12:44pm

Thoie wrote: »

I'd prefer if they were repeatedly kicked in the face until they screamed UNSUB.

At which point you say "That was in the wrong case", and keep kicking them.

Drakus · 08-10-2009 3:15pm

I was caught with this carry on and to this day I still do not know how it all started. I suspect when I entered my mobile number on an online site it was somehow picked up from there but I can't be certain. Anyway it was a nightmare trying to stop it. Vodafone gave me a number to ring to stop it(txting stop did not work) but this did not work either. Eventually I got an e-mail address for the company, e-mailed them outlining my case and threatened to take them to the small claims court, only then did it stop and I got my refund.

Why O Why · 21-10-2009 4:34pm

I got charged 16:45 from Zamano for i do not know what. But after ringing them they said they would pass it to their Investigating Division. They sent me out a cheque for €10.00 and were surprised when i called looking for the rest. Idiots

damona · 08-11-2009 3:28am

The lady the first day said it was done through a company called eirborne, I forgot the name of them today when I rang back but I asked who it was done through and the lady on the phone said she didn't have access to that info, I said the last lady in the same department was able to tell me, so why couldn't she. Then I remembered it was eirborne. I googled and saw eirborne was bought by Zamano!

i used to work for a telecom company and i have seen this over and over again but i must correct what has been said above. An agent wud not hold back info regarding the company from u, actually they are glad to give it to you, maybe the company is making money and happy enough for it to continue but d agents arent. who d hell wants to take 20 calls a day about this. everyone screaming about there money and saying its a scam, and d agents agree wit u but cant say anything as its within d law and the calls are recorded.

d telecom networks id say make about 40 - 50% on them sms as otherwise it would ccost them too much money and man power having to deal wit the calls. i cud never get a straight answer to what that exact percentage is, managers dont like to answer dat question.

Over d yr 1/2 wit d company i have only come across one person who got money back from the premium sms company but he had to be very persistant and the sms company were able to blacklist him from their services. so thats an option but if u are contacting them try email or get regtel to call them and get them to ring u back as their usually premium rate numbers u have to ring which are pricey.

Changing the home webpage is very good idea cuz u can still get ur pic messages.

im on here 2nite to get everyone to make a complaint as the more complaints the more likely the will inforce stricter legistlation.

d mobile companies shud b held responsible also as they allow acess for dese companies to take ur credit or put charges on ur bill. crazy that u cant bar ur number from getting dese and even moving nets does nothing u have to unsubscribe(half d time theres no 5 digit code only web address) or change ur number(really dont want to have to keep doing dis!).

d quick link buttons on handsets are programmed by manufacturer as far as im aware which means they have to be aware of what their doing also.

it makes me so mad the way they can get away wit it. my mams just been caught for a couple of them aswell. i have no idea hoe many theyve taken and quite conveniently the records for prepay wit most nets will only go back 6 - 8 weeks so uve no way of finding out how long they went on for before that!

every1 shud complain straight to company or regulator but if ur ringing the networks please keep in mind that the agents are just as mad as u about dese sms. why wudnt dey be dey have to listen day in day out to people complaining about d sms and cant just give the money back. its monitored heavily as far as i can remember by d bigwigs.

u could even start going on about the RSS feeds that come pre-installed on ur handset and automatically connect u to the web without u even setting them up. dats what happen on my new fone and i wud never of noticed except i read my bill and im used to dealing with this type of query. sickened!! thank god data is cheaper nowa days cuz i was roaming!! well i was still in ireland but up d north and i was charged for roaming bloody disgrace! i really dont think i shud be liable for dose charges and i got them refunded but only because it was about 9e if it was 200e i wudnt have a chance cuz d agent wud have to pass by manager and theyd give u nothing probably.
it really p@&ses me rite off that they class the north as a different country. whats dat about? id love to know if it costs them anything more since they are using theyr partner nets in other countries.

once u work for one of dese companies u never again take them at face value, u never get anything for nothing, my friend recently got a call asking if he was alrite with his plan and he was tied again to d company for 12 mnths, how can that be ok. contracts for nothing!!

i wudnt be surprised by em again after dat, it takes d biscuit.:mad:

dudara · 08-11-2009 11:30am

damona - It would really help if you wrote without using textspeak. I tried to read your post, but I had to give up - and you're not the worst I've ever seen for textspeak.

dudara

ScouseMouse · 08-11-2009 12:08pm

damona wrote: »

