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  1. #1
    Ivor Jones
    Guest

    I received a text on my Orange PAYG phone this morning from short code
    83149 offering some sort of deal, I took little notice but just forwarded
    it to 7726 and then deleted it.

    On checking my balance later on in the day, I found it to be exactly a
    pound less than I knew it should be, as that particular phone is rarely
    used for voice calls, I only hold on to it as it has the original Out Here
    package on it for the 5 messages a day, which is more than enough for my
    usage.

    I rang OCS (25p..!) and the guy there was as helpful as he could be, and
    gave me the name of the company who sent the message and confirmed what I
    already knew, that I had not requested any reverse charge services from
    them. He said he couldn't refund me the quid, though :-(

    Unfortunately I lost the scrap of paper I wrote the name of this outfit
    down on, does anyone know who short code 83149 belongs to..? I want to
    send them a stinking letter and report them to whoever I can think of,
    even if I can't get my money back.

    How can a company charge for a reverse SMS message without someone
    requesting it..? I *know* I didn't and Orange confirmed it from my records
    on their system.

    Ivor





    See More: Unasked for received SMS cost me a quid..!




  2. #2
    BlueGhost
    Guest

    Re: Unasked for received SMS cost me a quid..!

    Ivor Jones wrote:
    > Unfortunately I lost the scrap of paper I wrote the name of this outfit
    > down on, does anyone know who short code 83149 belongs to..? I want to
    > send them a stinking letter and report them to whoever I can think of,
    > even if I can't get my money back.


    from http://www.icstis.org.uk/ :

    Opera Telecom
    3 Brindley Place
    Birmingham
    West Midlands
    B1 2JB
    0808 1313131

    freephone number so give them a call if you want


    --
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    Michael Pritchard
    Web :: http://www.blueghost.co.uk
    Reply-To :: replace '@austin.3.16' with '@blueyonder.co.uk'
    Ad :: Want your Nokia phone fully unlocked and reset, see
    :: http://www.blueghost.co.uk/unlock_guide/
    --------------------------------------------------------------------



  3. #3
    Ivor Jones
    Guest

    Re: Unasked for received SMS cost me a quid..!



    "BlueGhost" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]
    > Ivor Jones wrote:
    > > Unfortunately I lost the scrap of paper I wrote the
    > > name of this outfit down on, does anyone know who short
    > > code 83149 belongs to..? I want to send them a stinking
    > > letter and report them to whoever I can think of, even
    > > if I can't get my money back.

    >
    > from http://www.icstis.org.uk/ :
    >
    > Opera Telecom
    > 3 Brindley Place
    > Birmingham
    > West Midlands
    > B1 2JB
    > 0808 1313131
    >
    > freephone number so give them a call if you want


    Thanks, I'll do that..!

    Ivor





  4. #4
    lewis
    Guest

    Re: Unasked for received SMS cost me a quid..!


    "Ivor Jones" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]...
    >
    > I received a text on my Orange PAYG phone this morning from short code
    > 83149 offering some sort of deal, I took little notice but just forwarded
    > it to 7726 and then deleted it.
    >
    > On checking my balance later on in the day, I found it to be exactly a
    > pound less than I knew it should be, as that particular phone is rarely
    > used for voice calls, I only hold on to it as it has the original Out Here
    > package on it for the 5 messages a day, which is more than enough for my
    > usage.
    >
    > I rang OCS (25p..!) and the guy there was as helpful as he could be, and
    > gave me the name of the company who sent the message and confirmed what I
    > already knew, that I had not requested any reverse charge services from
    > them. He said he couldn't refund me the quid, though :-(
    >
    > Unfortunately I lost the scrap of paper I wrote the name of this outfit
    > down on, does anyone know who short code 83149 belongs to..? I want to
    > send them a stinking letter and report them to whoever I can think of,
    > even if I can't get my money back.
    >
    > How can a company charge for a reverse SMS message without someone
    > requesting it..? I *know* I didn't and Orange confirmed it from my records
    > on their system.
    >
    > Ivor
    >
    >

    It seems mad that anyone can set up a scam to get people! In theory anyone
    could send loads of text messages out and rake in the money. I believe that
    the cller or sender pays, not a person receiving.

    Some cheeky radio stations send unsolicited text messages back if you send
    them a text. You send a request to radio City for example and find yourself
    having to send a message to stop yourself being sent messages you didn't
    request. Presenters promote the number without explaining the full details.
    Probably deliberately.





