IF YOU HAVE A MOBILE PHONE BEWARE
Submitted: Tuesday, Apr 01, 2008 at 17:25
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Member - WORM (VIC)
Afteroon all just thought I would bring something to everyones attention. Just received my Telstra mobile phone bill today. On the bill there was a Section Total Separate Purchase for $20.00 classified as premium SMS. These SMS show on your bill as Provider:NETSZE Purchase: 19400 5MTT. These bloody things cost $5.00 per SMS. The thing is this company sends sms messages to your phone for things such as ringtones and screen savers and crap like that then they charge you $5.oo each message against your Telstra bill. When I spoke to Telstra they said there is nothing that can be done about these charges, you must ring Telsra and have them put a premium SMS bar on your mobile to stop this happening again. Absolute bulldust on Telstras behalf how the hell they can let this happen in the first place astounds me. If I new this sort of rip off tactics could happen I would have put this so called bar on the phone when I updated my phone and went onto the Next G network.......... Everyone Beware....... Ring Telstra and have the bar enabled on your phones.
Cheers Brad.
Reply By: DIO - Tuesday, Apr 01, 2008 at 17:57
Tuesday, Apr 01, 2008 at 17:57
Sadly this type of marketing has been around for some time. Generally the user responds to a competition advertised on TV, an offer for a ring tone, or some other trivial offering all of which the user pays for and having 'subscribed' will continue to receive unsolicited SMS until such time as the '
membership' is cancelled, usually by texting STOP to the provider - if you happen to know who they are and what their contact number is. Some of these 'offerings' can cost $5.00 - $10.00 - $15.00 or more per message. If you are not aware of what is going on it can cost you a fortune. The 'regulating authorities' did, some time ago, stipulate that such advertised offerings (usually on TV) must contain a warning to children and the cost(s) must also be advertised along with their name and contact number. So often the
information is in very small font (type) and almost impossible to read - in a few seconds. There is also another 'scam' around where you will receive a 'missed call' and once you respond to it you are then pestered with unwanted SMS all at considerable cost to you. Don't respond to such calls unless you know for sure who it is calling you. If it happens to be friend, family, aassociate etc they will almost certainly call you back.
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Reply By: Paul McDougall - Tuesday, Apr 01, 2008 at 21:46
Tuesday, Apr 01, 2008 at 21:46
Hmmmm interesting that no one mentioned that telstra makes a pretty handsome profit from this type of activity too.
I agree with a coupe of comments.....if you don't know the caller then delete and don't respond to any messages or sms calls.
I also agree that the TIO can be extremely helpful provided you keep all evidence available to you when complaining and seeking a refund.
Don't threaten your carrier with the prospect you will go to the ombudsman hoping to get a favourable response, just politely tell them you are going to take the matter up with the TIO. Its happened to me a coupe of times and on each occasion I have received a favourable outcome.
Good luck in your endeavours WORM. Don't give up mate.
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Follow Up By: Member - WORM (VIC) - Tuesday, Apr 01, 2008 at 22:11
Tuesday, Apr 01, 2008 at 22:11
See Paul thats probably where I stuffed up!..... When these messages appeared in my mail box I should have left them unopened or just deleted them I wonder if that would have made a difference?
Hmm food for thought.
Cheers
Worm
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Reply By: Member - Roger B (VIC) - Tuesday, Apr 01, 2008 at 22:35
Tuesday, Apr 01, 2008 at 22:35
I've got everybody I ever possibly want to, or care to hear from in my address book, and if I miss a call from one of them, the phone displays their name. Any other unknown, missed calls get the 'tijuana' very smartly by way of the delete button. As previously mentioned, if the call was important, they'll ring back. Because we travel a bit, we pay all our bills by direct debit, so the bank statements get a very thorough looking at. So far, so good. Cheers All.
Roger B.
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Follow Up By: Motherhen - Wednesday, Apr 02, 2008 at 00:56
Wednesday, Apr 02, 2008 at 00:56
Roger, the charge is when they send sms to you, not when you reply.
My daughter got caught three or four years or so ago. She was helping a
young teenager set up a computer, and used her mobile number on a web site. Next thing she suddenly ran out of credit. She was receiving weekly sms offering her the latest ring tone and didn't realise this was costing her big time. Of course you don't get printed statements for pre-paid mobiles.
The scam still continues!
Motherhen
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Follow Up By: Gronk - Wednesday, Apr 02, 2008 at 00:59
Wednesday, Apr 02, 2008 at 00:59
Same happened to me with Telstra........several sms's sent by a company which weren't replied to by me ( didn't know at the time to send a stop reply sms ) and after many calls to Telstra ( some abusive and also refusing to pay for these messages ) they finally waived the $50 bill..
Telstra all but admitted to onselling my phone number to third party companies........apparently their allowed to ????
So, if you get a sms that sounds fishy.....scroll down and see if you can reply with a stop message.....it may save you some dollars !!
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