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WATCHIT

mikejenks
2: Seeker
2: Seeker

In recent times I find I am paying £3 a week to something called Watchit 03308085223. I did not sign up, I don't watch videos, this is a scam, it is THEFT and Vodafone are complicit in the theft. Any other victims out there?

35 REPLIES 35

AnnS
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

Hi @mikejenks

 

If you did not subscribe to the service and you have been the victim of a subsciption scam, the best course of action would be to complain direct to the company and demand the return of your stolen money, this can be done by contacting the premium rate regulator, PSA on the link below where you will be able to put the sender number into the number checker to find details of the company running the service.

https://psauthority.org.uk/

 

There is also further information from Vodafone from support on the link here :Premium Rate Services and from the forum on this link: Premium Rate Services

 

If you log onto your online account there are bars you can enable to stop these unawanted reverse charges to your account, the one for incoming premium rate charge to account bar incoming should stop these scammers and still enable you to use the phone for car parking charges etc.

 

I always advise not replying to these messages, texting back STOP or STOP all only confirms your telephone number but there are always different opinions.

 

Hope you get it sorted.

 

@mikejenks

 

I have found these links for you, hope they will help getting this dreadful expensive subscription cancelled.

 

Watch It - Cancel Subscription

Watch It TV

 

You will probably also have an application for the service downloaded on your phone, I use Android but there is probably also an application for Apple https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.petersson.watch&hl=en_US

 

 

 

Thanks for that Ann, I'm on the case. I work in the payments industry - card fraud is the responsibility of the issuer. Vodafone issue my number, it is Vodofane who should take the responsibility of fraud like this and deal with it. How many others like me don't check the bills because we trust? That trust just went out the window :-)!  I will post how I get on ina week or so or is that too optimistic!!!!

muggles708
4: Newbie

@mikejenks

 

Watchit.tv is a 'Payforit' scam. These scams abuse the vulnerabilities of the 'Payforit' payment mechanism to  claim fraudulent payments from your phone account. Vodafone make no attempt to confirm that you hve consented to the payment before letting them hve your money. Vodafone are not alone in this - O2, Three and EE all operate the same system (and are part of the consortium which profit from it!). For more information on these scams visit https://payforitsucks.co.uk

 

You do need to stop the charges, or you will be charged weekly. Don't rely on the regulator to help. They are ot an ombudsman and don't nvolve themselves in individual disputes. You are on your own. 

If you are refused a FULL refund, use the Small Claims procedure to recover your money. Any costs you incur can be added to your claim.

Paul

Thanks Paul

Chasing it through a number of avenues and getting nowhere. Thiis ought to be made illegal!

 

Mike

hrym
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

If it's fraud, it is illegal.   In some cases, subscriptions happen because you interacted, albeit perhaps unwittingly, with a pop-up, or accpeted a "free" offer that was actually a trial period you needed to cancel before it became chargeable.   However, there is some evidence that chargeable and other texts are sent to random numbers (that's usually how you get "your recent accident" and PPI claim calls and texts).   It's not worth replying STOP to these as all you're doing is confirming that the number is in use.

If the company concerned has a UK base, you can complain to the regulator, or you may also be able to contact them direct.   Many will refund to avoid being scrutinised too closely.

Your account has a rnange of barring options that include premium rate texts and charge-to-bill.   It's unfortunately not currently possible to bar incoming premium SMS without also barring outoing ones.   This is a shame as you'll need the latter to register your car number for parking, for instance.

Dear Muggles708,

 

As a member of the Customer Care team at Watch it, I would like to address your concerns about our service.

 

Watch It is an online streaming platform, offering customized bundles of content on demand (VOD), live and on replay. We offer our services not only in the UK, but also in France, Germany, Spain, Belguim, among others. Hence, our product is absolutely not a scam, we are a well-stablished company aiming at providing a service of high quality for our customers.

 

Moreover, our mobile payment flow (known as Direct Carrier Billing), is not integrated in PayForIt, as you have claimed. We use a principle-based flow, which means that users have to give their consent in order to subscribe to our product. 

 

We understand that you may have subscribed by accident and we apologize for any inconviences this may have caused you. We will continue to work in order to provide more clarity in the subscription process for this to be avoided.

 

Lastly, we do offer a full refund in this kind of situations so please feel free to contact our Customer Care team at 03308085223 and our agents will handle your demand.

 

Best regards,

Watch It! Team

 

 

I have also noticed i have been charged for this service. To say that people have to verify this by clicking "join" and "continue" is nothing short of a lie! i have never used or even heard of Watch it before i checked my bill.

 

To request payment for £3 a month for something i never signed up to is fraud and i demand you refurnd this ASAP.

Hello,

As indicated in each and every one of our ads, the service is automatically charged to your phone bill once the trial period finishes. This payment method is called Direct Carrier Billing. In order to activate the service, you chose to opt-in by confirming your purchase and your phone number. We cannot opt you in without your consent and we would never work that way. This is also clearly indicated in our terms and conditions.

We are sorry to hear that the service did not meet your expectations and we will proceed to a full refund for any inconveniences this may have caused you. Please contact your Customer Care line 03308085223 in order to get your details for the refund.

Kind regards,
Watch-it Team

I too got scammed by Watchit immediately on joining Vodafone.  I certainly didn't subscribe to or have a free month. Vodafone have agreed to refund the £4.99 but only after I asked for a pac code. Now waiting to see if the credit appears on the next bill.