  5. #5
    Dr Cuthbert Twelvetrees
    Guest

    Re: Unasked for received SMS cost me a quid..!


    "lewis" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news[email protected]...
    >
    > "Ivor Jones" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    >>
    >> I received a text on my Orange PAYG phone this morning from short code
    >> 83149 offering some sort of deal, I took little notice but just forwarded
    >> it to 7726 and then deleted it.
    >>
    >> On checking my balance later on in the day, I found it to be exactly a
    >> pound less than I knew it should be, as that particular phone is rarely
    >> used for voice calls, I only hold on to it as it has the original Out
    >> Here package on it for the 5 messages a day, which is more than enough
    >> for my usage.
    >>
    >> I rang OCS (25p..!) and the guy there was as helpful as he could be, and
    >> gave me the name of the company who sent the message and confirmed what I
    >> already knew, that I had not requested any reverse charge services from
    >> them. He said he couldn't refund me the quid, though :-(
    >>
    >> Unfortunately I lost the scrap of paper I wrote the name of this outfit
    >> down on, does anyone know who short code 83149 belongs to..? I want to
    >> send them a stinking letter and report them to whoever I can think of,
    >> even if I can't get my money back.
    >>
    >> How can a company charge for a reverse SMS message without someone
    >> requesting it..? I *know* I didn't and Orange confirmed it from my
    >> records on their system.
    >>
    >> Ivor
    >>
    >>

    > It seems mad that anyone can set up a scam to get people! In theory
    > anyone could send loads of text messages out and rake in the money. I
    > believe that the cller or sender pays, not a person receiving.
    >


    Its not mad, its weak consumer protection laws in the UK.

    I've had similar experiences with Orange and they've been silly enough to
    confirm in writing that they have "no control" over these services.

    I'm in the process of obtaining the necessary equipment to scam as many
    Orange users as I can (and I'm being serious seeing as Orange are impotent
    to prevent it).

    My next post will undoubtedly be as a millionaire from the Bahamas or
    somewhere similar.





  6. #6
    Ivor Jones
    Guest

    Re: Unasked for received SMS cost me a quid..!



    "BlueGhost" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]
    > Ivor Jones wrote:
    > > Unfortunately I lost the scrap of paper I wrote the
    > > name of this outfit down on, does anyone know who short
    > > code 83149 belongs to..? I want to send them a stinking
    > > letter and report them to whoever I can think of, even
    > > if I can't get my money back.

    >
    > from http://www.icstis.org.uk/ :
    >
    > Opera Telecom
    > 3 Brindley Place
    > Birmingham
    > West Midlands
    > B1 2JB
    > 0808 1313131
    >
    > freephone number so give them a call if you want


    I've sent them the following letter, also complained to ICSTIS.

    >At approximately 1050 yesterday 06 December 2005
    > I received on my Orange Pay As You Go mobile phone
    >(07791 xxxxxx) an unsolicited SMS text message from
    > short code 83149, which I understand is in use by your
    > company. Receipt of this message resulted in a charge of
    > £1.00 being deducted from my credit balance.


    >Could I please ask why this message was sent, as I have
    >never (which Orange Customer Services will confirm)
    >requested any chargeable service from your company or
    >anyone else.


    >Could I also ask how you propose to refund me the following:


    >1. The £1.00 that was deducted from my Orange credit balance
    >2. The 25p cost to call Orange to confirm I had not requested any service
    >3. The postage cost of this letter.


    It will be interesting to see what if any reply I get..!

    Ivor





  7. #7
    David Horne, _the_ chancellor of the duchy of bess
    Guest

    Re: Unasked for received SMS cost me a quid..!

    Ivor Jones <[email protected]> wrote:

    []
    > How can a company charge for a reverse SMS message without someone
    > requesting it..? I *know* I didn't and Orange confirmed it from my records
    > on their system.


    You don't have to actually request these from your phone. For example,
    the company sending the texts could claim that you entered your number
    in a prize draw etc.

    I had the same thing happen with my easymobile number, which I'd given
    to absolutely no one. I received 10 texts one day without realising (I
    don't use that phone much) and got charged £5 before stopping them. The
    company had a website, www.sms.ac- I'd never visited the website before.
    There could be an easy solution to this problem- all SIMs should by
    default bar the receiving of such texts, and if you want to receive
    them, you'd have to enable it by calling CS. It will never happen of
    course, as the phone companies have a vested interest in allowing these
    texts.

