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- Michael C
May 4, 2006, 12:51 pm

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

Re: OT: warning about 194040 scam

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

Re: warning about 194040 scam
On Thu, 4 May 2006 23:34:12 +1000, "Spankalogical Protocol"

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

Re: warning about 194040 scam

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.

Re: OT: warning about 194040 scam
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 wrote:


Re: OT: warning about 194040 scam
Richard Kelly wrote:

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?

Re: OT: warning about 194040 scam

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?

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

Agreed.

Re: OT: warning about 194040 scam
Noddy furiously typed the following on 10/05/2006 4:47 PM:

AMEN to that Noddy! Why is it that the rest of us that put effort into
our lives have the spend the rest of our time dragging up the weakest
links just because the P.C. wingers want us too...
...wouldnt it be better that the weakest links in the chain were made to
strap in and pull themselves up to the rest of our level and make
something of themselves - that way civilisation moves forward and doesnt
stand still like it is now!
:-D -- Richard W
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