The lady the first day said it was done through a company called eirborne, I forgot the name of them today when I rang back but I asked who it was done through and the lady on the phone said she didn't have access to that info, I said the last lady in the same department was able to tell me, so why couldn't she. Then I remembered it was eirborne. I googled and saw eirborne was bought by Zamano!

i used to work for a telecom company and i have seen this over and over again but i must correct what has been said above. An agent wud not hold back info regarding the company from u, actually they are glad to give it to you, maybe the company is making money and happy enough for it to continue but d agents arent. who d hell wants to take 20 calls a day about this. everyone screaming about there money and saying its a scam, and d agents agree wit u but cant say anything as its within d law and the calls are recorded.

d telecom networks id say make about 40 - 50% on them sms as otherwise it would ccost them too much money and man power having to deal wit the calls. i cud never get a straight answer to what that exact percentage is, managers dont like to answer dat question.

Over d yr 1/2 wit d company i have only come across one person who got money back from the premium sms company but he had to be very persistant and the sms company were able to blacklist him from their services. so thats an option but if u are contacting them try email or get regtel to call them and get them to ring u back as their usually premium rate numbers u have to ring which are pricey.

Changing the home webpage is very good idea cuz u can still get ur pic messages.

im on here 2nite to get everyone to make a complaint as the more complaints the more likely the will inforce stricter legistlation.

d mobile companies shud b held responsible also as they allow acess for dese companies to take ur credit or put charges on ur bill. crazy that u cant bar ur number from getting dese and even moving nets does nothing u have to unsubscribe(half d time theres no 5 digit code only web address) or change ur number(really dont want to have to keep doing dis!).

d quick link buttons on handsets are programmed by manufacturer as far as im aware which means they have to be aware of what their doing also.

it makes me so mad the way they can get away wit it. my mams just been caught for a couple of them aswell. i have no idea hoe many theyve taken and quite conveniently the records for prepay wit most nets will only go back 6 - 8 weeks so uve no way of finding out how long they went on for before that!

every1 shud complain straight to company or regulator but if ur ringing the networks please keep in mind that the agents are just as mad as u about dese sms. why wudnt dey be dey have to listen day in day out to people complaining about d sms and cant just give the money back. its monitored heavily as far as i can remember by d bigwigs.

u could even start going on about the RSS feeds that come pre-installed on ur handset and automatically connect u to the web without u even setting them up. dats what happen on my new fone and i wud never of noticed except i read my bill and im used to dealing with this type of query. sickened!! thank god data is cheaper nowa days cuz i was roaming!! well i was still in ireland but up d north and i was charged for roaming bloody disgrace! i really dont think i shud be liable for dose charges and i got them refunded but only because it was about 9e if it was 200e i wudnt have a chance cuz d agent wud have to pass by manager and theyd give u nothing probably.
it really p@&ses me rite off that they class the north as a different country. whats dat about? id love to know if it costs them anything more since they are using theyr partner nets in other countries.

once u work for one of dese companies u never again take them at face value, u never get anything for nothing, my friend recently got a call asking if he was alrite with his plan and he was tied again to d company for 12 mnths, how can that be ok. contracts for nothing!!

i wudnt be surprised by em again after dat, it takes d biscuit.:mad:

Go back to school and learn to spell will you. I gave up trying to read that post as the text speak is really stupid.

dudara · 08-11-2009 6:09pm

superscouse Infracted for the above post. I had already asked the poster to refrain from posting in textspeak. Your response was unwarranted.

dudara

MullingarMan · 15-11-2009 6:36pm

It is some time since I have logged in to see further response to this.
In the meantime I have met numerous people who have had there mobile phone funds "Grazed" by Zamano.

There is a former Irish Rugby player in a senior (ownership) position at Zamano and would be well aware of the behaviour of this company.

"B" - there is enough in this for an international documentary.

http://www.zamano.com/Company/ManagementTeam.aspx
http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2006/10/15/story18088.asp

Pdully · 24-11-2009 4:23pm

hi all, anyone know anything about this site - www.mobileguardian.tv

i rang zemano to get unsubscribed after being subscribed without my knowledge! the lady on the phone told be i could block all PMS by going to that site above. i'm just checking to see if its legit!

anyone have any experience with it?

any help appreciated. thanks

z0wkey · 21-12-2009 4:48pm

hello all,

I have been a recent victim of Zamano. Given that I don't ever use WAP and don't download ringtones etc etc it's a clear case that they signed me up without my permission. So to the folks out there (potentially with links to the company in question?) who deny this is possible I have first hand experience that it is possible and is happening right now. Someone referred to it as grazing. Sounds about right.