    --
    David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net
    usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk
    http://homepage.mac.com/davidhornecomposer http://soundjunction.org



  8. #8
    Allan Gould
    Guest

    Re: Unasked for received SMS cost me a quid..!


    Ivor Jones wrote:
    >
    > I received a text on my Orange PAYG phone this morning from short code
    > 83149 offering some sort of deal, I took little notice but just forwarded
    > it to 7726 and then deleted it.


    [snip]

    When the mobile companies started offering web access to account
    details, I remember logging into T-Mobile's (121 as was) site and having
    a dig around to see what was available. I noticed a setting: "Mobile
    Terminating SMS Premium" which could be switched on or off. When I
    found out what this was (receiving expensive SMSs, possibly unsolicited)
    I wrote to the telco and asked them to switch it off. I haven't had any
    inclination to receive any of these services, and have not had trouble
    since.

    I suggest that anyone who does not want to receive premium (& possibly
    unsolicited or inadvertent/unwitting) SMS writes to their tel co and
    formally requests not to receive them. In this way, if you ever get
    billed for them (at a quid a time), you simply contest the charge,
    pointing out that you requested not to receive them and the telco
    shouldn't be billing you for them.

    HTH

    Allan




  9. #9
    Andy Pandy
    Guest

    Re: Unasked for received SMS cost me a quid..!


    "Ivor Jones" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]...
    > > > Unfortunately I lost the scrap of paper I wrote the
    > > > name of this outfit down on, does anyone know who short
    > > > code 83149 belongs to..? I want to send them a stinking
    > > > letter and report them to whoever I can think of, even
    > > > if I can't get my money back.

    > >
    > > from http://www.icstis.org.uk/ :
    > >
    > > Opera Telecom
    > > 3 Brindley Place
    > > Birmingham
    > > West Midlands
    > > B1 2JB
    > > 0808 1313131
    > >
    > > freephone number so give them a call if you want

    >
    > I've sent them the following letter, also complained to ICSTIS.
    >
    > >At approximately 1050 yesterday 06 December 2005
    > > I received on my Orange Pay As You Go mobile phone
    > >(07791 xxxxxx) an unsolicited SMS text message from
    > > short code 83149, which I understand is in use by your
    > > company. Receipt of this message resulted in a charge of
    > > £1.00 being deducted from my credit balance.

    >
    > >Could I please ask why this message was sent, as I have
    > >never (which Orange Customer Services will confirm)
    > >requested any chargeable service from your company or
    > >anyone else.

    >
    > >Could I also ask how you propose to refund me the following:

    >
    > >1. The £1.00 that was deducted from my Orange credit balance
    > >2. The 25p cost to call Orange to confirm I had not requested any service
    > >3. The postage cost of this letter.

    >
    > It will be interesting to see what if any reply I get..!


    If you search for Opera Telecom on the adjudications pages of the ICSTIS site it
    makes interesting reading:

    http://www.icstis.org.uk/consumers/a...ns/default.asp

    It seems a very small number of complaints, even just 1 or 2, can result in a
    fine of several thousands...

    This recent one may be relevant to you:

    http://www.icstis.org.uk/consumers/a...p?node=&id=368

    --
    Andy





  10. #10
    Ivor Jones
    Guest

    Re: Unasked for received SMS cost me a quid..!



    "BlueGhost" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]
    > Ivor Jones wrote:
    > > Unfortunately I lost the scrap of paper I wrote the
    > > name of this outfit down on, does anyone know who short
    > > code 83149 belongs to..? I want to send them a stinking
    > > letter and report them to whoever I can think of, even
    > > if I can't get my money back.

    >
    > from http://www.icstis.org.uk/ :
    >
    > Opera Telecom
    > 3 Brindley Place
    > Birmingham
    > West Midlands
    > B1 2JB
    > 0808 1313131
    >
    > freephone number so give them a call if you want


    Had a result and it's good news..! I didn't phone them but I wrote them a
    stiff letter, which is in another post in this thread. Today I received a
    phone call from them apologising profusely and promising me a cheque for
    £3 to cover the £1 cost of the text, postage for my letter etc.

    Apparently, they mistyped my number into a database so that was why I got
    the message, even though I had not subscribed to anything.

    At least they were good enough to apologise and offer a refund.

    Ivor





  11. #11
    Jon Pitts
    Guest

    Re: Unasked for received SMS cost me a quid..!


