OT: warning about 194040 scam

[Michael C]

I wouldn't normally send SMSs into competitions but I saw one on the box the
other day and having a $49 cap I thought why not, I may as well use the cap.
The idea is if you answer a really simple question correctly then you go
into a competition. But that's not what happens. If you get the first
question right they ask you another and another up to 5 questions. The SMSs
cost $2 to both send and receive so by the time you've answered all 5
questions you've already spent $20. And the prizes aren't that great, they
give away something like 3 xboxes per week nationally. I only sent the 1 sms
and stopped there but now they keep sending me messages every week. At first
I though they'd get sick of sending them but they never will because they
make $2 every time they send a message. And they send multiple messages at
once, they never say everything they need to say in 1 message suprise
suprise.

If anyone's got the same problem the solution is to phone 1300 650 521
(local call cost) and tell them that you phoned them immediately after
getting the first message to unsubscribe but they failed to unsubscribe you
hence you want a refund after the first message. I believe they are one of
these companies that rely on people not pushing for a refund so don't argue
when you ask for one. You could tell them that you never sent the first
message and they'd probably give you a full refund.

Anyway, just thought I'd let some people know. BTW, if anyone want to tell
me how stupid I am and how smart they are because they would never enter a
"competition" like this don't bother, I'm not interested. I never imagined
something that is advertised on the major networks would be so dodgy. I also
never imagined that it was possible for a company to charge me for sending
an SMS to me. If anyone's wondering how they can do that apparently it's in
the fine print on the tele and when you first send them a message you are
agreeing to subscribe to a paid service.

Michael

 

[Mark Harriss]

I wouldn't normally send SMSs into competitions but I saw one on the box the
other day and having a $49 cap I thought why not, I may as well use the cap.
The idea is if you answer a really simple question correctly then you go
into a competition. But that's not what happens. If you get the first
question right they ask you another and another up to 5 questions. The SMSs
cost $2 to both send and receive so by the time you've answered all 5
questions you've already spent $20. And the prizes aren't that great, they
give away something like 3 xboxes per week nationally. I only sent the 1 sms
and stopped there but now they keep sending me messages every week. At first
I though they'd get sick of sending them but they never will because they
make $2 every time they send a message. And they send multiple messages at
once, they never say everything they need to say in 1 message suprise
suprise.

If anyone's got the same problem the solution is to phone 1300 650 521
(local call cost) and tell them that you phoned them immediately after
getting the first message to unsubscribe but they failed to unsubscribe you
hence you want a refund after the first message. I believe they are one of
these companies that rely on people not pushing for a refund so don't argue
when you ask for one. You could tell them that you never sent the first
message and they'd probably give you a full refund.

Anyway, just thought I'd let some people know. BTW, if anyone want to tell
me how stupid I am and how smart they are because they would never enter a
"competition" like this don't bother, I'm not interested. I never imagined
something that is advertised on the major networks would be so dodgy. I also
never imagined that it was possible for a company to charge me for sending
an SMS to me. If anyone's wondering how they can do that apparently it's in
the fine print on the tele and when you first send them a message you are
agreeing to subscribe to a paid service.

Michael

Interesting technique to make money out of nothing, I wonder if the
X-boxes even exist

 

[Michael C]

Interesting technique to make money out of nothing, I wonder if the
X-boxes even exist

I suspect they do. I believe they would be making a shitload of money, no
point screwing it all up for not giving away 3 xboxes

The other thing I was going to mention was after all this the charges are
apparently not included in capped plans, although I don't seem to have been
charged any extra. So I might actually end up making money out of it (or at
least getting some of my cap back .

Michael

 

[Spankalogical Protocol]

never imagined that it was possible for a company to charge me for sending
an SMS to me. If anyone's wondering how they can do that apparently it's in
the fine print on the tele and when you first send them a message you are
agreeing to subscribe to a paid service.

That is correct. It's very fine print, but it is there.

Betcha they catch a lot of kids out.

 

[Uncle Bully]

Anyway, just thought I'd let some people know. BTW, if anyone want to tell
me how stupid I am and how smart they are because they would never enter a
"competition" like this don't bother, I'm not interested. I never imagined
something that is advertised on the major networks would be so dodgy. I
also never imagined that it was possible for a company to charge me for
sending an SMS to me. If anyone's wondering how they can do that
apparently it's in the fine print on the tele and when you first send them
a message you are agreeing to subscribe to a paid service.

