Vodafone Premium Rate SMS bar option-question for Vodafone

Nanny2Nurse

Intasun32 wrote: »

As we have posted in this thread Vodafone still deny it's account holders the right to protect their account by telling them that they cannot bar short codes.

Any comments Vodaphone WEB Relations Team?:A

@Bex,

Call them again!

:beer:

I think Bex40 may have been trying to say that she had her request to block premium rate SMS messages from a certain number, turned down - which is correct, individual numbers cannot be barred.

What Vodafone can do is implement a bar on ALL outgoing AND incoming premium rate SMS messages - which is what they did for me.
:beer:

grumbler

Nanny2Nurse wrote: »

I think Bex40 may have been trying to say that she had her request to block premium rate SMS messages from a certain number, turned down - which is correct, individual numbers cannot be barred.

What Vodafone can do is implement a bar on ALL outgoing AND incoming premium rate SMS messages - which is what they did for me.

Unlike Bex, you were just lucky to get to a competent person in the CS.

Does it really make any sense to bar the entire account if the agent knows about barring the premium SMSs only?

Nanny2Nurse

grumbler wrote: »

../snip/..
Does it really make any sense to bar the entire account if the agent knows about barring the premium SMSs only?

Entire account? You misread what I wrote maybe? I said

"What Vodafone can do is implement a bar on ALL outgoing AND incoming premium rate SMS messages - which is what they did for me."

No, I was not lucky. I emailed the the address as advised by the Vodafone rep. in this post the first person to reply the implemented the bar. I then replied regarding the charges and the second person to contact me refunded my account for the cost of them. That's not lucky, that's good service.

As to your second point, I personally believe a blanket bar is a small price to pay for stopping these SMS messages. After a few months, I may remove the bar and see how it goes. What's to say a bar on one number will stop chargeable premium rate SMS messages from other numbers? It won't. Then you'd have to do go through the same process all over again which could be never ending. A blanket bar is final and works great in my opinion.

For the record, I too have had a lot of issue with Vodafone and they're not my favourite service provider but to be honest I think your barracking of the Vodafone representatives (in general, not specific to any person) is unjustified. They have been good enough to resond where many would not.

grumbler

I don't know what you are quoting. My 'bar entire account' referred to

Bex40 wrote: »

...the end result was a complete bar on my number while this issue is resolved....

I don't think that it was "a small price to pay".

Also, e-mailing was an alternative way suggested by the Vodafone rep. The main way was to call the CS that are supposed to know how to bar the SMSs:

Vodafone_company_representative wrote: »

...The only way to add a Premium Rate SMS bar to your account would be either by speaking to Customer Service or alternatively you can contact us via the link Espi provided and we can add this for you.

Nanny2Nurse

Bex40 wrote: »

I called vodafone this morning and requested that these messages be barred from my account which has been scammed out of £800 in less than 1 month...I was advised that this could not be done by vodafone, the end result was a complete bar on my number while this issue is resolved....go figure

Bex,
Do what the representative in this post advises.

Premium rate SMS messages were barred on my account within hours.

grumbler wrote: »

I don't know what you are quoting. My 'bar entire account' referred to I don't think that it was "a small price to pay".

OK, you didn't quote Bex in your original message, hence my misunderstanding your post

Intasun32

nanny2nurse wrote: »

i think bex40 may have been trying to say that she had her request to block premium rate sms messages from a certain number, turned down - which is correct, individual numbers cannot be barred.

What vodafone can do is implement a bar on all outgoing and incoming premium rate sms messages - which is what they did for me.
:beer:

bex wrote: »

I called vodafone this morning and requested that these messages be barred from my account which has been scammed out of £800 in less than 1 month...i was advised that this could not be done by vodafone, the end result was a complete bar on my number while this issue is resolved....go figure

@Nanny2nurse,


From what I read above Bex has posted that he/she was told that VF could not bar the chargeable texts from their account. As posted VF have put a 'complete bar' on his/her number, I read that as it is possible that the account has been frozen.

The VF advisor would have known what had happened, from the notes, with the unsolicited chargeable texts and would or should have realised what Bex was requesting. That is to say;

'...that these messages be barred from my account...'


It would have been clear that 'these messages' were the chargeable texts and what Bex needed to protect the account was a short code bar on the account. Any knowledgeable C/S advisor would have known what to do, but hey, we are talking about Vodafone here.

:beer:

Bex40

Sorry if I was unclear in my posts....what I should have made extremely clear is a complete lack of a competent service from the onset of my contract with Vodafone!!! At the beginning of the contract I asked if premium rate numbers could be barred on this sim???? Vodafone rep replied: 'I'm afraid we don't have any control over this, and are unable to provide this service' so we take the chance that our 12 year old son will not be curious or tempted!
Today I am given the same information by a VF customer service advisor.....so now the sim has been barred and the account frozen!!!!

Switchfire Ltd (the company responsible for the unsolicited texts) have returned my call....the subscription started 10 days ago when my son received a text from a short number: (61177) he clicked the link contained in the text, this took him to a website...he was sent a thank you text for each mouse click on their site...each text is charged at £1.50 this has amounted to £775 since the 1st april 2011!
After speaking to a representative from Switchfire Ltd about the age of the user, she told me 'if there is no premium rate block on the user's phone they take this to be verification of the user being over 18yrs old.....


My next step is to contact Vodafone to dispute the mis-information I received at the start of my contract... I'm also waiting to hear back from Switchfire ltd re the initial unsolicited text.....I can't believe that VF had the ability to bar these numbers from the onset...and yet I have spent most of today trawling the internet for answers!!!

Nanny2Nurse

Bex40 wrote: »

My next step is to contact Vodafone to query the lack of information I received at the start of my contract..despite my original request to have these short numbers barred. I'm also waiting to hear back from Switchfireltd re the initial unsolicited text.....fingers crossed that the right person foots the bill!!!

Sorry to hear all this Bex, I realy feel for you.

Have you done what I suggest in my post above and emailed Vodfaone via their email system and requested the bar be placed on your phone? (Originally suggested by Vodafone in this post).

If not, do so, it works.

Unfortunately (and ashamedly), just calling CS doesn't help as yes, they're unaware this can be done.

Vodafone

Hi Bex40

I have responded your query in your other MSE post here.

Many Thanks

Simon
Web Relations Team
Vodafone UK

Intasun32

Vodafone_company_representative wrote: »

We’d also be able to help with adding a premium rate message bar that you appear to have had difficulty adding to your account as mentioned in your other MSE post.


Many Thanks

Simon
Web Relations Team
Vodafone UK

Simon has posted the above on another thread in response to Bex's problem, I asked him why Vodafone customer service advisor's deny any knowledge of the premium rate bar.

In fact they say it can't be done. (From my own experience)

I am waiting for his comments.

Just noticed this on Bex's last post:

Bex wrote: »

After speaking to a representative from Switchfire Ltd about the age of the user, she told me 'if there is no premium rate block on the user's phone they take this to be verification of the user being over 18yrs old.....

What Bullst,

The Switchfire rep would have known that only T-Mobile make it clearly available to bar premium rate texts, Vodafone also but we have seen how they act. This is yet another example of how these premium rate content companies do 'business' and it's allowed to be 'legal'.





:beer: