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Beware the Reverse Billing of Mobile Phone Ring Tones and Info

Posted on: Tuesday, 30 August 2005, 09:00 CDT

These days, everyone seems to own a mobile phone. Younger age groups in particular, now have access to modern telecommunications services on unprecedented scales. Prior to the mobile phone explosion the only access a young person would usually have to a phone was the one located within the household, which would be regulated by their parents or guardians. However, technological advances have led to many schoolchildren having access to their own phones for personal use.

Consequently, this upsurge in sales has led to companies springing up both at home and abroad offering the latest ringtones, images and text services that provide information including sports, news, and entertainment. Many people like to customise their phones to their own personal preferences and, to meet this demand, a vast array of ringtones and images are now available for consumers to download. The popularity of ringtones cannot be understated especially since the latest Crazy Frog tone even made it to number one in the official UK music charts recently.

The attraction of these products has led to the target audience (mainly teenagers) making purchases without really looking into what they are buying and often, without thinking of the consequences. Ringtones and images are usually sold via a reverse-billed text messaging service. This means that you are charged for receiving text messages on your phone rather than paying to send them. To take part in such a service a keyword in the form of a text message is sent to a four or five digit code number.

The message is usually charged at a normal rate but the sending of it would then trigger the start of a premium rate service, costing approximately 25p to pounds 1.50 per premium rate text message. Basically, this means that once a text request for the purchase of a ringtone or image download has been sent the provider deems that you have entered into a contract to subscribe to further text messages charged at their set premium rate.

Therefore, if the terms and conditions of the original purchase are not studied then a situation can arise whereby the consumer is unaware that they have entered into a contract to receive further SMS messages charged at a premium rate. Each of the messages sent to you are charged to the customer's phone resulting in credit being drained (if on pay-as-you-go) or increased monthly bills (if on a contract).

Similar to unwanted and unsolicited mail or phone calls, instances have arisen where unsubscribed texts have been sent to unwitting consumers, who are then obviously charged at a high rate. If you are sure that you have not purchased any mobile phone downloads at any time it is imperative that you contact your service provider in order to determine from where these messages have originated. It would then be beneficial to send a recorded delivery letter to the company involved to seek a refund of the charges that they have incurred on your phone.

However, if you willingly intend to partake in these services you should consider the following advice:

Make a note of the code number that was used to access the service;

Note where and when you saw the service advertised (newspapers, magazines, websites, TV adverts);

Write down and save details of the company from where you intend to purchase the products;

Read the advertisement in full. Take note of the payment details and the terms and conditions of sale (ie 'the small print');

To unsubscribe to the service you usually need to send the word 'STOP' via text to the service via a code number;

Do take care that you do not simply request a service without knowing the full details beforehand.

If you experience further problems such as your command to unsubscribe has been ignored, or if you are receiving unsolicited SMS messages from a service you did not subscribe to, then Consumer Direct Wales would like to know about it.

You can contact Consumer Direct by ringing 08454 04 05 06. There is also a dedicated Welsh line on 08454 04 05 05. Lines are open from 8am - 6.30pm, Monday to Friday and 9am-1pm on Saturday. Calls are charged at the local rate and advice is totally free.

Source: Western Mail

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