7 posts tagged “premium rate services”

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!

A certain English police force (I won't name them as they may not wish for me to do so) has taken an interest in some of what I myself uncovered about a person involved in a dodgy PRS* scheme.  Had four hits from them yesterday and it was clear what and who they were interested in.

Was it just a member of staff that had been sent unsolicited 'adult' texts (at a whopping £1.50 a pop)?  Or is it part of a proper bona fide investigation to the gentleman and the companies he has run?  Hmmm.

*Premium Rate Service (ie premium-rate reverse charged SMS texts)

Just read this over at NWA NMA...

'The Sun drops ads for premium-rate adult services

Adult ads putting off other advertisers, it fears, while sector moves to eliminate dodgy premium rate service providers.'

Actually, this seems to be two different stories for the price of one.  Bonus!  The Sun dropping those ads probably has less to do with dodgy premium rate services providers than one would think.  Open up a local rag these days and there's a page or two of thinly veiled adverts for prostitutes.  The kind of guy that's willing to pay £1.50 (or so a minute) for chat has probably realised he can get a lot more than chat for around the same money.  I presume because of this the revenues for the PRSs has dropped significantly enough that it makes no sense to advertise in a national paper.

Or, perhaps, even fools who think it's a great idea to waste vast sums of money on adult chatlines have realised that in the current economic climate it's not a good investment?

Now to the story within a story...

Apparently the industry's largest aggregators are about to wipe out unscrupulous PRS promoters.  Really?  Sounds too good to be true!  Why are they only bothering now?  Oh, and what do they deem unscrupulous... targetting at kids?  Unsolicited messages?  Messages containing dishonest information?  Sneaky subscriptions?  Hmm...

Have a butcher's at what Sally Weatherall from Aime said regarding PhonepayPlus.  Go on, it's worth a giggle.

You've gotta love the interweb and folk like del hombre 'El Gringo' over at The Scream's forums.  He not only dug deep, but presented the evidence well.

I thoroughly recommend checking it out: Mobile Privacy Service: £1.50 con to use TPS - That's the service run by scammers who themselves send out unsolicited crap (mostly of an 'adult' nature and often without any indication it's a premium message from a company, not a person).

For a while now there's been a ban on so-called "junk food" being advertised during children's TV programmes in the UK.  In the last few days there have been noises made about how many shows popular with kids still feature these ads as they're shows primarily aimed at adults.  Look, if kids are watching The Bill, there's something more worrying than an ad for Diet Coke.

So, I say bollocks to that (I try not to use offensive language on my blog but I feel that sums it up best).  Have any of the journos and those responsible for the ban, watched kids TV lately?  It would seem doubtful.  Kids have to sit through ad after ad for dodgy loan companies and ambulance chasing law firms.  I don't have kids but I regularly look after my sister's four and watching Nick or Cartoon Network can be a real eye-opener...

...and you know what?  I'd prefer if they had Tony The Tiger and Snap, Crackle and Pop during the break and not those awful debt ads.  Debt ads and dodgy lawyers should be banned instead.

Oh, and don't get me started with ringtone adverts on the music channels.  PRS should never be aimed at children.  C'mon people you've got the wrong freakin' priorities here!

Just been reading The Inquirer, and it's good to know they're equally peeved with the premium rate shenanigans...

The INQ particularly likes the bit about an "apparent lack of non-premium rate contact information within the promotion of the service."

This is exactly what the INQ has campaigned against for years. Just you try getting your £1.50 premium rate text refund without spending more than that on calls to complain about the mis-selling.

It's also nice to see that luminaries working in the mobile content industry itself have been gradually phased out from Phonepayplus' board and committees. The last to go was Mblox's Andrew Bud who resigned at the beginning of September.

One INQ reader took fright when PPP's CEO, George Kidd, recently declared a potential conflict of interest. But it turns out he was just playing ultra-safe following criticism from the likes of the INQ and the conflict is purely academic.

Head. Nail. Hitting. The.

It is a long arduous task to get your money back and there's no guarantee you will. If you don't, you're on your own. PhonepayPlus can't help you. OFCOM can't. Trading Standards can't. The police can't. The service provider can't. Your phone network can't.

You can kick up a fuss though and after hours, days, weeks of creating negative publicity you get a few quid more than the numerous unsolicited messages and 0871 support calls cost you.  You then have the inconvenience of having to get to the bank to cash the cheque.  Shame they can't put the money back where they got it from, straight back to one's phone account! Don't forget, the scammer then has your home address, full name and your phone number.