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