T-Mobile taking phone credit for ringtones

gecko2

Yet another problem with a mobile telecoms provider.

Last year I bought a cheap pay-as-you-go mobile with T-Mobile as the provider. I was receiving texts from a number 4568 which said "T-Mobile Ringtone of the Week: You paid for but didn't choose your last tone. We'll resend you a FREE link to pick your hit! Make your selection before Friday."

They never sent me a supposedly free link so I thought this was from a text spammer as I have never signed up for a ringtone service so ignored the texts, if I responded the text spammer would then know the number was in use and you can end up with being deluged by text spam. After a bit of digging I found out that it was actually T-Mobile who automatically sign you up for the premium rate service which charges £1 off your credit every 1 to 2 weeks.

I contacted T-Mobile about this and they said I must have signed up for this or purchased it online with the phone. I have never signed up or even been on the internet with the phone, as it's rubbish and just for calls.

I have now asked for the money to be paid back and they are flatly refusing to reimburse me. So I have given them 14 days to pay me back or I'm starting legal proceedings through the small claims court.

This seems to be quite common in the mobile telecoms industry were people are being signed up for services without their knowledge and you have to opt out of these which can cost money to call 08 numbers which charge to be called. This practice has to be illegal and must be opt in, not opt out.

I did eventually reply to one of the texts which said text STOP to not be signed up to the service, and guess what, they continued to charge me for ringtones. Unfortunately I would be banned from these forums if I typed what I would call these scammers.

I will let you know how I get on.