scammed by three "3" and "PayforIt" help plzzz

kyashars

wantmemoney wrote: »

The simple fact is 3 are taking money from you mother's account and feeding you the proverbial crock of crap....

PayForIt is a company that is owned, setup and operated by 3 and the other main Networks.
Their phone number is 08458341119 (expensive from mobile). This number also generates extra revenue for the Networks.

Payforit is now regulated by PhonepayPlus where it is important you make your complaint.

http://www.phonepayplus.org.uk/For-the-Public/Make-a-complaint.aspx

ps. do you have the shortcode for this 'service'?

thanks for your advice, I don't think I have, how can I find out and what can I do with it?

wantmemoney

if it was me I would contact 3 again and this time record the conversation.

ask them nicely for proof that your mother signed up for this 'service' and failing that a full refund from 3.and insist they give you the identity and contact details of the party(s) they are sharing your mothers money with.

give them plenty of rope to fob you off.

this is the way they told Ofcom they were dealing with 'customers'
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/consultations/review-prs/statement/statement.pdf

Statement
Publication date: 2 July 2012

5.23 Three, similarly, commented:

“MNOs have placed a high degree of emphasis through the PFI framework on advising the consumer prior to purchase what the product is, what the price is and who the merchant is in case of issues. With this prior information, incorrect purchases are rare leaving only products that do not function / are not as described to be resolved between the provider of the service and the consumer. …….

In a PFI service, if a customer complains about the service to the MNO, the MNO will refer the user to merchant. If user does not receive a satisfactory response, they generally return to MNO for escalation. At this point, the MNO will have incurred handling costs far in excess of margin made from the purchase and is therefore incentivised to take penalising action against the Merchant for non compliance with the requirements of their individual contracts.”

Internet diallers

6.78 This scam demonstrates how a fragmented supply chain, with separation between the service provider and the billing party, can be exploited in an (unlawfully) opportunistic way. The greater transparency of PFI services would not prevent this harm. Rogue software can be embedded in such a way as to circumvent any
verifiable method of consumer consent to charges (like a PFI checkout).

Hutchison 3G - Three

Customer Care and Resolution Process for Customers of Three who have used aPayforit service or have a Payforit charge on their mobile bill.

Guiding Principles

All billing for services charged through the Payforit scheme, which utilises the “direct billing” capability of the network, carries a billing description that details for the customer;

• What was purchased
• The Merchant name
• The Amount charged
• The Contact telephone number of Merchant

This information is available to both customers and to Three’s Customer Support.

It is Three’s intention that customers who have used Premium rate shortcode and Payforit charged services are able to discuss the issue that they may have directly with the Merchant, Promoter or the agent of the Merchant in order to gain first call resolution where possible.

Three places a considerable amount of emphasis on ensuring that the information available to its customers using these services is comprehensive and widely available and that the Merchant is providing the correct level of support.

Customer Support

At first contact from a customer regarding a Payforit billed service, Three will encourage the customer to contact the Merchant first and to come back to Three if there is no resolution between the Merchant and the customer.

Often, if the Customer Service call queue is light, the Customer Service Agent will contact the Merchant directly and if possible conduct a three-way conversation.

However, most Merchant help lines are voicemail systems so this generally results only in a message being left. Our most common enquiry is regarding cessation of a previously entered subscription service where the shortcode for the stop command is being sought
(usually as the initial subscription message has been lost by the customer).

Most Merchants that have subscription services ask consumers to leave their phone number details if they want to be unsubscribed.

On a second contact from a customer to Three’s Customer Services, or if the customer is expressing dissatisfaction, the issue is escalated to the Payment Services department for detailed investigation. Based on the outcome of the investigation, Payment Services department will contact the customer with the findings from the investigation and one of three outcomes is possible;

• The customer is offered a full refund
• The customer is offered a good will gesture
• The customer is advised in detail how they engaged with the service and accepted the terms of the service as they passed through the payment pages and that the investigation did not find anything incorrect with the service.

Any customers dissatisfied with the outcome of the investigation (very rare) will be advised of their current ADR options.

if they choose to fob you off further I would contact PhonepayPlus and insist they contact 3 and sort the problem out.