Getting rid of annoying text messages

[ucla_cutie26 0]

Hey guys,

I need your help once again. I have been receiving these annoying text messages on my cell phone, you know the ones that you have to subscribe too in order to receive. I receive a message or two everyday and it's getting very annoying (and costing me 15 cents per message). How do I get rid of these annoying messages?

See I work in a high school and may have left my phone out a couple of times (hence the students must have been the onces to start these annoying messages, grrrr ) I received my cell phone bill and they charged me $19.99 for this stupid service, plus about $5 for a bunch of text messages.

[Ta Ta 1]

call your network provider and ask them to put a stop to it and refund you the

money since you did not subscribe to it. Cingular has always been good with that,

at least to me.

[ucla_cutie26 0]

call your network provider and ask them to put a stop to it and refund you the

money since you did not subscribe to it. Cingular has always been good with that,

at least to me.

Verizon sucks cause they won't refund the money. They told me someone subscribed to it on so and so date, and so and so time, so no luck with a refund. They told me they can stop the text messages, but that means they will put a block on all text messages and I don't want them to block all the messages I receive.

Does anyone know if I send a text back to the number (which sends me the messages), will this cancel my subscription? What does the message need to say so they may block the messages?

[Otto 83]

call your network provider and ask them to put a stop to it and refund you the

money since you did not subscribe to it. Cingular has always been good with that,

at least to me.

Verizon sucks cause they won't refund the money. They told me someone subscribed to it on so and so date, and so and so time, so no luck with a refund. They told me they can stop the text messages, but that means they will put a block on all text messages and I don't want them to block all the messages I receive.

Does anyone know if I send a text back to the number (which sends me the messages), will this cancel my subscription? What does the message need to say so they may block the messages?

UNSUBSCRIBE

[JAYKE 0]

call your network provider and ask them to put a stop to it and refund you the

money since you did not subscribe to it. Cingular has always been good with that,

at least to me.

Verizon sucks cause they won't refund the money. They told me someone subscribed to it on so and so date, and so and so time, so no luck with a refund. They told me they can stop the text messages, but that means they will put a block on all text messages and I don't want them to block all the messages I receive.

Does anyone know if I send a text back to the number (which sends me the messages), will this cancel my subscription? What does the message need to say so they may block the messages?

Three guesses where I work -

Here's what the story is with those premium text messages - they are in fact a subsciption. Just like a magazine subscription, you pay the company who's making them. Verizon is merely the "post office" in this case. The charges on your bill do not go to Verizon, it's just billed through them. It's like on a landline phone, where if you have a different long distance provider, you still see the charges, but it's passed on to the provider.

If you log on to verizonwireless.com and register for my account, you can see who the premium text message provider is, and there will also be a phone number to call to talk to the vendor directly. It will be on the detailed bill you can see online, after the listing of all the calls you made, listed as "premium text message".

The other alternative is to send a text with the word STOP to the five digit code who is sending the message. Make sure not to use any punctuation or signature with the message or the vendor's system will not recongnize the command. If you do not get a confirmation email from the provider saying they have stopped the message, I would definitely call them using the number above.

Just as an FYI, putting a text block on the line will not neccessarily stop the charges, just the actual texts - you need to get yourself out of the vendor's billing system!!!

I personally get about 15 escalated calls a day about premium text messages, they are a big problem. The ads you see on TV don't mention the charges except in microscopic print for about three seconds. One can only hope that the FCC and/or state's attorney generals do come down on these outside vendors a bit for unfair trade or something, because it isn't really fair to the consumer, however I believe many of them are based outside the US.

