Ireland: more Opera Telecom complaints

[El Gringo]

Australia: More Opera Telecom Complaints
USA:More Opera Telecom Complaints
Barbados: More Opera Telecom Complaints
Gary Corbett wants unscrupulous sms traders banned

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/an...s-1428415.html
Dial M for murderous rage against rogue texts
Sunday July 06 2008

We should lose our relaxed attitude to companies that charge for unwanted mobile phone services -- and even threaten them with the glare of bad publicity, says Andrea Byrne



I'm beginning to think that scam artists and racketeers come to Ireland in the knowledge that they'll succeed. It's a welcoming little place for them. An easy ride. We Paddies have clearly got 'scam-friendly eejits' plastered all over our pasty heads.

The problem is, we're grossly apathetic; we don't like complaining about things. We lack pragmatism, with the result that we're constantly being duped (the majority of the time, unbeknownst to us).

A few months ago, I began to receive unsolicited text messages from an entertainment service-provider. In the beginning, in my ignorance, I didn't think anything of it, until I realised that they were charging me money for the so-called privilege. My phone bill is hefty enough every month, but over a four-month period, these premium messages where hiking it up even further.

So, essentially, I was paying for a 'service' that I neither asked for nor wanted. I never subscribed and I had no existing relationship with the sellers. Yet for some bizarre and unexplained reason they could access my personal space against my will.

It pains me to refer to these companies as 'service providers', given that they're about as much use as a lamp without a bulb.

Hardly fair is it? Surely it breaches Data Protection Regulations? At best, it's an invasion of privacy; at worst, it's fraud. You would think, and indeed hope, that in this day and age there's a law against such practice. Personally, what I found most disconcerting about the sordid business was how they managed to obtain my number.

Thankfully, I was shown by a friend who endured a six-month battle with these rip-off merchants how to unsubscribe before it got out of control, which is something that could have easily happened, because it seems that the longer you leave it without unsubscribing, the more frequently the messages arrive.

Emma O'Hara from Dublin can vouch for that. In March of this year, she began to receive these 'service messages'. "I hadn't a clue where they were coming from and what it was about. I phoned O2. They explained and sent an email to the company asking them to stop ... I think people should be alerted to this -- it's scandalous," Emma says firmly, adding, "I started getting them in March and because I was an eejit and didn't contest it, they sent me a load in May. They were obviously chancing their arm big time."

A company called Opera Telecom was bombarding Emma with these expensive messages. The cost of her premium charges for the month of May alone was €52.80.

Emma contacted the source of her distress in an attempt to establish how they obtained her personal mobile number. It transpired that Opera Telecom obtained it in 2004 when Emma sent a text to a five-digit number to support a specific charity which was being represented on a television show.

"While some content providers comply fully with the code of practice, others take wider interpretations and as a result have become an inconvenience to our customers when they find they have unknowingly subscribed to a premium rate service," says Fiona Dowling of 02.

Emma subsequently demanded that her money be refunded, but unsurprisingly, her quest to have this done hasn't been easy. Opera Telecom told her that she would need to provide them with copies of her bills to prove that she never availed of the services they were advertising. However, O2 warned her against sending Opera Telecom her phone bills in their entirety and instead to send only the section of her bill that related to the premium charges.

It's bad enough that these people are preying on unsuspecting people, but just look at the bureaucracy that awaits you in the redress of what's rightfully yours -- money and privacy. It reeks doesn't it? Only in Ireland, as they say.

In its defence, the service provider said: "Opera Interactive condemns the inappropriate use of premium rate services and endeavours to work closely with Regtel and other regulatory bodies in these matters. We take immediate and proactive action whenever we find a reseller in breach of Regtel guidelines by stopping the service and investigating the breach to the regulatory bodies and refunding end users where appropriate."

Unfortunately, mobile phone networks are obliged to allow these premium text messages to come through. "We cannot see the content of any text message. We are reliant on our customers to inform us that they are getting them," says Fiona Dowling.

There are a lot more people being screwed by these companies and they don't even realise it. Who's to say children aren't being targeted? Their weekly €10 credit unfairly eaten up.

If you find yourself in this predicament, text the word "Stop" to the 5-digit number in question. If this doesn't work, ring the 'service provider' and rant like you have never ranted before. Demand a refund. Or even threaten them with live radio.

These companies deserve to pay for this scam. It's about time such a thing was robustly policed or better yet -- outlawed.

- Andrea Byrne

http://www.thedigitalhub.ie/

“The Digital Hub is a community of people – artists, researchers, educators, technologists, entrepreneurs and consumers, all working together to create innovative and successful digital media products and services which support their future.”
The Digital Hub Project

The Digital Hub is an Irish Government initiative to create an international centre of excellence for knowledge, innovation and creativity focused on digital content and technology enterprises.

The core development of nine acres is located a ten minute walk from the city centre within the historic Liberties area of Ireland’s capital city, Dublin. Over the next decade, this initiative will create a mixed-use development, consisting of enterprise, residential, retail, learning and civic space.

The project is managed by an Irish government agency, the Digital Hub Development Agency, which was established in July 2003.