How Unethical are Ringtone Subscriptions?

The phrase “unethical” is a tough one since nobody wants a clear set of ethics and are more pleased with relative morality but ringtones are in my untouchable list of markets. Makes me feel sleazy knowing how that money comes in.

Not all ringtones programs are unethical. If a program claims to be free, but ends up charging, there’s something clearly wrong. But if the price is clearly stated, then I don’t see the big deal.

This is kinda touchy. I dont like how they market to kids to take advantage of their lack of knowledge on this kind of marketing. I think one of the people who won the show that Donald Trump had actually came up with the first type of this text marketing only i think it was more like a gamble to win. It was a commercial kind of like what you described, easy to know the answer and then text it for a chance to win, but it was not marketed at children.

There are loads of these here in the UK. It is a gray area for sure. They do state their prices but they are significantly overcharging for what it is they offer. Targeting children is not ideal either as it puts a lot of pressure on parents. It reminds me of the scenario where the guy selling candy at a theme park asks the kids if they would want some, and they obviously say yes pretty much forcing the parent to buy it, or cause a bit of a scene.

It is quite deceptive as well. Because even though they may have all the information there, they know the kids wont read it or understand it. I really dont like companies that work like that.

I work at a cell phone retailer and see these types of charges almost daily. People almost never “know” what they are. From my experience working there I learned a lot about what not to do. First off, don’t give a 5 year old a cell phone to begin with unless its one of those phones that can only call a couple numbers. Secondly, either get an unlimited texting plan, or block text completely if you do need to give your kid a phone. Thirdly, give a kid a phone when they are responsible enough to handle it and this includes being told not to ever text any short codes. If all of these can’t be followed it is your own fault and you deserve to be scammed.

Hi Stuart,

ill try to be short in my history , because my english isn’t the best thing to read and because short histories is readen often

Here in Brazil exist some agressive and unethical , if not criminous, advetising, but the most troublesome thing that i ever seen here is a kind of TV show, the show works basically this way:

Theres a puzzle to be solved – just hard enought to make a average adult think a bit
A phone number in the screen , and a money prize blinking -
And … A showman, or generally a (beutiful) woman , desperatelly asking the audience to call the phone and give the answer to the puzzle …

in small unreadable letters in the bottom of the screen you se a notice saying that the phone call is the price of a mobile phone call to somewhere like amazon – believeme its very very expensive here .

behind the cameras, when you call the number, you’re surprized with a “cultural quiz” that where a computer asks you several questions, trying to keep you in the phone to the largest time possible.

sadly, this kind of “shows” lure many people …

yeah i feel the ringtone companies always come accross as unethical. its kids who are unaware of what they are signing up to that get stung the worst.

I agree, these ringtone subscription offers are very dodgy. They clearly try to rope people in thinking its a one time charge for a ringtone, and I’m sure many people find themselves paying for at least several weeks until they get their next bill. or their prepaid credit runs out unexpectedly. Very slimy business model in my opinion.

Thousands of cell phone users have posted their complaints about this issue, i.e., unauthorized cell phone charges and ringtones subscriptions:

http://www.classactionconnect.com/cell_phone_issues

It may not be just a question of whether these ringtone subscriptions are unethical, but rather, in some instances, whether they are illegal.

The idea of using SMS text services to market is good and may come in handy in the future… but the fact that many online surfers get tricked into subscribing without knowing the consequences is bad. Its a bad bad game that people are playing.

I have just been hit with 9 charges at $9.00 ea for ringtones which I did not authorise. How can these thieves be allowed to get away with this? ASIC needs to be alerted

What is Maxitext? I did not subscribe – and have just had $30 wiped out of my mobile account through unsolicited advertising at I believe a cost of $5 per sms. I am livid, but cannot find anywhere to complain, and can’t email them as they have wiped out all my cash on the pre-paid mobile. This is the only site I can find where I can at least air my anger and hope you may be able to tell me where I can contact Maxitext by tel., or by email.

Thanks a million, (in advance.)

Update on 13th June message. My local member’s office made enquiries and gained a re-imbursement of $30 from my provider. I believe Maxitext is Premium Text but I have not gotten any further here. I was given a no. to sms to with the word “stop”. It worked.

What is the SMS number you used? This is driving me crazy that we can’t find out how to stop this business of getting ripped off!!!

I just tried texting STOP to 194600 and I got a message straight back saying I was unsubscribed. Fingers crossed!!

REastment – I made the maxitext mistake, and called their hotline to complain with no satisfactory response. How did you manage to get your $30 refunded?

omg im not the only one that is having problems with these rotten thieving mongrels
maxitext i didnt subscribe to them either and my fone isnt capable of receiving any stupid wap push maxitext crap. i first noticed a weird icon on my fone dated 7-June-08 and didnt know wtf it was so i just ignored it then it done it again, later went to use my mobile and it said i had no credit im like wtf i just recently topped it up which i only put $15 every 3mths on it roughly as its my emergency fone and just odd couple of CHEAP sms calls, so i had to scrape up the money to top my mobile up again UGH i was so pissed off. then i started pressing stuff to find out wtf it was when i click on the sucker it said [FAILED to RECEIVE] im like didnt know what to do anyway dated 27-June-08 i receive weird msg i look straight at my mobile to see its called a WAP maxitext push msg or some crap which i click on it and it again [FAILED TO RECEIVE] and ugh i was getting really pissed off so i decided to send STOP to this friggin msg then not long after i received a free msg then not long after that i received another friggin bloody WAP PUSH msg so they charged me TWICE swiped frigging $20.00 off my mobile account.

