grazzup

cflarry

I am horrified to find that my son aged 11yrs old has been signed up to this subscription competition website at £10-00 per week.

We found this out as our bank sent us a letter to say that Virgin Mobile requested £51-00 instead of the usual £11-00 monthly payment.

On investigation it appears that this company sign you up for competitions through an advertising pop up online.

My son is only 11, the phone is in my husbands name , he had no knowledge of this subscription being set up, nor does my son.

HELP!

I have unsubscribed to this, but this company have taken 8 weeks worth of subscription before we had any knowledge.

Virgin will not compensate us. The company Grazzup have told us to write a letter explaining our son is only 11 years old.

Will they refund this money? Am I covered by consumer rights?


CF LARRY

visidigi

so they sign you up on a popup online yet bill your mobile? Was the popup not on the mobile and your child clicked it on a phone?

Either way, your rights are slim - given that it would come down to the lack of supervision on an underage child.

jamespir

ok so you gave an 11 year old a contract phone and obviously unsurpervised access to a pc ...... sorry ive no sympathy

you could try virgin but i doubt you have a leg to stand on

cheltenham_dude

An unsupervised child on the internet and a contract mobile phone do not mix - I don't think you've any chance of a refund from either company. You could possibly kick up a stink about how someone under 18 managed to sign up for something like that without any safeguards in place and threaten to go to the press, but that would be up to you and how much responsibility you want to accept for yourself.

cflarry

visidigi wrote: »

so they sign you up on a popup online yet bill your mobile? Was the popup not on the mobile and your child clicked it on a phone?

Either way, your rights are slim - given that it would come down to the lack of supervision on an underage child.

From what I have been told by this company its a advert online.
You have to be over 18 to subscribe. I do supervise my sons viewing on the internet. Somehow this company have used a pop up, I have
no knowledge how he was able to subscribe, unless I can recreate the pop up and sequence of events.

cflarry

cheltenham_dude wrote: »

An unsupervised child on the internet and a contract mobile phone do not mix - I don't think you've any chance of a refund from either company. You could possibly kick up a stink about how someone under 18 managed to sign up for something like that without any safeguards in place and threaten to go to the press, but that would be up to you and how much responsibility you want to accept for yourself.

That's what I intend to do! As I have said in my previous quotes, my son s not unsupervised. He is very responsible, he has had his phone for almost two years and never gone over his limit. he knows the concequences.

I have sent an email to this company making them aware he is only 11. he is still no wiser how this has happened either.

visidigi

From...http://www.grazzup.com/t&c.html

First bold segment indicates registration is alot more complex than you are being lead to beleive.

Second bold section shows you have no grounds for cancellation with the exception of good will.

3 Terms & Conditions
3.1 Upon sending the designated keyword to the dedicated short code, subscriber will receive a confirmation Message as acknowledgment of the successful registration for this service. Subsequently, the subscriber will receive a wappush with an url to a series of questions that need to be solved. The subscriber may scores points by answering the puzzles/ questions correctly. The subscriber with the highest score at the end of the term of the promotion will win the prize.. If, at the end of the term of the promotion, multiple subscribers have reached the same number of points, the total number of questions answered incorrectly will be checked. The subscriber with the least incorrect answers will win. If still no distinction can be made, an open question will be asked. The subscriber who approaches the right answers most closely will win. If necessary this will be repeated until there is a winner. The subscriber will receive a maximum of three weekly messages with an url to the current quiz. At that moment, the subscriber can decide whether or not he/she would like to collect more points by solving the puzzles/questions. At the end of the promotion, the subscriber with the highest score will be contacted by Grazzup.

3.2 This is an ongoing subscription, the subscriber will continue to be a registered subscriber until he/she unsubscribes.

3.3 The subscriber need to be at least 18 years old. If you are not the person responsible for paying the mobile bill or under years of age, please obtain the permission of the payer of the mobile bill, parents, guardian, employers before subscribing and/ or participating in the service. By subscribing and/or participating in the service, Grazzup presumes that subscriber has obtained the necessary permission, consent or approval from the payer of the mobile bill, guardian or parents.

