MOBILE
PHONES - RING TONES
Do you find mobile phone ring
tones infuriating or fun? It probably depends on what age you are.
Youngsters love to change the ring tone on their mobile phones.
Siobhan is 11 and after she’d seen an ad on television she
thought it would be a great idea to order an up to date ring tone
for her grandpa. Unfortunately months later, Grandpa’s paying
every month for a new ring tone and he can’t find out how
to stop the bills.
His problem was they seemed
to come from three different numbers and three different companies,
and in spite of texting STOP to the first number, they kept coming.
In the end he had to change his phone to stop them!
On Your Behalf investigated
for our listener and we too had great difficulty finding our way
through all the different names and companies who appeared to be
involved here. We found out from Ring Tone King that they don’t
pass on customers’ details to other companies. So how did
so many different companies get involved? When we spoke to New Harmon
in America they confirmed they had been sending him advertising
messages, not ring tones, at £1.50 a time, but they have agreed
to stop them. New Harmon say - this must have happened when our
listener registered on a website.
And Mobile Way, who describe themselves as a messaging gateway for
companies who send out mobile content such as logos and ring tones,
told us
"Mobileway is a global
company representing more than 450 companies' activity in the mobile
space. One of the services Mobileway provides is a messaging gateway
for companies such as RingtoneKing to send out mobile content such
as logos, ring tones and colour wallpapers across our network. Mobileway
works closely with companies such as RingtoneKing to ensure that
customers only receive services they have subscribed to. However,
when a complaint does arise, Mobileway is happy to speak with any
customer directly to ensure the problem is resolved.
When we have encountered this
type of problem in the past, the customer has usually accidentally
subscribed to more than one service (i.e. a wallpaper service as
well as the ringtone service). While texting 'STOP TONE' would halt
the original ringtone subscription, a second 'STOP WALL' would be
required to halt the additional service (i.e. wallpaper service)
It is important that all terms, conditions and subscription processes
are understood before subscribing to any automated service.
All mobile advertising and
subscription guidelines are approved by the ICSTIS, the Independent
Committee for the Supervision of Telephone Information Services".
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