my friend does bit of research to find a forum livejournals where this other person has also been ripped off by this third party company of maxitext msgs man this is really pissed me off how can these assholes get away with doing stuff like this i didnt bloody sign up for any friggin subscription anyway i rang my mobile provider and gave them the 194600 number my fone provider told me that number relates to dialect interactive Dr love crap whatever the heck it is 1300 552 606 which i rang made my complaint to them and ask them for reimbursement of $20.00 chic said she would have to get complaints dept to email me which they did on 1st july and that person refused to reimburse me and im still really pissed off. So i have been told to ring Office of Fair Trading maybe they might help i dont know where this 3rd party company [maxitext] is based. anyway i have also been told to ring Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman for complaints about SMS text msg to your mobiles i am just waiting for customer relations for my fone provider to get back to me which i have been told they have 2 days to get back to me and 10 days to sort it or they get investigated.

maxitext is like the nigerian scammers this shit shouldnt be allowed

I too have been slogged with charges for something I didn’t subscribe to. I rang my phone provider and they advised to reply to one of Maxitext’s messages with the word STOP in capital letters. I have done this and received a text message from them to say that I have “unsubscribed”. If I get any more messages from them I can call my phone provider back and get them to place a bar on my phone so these scammers won’t be able to contact me again!

Just thought I would follow up with the result. After a bit of emailing back and forth and a threat of a report to the TIO, they have agreed to mail me out a cheque as a “good will gesture”.
Ha that makes me laugh, they still claim they have done nothing wrong as “they sent the premium sms to me before I replied with STOP”. How rich is that, you receive the free welcome message with advises that this is a subscription service but then they slog you with 2 premium sms at $5 each without a chance to reply stop. I asked them why did they send me 2 within the same minute they subscribed and all they said is “we send them in pairs”. Pointless! It might as well be one sms at $10 each.. Anyway stay on their back and you should hopefully get your money back as I did. I’m still amazed these crooks are getting away with this, I feel sorry for you guys that had your credit chewed up and you didn’t even know you were subscribed. This is obviously exactly how they are getting their profits as no one in their right mind would intentionally stay subscribed to such a ridiculous and expensive service (if you can call it that)..

I got done by this 2.. it started when i clicked on something on facebook which promised a quick iq test (ironically looks like i failed LOL) it sends you to another page and the iq test questions come up. Now ive gone back later and i notice the subscription information in very fine print at the bottom of page. But when your being tested on questions that your answering as fast as you can in case thiers a time limit you would never look down there. whats more at this point you still have no idea that they want your mobile phone number so are suspecting its just an internet based gimic.. You have no reason to read any terms as your not suspecting to enter any personal information.. So then you get to the end of the quiz and it asks for your mobile to sms you the answer.. As i recall i never got my iq score just a heap of spam messages with stupid facts… i wasnt sure how to stop this so let it go on for to long when i got my next bill i couldnt believe it had cost me 50$ is messages at 5$ a pop..

I rang up 3 and i suggested this was a scam but they insisted that people like these services and subscribe willingly.. but there is no way possible that anyone in theier right mind would pay 5$ for a simple spam fact like example ‘the longest recorded flight pof a chicken is 13s” So 3 gave me the number of the place and they heard my complaint and took my email.. apparently they will get back to me in a few days via email to let me know if they can reimburse me. I threatened to take it further and they suggested i wait till i get an email. I suspect thier stalling people as long as possible while they continue to scam.. theyve probaly made a motza of cash

yeah, I got done by maxitext too. my 10 year old replied to a competition to win a Mac Air and lo and behold, soon I’m getting these spam messages on my phone, then charges of $50 on my bill. I asked my provider 3 to check it out but of course that did no good – it’s on their bill but they just wash their hands of it. I also called that so called complaints number at maxitext but no help there. not sure whats the best course of action to take here. Maybe try the telecommunications ombudsman http://www.tio.com.au. I note that they received 5,987 complaints regarding mobile premium services in the first quarter of 2008.

i’m empathetic to all who’s bills have had the same fate as mine, and so greatful to those who have gone before me and complained and obtained the means to unsubscribe. thank you, this kind of conduct is an absolute enormity, and i’m sure the future will bring justice for us all.

i watched tv and saw a maxitext add to win a pink ipod, laptop and a PSP. I entered the codeword pink to the number along with my postcode. anyways i got a sms saying i had subscribed to this this where i would get a messages that costed ME $5 each for ringtones and love calculators. i wanted to unsubscribe [coz i didnt kno wut was happening] by texting the word STOP. I tried and tried but the message wouldnt go through. luckilly i called the number on the sms and successfully unsubscribed. they could have ripped me ogg BIG TIME! I have learnt never to trust those adds again!

How can I find out how much money I lost due to those smses?
I deleted some I would be grateful for help.

I just want to add I am using a pre charge card

This same maxitext scam just happened to my wife. Luckily we just noticed 4 sms messages at $5 each while looking at her online mobile statement wondering why her credit suddenly disappeared. We are absolutely livid like others above! How can such a scam exist and why has this scam not appeared on ACA etc? We’ve sent the STOP message but do we just let these criminals get away with $40?!