|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Your advert here!!! Our Guides Technical Editors:
Last modified: |
Vodafone puts paid to text charging scams – but will others follow its lead?
by Tony DennisPaying for information via a mobile phone text message – a technique known as premium rate SMS (PRS) – has many benefits. But PRS has another, dark side. Many mobile phone users have unwittingly signed up for services they didn't want. Only to find that obtaining a refund is supremely difficult. Now Vodafone is offering its customers a simple way out of the mess. The Vodafone Premium Rate SMS Bar prevents a subscriber's handset either sending or receiving PRS messages. It works just like putting a call bar on dialling overseas phone numbers, for example. The reaction from the mobile content industry and other mobile network operators has been mixed. Some regard the new service as using a sledgehammer to crack a tiny problem. Others have very much welcomed the move. Mike Grenville from trade body, 160characters, commented, "While it is good to see operators giving users some protection from unscrupulous service providers, Vodafone is offering a blunt instrument as it stops all PRS rather than just those from a particular source. There are many useful services offered via PRS and it is short-sighted for Vodafone to treat all services in the same way in response to a few rogue providers." He added, "There are much more flexible solutions available to operators for individuals to create their own 'black lists' and this is - as Vodafone says - only to be used 'as a last resort'." One aggrieved PRS victim, Paul Wingfield, asked, "What other choice do we consumers have when all we can fall back on is Ofcom who seems to have spent little effort in getting this going? After all, we're British and will put up with almost anything." At the PhonepayPlus (PPP) Press Office, spokesperson Sarah Icken, observed, "While most people using phone-paid services have an enjoyable experience, we recognise there are times when consumers will want to bar all services from their mobile phones. We therefore welcome this and any other initiative that allows people to take action when they feel it necessary. Mandating that mobile operators offer services like this does not currently fall under our remit, and we do not see any need for it to at this moment in time." As usual, the PPP - the body charged with regulating PRS providers - prefers to hide behind a lack of remit, showing that it is a guard-dog with few teeth. The need for some action is seen by many PRS victims, however. Mr Wingfield's son was charged £21 for a competition he didn't enter and technically couldn't have entered at the time. As Paul Winfield discovered, the PPP routinely gives out premium rate voice telephone numbers as a contact point for PRS providers. Consequently it's entirely feasible to spend more to complain to the content provider than the £1.50 levied for receiving one rogue PRS message. A mother, who asked to remain anonymous, welcomed the initiative as a means to prevent an unfortunate incident suffered by her young daughter. The young girl sent the text message 'babes' to a PRS service. She thought she'd texted the word 'babies' to a service aimed at lovers of baby dolls like herself. Instead she received the kind of smut – photos of naked ladies accompanied by raunchy messages – the likes of which UK national newspapers like the Guardian certainly wouldn't print. Undoubtedly there are some highly useful PRS services such as AQA (All Questions Answered) which is ideal for pub quiz cheats who can't recall the correct answer to a question. Nevertheless, the ability to provide vulnerable people with handsets that simply cannot run up a large PRS bill will be regarded as definite boon by most. T-Mobile, 3 UK and Virgin Mobile all provided no reply. |
|
