Alarm call: You MUST do more to end text ripoffs, phone firms told
MOBILE networks must do more to protect customers trapped into receiving costly junk texts they did not want or were unaware they were paying for.
That is the opinion of politicians and consumer groups which have joined The Mail on Sunday’s call for action against companies sending these messages.
Known as ‘premium rate’ or ‘reverse charge’ texts, they are messages people pay to receive – rather than send – with money automatically deducted from their accounts when they pay phone bills via direct debit.
Tens of thousands of people have complained about receiving them in the past year, while many others could still be paying for such messages without knowing. They cost up to £4.50 each and mobile networks can take a cut of the profit.
MPs John Mann and Rebecca Pow have told The Mail on Sunday that urgent work needs to be done by regulators to tackle this ‘national scandal’ that indiscriminately targets every age group – from children to pensioners.
Yvonne Fovargue, MP for Makerfield in the North West, has joined the fight against ripoff nuisance texts. Fovargue is chair of the all-party parliamentary group on consumer protection.
She says: ‘Mobile phone companies should be obliged to display any premium rate costs prominently at the top of the bill. This is not a magic bullet but at least customers would have greater awareness of how much they are being charged and for what.’
THE SCANDAL
SCORES of readers have responded to our reports in recent weeks on ripoff texts. Some have unwittingly paid hundreds of pounds over a number of years to receive unwanted messages they initially believed to be spam – and simply deleted.
Given the sums added to monthly phone bills are often minor, they can easily go unnoticed. Customers who spotted charges on higher-than-expected bills and queried them with their mobile phone provider were often told to take it up with the company sending the messages – even if customers had never heard of the business.
Alternatively it was suggested they were responsible for signing up and must have forgotten or not checked the terms and conditions thoroughly enough.
When Karen Thompson, 70, found charges for texts relating to online children’s games, her mobile provider referred her to a company based in Croatia.
The company insisted she was a voluntary participant – then suggested her children or grandchildren had taken her phone and signed up without her knowing.
She says: ‘I know, without doubt, I have never signed up to receive these texts. I do not even use social media.’
After complaining again, her mobile provider gave a ‘goodwill gesture refund’ but Karen believes she has still been left out
of pocket. She adds: ‘I think it is high time the mobile companies took responsibility. It is a disgraceful practice.
‘I cannot stop a direct debit for something I do not want because they have, in effect, control of my money.’
Karen only picked up on the problem last October when an expensive monthly bill stood out. But further investigation showed there were ‘dribs and drabs’ of payments in previous months she had not picked up on.
Highlighting charges for premium rate services on the front page of a mobile phone bill would alert customers to a potential problem – and prevent costs mounting.
There is now pressure on regulator Ofcom to order mobile networks to address the problem.
Ernest Doku, a telecoms expert with comparison website uSwitch, says: ‘As these costs are frequently overlooked by customers, the regulator should consider remedies such as better highlighting key information on bills. For example, a more prominent display of charges for premium texts. This could help alert customers to take important action and hopefully avoid them paying more money unnecessarily.’
REGULATION
THE Phone-paid Services Authority regulates premium rate charges added to mobile phone bills. But responsibility also falls to Ofcom which oversees mobile networks which apply charges to customer bills.
Ofcom says it takes complaints about premium rate services ‘seriously’. Back in 2010, it forced mobile companies to make changes which led to ‘clear and meaningful’ information about such services appearing on bills.
A spokeswoman adds: ‘We have continued to monitor the effectiveness of these measures and will not hesitate to take further action where we identify an issue with bill transparency, which is leading to poor consumer outcomes.’