Anyway I'm proposing an organised campaign to put pressure on the Government and it's agencies, the mobile operators and the companies in questions most notably Zamano. I write this fully aware that Zamano and their many millions can be employed to make life difficult for me and that they are probably monitoring this and other sites in order to gauge public opinion.

I have already written to Primetime as a follow on to their February story and we'll see if they have any interest in picking that up again. That's just the start. I further propose a print campaign with art containing images of affected people and text along the lines of "Stop Zamano stealing from the poor, the sick and the needy". This art would be included in letters to all TDs and news services. As well as to the board and directors of Zamano. Any investor point of contact should be hit with the art.

Coincidently an old friend rang this morning. He's living with a (junior) film director who has documentary experience. I feel a Michael Moore moment coming on.

Not to mention getting a Web site up and running. Something calm, cool and clear which exposes their unethical, immoral and potentially illegal practices.

I am just thinking aloud in this post.

This could be an interesting journey. Any thoughts?

Regards,
John

granadaghia · 21-12-2009 6:51pm

From personal experience , be careful on boards .ie , the mods seem to be on the side of the <SNIP> , maybe they see the world thru rose tinted specs and just dont believe that these <SNIP> would do any wrong ,
Im probably gona get banned for this now , but why should we let and assist these people get away with robbing people ,

EDIT: PLEASE DO NOT USE WORDS LIKE SCUM OR SCAM ON THE FORUMS.

Cabaal · 21-12-2009 7:56pm

Pdully wrote: »

hi all, anyone know anything about this site - www.mobileguardian.tv

i rang zemano to get unsubscribed after being subscribed without my knowledge! the lady on the phone told be i could block all PMS by going to that site above. i'm just checking to see if its legit!

anyone have any experience with it?

any help appreciated. thanks

The idea that you have to give your UNLISTED number to a third party so they don't spam you is insane, its unlisted for this very reason.

Not awhole lot of info available on their WHOIS,

Domain Name: MOBILEGUARDIAN.TV
Registrar: KEY-SYSTEMS GMBH
Whois Server: whois.rrpproxy.net
Referral URL: http://www.key-systems.net
Name Server: NS1.BLINCK.NET
Name Server: NS2.BLINCK.NET
Status: ACTIVE
Updated Date: 27-nov-2009
Creation Date: 07-jun-2007
Expiration Date: 07-jun-2010

The service is run by Blinck United Ltd I can't find much about them on the web off band though they do operate http://www.blinck.net/

Off hand it looks like alot of companys may use Blinck in order to send these txts so giving them your number seems insane as at some stage they've given your number to people already so your asking them to remove a number you never gave them permission to use....makes no sense

Cabaal · 21-12-2009 7:59pm

granadaghia wrote: »

From personal experience , be careful on boards .ie , the mods seem to be on the side of the <SNIP> , maybe they see the world thru rose tinted specs and just dont believe that these <SNIP> would do any wrong ,

wow just wow, you sure your tinfoil hat is on hard enough I think there's some mindcontrol rays getting through to you.
:rolleyes:

Im probably gona get banned for this now ,

Making crazy statements without any basis in fact or reality?

but why should we let and assist these people get away with robbing people ,

Nobody says anybody should get away with such things, if they are indeed "robbing"

granadaghia · 21-12-2009 10:48pm

As you can clearly see the mod does not like anyone talking about those lovely people who make their living from other peoples misfortune. maybe that was the way things were done and accepted by some of the narrow minded money grabbing celtic tiger cubs . but times are a changin and attitutes to these people also.
hopefully we can look at the way things are done without the PC filters being on in the future . why is it ok for companies outside the state to rob us , ?this was and is our country why should we

Cabaal · 21-12-2009 11:28pm

granadaghia wrote: »

As you can clearly see the mod does not like anyone talking about those lovely people who make their living from other peoples misfortune.

You clearly do not understand how this site works,
I am only a mod on the forums I mod, on every other forum I am a normal user the same as you as such I am very much entitled to my views....your welcome to verify this with an admin or Cmod

Your very clearly paranoid so I;m not even going to waste my time trying to have a logical argument with you as you've already thrown logic and facts out of the reason by thinking "the mods are out to get you" :rolleyes:

Finally I'd rather you don't PM me with your nonsense rants

Sponge Bob · 21-12-2009 11:32pm

Cabaal wrote: »

you've already thrown logic and facts out of the reason by thinking "the mods are out to get you" :rolleyes:

And him only around a wet week and all. Most mods who are out to get me have been lurking in the bushes for years ready to pounce if I show any weakness at all. Bastids

Zamano

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