Edited June 5, 2007 by JAYKE

[Kathryn41 3,205]

My husband had something similar happen. He started to receive these messages on his phone and no he had not subscribed to them. He received this bill for all of these text messages (he doesn't even use text messaging), plus downloads of rings and a few other things - none of which he had requested or used except he did keep getting these annoying text messages. He called the company and they were not very co-operative until he told them he was then cancelling his account with them, paying the penalty as it would be less hassle and cheaper than the annoyance from these messages, and opening an account with one of their competitors. Their tune changed quickly - they agreed to 'cancel' the account and remove the charges from his bill. When we reviewed the 'bill' we realized that the charges started after he had talked to one of their sales people regarding putting another phone on the same account for his mother to use on the family plan. We expect what happened is that one of their sales people was more ambitious than honest and in addition to adding the family plan name and phone added in all of these extra charges as well, hoping to get a better commission.

Edited June 5, 2007 by Kathryn41

[Robor007 0]

My husband had something similar happen. He started to receive these messages on his phone and no he had not subscribed to them. He received this bill for all of these text messages (he doesn't even use text messaging), plus downloads of rings and a few other things - none of which he had requested or used except he did keep getting these annoying text messages. He called the company and they were not very co-operative until he told them he was then cancelling his account with them, paying the penalty as it would be less hassle and cheaper than the annoyance from these messages, and opening an account with one of their competitors. Their tune changed quickly - they agreed to 'cancel' the account and remove the charges from his bill. When we reviewed the 'bill' we realized that the charges started after he had talked to one of their sales people regarding putting another phone on the same account for his mother to use on the family plan. We expect what happened is that one of their sales people was more ambitious than honest and in addition to adding the family plan name and phone added in all of these extra charges as well, hoping to get a better commission.

I agree here. Tell them if they're not going to work with you that you'll drop their service and move to another carrier. Oh, and stick to it. Even with an early disconnect fee you don't lose much considering every provider offers a new phone at a highly discounted price for new signups (with another commitment of course). I just signed my wife up with Cingular and she got the BlackJack for $50 ($150 out-of-pocket minus a $100 rebate). That phone is going for ~ $300 on Ebay right now.

[JAYKE 0]

My husband had something similar happen. He started to receive these messages on his phone and no he had not subscribed to them. He received this bill for all of these text messages (he doesn't even use text messaging), plus downloads of rings and a few other things - none of which he had requested or used except he did keep getting these annoying text messages. He called the company and they were not very co-operative until he told them he was then cancelling his account with them, paying the penalty as it would be less hassle and cheaper than the annoyance from these messages, and opening an account with one of their competitors. Their tune changed quickly - they agreed to 'cancel' the account and remove the charges from his bill. When we reviewed the 'bill' we realized that the charges started after he had talked to one of their sales people regarding putting another phone on the same account for his mother to use on the family plan. We expect what happened is that one of their sales people was more ambitious than honest and in addition to adding the family plan name and phone added in all of these extra charges as well, hoping to get a better commission.

I agree here. Tell them if they're not going to work with you that you'll drop their service and move to another carrier. Oh, and stick to it. Even with an early disconnect fee you don't lose much considering every provider offers a new phone at a highly discounted price for new signups (with another commitment of course). I just signed my wife up with Cingular and she got the BlackJack for $50 ($150 out-of-pocket minus a $100 rebate). That phone is going for ~ $300 on Ebay right now.

That's one of the reasons I love working in this industry! Where else can you get new technology for nothing or next to nothing? I know my internet service provider didn't give me a free computer, and my cable co. sure didn't give me a free tv. After dealing with escalated calls all day, I'll take a few regular customer-service type calls to take a breather from my regular job, and nothing is better than telling someone who calls in to find out their upgrade date that they can get a new handset/pda for like $9.99 when they retail for significantly more!!!! The only bad thing is I get to see all the new toys and I still have to wait another six months before I'm eligible!!!! My next handset for anyone who cares is the LG VX 800. I love it.... My son wants the TV phone, but since TV won't be in this neck of the woods for a while yet, I'd rather have my 8700!

And folks, just as a matter of personal opinion - just because you got the phone for less than retail doesn't mean you won't be paying retail to replace it if something happens within your ineligible time - get the insurance!!