The mobile phone premium rate industry stopped stealing from my phone way back in 2009. Sadly though, they've now turned their attentions to my sister's.
Whereas I had to deal with mobile billing megacorp mBlox, this time we've got a Cellfish bunch doing the looting. A rather apt name for such a company, doing the things that it does.
Or rather, it's Cellfish Europe's KKO Mobile/MyDoo (their fully owned) offshoot which specialises in providing shit no one wants and no one's asked for. Here's a bit of backgrounder of this company on The Scream's forum: KKO/MyDoo mobile charges on the 3 Network
So, my sister received a text last month whilst with me (shown above)
It was from 'Payforit' and it thanked her for subscribing to KKO Mobile for £4.50 per week. She showed me the text and I advised her to keep it, ignore it, but keep an eye on her bill. I know PhonepayPlus (the industry regulator, more on that in a moment) tells victims to text 'STOP' but, from personal experience, I know that that doesn't work (I was scammed by the same company - via mBlox - a second time despite doing what I was told).
Fast forward to last month and she was indeed billed £18 by KKO. T-Mobile, the network she's with, told her that her issue was with KKO. No surprise there! As my sister's a very busy woman she's unlikely to bother PhonepayPlus whom, I've advised her, are about as useful as a chocolate fire extinguisher. Instead, I've been dealing - on her behalf - with KKO.
It has been a long, drawn out, process via the medium of email - as I sure as hell wasn't going to be adding to their bottom line by calling the premium rate number they, and regulator, advertise to disgruntled "customers".
I'll cut to the chase by saying KKO Mobile are insistent someone in possession of my sister's phone absolutely, positively, had to have signed her up to the incredibly bad value for money service the company provides. And my sister absolutely, positively, insists this didn't happen.
Of course they can't offer any proof anyone using her handset subscribed - but the fact that it's using the payment mechanism of Payforit, means there can't possibly be any other answer. Yes, Payforit appears to be completely infallible (it's not, by the way - the regulator is currently looking into it). Which is convenient for the likes of Cellfish, and the four MNOs (that's Mobile Network Operators, aka Three UK, Everything Everywhere, O2 and Vodafone) who own Payforit and get to keep a nice share of the revenues of each payment made with it.
Despite all this, the ever so kind people at KKO are willing to fully refund my sister's £18 as 'an exceptional gesture of goodwill'. Which begs the question: If KKO are so sure they've done nothing wrong, why are they willing to refund so easily?
As of today, the 29th May 2013, my sister has yet to receive the promised refund.
PhonepayPlus is the regulator and cheerleader of the UK's premium rate industry. When my 3 Mobile account was pillaged by mBlox (a company regularly fined, albeit paltry sums) its then CEO, Andrew Bud, just so happened to be an executive board member of said regulator.
French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Laurent Fabius, visited Cellfish's New York HQ recently. He seemed very impressed with the business Fabrice Sergent, Julien Mitelberg and Nicolas d’Hueppe built. I wonder if he was aware of the fishy goings on with this fishy company?
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