Yes, an interesting business tactic. Flash up what amounts to a legal
contract on TV aimed at children designed purely to suck them into paying
for way more than they bargained for. I can't beleive it's a legal business
practice.
In any case it's highly unethical and TV and Music industries need a big
kick up the arse for allowing it.

 

[Michael C]

That is correct. It's very fine print, but it is there.

Apparently you used to need a high def LCD otherwise the fine print was cut
off, but they got into some shit over that one.

Betcha they catch a lot of kids out.

Yep, I did a bit of a google and it was mainly kids complaining about their
prepaid account suddenly being empty.

Michael

 

[Michael C]

Yes, an interesting business tactic. Flash up what amounts to a legal
contract on TV aimed at children designed purely to suck them into paying
for way more than they bargained for. I can't beleive it's a legal
business practice.
In any case it's highly unethical and TV and Music industries need a big
kick up the arse for allowing it.

That's the other thing I was going to mention, it seems to be highly
associated with big brother and australian idol. I'm not 100% certain about
BB but the message today definately mentioned aus idol.

Michael

 

[Andrew M]

That is correct. It's very fine print, but it is there.

Betcha they catch a lot of kids out.

Apparently if you call their helpline and complain in writing, stating
that the victim was a child, they will refund all moneys immediately
in order to avoid a precedent-setting legal case against them.
They are operating on a fine line and don't mind refunding some
moneys to keep going...
-Andrew M

 

[quietguy]

The warning sign is that the questions are ridiculously easy to answer - no way
any prizes are going to given for answering such simple questions

David - who wonders how many people fall for the 'free ring tone' ads, which in
small print that you dont have time to read results in you subscribing to $20
or $30 of ring tones a week

 

[Michael C]

message

The warning sign is that the questions are ridiculously easy to answer -
no way
any prizes are going to given for answering such simple questions

That's not a warning sign at all. Lots of competitions have rediculously
easy questions to answer. They don't claim you win by getting the q right,
just that you get entered in the draw.

Michaek

 

[Mr.T]

Yes, an interesting business tactic. Flash up what amounts to a legal
contract on TV aimed at children designed purely to suck them into paying
for way more than they bargained for. I can't beleive it's a legal business
practice.
In any case it's highly unethical and TV and Music industries need a big
kick up the arse for allowing it.

AND the Government for refusing to outlaw the practice!
I certainly wouldn't fall for it, but I can sure see how kids could be
easily suckered in.
What a great business model! I'd put them all up against a wall with a
blindfold

MrT.

 

[[email protected]]

People who send SMS's to enter competitions, or vote for TV shows are
morons. They do not deserve one millisecond of compassion.

Trevor Wilson

 

[Richard Kelly]

People who send SMS's to enter competitions, or vote for TV shows are

morons. They do not deserve one millisecond of compassion.

Certainly, but the company doesn't deserve to make 1 cent off this crap
either... it should be outlawed.

 

[[email protected]]

Certainly, but the company doesn't deserve to make 1 cent off this crap
either... it should be outlawed.

There's no difference. Anyone over the age of ten years know that
sending an SMS to a contest, TV station, ring tone, nude photo service,
etc, will cost money. All we are arguing about is how much money. If a
company does not allow some kind of free access (web, freemail, etc)
then none of us should bother. Eventually, the morons will wake up and
discover what an incredible rort SMS messaging actually is.

'Till then, the morons get what they deserve.

Trevor Wilson (shakes head, desparing of how many idiots live in this
nation)

PS: It makes one wonder about these polls which various TV staions
regularly conduct. AFAICT, the results just indicate the stupidity of
one side, vs. the other side. IOW: Do all the dumb people vote, whilst
those of us with a moderate degree of intelligence simply refuse to
fill the coffers of large media organisations? Thus, are we actually
too intelligent to be heard?

 

[Richard Kelly]

People who send SMS's to enter competitions, or vote for TV shows are

There's no difference. Anyone over the age of ten years know that
sending an SMS to a contest, TV station, ring tone, nude photo service,
etc, will cost money. All we are arguing about is how much money. If a
company does not allow some kind of free access (web, freemail, etc)
then none of us should bother. Eventually, the morons will wake up and
discover what an incredible rort SMS messaging actually is.

