Pay as you go services

[rstansfield]

For Christmas I bought my two boys Blackberries on Vodafone and so far it has been a poor experience. Here is the current situation.

• I cannot telephone customer care because they are too busy and, after composing an email, I have got an error saying the Vodafone email system is not working at present. Here is my email (which I had saved):My 11 year old son has recently got a PAYG Blackberry. Right from activation (done by myself) he has been getting graphic messages "Sky Sports Headlines" from 80416 which I find is from Vodafone itself. Another one arrived this afternoon. Despite multiple replies STOP, STOP ALL over a few days and speaking to your customer care (27/12/2011, I think) these still arrive. Customer care said these could not be blocked and they are not normally charged for. However, although we have a Freedom Freebee, the balance is reducing so I think we are being charged.
• Will you please stop sending these immediately and let me know you have successfully actioned this.

I see elsewhere that unsolicited incoming premium SMS can be blocked. The ones plaguing us may be MMS. Can't these be blocked too?

[rstansfield]

I have now managed to email my message to Vodafone

[AnnS]

These are Vodafone Live alerts which are available as a subscription.

If you go onto Vodafone Live, click alerts, Sky Sports is on the list, you then click 'get' to receive daily alerts to sports headlines as a reverse charge SMS/MMS. The best way to cancel the alert would be from Vodafone Live, click alerts, go to my alerts and you will be able to see all the alerts which has been subscribed to and cancel all in one go.

Vodafone have an excellent 'unsolicited reverse charge short code SMS bar'.  If you give Customer Services a call, they will be able to add the bar and this will stop all short code reverse charge messages.

[rstansfield]

Thank you for your reply. Although from My Account I can find the link to "My alerts" which links to http://www.vizzavi.co.uk/uk/alerts.html this just takes me to the Vodafone personal home page. However, the website has been in a  state of partial collapse for the last two days and things may improve.

If "Vodafone Live" is an App rather than the web site then I do not know how to use this and I am extremely wary because of the seemingly huge costs.

I asked Customer Care about "'unsolicited reverse charge short code SMS bar" but the person I spoke to said this would not work. If I understood properly she said these were MMS messages which could not be barred. All she offered was to block all messages in to the phone or for me to get a new SIM. She suggested complaining to the firm selling the phone/Vodafone subscription. Which is Tesco (in store)

My other son's BB was also subscribed to Sky Sports Headlines from activation (not by request) but one of the (many) STOP ALL replies was acknowledged as an unsubscribe request and the messages have stopped.

[rstansfield]

I have now found my way to "My Alerts" from Vodafone Live via WAP on the mobile. Clicking STOP may well have worked: I have received an MMS saying I have been unsubscribed. Thank you for your advice which seems to have been good advice.

I would still like to know whether unsolicited incoming premium MMS messages can be barred. I think this would interest other people too. If not, I think there is reason for very serious complaint, especially when STOP replies are not necessarily acted on. I still believe that we did not subscribe either phone to these alerts. Both mobiles were also receiving unsolicited SMS news messages but we were able to get these stopped.

"My alerts" via the web is still non-functional.

I have found this forum useful and the advice I have received has been well-informed. My first telephone contact with Customer Care was also very good (one of the phones would not activate and neither were credited for the Tesco Freedom Freebee offfer). I have otherwise found Vodafone support quite strikeingly poor and the management facilities on the web are (at present, maybe because of Christmas) largely non-functional.

[rstansfield · Accepted solution]

I have been in email contact with Customer Care who say "we have successfully placed Premium messages bar". Whether this means SS or MMS or both they do not say. The messages seem to had stopped before this anyway but I a glad a bar in in place. So, I am going to mark the thread as resolved and I shall give up on tracking the details of how all this came about. Happy New Year to everyone!

[Andy]

Hi rstansfield,

It's great to see that you've resolved your query

Should you have any other questions in the future, you know where we are.

Thanks

Andy

Moderator