Bango Pictavision can't stop

nb-

On Friday i received a message that said;

FreeMsg. U are subscribed to Pictavision for £1.99 per week until you send STOP to 60550. Helpline 0844 858 8076.

I can only presume this is something my phone has signed me up to in my pocket, but when I send STOP to 60550 the message comes back as undeliverable and when I call the number it gives me a voice mail asking to leave all sorts of details and someone will get back to me.

I already see I have been charged 1.99 on my phone bill. Any ideas how I can stop this nonsense?

Any one had similar problems and know a solution, other than getting my phone bill caped which is an issue as I need to call non uk numbers.

nb-

I called up my network provider who tried putting me through to the support number they had listed 08708635280 (a lovely 0870 number) which appears to be defunct.

I was then put through to the number 08448247441 which appeared to be the (largely automated) customer service line for OpenMarket. Where I have now notionally been able to unsubscribe...

kajmeerstadt

I emailed them at [EMAIL="support@bango.com"]support@bango.com[/EMAIL] and called them on 01223 472 777.

They said old Sony Ericsson phone could've gone online in my pocket and agreed to a contract with them. Wholly possible as I've pulled it out of my pocket a couple of times and found myself inadvertently online.

The bloke I spoke to said he'd cancelled the payments and I also received a reply to my email saying the same.

Watch this space...

Good luck

PhoneGuru21

I too have been taken for a ride with Exclaim! When I dug a little deeper I realised who they were and what they do.

There are 2 sides to this story.

Exclaim are the content providers who own the products Pictavision and Snap to Mobile. Both of these are available on Three UK network. They also have a banner on Three UKs homepage. So I guess like others on here I may have accidently left my old style sony ericsson unlocked in my pocket and made a subscription.

When I received my first text I checked on line for the shortcode attached to the text 60550 - Owned by Bango.

Bango are a mobile billing company based in UK and are the owners of the shortcode and are therefore the billers for Exclaim.

I got the subscription cancelled and stopped further, plus I was able to speak to the CP directly and get a full refund.

To do this speak to Bango directly, they are worth calling as they can Stop the subscription, give you the CP contact details to ask for a refund and then if you get a refund they will send you back your money. If you also ask they will suspend the account you have and this stops further billing accidents.

maisiemara

Does anyone know if the way they gain these subscriptions is even legal? Pictavision is automatically highlighted on my mobile internet home page so two accidental presses of the button in my pocket and I am subscribed - I don't have to enter any details. It is obvious they deliberately target accidental dialers. Is there a case to be made that this is not legal?

I assumed these were spam texts for ages and so didn't delete and now I have about £10 on my phone bill. Texting STOP doesn't work - my phone just says it cant send. Will call them tomorrow.

tonytheta

I too have been robbed by them. I received the "Thanks for your payment" text from Bango and at exactly the same time ( 10.52 am on 24th May 2011) received another message telling me where to go to "collect my download". I was completely confused as I have a pay as you go mobile and never use the internet on it not to mention the fact that I'd never heard of Bango.

To cut a long story short they had taken £6 from my credit. When I complained, Bango refunded £4 but said the rest must be claimed from my network provider, Virgin. Needless to say they weren't interested so I complained to Phonepay plus, the regualator. They investigated and said Pictavision had said I had sent "GO" to 6005 to subscribe. Their evidence for this was a one line set of data obviously from a spreadsheet containing my mobile details and a couple of spurious id numbers. Something any company could produce and in my view only provides evidence that they could clearly have obtained anywhere.

I had never subscribed to Pictavision, never heard of them or Bango and am still very angry that the have £2 of my money that has been stolen. This company should be stopped.

Techhead_2

No Virgin have your £2. They keep a chunk when the text passes through their system.

That means Virgin claim to have a record of you subscribing (can trace the text) and have their cut. I'd guess that either someone has used your phone without permission, Virgin have made a mistake or the someone has fabricated or misinterpreted evidence.