Going from pay and go to montly, big mistake

[Anonymous]

Hi guys i went from pay as you go to monthly and as soon as the switch had taken place i got all sorts of charges from premium services i didnt sign up too, about ten different ones and the only help 02 could offer was more or less none, saying it would have to contact all ten premium services and cancel each one separately. Why should i when i didnt sign up for them. Im expected to pay all the charges to. So now i cancelled my monthly and went back to pay as you go until i get another contract with a better network.

[MI5]

Completely agree whilst we still live in a democracy

[Bambino]

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@PhoneDoc wrote:

Hmm this is something I don't think I could answer unfortantely. These would be backoffice processes that would only be common knowledge to relatively select team (I imagine) and I wouldn't want to bluff my way through them.

On the flip side I can't confirm the premise either - O2 may very well have a process for 'cleansing' recycled numbers. In 3 years I've encountered many customers querying mysterious premium charges - in all instances they eventually remembered that it was from "voting for your man on the x factor" or signing up to "that christmas charity appeal", occasionally they find out its from the kids using their phone. 

Have there been any other instances reported here of premium subscriptions on new connections?

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@PhoneDoc I'm not certain if there have been other instances with new connections, but there are always complaints about people being charged from these services. I happen to agree with you that  99.9% of them are inadvertent errors and can be explained.

[PhoneDoc]

True. It'd be nice if there was an easy way to get rid of the fraudulent/unethical subscriptions. Until then I guess education and vigilance are the best tools - we try to do our part in stores.

[jonsie]

You have to remember that some people actually want to subscribe to these services. I agree, it's down to education and common sense. There would be complaints if people had to call customer service to enable subscriptions on their account, just as we see complaints about the 18+ restriction.

[Cleoriff]

This is true. Obviously the people who want these premium rate services don't come here complaining about the cost. It is well within their rights to subscribe if this is a service they require.

[Anonymous]

Most applications of premium numbers are via banner adds, one click is all it takes. However you can bar debits to bills but sadly that also stops in app purchases on accounts not set up to take from say your google play account.

As previously mentioned phonepayplus.org.uk will give you some joy but to have o2 chase it up on ur behalf you need to atleast text stop. If chasing refunds, call them up then call o2 if the company refuses to give you any joy.

Removing all adverts is also an option but to do that on an android phone would void your warranty and i do not recommend (cannot speak for apple or windows phones)

[jonsie]

Welcome to the community @Anonymous, it's always good to get input from a staff member

[Anonymous]

@jonsie thanks much appreciated, I have been meaning to sign up and give advise when and were i can, I enjoy my job it's full of surprises, But i do detest premium numbers but fully understand that people really do willingly sign up so a blanket ban would be impossible. 😞

[jonsie]

So true, you can't ever please everybody!

[MI5]

 @Anonymous