RuthnJasper

cflarry wrote: »

From what I have been told by this company its a advert online.
You have to be over 18 to subscribe. I do supervise my sons viewing on the internet. Somehow this company have used a pop up, I have
no knowledge how he was able to subscribe, unless I can recreate the pop up and sequence of events.

It was probably fairly easy for a technology-savvy 11-yr-old. All he'd have to do would be to click a box saying "Yes - I am over 18" and, if necessary, enter a false date of birth. Does your ISP have a "parental restricted filter" or an option to block pop-ups?

I am sorry for the situation you are in OP - but SOMEONE must have signed up to the site - it may have been one of his friends at school? Personally, I think that 11 is too young to have a mobile 'phone. I would also want to sit down and have a very serious chat with him about lending his 'phone to others and/or responsible online use. Plus, the extra £40 will be coming out of his pocket money - even if he didn't sign up to the service but one of his friends DID.

Good luck cflarry - hope you get to the bottom of all this without too much hassle. x

cflarry

RuthnJasper wrote: »

It was probably fairly easy for a technology-savvy 11-yr-old. All he'd have to do would be to click a box saying "Yes - I am over 18" and, if necessary, enter a false date of birth. Does your ISP have a "parental restricted filter" or an option to block pop-ups?

I am sorry for the situation you are in OP - but SOMEONE must have signed up to the site - it may have been one of his friends at school? Personally, I think that 11 is too young to have a mobile 'phone. I would also want to sit down and have a very serious chat with him about lending his 'phone to others and/or responsible online use. Plus, the extra £40 will be coming out of his pocket money - even if he didn't sign up to the service but one of his friends DID.

Good luck cflarry - hope you get to the bottom of all this without too much hassle. x

Yes, he has been given the 3rd degree. A mobile for an eleven year old is a way of communicating after school when he is on the bus coming home and when he is playing out. He has never gone over the limit which is set at £11-00 in the two years he has had it. Unlike many other kids, he is very responsible. It may be that he has had his phone hacked.

But, thanks for your support.

cflarry

visidigi wrote: »

From...http://www.grazzup.com/t&c.html

First bold segment indicates registration is alot more complex than you are being lead to beleive.

Second bold section shows you have no grounds for cancellation with the exception of good will.

3 Terms & Conditions
3.1 Upon sending the designated keyword to the dedicated short code, subscriber will receive a confirmation Message as acknowledgment of the successful registration for this service. Subsequently, the subscriber will receive a wappush with an url to a series of questions that need to be solved. The subscriber may scores points by answering the puzzles/ questions correctly. The subscriber with the highest score at the end of the term of the promotion will win the prize.. If, at the end of the term of the promotion, multiple subscribers have reached the same number of points, the total number of questions answered incorrectly will be checked. The subscriber with the least incorrect answers will win. If still no distinction can be made, an open question will be asked. The subscriber who approaches the right answers most closely will win. If necessary this will be repeated until there is a winner. The subscriber will receive a maximum of three weekly messages with an url to the current quiz. At that moment, the subscriber can decide whether or not he/she would like to collect more points by solving the puzzles/questions. At the end of the promotion, the subscriber with the highest score will be contacted by Grazzup.

3.2 This is an ongoing subscription, the subscriber will continue to be a registered subscriber until he/she unsubscribes.

3.3 The subscriber need to be at least 18 years old. If you are not the person responsible for paying the mobile bill or under years of age, please obtain the permission of the payer of the mobile bill, parents, guardian, employers before subscribing and/ or participating in the service. By subscribing and/or participating in the service, Grazzup presumes that subscriber has obtained the necessary permission, consent or approval from the payer of the mobile bill, guardian or parents.

I have cancelled the subscription today!

Optimist

Apart from a few specific instances a under age person can not sign a contract. If they do then it is not binding on the child although the terms are binding on the other party.

I would do as the company require and send details as requested to see how they deal with it.