3 posts tagged “dirty business”

Poor old Florian Demuth, Customer Services Advisor at PhonepayPlus.  I gave the poor fellow quite a hard time last year regarding the times I was scammed by unsolicited reverse-rate SMS cowboys.  Firstly I recorded every conversation and, to comply with the law, told him as such.  Secondly I ranted and er, ranted, about the whole sordid industry his organisation supposedly 'regulated'.

He did quite well sticking to the script but you could tell he was holding back from saying some things.  There was always a slight hint that, deep down, he loathed the industry and was clearly not in the right job (which, amongst other things includes defending the indefensible).

Anyway, with all this talk about PhonepayPlus at the moment, I came across an interview in the regulator's own newsletter where the chappie (which, I must admit, until now I thought was a lady!) admitted the following:

The vast majority of complaints are related to reverse-charged text messages consumers state to be unsolicited.

That's right folks, the vast majority of complaints are because people have been charged for something they never asked for!  No amount of 'educating the customer' will help in this matter.  In many (I'd wager, most) of these cases the company responsible will have deliberately chosen to steal money from mobile subscriber's accounts in what would, in any other industry, be classed as theft or fraud.

I spent many months, sent many emails, made many calls, posted dozens upon dozens of stories related to the theft from my account and only after all of that, the company responsible, mBlox*, finally gave me a cheque for £10.  I wonder how much they've pocketted through fellow victims not knowing or giving up trying to get the money stolen recovered?

Of course, in the premium rate industry, those that work for the regulator also work for the companies responsible!  It's that cosy, and the rewards are great.

*mBlox helped Spread Media carry out this fraud.  mBlox may claim that it had nothing to do with them, they were just the conduit (or some such thing) but this was far from the first time the two companies worked together and ended up doing the same thing.

PhonepayPlus or, as I like to call them PeePeePlus, are in the news again. The regulator in charge of cleaning up a dirty industry is attempting to clean up it's own act but, quite frankly, is not going nearly far enough.  The funny thing being that no one thinks they're doing a good job - whether they're in the industry or just unwitting helpless victims of it.

So, without much further ado, some recent news stories across the interweb that my Google News found for me...

The Register: PhonepayPlus gets stern on pricey premium raters

If I can steal some quotes from PeePeePlus that The Reg has um, quoted:

some companies have adopted practices which are leading to increased consumer complaints

The consumer cannot be charged until they have confirmed their subscription by replying to that text

There are many innovative, useful and fun services available to consumers via their mobiles

A majority of industry respondents were sceptical of the need for subscription services to seek active consumer confirmation, on the grounds that this could cause consumer confusion and adversely affect sales

Good to see PeePeePlus pussy-footing around what those companies they regulate get up to.  Those 'practices' that these companies have adopted would be, in any properly regulated industry, illegal.  Very few premium rate services are run in a fair and honest way.  And, very few are offering a worthy service.

Common sense and best business practice would've suggested consumers should only get a service that they've opted in for.  Had this been the case last year, Spread Media LTD wouldn't have been able to steal money from me and thousands of others.

And of course the industry doesn't want any measure that will lead to scam artists and rogue businesses earning any less.  The big 'legit' aggregators/service providers make way too much money from them to truly want the industry cleaned up.  Just look at how the world's largest mobile transaction network, mBlox, keeps teaming up with folk they know to be scamming the public.  They don't care that innocent parties have had money effectively stolen from them and they don't care that they pocket part of the proceeds of such scams.  Just look at how much time and effort I had to put in before mBlox compensated me with the grand sum of £10!

IntoMobile: UK: New measures issued for Mobile phone services’ marketing and payment

Mobile Entertainment: PhonepayPlus hits back at criticism

..and another nugget from M.E.: Could the new PhonepayPlus rules be flawed?

Oh and that's not a 'is it flawed for consumers?' but a 'is it flawed for the grubby companies in this grubby industry of ours?' by the looks of things.

The author of this article admits that the wife got sent an unsolicited text and they were happy enough to just send 'STOP' back.  It looks like neither the author, nor his wife, actually checked their bills.  Had they done, they'd have realised why people aren't happy with the industry and why there's a need for, at the very least, the measures PeePeePlus have now put in place.  In my mind, from my experierence and that of other victims I've heard about, these measures are too little too late.  This industry needs a full overhaul!

That's not a typo, I meant SPANNER, 'cause that's what they are... tools!  Oh, enough of my never ending wit already...

Regulate this!

I would love to hear from those of you that have had a run in with PhonepayPlus/ICSTIS maybe even OFCOM or OFTEL, PayPal or PalPlus.  Whatever they like to be called on a Tuesday!  Crikey, it's Tuesday already!

Of equal interest to me and presumably the majority of the people reading my Fraudwatch posts (remember don't have nightmares, goodnight and good luck) are the perpertrators and enablers, the likes of mBlox and the Tanla's and Spread Media's of this world.  Anyone got any stories about these less than savoury folk (oh I hate biting my tongue!)

The world (okay the UK) needs to hear your story, so please get in touch.  I know you're reading as lots of people were checking out my latest Fraudwatch posts, from across the country - and they can't all be Andrew Bud (scroll to comments for a treat) or David Shepard.

BTW for those new to my blog, Andrew Bud's company is in cahoots with the scammers and he is also The Regulator - I'll be back... to steal your money!

The Bud-dy Movie of the Year!