'Till then, the morons get what they deserve.

Shouldn't the government help said morons by protecting them from these
scams in the first place? There are plenty of people and companies willing
to take a moron's money - maybe we should make them work a bit harder for
it?

Trevor Wilson (shakes head, desparing of how many idiots live in this
nation)

I would say they out number us... which is scary.

PS: It makes one wonder about these polls which various TV staions
regularly conduct. AFAICT, the results just indicate the stupidity of
one side, vs. the other side. IOW: Do all the dumb people vote, whilst
those of us with a moderate degree of intelligence simply refuse to
fill the coffers of large media organisations? Thus, are we actually
too intelligent to be heard?

Agreed.

 

[Noddy]

Certainly, but the company doesn't deserve to make 1 cent off this crap
either... it should be outlawed.

Why do you think they do it? Hint: They're in business.

If you're too keen to partake before you read the fine print, that's you're
problem.

 

[Peter]

There's no difference. Anyone over the age of ten years know that
sending an SMS to a contest, TV station, ring tone, nude photo service,
etc, will cost money. All we are arguing about is how much money. If a
company does not allow some kind of free access (web, freemail, etc)
then none of us should bother. Eventually, the morons will wake up and
discover what an incredible rort SMS messaging actually is.

'Till then, the morons get what they deserve.

Trevor Wilson (shakes head, desparing of how many idiots live in this
nation)

PS: It makes one wonder about these polls which various TV staions
regularly conduct. AFAICT, the results just indicate the stupidity of
one side, vs. the other side. IOW: Do all the dumb people vote, whilst
those of us with a moderate degree of intelligence simply refuse to
fill the coffers of large media organisations? Thus, are we actually
too intelligent to be heard?

Too "intelligent" to have a voice and not use it? I would probably use a
word based on intellect as this is something that we are taught.
You don't have to rely on "large media organisations" to speak up or get
your message across though it helps if you have something to say.

 

[Michael C]

There's no difference. Anyone over the age of ten years know that
sending an SMS to a contest, TV station, ring tone, nude photo service,
etc, will cost money. All we are arguing about is how much money. If a
company does not allow some kind of free access (web, freemail, etc)
then none of us should bother. Eventually, the morons will wake up and
discover what an incredible rort SMS messaging actually is.

I suspect you're one of those people who needs to find other's stupid in
order to feel better about yourself.

'Till then, the morons get what they deserve.

I deserve to be parted with my $2 I agree. I do not deserve to be charged $4
every week for the rest of my life for sending one sms. Who's going to
expect to be charge $2 for receiving calls.

Trevor Wilson (shakes head, desparing of how many idiots live in this
nation)

Are you telling me you've never done anything stupid in your life? I admit I
was stupid to send the SMS but on the scale of stupid things that a person
could do this is right down at the low end. I've actually sent a couple
before to reputable companies from a competition on an icecream pack. It was
55c to enter but seeing I was on a cap it's not costing me anything so why
not. I sent them an sms, got charged my 55c and they sent a reply back
saying I didn't win and that was the end of it. I don't see how that's
stupid, considering it didn't cost me anything it's actually a smart thing
to do

PS: It makes one wonder about these polls which various TV staions
regularly conduct. AFAICT, the results just indicate the stupidity of
one side, vs. the other side. IOW: Do all the dumb people vote, whilst
those of us with a moderate degree of intelligence simply refuse to
fill the coffers of large media organisations? Thus, are we actually
too intelligent to be heard?

You should chill out a bit.

Michael

 

[Noddy]

Shouldn't the government help said morons by protecting them from these
scams in the first place? There are plenty of people and companies willing
to take a moron's money - maybe we should make them work a bit harder for
it?

Personal responsibility is a concept that is lost on a great many people.

 

[Noddy]

I deserve to be parted with my $2 I agree. I do not deserve to be charged
$4 every week for the rest of my life for sending one sms. Who's going to
expect to be charge $2 for receiving calls.

Actually, you do.

The terms & conditions are spelled out in the adds, albeit very breifly, and
by sending your message you're agreeing to be bound by them.