    "Ivor Jones" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]...
    >
    >
    > "BlueGhost" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]
    > > Ivor Jones wrote:
    > > > Unfortunately I lost the scrap of paper I wrote the
    > > > name of this outfit down on, does anyone know who short
    > > > code 83149 belongs to..? I want to send them a stinking
    > > > letter and report them to whoever I can think of, even
    > > > if I can't get my money back.

    > >
    > > from http://www.icstis.org.uk/ :
    > >
    > > Opera Telecom
    > > 3 Brindley Place
    > > Birmingham
    > > West Midlands
    > > B1 2JB
    > > 0808 1313131
    > >
    > > freephone number so give them a call if you want

    >
    > Had a result and it's good news..! I didn't phone them but I wrote them a
    > stiff letter, which is in another post in this thread. Today I received a
    > phone call from them apologising profusely and promising me a cheque for
    > £3 to cover the £1 cost of the text, postage for my letter etc.
    >
    > Apparently, they mistyped my number into a database so that was why I got
    > the message, even though I had not subscribed to anything.
    >
    > At least they were good enough to apologise and offer a refund.
    >
    > Ivor
    >
    >


    I got had by these people today too. They even managed to send the SMS to my
    Line 2 number, which I never quote - only present as CLI.

    I've just emailed them asking for a refund, and copied the mail to Icstis &
    Ofcom. Lets see what happens...

    Regards

    Jon.





  12. #12
    Ivor Jones
    Guest

    Re: Unasked for received SMS cost me a quid..!



    "Jon Pitts" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]

    [snip]

    > I got had by these people today too. They even managed to
    > send the SMS to my Line 2 number, which I never quote -
    > only present as CLI.


    How would you know if it was sent to the L2 number..? When I had L2 I
    could never tell.

    > I've just emailed them asking for a refund, and copied
    > the mail to Icstis & Ofcom. Lets see what happens...
    >
    > Regards
    >
    > Jon.


    Indeed. Let us know how you get on. The ICSTIS site lists a lot of
    complaints about them.

    Ivor





  13. #13
    Michael Swift
    Guest

    Re: Unasked for received SMS cost me a quid..!

    In article <[email protected]>, Jon Pitts
    <[email protected]> writes
    >I got had by these people today too. They even managed to send the SMS
    >to my Line 2 number, which I never quote - only present as CLI.
    >
    >I've just emailed them asking for a refund, and copied the mail to
    >Icstis & Ofcom. Lets see what happens...


    I got 3 at £3 a throw each over the last couple of weeks, Virgin told me
    where they came from so I e-mailed the British arm asking for the how,
    where and when I subscribe and that I considered the matter theft but
    would wait for them to let me have details before I contacted Ofcom.

    I got a call from head office in Switzerland saying they'd had a
    computer glitch and offering a refund, they were amused when I wouldn't
    give my bank details but asked for a cheque, hasn't arrived yet but at
    least I have a contact now.

    Mike

    --
    Michael Swift We do not regard Englishmen as foreigners.
    Kirkheaton We look on them only as rather mad Norwegians.
    Yorkshire Halvard Lange



  14. #14
    Jon Pitts
    Guest

    Re: Unasked for received SMS cost me a quid..!


    "Ivor Jones" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]...
    >
    >
    > "Jon Pitts" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]
    >
    > [snip]
    >
    > > I got had by these people today too. They even managed to
    > > send the SMS to my Line 2 number, which I never quote -
    > > only present as CLI.

    >
    > How would you know if it was sent to the L2 number..? When I had L2 I
    > could never tell.
    >



    Ivor,

    Do you have a valid email address you're willing to pass in my direction?

    Thanks

    Jon.

    --
    Jon Pitts
    Email:[email protected] Attachments:[email protected]
    ICQ:41410672 MSN: [email protected] AIM:jonpittsaim
    Yahoo Messenger: pittsjon Web: http://www.pitts50.co.uk





  15. #15
    Poldie
    Guest

    Re: Unasked for received SMS cost me a quid..!


    David Horne, _the_ chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn and
    prestwich tesco 24h offy wrote:
    > There could be an easy solution to this problem- all SIMs should by
    > default bar the receiving of such texts, and if you want to receive
    > them, you'd have to enable it by calling CS.


    Another easy solution would be for there to be a delay of a month or so
    between you `incurring` the charge and the company receiving their
    share of your money from your network provider, to give time for
    complaints to filter through.




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