Mis sold phone contract?

miss_elly_2

Signed up to new 24 month mobile phone contract with O2 via Carphone Warehouse in December. Deal was £26/month unlimited calls, unlimited text.
This month's bill has additional charges on it. When I queried this I was told that most of the charges are as a result of me sending MMS messages - which usually means photo messaging, which I havent done, or text messages in excess of 160 characters. Once i checked the numbers I had supposedly sent these messages to, it turns out that they are text message which contain contact details from my contact list. As a landlord I often have to give contractors tenants contact details so that they can gain access for repairs etc to be carried out. I therefore queried this with O2 who advised me that any text message which includes even an emoticon - freely available on most phones, or contact card (from your contact list) also a facility on most phones - is charged at 29p! They did offer me to buy an MMS bundle for a further £5/month which I declined (another £120 over 2 years - no thanks). But my previous contract (with Orange) did not charge extra for sending contact cards via text.
I think that the contract was mis sold - unlimited text should mean unlimited text - not re-definining some texts as MMS - surely?

Silk

miss_elly wrote: »

I think that the contract was mis sold - unlimited text should mean unlimited text - not re-definining some texts as MMS - surely?

No it wasn't missold as you do get unlimited texts

The problem you have is the text messages (sms) were changed to MMS (picure messages not text)

http://service.o2.co.uk/IQ/srvs/cgi-bin/webcgi.exe?New,KB=Companion,T=guruCase,VARSET_COBJID=52283,Problem=Obj(52283),question=ref(User):str(Mobile)

grumbler

O2 definitely were talking rubbish about the 'emotions'. Unless it's a special graphic image, all basic built-in smilies in smartphones are coded with text characters.
In light of this, I wouldn't be surprised that what they told you about the V-cards was rubbish too, although I am not sure.

However, they were absolutely correct about 160 characters. If the phone is not set to break long messages to shorter messages, then they get sent like MMS. After all, SMS stands for Short Messaging Services.

Unlimited messages means unlimited number (usually subject to FUP), not unlimited size. So, I don't see any mis-selling here.

chanz4

v cards do go as mms

grumbler

My Android doesn't even have an option of sending a v-card as a text.
Only bluetooth, e-mail and skype.

Silk

For some reason the O2 Guru link didn't work above

Heres the text of it anyway

Below is a list of reasons why a text message is sent as a MMS (picture message) and how you can avoid this.


1. Text messages to email addresses - Don’t use an email address in the ‘To’ box when creating a text message.

2. Text messages sent to multiple contacts which include email addresses and mobile numbers – Send to mobile numbers only. If you need to send to an email address send it separately.

3. Using subject headers – Don’t use subject headers

4. Contact cards – Don’t send contact cards

5. Long Messages – If you’re sending a message with more than 360 characters, send it as 2 messages. There is a character counter on most phones that you can see when you’re writing a text message.

6. Smiley faces or emoticons – Don’t use smiley faces or emoticons.

7. Sending to more than 25 people – Try breaking the message up into smaller groups

8. Attachments (pictures, videos, sounds, music, drawings and locations) – Don’t add any attachments to the text message.


Note – Your phone will tell you if it is changing your message to an MMS (picture message). Keep your eye out for it and don’t ignore it.

Buzby

I have to say, if I opt for unlimited text messages, then the fact a text is 170 characters I would expect it to be split and sent as 2 from my inclusive allowance, not billed because it was bigger than normal.

As it is the phone itself that controls which service it will use, if it converts ":)" into a graphic smiley - an emot-icon (not emotion) then the network is entitled to charge for it as an MMS. The user needs to ensure the conversation is blocked, which may be buried within message setting.