BT VOICE TEXT MESSAGING WARNING!!!!

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Bt has introduced a "Voice Text Messaging" service. Basically you can send mobile phone text messages ( Not from Orange) to a landline, BT or NTL. And what happens is an electronic voice attempts to translate the text.
Now here comes the problem..... If you have a rather popular teenage step daughter, who's friends tend to want to send her text messages in the early hours IE 02:30 and your phone starts ringing at 02:30 in the morning, you tend to think the worst...... Not good very worrying and all you hear is a load of rubbish at which you are getting charged a local rate. What a bloody CON. Especially if your friend has sent the text to a wrong number or its text spam. Now the thing is because you are confused you tend to phone 3-4 times to get a drift of whats happening.
Now the good news you can dissable this service and the number is given as an option when you first receive the call thereafter the number is not given as an option only when you next recieve a call. I am sorry i didnt make a note of this number but just keep your ears peeled if you do get a call.
I think this service, in which most people with a landline will be able to access is very wrong and very intrusive HOW are the elderly going to get to grips with this?. I managed to get in touch with BT and they say i am the first to complain. Iwould be very interested to hear your stories.
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  • Do you have to make the call to get charged, or does the message automatically connect? It's just in the past couple of days, I've had 2 of these calls. The first was left on my answermachine, telling me I'd won a porsche, £25k, holiday to Bali blah blah....(press delete) and the second was just after I'd gone to bed. It did say it was a text delivery service and went straight into the message - another spam so I put the phone down. I have one of these prepaid landline services (I will be checking out the telecoms board shortly) so I'll be annoyed if I've had to pay to get this junk.

    BT will be getting their 2nd complaint today I think.
  • Hello there. Now if i remember correctly the automated phone call told you that you had a new message and to press 1 to listen. Now one time i didnt press 1 and 10 seconds later it phoned up again until i had listened to the message. Now i believe as its an 0845 this is charged at local call rate. So in order to stop your phone ringing you HAVE to listen. And every time you want to listen the message and do a redial to make sense of it, it costs. NICE ONE.
  • savvy
    savvy Posts: 31,128
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    Hmmmmmmmmmmm I've had a couple of these from mates...............................DIDN'T BLOODY KNOW I WAS GETTING CHARGED THOUGH!!  >:(  I'm on ntl and I've never had any literature to tell me what costs I receive, what the hell are you supposed to do  ??? :-/ >:(

    And I've never been able to work out how they text to my mobile, yet it rings my landline and gives me the message?? :-/
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  • System
    System Posts: 178,076
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    All you need to know including the fact that it is free to receive them.

    http://www.bt.com/bttext/index.html
  • AP
    AP Posts: 412
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    All you need to know including the fact that it is free to receive them.

    http://www.bt.com/bttext/index.html

    A lot of things from BT appears to be free but it is a potential trap on you if you are not careful.

    e.g. 1471 is free but if you press 3 afterwards, then it is 6p even if the call is not connected.

    1571 is free to the person who set it up but it makes it a chargeable call to caller because it is effectively an automatic answering machine.

    I even asked BT to remove the Ringback facility on my line as again the fee is chargeable even though the call is not connected.

    And finally, although my DBTel DB3 DECT phone has got the facility to send and receive text messages, I have deleted all phone numbers relating to text messages on it so that nobody can incur any call charges on my phone on this front. Presumably everyone knows that you can also get charged for receiving multi-media text messages, e.g football scores, lottery results, ringing tones, etc. those sort of things!
  • System
    System Posts: 178,076
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    A lot of things from BT appears to be free but it is a potential trap on you if you are not careful.

    Sorry, I am struggling to see your point. In each of the instances you quote (including receiving multi-media text messages), you do something positive with your BT (or mobile) phone and incur a charge (all of which will be listed in the price list).

    The concern in this instance was that merely being passive and just receiving a call would result in you being charged for the message. THIS IS NOT TRUE. IT IS FREE TO RECEIVE.

    Quoting from http://www.bt.com/bttext/index.html

    "Great value - free to register and free to receive text messages "

    The only charge is when you send them (again taking a positive action).

    "Low cost text messages - with a cost of 10p a message when you text (excludes premium rate services), it's not just easy to text from home, it may be cheaper than using your mobile too "
  • Hello all, just to clarify a few points. When the message first comes through and you answere indeed it is free. BUT as its a robotic voice on the end the message is very rarely clear. So what people tend to do is write down the number. Go to their phone and find out who sent the bloody thing. Then now heres the good bit you then PHONE up an 0845 number which is chargeable to then complete the mystery. Now if my mobile receives a text message at two in the morning it goes Beep. I dont wake up and nore does my family with the constant RING RING RING RING RING of the landline. By this time your tired annoyed and you want to cancel the bloody thing and end up making endless calls to the ring back to try and find the cancel number which is 0800.
    This so called service is a menace and should be banned immeadiatly. Phones are really handy useful things i would be lost without it now but i am not going to let the plastic mood changer get that entwined in my life. Thanks for all your posts by the way and keep them coming.
  • Hi guys I set this account up to help everyone that bloody gets these silly BT calls! :mad:
    To cancel its 08005875252 (free call):beer:
  • LemonGrove
    LemonGrove Posts: 618 Forumite
    So basically the OP in this topic was ranting that they are being charged for phoning an 0845 phone number? Never!
    Male. :o
  • AgiB
    AgiB Posts: 3 Newbie
    I don't even know why they have this service at all without opting in? I should be able to choose first whether I want this or not? I did not know this existed until I begun receiving stupidities in the line of "Hi Bambi, I am waiting for the gas man to come round and I am bored. It will be great to get together..." clearly not destined for me!!! I am furious! I tried to stop them, hopefully this will work. BT Asian helpline service were very unhelpful, guys said I have to go to menu etc. assuming I had a BT handset. I don't. The 0800 587 5252 worked but not the way the unhelpline staff from Asia suggested, ie. 1 star star 1 5. That only made things worse. My adrenalin levels are quite nicely up now thanks very much BT!!! I had nothing else to do today, how did they guess???
    I also begun to receive txting service messages from another number and I have seen that one coming up on other forums as well, 07953966066. That is also a nonsense, and I gather very expensive scam service so beware!!! How come the two suddenly came in few days succession to my landline? Coincidence or my number was up, so to speak!
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